Gurdaspur, October 8
Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee secretary Raman Bahl today alleged that the ruling SAD-BJP alliance in Punjab led by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had failed miserably to protect the interests of paddy growers.

Bahl, who visited Hardochanni and Ali Nangal purchase centres situated near the Indo-Pak border in this district, said that so far the procurement agencies had not made a single purchase at these centres.

He added that farmers of this region were doubly cursed as first they had to nurse their paddy crop by running the tubewell motors on diesel generator set due to power cuts and now they had to wait for days together to dispose of their produce.

The paddy crop was lying at these centres for the past many days and the farmers had been spending days and nights under the sky with the hope that their produce would be purchased by the procurement agencies.

He said the situation in Punjab had come to such a pass where the paddy growers had been finding it difficult to meet both ends. They were not in a position to arrange enough cash to meet their daily requirements.

He said that if Badal was serious about improving the plight of the farmers, he must intervene in the matter and ensure that paddy lying in the grain markets and at purchase centres was lifted within 24 hours of its arrival at the minimum support price (MSP).

Satnam Singh Pannu, state president the KSC, said various senior officials of the PSEB were involved in corrupt practices and the organisation would expose them in public. When contacted, officiating Deputy Chief Engineer Gursharan Singh Khehra said he was in meeting and denied to comment.

Hoshiarpur, October 8
To review the ongoing construction work at Rajiv Gandhi Kandi canal (phase II) from Hoshiarpur to Balachaur and to complete it within stipulated period, a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee, Punjab, was held under the presidentship of its Chairman Ishar Singh Mehraban here last evening.

Principal Secretary (Irrigation and Power) Suresh Kumar said that the first phase of the Kandi canal from Talwara to Hoshiarpur was started in September 1978 for which Rs 10.63 crore had been provided. It was completed at a cost of Rs 110 crore in 1998 and was providing irrigation facility to 19,867 hectares of 215 villages located in the Kandi area of the district.

He further said that according to the sanction of the technical committee and the Central Water Commission, the cost of the second phase of this project from Hoshiarpur to Balachaur in 1997 was Rs 147.12 crore, but it was revised to Rs 346.62 crore in 2008.

The construction of phase II had been completed at a cost of Rs 135 crore. The construction of the onward portion was in progress for which Rs 170 crore was required, said Suresh Kumar. He hoped that it would be completed by the end of 2011.

On completion it would provide irrigation to 29,527 hectares in 218 villages.

Instructing the Chief Engineers of the Kandi canal and the Punjab Tubewell Corporation to have a meeting with Mahilpur MLA Sohan Singh Thandal and identify the unirrigated areas of Kandi so that arrangements could be made to provide irrigation facility there.

Kapurthala, October 8
Tension continued to prevail in the city on the second consecutive day following bloody clashes between two groups in which their two members were critically injured in the past two days.

While Harsimratjit Singh, alias Prince, a member of the “Deepa and Makhan group” was attacked by its rival group last evening, Avinash Atwal, alias Litta, of the “Atwal group” was attacked by the former group this afternoon.

Sources revealed that certain members of the Atwal group attacked Prince over some old rivalry and injured him critically. He was later admitted to Satyam Hospital in Jalandhar where his condition is said to be the stable.

Retaliating, members of the Deepa and Makhan group caught Atwal unaware while he was on his way to his sister’s house and attacked him with sharp-edged weapons. He sustained severe head injuries and was rushed to Jalandhar from where he was referred to the PGI, Chandigarh.

To lodge their protest, family members and friends of the injured today held a protest in front to the Civil Hospital. Raising slogans against the police and the hospital authorities, the protesters demanded action against the suspects. Reinforcement was called in from all across the district and cops with anti-riot gear were deployed in and around the Civil Hospital.

SSP Ram Singh visited the spot and reviewed the situation. He, however, denied that it was a gang war. But it was group rivalry, he added.

DSP Bahadur Singh said the victims were not in a condition to give statements, so FIR was registered as yet in both the incidents.

The vehicular traffic was disrupted for hours and shopkeepers pulled down the shutters of their establishments following the incident.