Abohar, July 24
The show-cause notices served by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) under section 19(1) of the Ancient Monuments Archaeological Sites and Remains Act 1958 to residents of Jammu Basti and Sahibjada Ajit Singh Nagar, evoked protests by scores of citizens including women on Friday.

The notices said people had raised unauthorised construction on the government land at the ancient site/monument known as Mud Fort that was centrally protected monument of the national importance under the provisions of AM and ASR Act 1958 vide notification number F. 4-6 (2) 40 Fort, dated January 7, 1941.

The constructions were in contravention of provisions of Rule 8(1) sub-rule 1 of Rule 19 (1) and Rule 33 of the Act. The occupants have been asked to vacate the site within 15 days otherwise they will be evicted under the provisions of section 19 (2) of the Act amended in 1958 and rules 1959.

The ASI has also made it clear that the officials and the government will not be responsible for loss of belongings of the illegal occupants during the course of eviction from the encroachments.

Earlier, the ASI had in December 2002, served notices to the local MC for allowing the construction of houses in the Mud Fort area in violation of the Ancient Monument and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act 1958 (part 24 of the Act). Interestingly, the ASI had been sleeping over the violations since the country achieved independence.

Only in the beginning of 2002, the department displayed the warning boards, sources said. The council had ignored the notice. On May 16, 2006, Ambika Soni, minister for Tourism and Culture, while replying to question number 3294 had assured Dr MAM Ramaswamy in the parliament that the ASI will take action to remove encroachments on ancient monuments. She also referred to Mud Fort of Abohar.

Not only that the MC had brought Jammu Basti in its folds but is also believed to have spent about Rs 3 crore on providing basic amenities to the residents during the past two decades. Millions of rupees are also believed to have changed hands in illegal "purchase" and "transfer" of the Mud Fort property. The Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) and the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board had liberally provided connections to the residents even when they had no ownership documents in hand.

The residents on Friday marched in procession to the sub-divisional complex, sat on dharna, shouted slogans and submitted a memorandum to the authorities.

They argued that they were in possession of the land since 1947. "If the government intends to dispossess us, we should be compensated in cash besides allotting 5 Marla plot and grant worth Rs 5 lakh each for new houses somewhere else," they said. 

Muktsar, July 24
Acting on the specific inputs that a large number of youths were consuming intoxicating drugs in Malout town, the district administration came down heavily on medical stores located in and around Malout by conducting raids.

Even as raids were being conducted in Malout, the jitters were felt in Muktsar town as well with many medical stores downing their shutters.The raids were still in progress at the time of filing this report.

Eight teams were formed under the guidance of Muktsar, DC, Rajat Aggarwal in collaboration with the Malout police and several NGOs. The Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Varun Rusam and the Malout Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Ravi Bhagat also coordinated the efforts of the raiding teams.

The teams visited medical stores by surprise and by the time news leaked that raids were being conducted by the administration, the owners of many medical stores managed to give the teams the slip.

Medical stores at Bhidiwala village, adjoining Malout town, too were targeted. Confirming the raids, the DC Rajat Aggarwal said since the use of drugs was rampant in the area, the district administration had chalked out elaborate plans to check the menace. “Some shopkeepers were selling such drugs against fake bills. Stringent action would be taken against such medical stores too,” he added.

In all, 12 medical stores were raided and 11 of them were found to be selling psychotropic substance including cough syrups. One medical store was running without a valid licence and action was being taken against the owner of that shop. The DC added that those shops whose owners had run away after hearing about the raids were sealed.

Fazilka, July 24
While disposing the objection petition filed by the Municipal Council, Fazilka, the Debt Recovery Tribunal, Chandigarh, has directed the Municipal Council to pay Rs 14,01,300 lakhs as penalty to the purchaser of 53 acres of prime council land which was auctioned by the Oriental Bank Of Commerce, Fazilka branch on April 16 this year at the throwaway price of Rs 2.51 crores to one Naresh Bansal of Muktsar.

