Bathinda, December 29
The Bathinda Municipal Corporation (BMC) has finally decided to initiate the demolition of about 100 structures, which come under the purview of the violation of the Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Act 1995.

All such buildings are located on the scheduled roads, namely Bathinda-Goniana road, Bathinda-Dabwali road, Bathinda-Mansa road and Bathinda-Barnala road. Though Bathinda-Malout road is also a scheduled road, the BMC authorities did not find any structure that is illegally constructed on the roadside.

The demolition drive is being launched from December 30, on the basis of the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

It may be mentioned that taking notice of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), the High Court had ordered the state government a few years back to implement the Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Act 1995 to the best possible extent. Meanwhile, it was ordered to raze down all buildings illegally constructed on the scheduled roads by July, 2008, throughout the state.

Due to various causes, including public resentment and political pressure, the state government kept urging for some relaxation in the period, which is reportedly going to end by December 31.

Sources informed that now the BMC has to submit its progress report on the issue to the HC through some senior officials of the local bodies on December 31.

Keeping this in mind, the BMC had passed verbal orders to all alleged violators. Meanwhile, the administration had constituted a four-member committee to give all violators one more chance to give their version against the demolition.

The hearing committee held a meeting at the BMC complex, here today. According to the procured details, out of the 119 short-listed buildings, owners of 79 buildings did not even turn up. As many as nine persons assured the BMC of demolishing their structure on their own. For 19 sites, where the BMC authorities, reportedly, did not visit personally, teams had been sent to verify the spots.

Among the rest, two cases had been given relaxation from demolition by the higher authorities, while six cases were stayed by the HC and four were 'mistakenly' included in the list, which were out of the purview of demolition process.

To start with, on December 30, the BMC authorities have opted for the Bathinda-Mansa road on a priority basis, where about 15 buildings are said to have been illegally constructed after 1995.

Confirming the facts, BMC Commissioner Ravi Bhagat said, “We had urged the violators a number of times to abide by the Act but found them to be stubborn. Now after completing all legal formalities, we will start razing illegal buildings to the ground from tomorrow.”

Bathinda, December 29
The outgoing year 2009 started on a promising note with many prestigious development projects being initiated but unfortunately most of them got stuck lending credence to the saying that well begun is only half done.

If one goes by the facts, among others, a five-star hotel, international cricket stadium, multi-storey bus stand and ring road in Bathinda as well as a flying academy, sports academy and cultural centre at Talwandi Sabo, Dhelwan canal distributary are among projects, which will still take years to see the light of the day.

Though the ruling Badals, well-known for their penchant to lay foundation stones, slowed down a bit in 2009 compared to the previous year, when they hit the century in laying stones. Still they installed foundation stones for various projects, worth more than Rs 220 crore, only in Bathinda district, part of Harsimrat Kaur Badal's parliamentary constituency.

According to an official list procured from highly placed sources in the district administration, about 17 foundation stones, which were laid in 2008, kept on waiting throughout the year 2009 but not even a single brick could be laid there.

Besides, the foundation stone of the international cricket stadium was laid in 2007 amid much fanfare. Now, farmers have started grazing their cattle, finding the vacant chunk best suited for their needs.

If we talk about the four foundation stones laid on December 28, 2008, for the sewerage system in colonies across the railway track in Bathinda city (worth Rs 60 crore), the projects are in limbo for want of funds.

Among others, various schools, cooperative banks, widening of roads, urban health centres, storm sewerage projects, installation of power grid, police station (sadar) are projects for which the ruling Badals laid stones but as of now work could not be started.

In Bathinda, for the 20 foundation stones laid for projects worth Rs 321.68 crore, district officials have been giving the excuse of either fund scarcity or pendancy of approval for not starting the work.

It has also been informed that the tender for the build, operate and transfer (BOT) the multi-storey bus stand was once allotted but due to some revenue sharing dispute, the company dropped the project. Meanwhile, the company, which took the contract for the 5-star hotel, is also dilly-dallying as the officials are stating that they would wait for the refinery and cricket stadium to come up, before starting construction.

