Abohar, November 1
Even when the Punjab Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Department and the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board have failed to ensure supply of even contaminated water for drinking and bathing to more than four lakh residents of Abohar sub-division, the irrigation department is contemplating to extend suspension of water supply in the canals here by another 10 days, well-placed sources indicated on Sunday.

The canals were initially closed on October 19 since the department planned to remove silt using NREGA funds till November 5. The project was aimed at improving availability of water to the villages that are located at the tail-end bordering Rajasthan.

As per the information gathered by this correspondent from different sources, the authorities were yet to exhaust the funds received from the Central Government for works under NREGS during the last financial year. Regretfully, de-silting was again wrongly planned.

The Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) had recommended that wheat should be sown during October 15 to November 15 but the authorities chose this very period for keeping the canals closed, rue most of the progressive farmers including Tejwinder Singh Aulakh, former sarpanch of village Kallarkhera, Bhupinder Singh Tikka of Panniwala Mahla and Jaswant Singh sarpanch of Usmankhera village that are located at the tail-ends.

They said cotton growers had earlier suffered losses to the tune of 40 per cent in production as the state government could not ensure water supply for irrigation. Kinnow fruit is at ripening stage now but scarcity of water was resulting in dropping. “Last time too, the farmers had to generate contributory funds to get silt removed from the canals besides offering man power but we cannot afford it every time, another affected farmer Purshotam Singh said adding that the farmers had apprised the deputy commissioner of this grim situation when he recently visited the villages along with officers of panchayat and irrigation officials.

The officials in the irrigation department claimed that they had requested the block development and panchayat officers through official communications to make sufficient NREGA job cardholders available for the de-silting project explaining that 25000 man-power-days were needed to finish the task by November 5, beginning October 19.

The officers ignored the fact that daily wage earners would these days prefer plucking of cotton that gives them minimum of Rs 150 daily against Rs 129 offered under the NREGS. Those assisting the masons in construction work in public sector were getting Rs 160 per day.

The authorities have not explored the provision of using a part of NREGS funds for deploying JCB machines to fasten the work. A visit to the works show four women were involved to take out just one utensil of silt at present

In Abohar, people were found wondering to fetch water that was today supplied after 48 hours gap at about 1 am only to some of the localities. A newly-wed Vishu Munjal in Nai Abadi was among those who felt dismayed. Experts in the irrigation department concede on condition of anonymity de-silting may not be completed at ongoing pace even if canals are closed for two months. 

Mansa, November 1
Mansa police today claimed to have busted a racket of fake and duplicate documents including vehicles, driving licences and stamps of various officials while conducting a raid at the chambers of accused in the district courts following a complaint in this regard.

Addressing a press conference here, the SSP Mansa Hardyal Singh Mann said police had busted the racket following the complaint lodged by Rakesh Kumar, son of Kawar Sain, a resident of Rajpura district Sirsa, who complained that some persons had done forgery with him regarding transfer of registration certificate of Eicher tractor, which he purchased from Ramphal of Kulrian village.

Police today raided chambers of Vijay Kumar, son of Parkash Chand, a resident of Mansa, Satinder Kumar, son of Lachhman Dass, a resident of Mansa and Tarsem, son of Ganga Singh, a resident of Ghrangna and recovered thousands of registration certificates of different vehicles, false driving licences and false stamps of various officials, SSP informed.

Police had arrested the accused and registered a case against all three under section 420, 465, 467, 468 and 471 of the IPC. Sulakhan Singh SHO Mansa city, who was also present during the press conference, said computers and false documents were recovered from their possession and these were being investigated. 

Moga, November 1
Agriculture department has initiated a drive in the Moga district to educate the small farmers to use wheel hoe for controlling weeds in the crops in a natural way.Dr Jaswinder Singh Brar, Agriculture Development Officer (ADO), while revealing this to The Tribune said this natural way of hoeing the fields not only helps to do away with the use of weedicides but also saves the expenditure on farm inputs and reduces chemical residues in the crops.

He said in the current Rabi season, the wheel hoe could be used in wheat, barley, maize, pulses, oil seed crops and vegetables to control weeds in a natural way.

The wheel hoe a technique gaining popularity worldwide was developed by the Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) Ludhiana in the state a few years back but this simple technique did not become popular among the farming community as compared to the western countries.