The tribunal in its decision said that the council had ina petition admitted to deposit the loan amount of Rs one crore borrowed by it from the Oriental Bank of Commerce in year 2001 which ultimately increased to Rs 2.5 crores in eight years. The Tribunal has also directed the bank to set aside the auction after depositing the penalty by the council to the purchaser.

"We have deposited the penalty today with the tribunal as protest only and will pursue the case in future also," said MC president Anil Kumar Sethi. We had also deposited Rs 2.30 crores with the tribunal about three years back and have requested the tribunal to direct the bank to cut in price of interest of about one-and-a-half crores charged by the bank on the principal amount of Rs one crore, added Sethi.

The council had then mortgaged its 53 acres (423 canal 1 marla) of precious agricultural land on outskirts of Fazilka town.

After securing the loan, the subsequent civic bodies, including one led by Congress failed to pay the regular installments over a span of about eight years. As a result of this, the initial amount of loan of Rs one crore grew to Rs 2.50 crores.

As the MC was unable to clear the debt, the bank after serving several notices ultimately raised the matter with DRT which gave the verdict to auction the land. During the auction only one bidder Naresh Bansal offered the bid which was accepted by the bank authorities in "haste." The council alleged at that time that the bank tried to watch its own interest and auctioned the land at a throwaway price. 

Bathinda, July 24
With Bathinda Municipal Corporation (BMC) failing in its duties, however small they may be, such as drainage of rainwater, maintenance of greenery on road dividers or cremation of unclaimed bodies, the Sahara Jan Sewa, an NGO, has now taken up the task of cleaning up the roads and streets of the city.

Bathinda, which has been described as a town of future by many agencies, had been at the receiving end due to red tapism and complete lack of coordination amongst various departments of the BMC. Not happy with the state of affairs, the NGO took upon the responsibility about 19 years ago and had been providing services, which otherwise were the civic body’s jobs.

For the past 12 days, the NGO had been cleaning roads and streets, repairing potholes and making city residents aware against use of plastic bags.

Volunteers of the NGO took up the job of repairing the roads and draining rain water near the Arya Samaj Chowk, Court Road, Mehna Chowk, Bus Stand, and the Mall Road.

Vijay Goel, president of the NGO, said, “One should not look at what the administration was doing. Do it yourself for everybody’s welfare.”

A senior BMC official said the services rendered by the NGO were unparalleled. It was not possible for the government agencies to work the way the NGO did, due to “procedural” problems, bureaucratic hurdles and tiring and cumbersome paper work.

Bathinda, July 24
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal stands tall not only in the political arena. His stature is also reflected in the milestones installed on the road leading to his native village, Badal, that stand incomparable in size.

Such milestones, installed on the Bathinda-Badal road, are almost six times bigger than the regular ones, meant to show the distance of only the Badal village.

It is reportedly an ‘extra effort’ made by the PWD (B&R) officials, who without any logic tried to show the importance of Badal village as well as the road leading to it.

The 35-km stretch of the Bathinda-Badal road, which has recently got the status of Major District Road (MDR)-73 from the previous Other District Road (ODR) has a number of such milestones with thickly engraved messages related to traffic rules along with the distance of Badal village.

Ironically, at some places, the huge milestones, in question, have been installed adjacent to the regular ones, raising a number of questions over its installation.

When asked, Superintendent Engineer, PWD (B&R), AK Singla said, “I am not sure but such huge milestones must have been installed to create awareness among the public about the traffic rules engraved upon them. I don’t have any idea why it bears only the distance of the Badal village.”

On the other hand, another official, seeking anonymity, said, “It is obvious that this has been done by our department to please the CM, who frequently travels on this route. Besides, whenever somebody travels on the Bathinda-Badal road, he himself starts feeling that the road leading to the CM’s village is a VIP road.”

Ferozepur, July 24
Though the monsoon is yet to set in, but water-borne diseases have already spread their tentacles in this border town. Owing to contaminated water supply juxtaposed with unsanitary conditions in the city, hundreds of patients suffering from gastroenteritis, diarrhoea and other water-borne diseases are flocking to various government and private hospitals. The local civil hospital is also receiving a number of such patients daily.