However, the district administration has enlisted 40 projects related to water supply, drug de-addiction cemtre, sewerage, power sub-station, mini-secretariat, dairy development scheme, road metalling, police stations and multi specialty cancer hospital (total worth about Rs 200 crore), as the ongoing development projects.

Though the pace is said to be slow, the administration is hopeful that most of them will be completed in 2010.

If we speak about the total number of projects for which the Badal family had laid foundation stones in Bathinda, since the year 2008, there were about 105 works, worth Rs 143 crore, which got completed till date. It may be mentioned that of these, most were related to the installation of RO system and road, water channel renovations, etc.

Bathinda, December 29
The Bathinda Municipal Corporation (BMC) today witnessed a high voltage drama, when a former SAD minister, who is also a senior vice-president of the party, humiliated the senior deputy mayor and the deputy mayor in public using derogatory language. Both high-ranking civic officials are affiliated to the BJP.

Irked, both senior deputy mayor Tarsem Chand Goyal and deputy mayor Gurwinder Pal Kaur Mangat said they will take up the matter at the party level.

A fuming Charanji Lal Garg, the SAD leader in question, also indulged in a verbal duel with the SAD (B) constituency in-charge Sarup Chand Singla who reached there after receiving the information.

The situation was about to go from bad to worse as Garg and Singla, both unwilling to relent, were about to enter into a scuffle but the assembled crowd prevented them from exchanging blows.

Narrating their plight to the media, Tarsem Goyal and Gurwinder Mangat accused Charanji Lal Garg, on his face, of creating ruckus and preventing them from doing their official duty.

They alleged that a special committee, comprising four members, including both of them, was hearing the plea of some persons, whose illegally constructed buildings were to be demolished on December 30 but Charanji Lal kept interfering in the matter.

Things turned unpleasant when Tarsem Goyal objected to frequent interruption by Garg and in retaliation, Charanji Lal started using unparliamentary language.

Tarsem Goyal alleged that Charanji Lal Garg said: “Chup kar oye, tu dukki da banda nahi, mere naal panga naa lai, main ex-minister vi haan te naale advocate vi.” (Shut your mouth as you have no status in front of me. Don't dare to mess with me as I am an ex-minister as well as an advocate).

“As it had turned unpleasant, we left the office. We can not tolerate such humiliation, so taking the matter seriously, we will raise it at the state level,” said Gurwinder Mangat.

Meanwhile, accusing Charanji Lal of using abusive language, Sarup Chand Singla said, "Had it not been a public place, I would have shown him what he deserved for using such words."

On the other hand, Charanji Lal Garg refuted the allegation of using derogatory language, adding that he was representing the commoners whose buildings were about to be demolished, but some people did not tolerate it.

Lashing out at Sarup Chand Singla, he said, "I do not regard him as fit for the post he is adorning."

Bathinda, December 29
A camp of NSS unit of the SSD Senior Secondary School, Bathinda, was organised on the school premises. It concluded today.

Nearly 50 volunteers and four teachers participated in the camp during which students were taught discipline, co-operation, hard work and social service.

Vice-principal of the school, Rattan Sharma, presided over the closing ceremony. Assistant director youth services, Bathinda , Jaswant Singh, was the chief guest on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Jaswant Singh asked the students to follow the holy path of pity, mercy, love and co-operation laid by Swami Vivekanand and other preachers of the country.

Students presented a cultural programme to mark the occasion. 

Bathinda, December 29
A major fire coupled with a deafening blast took place at Unit No. III of the Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant (GNDTP), here late on Tuesday night, causing the Unit no. III and IV of the plant to shut down.

According to information, the blast took place at around 10 pm in the oil-filled generator transformer of unit III, which has a capacity of 125 MVA resulting in nearly 100-feet high flames. No casualty was reported till the filing of the news.

Senior civil and police officials reached the spot.

Immediately after the blast, the thermal authorities besides deploying their own fire extinguishers, called fire tenders from the Bathnda Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Guru Hargobing Thermal plant (GHTP), Lehra Mohabbat.

As many as five tenders took about 45 minutes to douse the flames.

Although the fire broke out at unit number three, the thermal authorities also shut down the unit number IV as a preventive measure.

Despite repeated efforts, senior officials of the GNDTP including the chief engineer, Kamaljit Singh, could not be contacted.