Now, keeping in view the big hue and cry being made by the environmentalists and health scientists over the chemical residues in food grains, fodder and other crops in the state, the agriculture department in the district has initiated the drive to educate the farmers to produce uncontaminated/hygienic crops.

“One person can hoe one acre of land in a day with wheel hoe as compared to manual hoeing that requires at least five persons for this purpose,”, Dr Brar said.

The blade at the bottom portion of the wheel hoe helps the farmers to uproot even smallest of the weeds as well as close all the minor cracks developed in black soil tracts.

He further said this technology could help to control ‘gulli danda’ weed in wheat crop, 'it sit' weed in maize and grams, besides, all types of weeds in other crops.

The most interesting character of wheel hoe is that it is easily available in the market at a cost of just Rs 600 made through a simple technique. “It does not require any maintenance and once purchased can be used for years,” the ADO added.

Bathinda, November 1
The Market Committee (MC), Bathinda, today claimed to have unearthed a scam of evading market fee, VAT, Income Tax and rural development funds through fake invoices and K-1 forms. The committee reportedly detected fake transactions amounting to Rs 35 crore.

During the initial investigation, officials have tracked down six agro-firms of Fazilka and Muktsar but it is expected that dozen of firms may come under scanner for running the illegal trade of fake invoices to evade crores of rupees as taxes and other fees.

The officials accused the Rajasthan Trading Company, the Ganesh Trading Company, the Rajdhani Agro Overseas, the Mahaveer Foods, the Mittal Agro Overseas and the Sagarmal Shivratan Agro Company for issuing fake bills of the sale of crops. Initially, fake transactions of about Rs 2.33 crore were discovered, in which the companies evaded market fee of Rs 4.67 lakh, RDF of Rs 4.67 lakh and VAT of Rs 9.34 lakh besides CST and Income Tax.

Soon after detecting the case, Gurteg Singh Jodhpur Romana, chairman of the MC, and secretary Darshan Kumar lodged a police complaint against the firms in question, including a licensed firm. Acting upon the complaint of market committee and Mandi Board officials, the Bathinda police booked two persons, Rattan Nagouri of Muktsar and Naresh Mittal of Fazilka, for running the trade in the name of fake agro-firms.

After a series of raids, the police today arrested Naresh Mittal, who is said to be proprietor of the Mahaveer Foods. A special team, led by SHO Kotwali Gurjeet Singh Romana, recovered a car, some cash and fake documents from the possession of Mittal.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Punjab Mandi Board Ajmer Singh Lakhowal credited district mandi officer Narender Singh Sidhu and his subordinate Vijay Sharma for exposing the scam. He said they detected fake bills of the firms, which did not exist in the records of the Mandi Board. “During investigation, we recovered documents showing fake transactions of about Rs 35 crore. The probe has just started and till the completion, various firms and major transactions worth hundreds of crores are expected to be exposed,” claimed Lakhowal.

Lakhowal said, “There is a possibility that some of our officials would be involved in the illegal trade. No one will be spared as the Chief Minister has given a nod to go ahead.”

Bathinda SSP Ashish Chaudhary said, “As of now, the case is registered under various sections of the IPC. However, if any government official was found to be party to the crime, he would be booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.”

Phus Mandi(Bathinda), November 1
This village is not allowed to indulge in Diwali festivities by the district administration but surely this hamlet, a 10 minute drive from Bathinda and hemmed in from either side by two oil dumps and an army ammunition dump, is leading the way in fighting the scourge of paddy stubble burning.

Unlike other villages in this district where burning paddy stubble has become the rule, this village is turning out an exception. The obedient villagers heed to the requests of the administration, local police and the army officials and do not burn paddy stubble fearing the winds may spread the fire to the nearby dumps resulting in a catastrophe of the first order.

Once the paddy harvesting season arrives, the army officials and the local cops politely remind the villagers about the fact that "they are virtually sitting atop a powder keg and the village could turn into an inferno if paddy stubble is burnt during high velocity winds." The ruralites here may not be erudite enough but at least they do know the consequences, fraught with danger, of burning the stuff and quietly refrain from doing so.

So much so, farmers here are slowly turning away from paddy cultivation and have started more attention to cotton crops. A visit to the village revealed that all the fields adjacent to the army and oil dumps which last year had paddy are now having cotton crop.