Dr MS Tinna, SMO, informed that 54 patients suffering from acute diarrhoea besides 63 patients with enteric fever and 11 Hepatitis-A cases were reported last month, out of which 28 serious cases were admitted to the hospital.

In this month, 28 patients suffering from diarrhoea and 13 cases of gastroenteritis have been admitted so far, said Dr Tinna, adding that a lot of patients with such symptoms like vomiting, loose motions and dehydration are also visiting the OPD these days.

Dr Kamal Baghi of Anil Baghi Hospital said his hospital has been swarmed with patients suffering from water-borne diseases.

Dr Madan Lal Chawla said he was receiving at least 10-15 such cases daily. Another medical practitioner, Dr Daljit Singh said 5 to 7 severe cases with abdominal discomfiture were coming to him daily.

Dr Tinna said consumption of stale fruits and rotten vegetables besides unhygienic cold drinks and ice products aggravate the problem these days. Moreover, the intense summer heat coupled with unannounced and delayed power cuts further add to the patient's woes.

This outbreak has come as no surprise as the blocked sewers dotted with cesspools of garbage and slush extend an open invitation to these diseases. The worst affected areas are Basti Shekhanwali, Zira Gate, Basti Bhatianwali, Shanti Nagar, Basti Balochan, Amritsari Gate and Basti Machi Mandi besides others.

These issues concerning faulty sewerage system, garbage disposal, inadequate and contaminated potable water supply have been neglected by the civic authorities.

Bakar Singh, a resident of Basti Shekhan said the matter has been brought to the notice of municipal authorities many times but in vain.

The faction-ridden MC has been virtually defunct for several months. Allegedly, instead of looking into these basic amenities, the local councillors have been busy fighting amidst themselves over petty political issues.

Bathinda, July 24
To mark the Teej celebrations, students and teachers of Swami Vivekanand Girls’ College organised a cultural fair, ‘Raunak Trinjana Diyan’, at the college campus here today. Students of the college looked beautiful, dressed up in traditional costumes.

On the occasion, solo dance, Mehandi competition, Ms and Mrs Teej contests were held. The girls also performed dances on various new and old Punjabi songs.

The Miss Teej title went to Deepinder Kaur, while Sukhwinder Sidhu and Inderjeet Kaur were runners-up.

In the Mrs Teej competition, Surekha was announced the winner whereas Paramjeet Kaur and Gurpreet Kaur were the runners-up.

Guests at the event, including wives of senior officials of the district administration, also jived to the accompaniment of beats of Punjabi songs.

Rajwinder Kaur, wife of Kuldip Singh, District & Sessions judge, Bathinda, was the chief guest on the occasion.

Principal of the college Raj Gupta said, “It is the sixth Teej Mela organised in the college and an effort to keep the young generation attached to our cultural traditions.”

Bathinda, July 24
A ray of hope for those suffering from serious kidney-related problems. The Civil Hospital here will be the first government hospital in the district to provide the patients of kidney failure with a dialysis facility at nominal rates. Earlier, three private hospitals in the city had the facility.

Two machines costing about Rs 12 lakh was installed at the hospital on July 14 and has conducted six successful dialysis procedures till date. The cost of each dialysis is Rs 750. The patient has to provide for the disposables, which can be reused twice.

The hospital claimed that the facility was being offered at the lowest rates in the city. Though the formal inauguration of the facility is yet to take place people, especially from the poor families, have started flocking to the hospital. — TNS

Bathinda, July 24
Prof Raja Singh Khela has assumed the office of Director-Principal of the Guru Teg Bahadur Khalsa Institute of Engineering & Technology, Chhapianwali, Malout.

While interacting with the GTB Educational Trust and head of departments, Prof Khela said his endeavour would be to ensure transparency and efficiency in the functioning of the institute. His priorities would be strengthening the institute with the cooperation of trustees, faculty and staff.

Natha Singh Makkar, chairman, Hardev Singh Jhurar, secretary, Sohail Singh Makkar, vice-chairman, Jagir Singh, joint secretary, Dr. S.P.S. Monga, PRO and members of the GTB Educational Trust, along with heads of various departments were present on the occasion.