However, the SDM, Bathinda, KPS Mahi, who was also on the spot, said, “We asked the thermal authorities about the reason for the outbreak of such a huge fire but they expressed their inability saying it would be detected only after launching a probe on Wednesday.”

Bathinda, December 29
Swine flu claimed another life in the region as a 32-year-old patient, a resident of Faridkot district, died at Bathinda Civil Hospital today in morning.

According to details collected, the deceased Manjit Singh of Gumti Khurd village in Faridkot, was admitted to the Civil Hospital, Bathinda, late on Monday night. He was admitted to the isolation ward and his swab samples were sent to the PGIMER.

He succumbed to the disease this morning and the district health authorities informed about the incident to their counterparts at Faridkot.

Sources said that Manjit was working as a tractor driver with the family of a police officer posted at the district courts, Bathinda. About two days back, he felt uneasiness and got treatment from some doctor in the village Gumti Khurd. Later, finding his health deteriorating, his kin took him to Civil Hospital, Bathinda.

Confirming the details, the district health officer (DHO), Dharampal Singh Sekhon, said that the health department had traced three persons, who were in his contact and recommended precautions to them. Meanwhile, the health department of Faridkot also initiated locating all persons, who had been in his contact.

Despite the best possible efforts of the health department, the deadly virus H1N1 (that causes swine flu) is yet to be controlled.

Sources in the health department said that with the three more persons, the total number of persons, who came in contact with the swine flu patients, reached 234 in Bathinda district.

Meanwhile, with 11 new B-category cases, now 135 persons are being given medical assistance and have been advised isolation.

Ferozepur, December 29
Two new patients suffering from swine flu surfaced today in this border district, which has already witnessed three deaths due to the disease.

Official sources said that two new patients, who had been tested positive for swine flu, were identified as Parminder Singh and Kulwant Singh. Parminder Singh, who had come from Spain and belongs to Ittawali village of this district, had already lost his father Harjit Singh, due to swine flu a few days ago.

Perturbed over the spread of swine flu, the district health authorities today instructed the private practitioners that they must make arrangements to diagnose swine flu patients at the earliest so that they could be given treatment well in time to save their lives.

Ramesh Kumar Sikri, District Health Officer (DHO), while talking to TNS, said that with the these two fresh cases, the number of swine flu patients, identified so far had gone up to ten. He added that out of ten patients, three had lost their lives while the remaining seven were saved due to timely treatment.

He said that in today's meeting held at Jalalabad town, leading private practitioners participated and they were asked not to take any chance by delaying the treatment of swine flu in case any patient showing symptoms of the same visited them.

He claimed that all those swine flu patients, who were admitted to the civil hospital here for treatment, had been saved while those patients, who went to private hospitals, could not survive. He added that this had been happening because of the fact that in local civil hospital, the patients were put on treatment for swine flu without any dela

He said that all the contact persons of those patients, who had died due to swine flu, had already been put on medication to prevent its spread. The contact persons of Parminder Singh and Kulwant Singh, the two new patients, who had already been admitted to the local civil hospital, were also being given medicines. They were being kept under constant watch, Sikri added.

Mansa: One more suspected case of swine flu was today admitted to the civil hospital in Mansa. As per information, Parmajit Kaur, wife of Gulab Singh, a resident of ward number 1 in Mansa has been suffering from fever and cough for the last four days.

She was brought to the civil hospital today and admitted to the isolation ward for treatment. Dr Yashpal said the condition of the patient was stable and treatment is being provided to her. — OC

Mallanwala (Ferozepur), Dec 29
The undying lust to get new mobile phone sets forced two teenagers to kill another teenager after kidnapping him while he was going to the house of the owner of the mobile sets shop, on which he was working, on December 26.

Sukhchain, a teenager, who was kidnapped from Kamalwala Chowk by Aman and Hemant, two teenagers of this town, was killed later on when the accused threw Sukhchain into the link canal originating from Gurditawala head located near the originating points of Sirhind feeder and Rajasthan feeder from Hari Ke headworks.

Police sources said that the murder of Sukhchain came to light only when the divers were pressed into service and they managed to find out the cap used by the deceased.

