Ferozepur, July 31
Incidents of the death of two Dera Sacha Sauda followers in the adjoining Mansa district is not likely to upset the political calculations of SAD supremo Sukhbir Singh Badal in the Jalalabad by-election from where he is contesting his maiden assembly election. He was hoping to set a record winning margin in the electoral history of the state, but, in the aftermath of these incidents, the Congress has all of a sudden started raising this issue with an eye on 30,000-odd votes of the Dera followers in the Jalalabad constituency.

Political observers feel that this issue would not have a larger impact on the poll prospects of junior Badal. If at all, it could only reduce the winning margin to a small extent.

Harminder Singh Jassi, a Congress MLA and a close relative of Dera chief has been actively campaigning in Jalalabad for his party candidate Hans Raj Josan, who is beyond doubt fighting one of the toughest political battles so far.

Reports reaching here revealed that most of the Congress candidates who campaigned for Josan on Thursday tried to influence the Dera followers by sympathising with them, which was an indication of the mindset and intentions of the Congress at a time when just days were left for the polls. Had Sukhbir Badal not been contesting the election from here, the situation could have been a little different in the aftermath of these incidents.

But over the years, the voters have gradually become politically educated and realize well that junior Badal's win would change the very face of this constituency and means a lot for them, as this area situated in the far-flung corner of the state was otherwise neglected for decades.

Local people say that most of the followers of Dera in this area belong to the Rai Sikh community. The local SAD MP Sher Singh Ghubaiya belongs to this community that has almost 50 per cent of the total votes in the constituency.

Bathinda, July 31
To prevent Malwa villagers from getting inflicted with cancer, the government installed Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants in villages aiming at providing safe drinking water to them. But it seems that the purpose is not being served as the samples of water taken from various villages and tested at the Science and Technology Department, Chandigarh, indicated that the RO water is as good as the groundwater.

This was stated by Dr G.S. Dhillon, former chief engineer with Punjab irrigation department and director of the Irrigation Research Institute, Amritsar for 14 years.

He agreed that the report aired on Doordarshan recently on water becoming uranium and heavy metals free to some extent if stored in an earthen pot was correct.

Dr Dhillon said the main reason of cancer being spread in Bathinda was contaminated groundwater. He also said that in a RO plant, only 50 per cent water is fit for drinking, rest is wasted and the method for disposing the RO plant waste water is not suitable for the populace. "The waste water is thrown in village pond from where animals utilise it and human beings also get exposed to it. It is cancer causing. So far no test has been done to find out from where this contamination is coming in Bathinda. Groundwater is taken from 150 to 200 feet and it is still polluted. RO can not free water from pesticides. The RO plant used in Punjab is one-stage. It needs to be improved to fight cancer," he added.

The villagers had earlier alleged that in spite of the RO plants, not even 50 per cent of houses in villages were getting water supply from there.

Gurnaib Singh from Deon village said, "We got RO system in our village but out of 1,108 houses, only 180 are getting RO water. One has to pay Rs 191 for connection and Rs 90 per month for water."

Gurnaib claimed that there had been nine deaths due to cancer in his village and nearly 30 persons were suffering from the disease. A doctor earlier had told TNS that heavy metals were the key reason for cancer in the Malwa region. 

Ferozepur, July 31
Former CM Capt Amarinder Singh made a short appearance in Jalalabad yesterday evening, when he addressed an election rally in support of Congress candidate Hans Raj Josan. Amarinder cautioned the voters of Jalalabad of getting befooled by the false promises made by the Badal family, adding that there was no need to be scared of them.

Accompanied by Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu, Parminder Singh Pinki, general secretary, PPCC, Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, MLA, Arvind Khanna, ex-MLA, besides scores of other party leaders, the former CM appealed to the electorate to vote in favour of Josan. — OC

Fazilka, July 31
Fazilka town is humming with activities these days. The residents of the town and nearby areas are enjoying the power supply round-the-clock.

SAD chief Sukhbir Badal, who is contesting the by-election from adjoining Jalalabad constituency, has been staying in Fazilka along with his wife Harsimrat Kaur.

They are residing at the residence of CM Parkash Singh Badal's old friend late Munshi Ram Gilhotra's son Sandeep Gilhora, a member of SAD working committee. SAD leader Gilhotra and his son Karan are hosting these VIPs. Late Munshi Ram Gilhotra, who had been president of Municipal Committee thrice and chairman of market committee once was a close confidant of Badal.

Forty-four villages of Jalalabad constituency fall under Fazilka sub-division. Senior SAD leaders and ministers have completed three to four rounds of their zones for canvassing. Now, considering the “assured victory” of Sukhbir, they are seen enjoying the comforts and hospitality of their respective hosts in town and the rural areas.

Ministers, MPs, industrialists, IAS, IPS, PCS and PPS officers without red beacon lights on their cars and in plain clothes (in view of model code of conduct) are seen around Sukhbir Badal daily in the morning or late in the night.

One thing which is rare and impressing the people of this area is that the Badal family is humbly turning down the offer of election fund for the by-election or in the name of party.