Says Manjit Kaur, Sarpanch of the village, "It is a calamity waiting to happen. All it is going to take is a spark. We have been caught between the devil and the deep sea. There is the perennial fear in the villager's minds that our village may go up in flames if the winds take the fire to the dumps. That is precisely the reason why we keep our hands off paddy stubble burning. Also we know about the environmental hazards burning of paddy residue causes. On so many occasions we have requested our neighbouring villages to stay away from burning stubble."

She adds, "In other villagers you can see villagers burning the stuff with gay abandon, caring two hoots about the district administrations repeated warnings. However, we religiously adhere to the administration's caveats and do not burn paddy stubble.

Fearing a disaster, the administration has banned the usage of firecrackers during the Diwali festivities lest one go off in a tangent and bring untold misery on the villagers.

Experts opine that if a spark goes hay wire and touches some combustible material around the dumps the tragedy that will ensue will be of insurmountable proportions.

Muktsar, November 1
The government may have announced various measures to check the menace of paddy stubble burning but environmentalists of the region have questioned the wisdom of implementing such "offensive looking rules" and have rubbished them by saying that "registering criminal cases against offenders is going to take the issue nowhere and more practical measures are the need of the hour."

Farm scientists across the board maintain that booking villagers in criminal cases is not a solution to the problem whose tentacles have now spread deep and wide. The common refrain among environmentalists was that "bringing in special legislations or enacting special laws to deal with the problem, which over the years has assumed gigantic proportions, will be of no value till the farmers themselves are educated on the ill effects of paddy residue burning."

Moreover, the authorities have their hands tied to their backs when it comes to fighting the scourge because as noted environmentalist and state awardee for agriculture, Vikram Ahuja, disclosed, "Burning of paddy straw ironically does not come under the purview of the Air Pollution act 1981. Legal experts are of the view that action can be taken against the erring farmers under the Public Nuisance Act."

Ahuja, who has vast experience in dealing with paddy straw burning, added, "There are four prominent solutions to the vexed issue.

Firstly, the farmers should use Happy Seeder- a post-harvest machine developed by the Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) in collaboration with Australian Centre for International Research (ACIR). In this technology moisture of the pervious crop can be used which results in fuel and water saving. By using the Happy Seeder, nutrient rich straw is allowed to be decomposed gradually and moreover organic matter and friendly pests are conserved."

Ahuja further stated that, "Setting up of bio-mass power plants is also an answer. These plants have super efficient burners which make it possible to recover and utilise every calorie when straw is burnt.

Moreover, energy from agriculture will go back in production of energy for agriculture. This will be a win-win situation for a power deficit state like Punjab." Ahuja added that rice straw can be used to produce urea and at the same time the residue can also be used as cattle fodder.

Shiv Charan Singh Brar, an agriculturist whose work on waterlogging is well known, said, "Rotavators should be provided to farmers on subsidised rates. If the government can give free power to the agricultural sector, why cannot the same government give rotavators to farmers on subsidised rates? A rotavator can prepare the field in a single ploughing session and a major advantage of using a rotavator is that green manure is prepared from waste matter which is far better than chemical fertilisers. Now, the government gives a marginal 25 per cent subsidy to purchase a rotavator. This should be increased to at least 75 per cent."

Ahuja, who also on the Board of Management of Rajasthan Agriculture University, summed up "Force cannot stop farmers from burning stubble. We need to educate them." However, what the authorities are now doing is to forcibly stop farmers from burning the residue, a move which environmentalists say, is "going to take us nowhere."

Bathinda, November 1
After three fresh cases of dengue reported in Bathinda, the health department conducted tests across the city and found dengue larvae at three places — near the Fort, ‘Chutti ka mohalla’ and on the road behind the Rajindra college.

After dengue cases were reported in the city, the health department started testing the family members of the dengue patients as well but the reports were negative. Fogging has also been started in most of the areas in the city to stop the breeding of mosquitoes.

“We have formed 16 teams, comprising two members, and supervisors to create awareness about dengue in the city. Announcements are being made at every nook and corner and people, who have not emptied their water coolers, are being asked to do so as it is a major reason for dengue. Water tanks without lids are also being checked,” said Dr DP Sekhon, district health officer, Bathinda.