Palwinder Singh, SHO, local police station, when contacted, said that efforts were on to arrest the accused at the earliest so that the dead body of Sukhchain could be recovered.

He added that Sukhchain Singh was kidnapped when he was going to the house of his owner Rohit Sethi from the shop to hand over the bag containing new mobile sets. The accused, who were riding on a motorcycle, offered lift to Sukhchain Singh on the pretext that they would drop him at the house of Sethi.

Not suspecting any foul play, Sukhchain Singh, who was known to Aman Kumar, also sat on the motorcycle. After that the accused instead of heading towards the house of Sethi, went towards the canal side. After reaching the canal, they killed Sukhchain and threw his dead body into the same and took the bag containing mobile sets from his possession.

He said that a case in this connection had been registered under sections 364 and 34 of the IPC in the local police station and that too on his own complaint. He added that the moment the dead body of Sukhchain was recovered, a new offence under section 302 of IPC for murder would be added in the FIR.

Information gathered by TNS revealed that the accused in this case were identified only when they tried to sell off the mobile sets in the market in Ferozepur town. Why they could not be arrested by the police at that time, could not be known.

Information revealed that Aman, who was running a canteen in the local government school, was once working at the shop of Sethi and was aware of the fact that every day all the mobile sets were being taken to Sethi's house by his employee. Hemant, the other accused, was known to Aman as he (Hemant) had worked with a mobile phone company at Chandigarh.

Ferozepur, December 29
The city has been trying to keep pace with the rapidly changing times. But in terms of real estate development, basic infrastructure, healthcare, education, tourism and industry, a lot has been left to be desired.

Though the real estate has seen tremendous growth in the state, however, it seems to have eluded this town. Till date, no real estate developer has evinced interest in establishing a project here.

Law and order remains another issue of concern. The law enforcing agencies need to crack down on anti-social elements, drug peddlers, gamblers and all those who have been denting the trust of the people. The issue related to drug trafficking needs stringent action as it has plagued this border town. Like before, this year too, contraband worth crores has been seized along the border in this area.

Higher education too demands the attention of both the government and private entrepreneurs. There is a dire need to set up more vocational, technical and IT institutes which can offer job-oriented courses to the local students. The literacy rate still remains one of the poorest in the state.

On tourism and entertainment front, this historic town has been really left behind. Instead of sprawling multiplexes and shopping malls, it has been curtains for the two old cinema halls while the other two are struggling to survive.

On tourism front, there has been hardly any effort notwithstanding several places of architectural and historical importance located in the town. Even the Ferozeshah Anglo-Sikh war museum on the Ferozpur-Moga road reminiscenct of the several wars fought on this land portrays a picture of neglect.

It seems that political leaders have escaped the responsibility of developing this historic border town in a similar fashion, as did the 'Generals' who deserted the brave Sikh soldiers during the Anglo-Sikh war, in whose memory this museum was constructed..

Probably, the likes of the gallant sons of the soil like Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, who were cremated here on the banks of river Sutlej, just 12 kms away from the district headquarters, need to arise to free people from the apathy that hampers the development of this city of martyrs. (Concluded)

Abohar, December 29
The Bhartiya Kisan Union, Ex-Servicemen Welfare Committee and Students Union joined the Technical Services Union (TSU) on Tuesday in staging dharna at the entrance of the divisional office of the PSEB here to express resentment over the suspension of five TSU office-bearers and registration of criminal case against them for giving 'corporal punishment' to SDO Surinder Singh Behal and AAE Jagdev Sokhal.

The leaders from different sub-divisions who addressed the protest rally included Satish Babbar, Anirudh Prasad, Madan Lal, Baldev Singh, Rakesh Jhanjhi, Khetpal Khuyiansarwar, Radha Krishan Khuikhera, Manohar Lal Fazilka, Hari Krishan Ladhuka, divisional secretary Nirmal Singh and circle president Baldev Singh. They submitted a memorandum to the administration for acceptance of demands and warned the agitation would be intensified if demand is not met.

Senior XEN Gurbux Singh, however, said some leaders were trying to mislead the workers for their own vested interests.

All the genuine demands put before the officers had been accepted, he claimed.