People are travelling to villages to meet ministers for work and in turn are being promised of getting their job done. — OC

Muktsar, July 31
The journey from prosperity to adversity for hundreds of farmers of Muktsar district has been a long and arduous one. There was a time in the not so distant past when farmers of the region wore opulence on their sleeves.

However, the fortunes of several hundreds of them have now plummeted to new depths of despair due to the perennial problem of waterlogging what with many of them turning to daily wage workers, barely affording two square meals a day. Seepage of water from the Rajasthan canal and the Sirhind feeder has led to waterlogging which farmers of the region term as a "curse inflicted on them by some unhappy god. "

Says a once affluent Wazir Singh of Dodonwali village, "Once, my fields yielded gold in the form of wheat and paddy. However, due to waterlogging, the same fields refuse to yield anything substantial.

Where do I go now? Both my sons now work as labourers in nearby Faridkot district. After all, they have to save money for their sister's marriage." Wazir Singh, who at one time owned 15 acres of land, is now a man wreaked by the vagaries of nature and is barely able to walk without stooping.

In several villages of the district, houses have developed cracks, their roofs are coming apart and gaping holes can be witnessed in the walls of many such houses— all due to waterlogging. Said Fateh Singh, who lives in one such rundown ramshackle tenement, " I have been forced to relocate. What is the use of my land when it can not be cleared of water for cultivation purposes. Now I have been left with no option except to work as farm labourer in Bathinda."

"No doubt the drainage department is working overtime to prevent waterlogging by constructing drains and subsurface drains in critical areas, but it is a case of too little and too late. I have already sold off my land holding bit by bit and now I have been reduced to a pale reflection of my former self," says Sadhu Singh, a once prosperous agriculturist, while pointing a finger in the direction where his fields once were. One of his sons is working as a mason while the other is working as farm labourer. Says an expert on waterlogging, " The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) had sanctioned nearly Rs 23 crore recently for the lining of canals which would have ensured absolutely no seepage of water from canals. However, six months down the line, nothing concrete has emerged and things are back to square one."

These views were echoed by Jarnail Singh, whose family has migrated to UP seeking greener pastures. " Funds do flow from entities like the World Bank and NABARD but nobody really knows where the money goes," he says with pathos writ large all over his face.

An old timer, who has seen it all, disclosed, " I can show you hundreds of farmers now working a farm labourers. The situation is turning from bad to worse and after Punjab, Rajasthan may well have to live with the curse of waterlogging if something tangible is not done."

S’nagar/Abohar, July 31
The Punjab government prefers to allow canal water to flow to Pakistan than fulfilling the demand from the neighboring areas of Rajasthan, says Captain Subhash Sehgal (retd), chief spokesman of the Rajasthan Kisan Sangharsh Samiti.

Speaking to this correspondent over the phone, Sehgal quoted official sources to confirm that 1200 cusecs of water had crossed the international border through Hussainiwala on Thursday afternoon and discharge was likely to increase to the level of 16,000 cusecs by late evening. This will benefit paddy growers in the Kasur region of west Punjab province.

Giving details, he said 44,000 cusecs of water was available on Thursday at Harike Pattan, of which 18,500 cusecs was released to Rajasthan Feeder and 11,192 cusecs to the Ferozepore Feeder. Punjab appeared to be adamant to injure the interests of farmers of Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh who had been crying even for drinking water.

Against a capacity of 3000 cusecs, only 2000 cusecs of water was released on Thursday to Bikaner (Gang) canal that is known as the lifeline for Punjabi farmers in the twin districts. Rajasthan Feeder had been designed to accept 18,550 cusecs but enquiries made from the control room indicated only 11,364 cusecs water was flowing by the evening in the feeder.

This clearly indicates that 8000 cusecs of water from Rajasthan's share was being allowed to cross the border instead of ensuring full supply through Rajasthan Feeder and Bikaner canal.

This, he said, not only unfolds conspiracy on the part of Punjab but also shows the weakness of Rajasthan as the latter had not been able to prevail upon it to expedite the process of strengthening the main feeders. Regretfully, Rajasthan still had to pay Rs 185 lakh to Punjab for annual maintenance work, Sehgal said. 

Sriganganagar/Abohar, July 31
The 0711/0712 Sriganganagar-Jaipur holiday special train has been extended till August 30, G L Meena chief Public Relations Officer of the North West Railway informed today.

Meanwhile, the Railway Passengers Association (North Zone) has urged the AGM of Northern Railway to extend the Sriganganagar-Abohar-Haridwar mela express train till August 31.

In a memorandum faxed to the AGM today, Hanuman Dass Goyal, joint secretary of the Association, claimed that passengers had overwhelmingly responded to the special train since its first run on July 10. The train was meeting the needs of pilgrims from Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana besides UP. — OC

Ferozepur, July 31
More than 40 passengers travelling in a mini-bus belonging to a private transport company were injured when the vehicle overturned near village Mohrewala on Muktsar-Ferozpur road here this evening.

The people of the nearby villages brought the injured to various private and civil hospital here. One of the injured passenger said that the driver was changing the CD, when the bus hit a pothole on the road and overturned. Another passenger said the steering developed some snag. All passengers are stated to be out of danger. 
— OC