“In July, we had started an awareness drive in villages with the help of Panchayats. Villagers respond to such drives well. We made announcements and held seminars on how to prevent dengue,” said Sekhon.

Bathinda, November 1
Over 10 students of the DAV college, Malout, sustained injuries when the bus they were traveling on hit a tree near Balluana village on the Malout-Bathinda highway on Sunday morning.

On receiving the information, volunteers of the Sahara Jan Seva rushed to the spot and shifted the injured to the Civil Hospital, Bathinda. The group of students was reportedly going to Chandigarh on an education trip.

Confirming the details, the Sadar police said the injured did not lodge a complaint against the driver. Moreover, the injured were discharged after receiving first aid.

Chandigarh, November 1
Punjab Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla on Saturday chaired a conference of all civil surgeons of the state and the programme officers of the Health Department. She also reviewed functioning of Jan Aushadi stores in various districts.

Principal secretary (health) Satish Chandra, Managing director PHSC Raji P Srivastava, Director health services SPS Sohal were also present.

During the conference, Chawla along with Chandra reviewed the performance indicators with regard to implementation of various health programmes and activities with the civil surgeons and the state programme officers. Important health issues like promotion of institutional deliveries, maternal and child health services, immunisation, TB control, the PNDT Act, National Rural Health Mission, AIDS Control etc. were discussed.

Chawla emphasised upon the need to check absenteeism of the medical and para-medical staff and asked the officers to initiate stern measures to ensure the presence of staff during duty hours. She further disclosed that the department would celebrate Children’s Day in a noble way by holding special medical check-up camps for the children.

During the conference, civil surgeon, Sangur, GS Nagi, who superannuated yesterday from the Health Department, was honoured by Chawla for his contribution towards providing good health-care services to the people. — TNS

Chandigarh, November 1
General secretary of the SAD and president of the Kisan Wing of the party Balwinder Singh Bhunder said on Saturday that the Centre should stop draining Punjab of its resources through taxes collected by it.

In a statement, Bhunder said the party was in favour of giving not Rs 50 but Rs 100 as bonus to farmers in the state, but first the Centre should ensure that taxes, which the state paid, should stay within the state.

“Farmers feed the entire country and it is our right to demand bonus,” the SAD general secretary said. — TNS

Sriganganagar/Abohar, November 1
Nearly 50 per cent of the raw cotton that was stacked in the open yards attached to the sargin section inside Maruti Nandan cotton ginning factory was damaged in a fire that broke out on Sunday morning.

Shiv Sarda, owner’s relative informed this correspondent that some workers noticed smoke emanating from the sargin section at about 8.30 pm.

Owners and fire brigades were immediately informed besides exploring the available resources to control the fire. Fire tenders from the Nagrik Suraksha unit and municipal council rushed in and it took more than two hours to extinguish the fire.

The loss was estimated at Rs 10 lakh, cause of fire is yet to be ascertained. — OC

Muktsar, November 1
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal expressed grief over the death of Gurnam Singh Sandhu, father of Manjit Singh Barkandi, Muktsar district president of the SAD.

The CM was in town today to attend the bhog ceremony of Gurnam Singh Sandhu held at Tuti Gandi Gurdwara.Badal said Sandhu was the tallest Akali leader in Muktsar district and with his loss the party had suffered “irreparable damage.” 

Abohar, November 1
Realising that a worker, who was not alive has been named as chief organiser for Moga district, the Congress Seva Dal recently quickly revised its list of office-bearers for Punjab. The state chief organiser Rajinder Rasrania informed this correspondent over the phone that Gurmail Likhari will be the district president instead of Surjeet Kumar Brehmi, who had died during the process of clearance of the list by the national headquarters.

Earlier, Mahendra Joshi, chief organiser of the All India Congress Seva Dal on Friday night informed that the Punjab unit had been reorganised. 

Fazilka, November 1
A meeting of the executive committee of the Punjab State Pharmacists' Association presided over by its President Ravinder Luthra was held here today. The meeting took fresh stock of the functioning of the Punjab Pharmacy Council, which has allegedly been in messy affairs for long time.

Besides Luthra, state general secretary GS Sodhi, joint secretary Sunil Datt, organising secretary Chakaur Singh, cashier S. Singla, Ferozepur district unit president S. Kant, chief advisor SS Gill, senior vice-president Jaswinder Singh Patti were present.