• 10,000 acres in 24 villages under water

• Warning of heavy rain in 48 hours

Most parts still await it
Jalandhar, July 5
About 60 per cent of area in the state is still waiting for the monsoon, which is confined only to areas near the Shivalik foothills.

Chandigarh, July 5
Punjab witnessed a near total bandh today in protest against the hike in fuel charges with commercial establishments remaining closed and teaching in educational institutions being severely affected. The BJP-led NDA and left parties’ bandh was, however, partial but peaceful in Mohali.

According to reports reaching here, commercial establishments were closed in most parts of the state as both SAD and BJP chose to participate in it. At some places, DCs ordered buses to go off the roads as a precautionary measure to ensure anti-social elements did not damage them. This severely affected teaching in schools and colleges.

SAD and the BJP held demonstrations throughout the state and also blocked traffic at some places, affecting vehicular movement. The train movement was also affected in Patiala with Akali activists squatting on the tracks at the Patiala railway station.

In Ludhiana, the bandh was near total. SAD-BJP activists forced closure of all shops in the morning. Jails Minister Hira Singh Gabria led activists in parts of the city, appealing to shopkeepers to down shutters. Many school managements in Ludhiana declared a holiday today.

Government offices functioned but with thin public attendance. Banks and petrol stations remained opened. Private buses remained off roads but the PRTC and the Punjab roadways plied.

In Moga and Faridkot, shops and business establishments remained closed throughout the day. Buses remained off the roads causing hardships to the daily commuters. Rail traffic was also hit in the region. Activists of left parties and the SAD-BJP carried out protests in Moga town. They also protested on the national highway and blocked the traffic for few hours.

In Patiala too, most commercial establishments remained closed. Except some stray incidents of forcible closure of ATMs and shops in Tripri, no untoward incident occurred. Activists of the Akali Dal Swatantar, led by its president Paramjeet Singh Saholi, halted the train movement for sometime as they sat on the railway track at the Patiala railway Station.

Akali Dal Longowal Youth Wing president Ranjit Singh Nikra, along with his supporters, held a protest demonstration at the bus stand and disrupted the movement of buses. As per the reports, some protesters vandalised an ATM in Tripri. SAD also staged a protest under the leadership of its general secretary Prem Singh Chandumajra at Gurudwara Dukhniwaran Sahib Chowk.

In Gurdaspur also, the bandh was complete. Attendence in schools and colleges was negligible with the district administration ordering buses off roads as a precautionary measure. There was a heavy police bandobast in the town.

Earlier in the morning, BJP activists went around the town and forced shopkeepers to down the shutters of their establishments. Later in the afternoon, these activists, led by BJP Gurdaspur district president Rakesh Jyoti burnt an effigy of the Central Government.

In Bathinda, agitators, led by Bathinda Improvement Trust chairman Mohan Lal Garg and SAD leader Sarup Chand Singla, took out a protest march in the city markets and forced their closure. Public as well private transport services remained suspended as the protesters did not allow buses to ply on the roads. Reports said buses that had moved on their routes in the morning were pulled off the road midway with owners fearing trouble.

In Bassi Pathana, SAD-BJP workers blocked traffic on the Bassi-Chandigarh road. Later they organised a dharna on the main Bassi Chandigarh Road and blocked traffic for some time.

(Inputs from Kanchan Vasdev, Kulwinder Sandhu, Umesh Dewan, Ravi Dhaliwal, Rajay Deep and Surinder Bhardwaj).

Badha (Fazilka), July 5
Justifying the demand made by the SAD-BJP government about the payment of royalty on its river waters from its neighbouring states, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today said before Independence, the ruler of Bikaner state used to pay royalty to Punjab for river waters usage.

Sukhbir told this to mediapersons while visiting the bereaved families of former MP Zora Singh Mann, who died on June 27 due to heart attack in New Delhi, at Chak Suhelewala village and CRPF jawan Jarnail Singh of Badha village.

Jarnail Singh had died fighting Maoists in Chhattisgarh a few days ago. Sukhbir said the state government was demanding its dues for the past many decades.

Sukhbir handed over a cheque for Rs 2 lakh to Jarnail Singh’s family and promised a job for his adopted son.

A school hall and village road would be named after the name of the martyr. A gate in the name of martyr Jarnail Singh would also be constructed, he announced.

Talking to mediapersons at Chak Suhelewala village, Sukhbir said the “Bharat Bandh” call, given by the NDA, was a democratic protest against the anti-people policies of Congress-led UPA government at the Centre.

He claimed that the successive Congress-led governments at the Centre had been trying to snatch away the right to live from the people by not controlling the rising prices. “Not only this, Punjab has been suffering in all spheres on account of step-motherly treatment meted out to it by the Congress government at the Centre,” he alleged, adding that the Union government must take corrective steps to bring the prices of essential commodities down, and to give those things to Punjab, which had been denied to it for the past many decades.

When asked about his statement on the ban imposed on sand quarrying by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, he said he had asked the Chief Secretary to do the needful so that the prices of sand and stone in the state could be brought under control.

Sukhbir regretted that he could not attend the bhog ceremony of Zora Singh Mann yesterday as his flight could not land at Chak Suhelewala village due to bad weather. 

Chandigarh, July 5
Caught unaware of the sudden downpour and flooding in many towns and cities of the state, the Punjab Government has been woken up with a jolt by a breach in the Samrala Canal that has inundated over 10,000 acres of land in the vicinity of the tehsil headquarters. Normal life in the state has been disrupted since yesterday with the monsoon-like showers exposing the appalling drainage mechanisms.

The Meterological Department announced that the south-west monsoon had finally arrived in the northern states, including Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

Senior official of the department Chatar Singh Malik told The Tribune that the region could receive heavy rain over the next two days. Dera Bassi was among the towns that received torrential rain yesterday with the department recording 145 mm. Mohali recorded 110 mm followed by Ludhiana (66.6 mm), Ropar (66 mm), Patiala (46.8 mm) and Jalandhar (30 mm).

A huge breach in the Samrala Canal has exposed chinks in claims of the Punjab Irrigation Department about fully being prepared for floods. A little work appears to have been done for flood control, except the issue of instructions on papers. According to officials, over 10,000 acres of cultivated land had been flooded in nearly 24 villages in the Samrala, Machhiwara and Kumkalan areas.

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal will personally do an aerial survey of the area and meet farmers to ascertain the damage. He has, meanwhile, ordered a special girdwari to assess the loss to farm land, houses and lives. Reports at the state headquarters said the embankments of the canal had not been fortified keeping in mind the increased pressure from rains. With farmers closing regular outlets on account of paddy sowing, the pressure further increased leading to the breach.

He has asked state Chief Secretary CS Aggarwal to personally supervise rescue and relief measures. According to an official spokesperson, the breach had been plugged. But at the same time, the state government has come to a virtual halt after Sukhbir asked the Chief Secretary to send out letters to all DCs asking them to seek help of the local police in identifying areas along the canals in their districts that are vulnerable to breaches.

Meanwhile, efforts are being made to pump out water from waterlogged villages to take marooned villagers to safe spots. Sukhbir has ordered that residents of waterlogged houses should be immediately shifted to the nearest safe location and arrangements be also made to provide green fodder to the domestic animals. Teams of the Health And Veterinary Department have been asked to ensure prevention of any disease.

Jalandhar, July 5
About 60 per cent of area in the state is still waiting for the monsoon, which is confined only to areas near the Shivalik foothills.

As per official reports, there has been no rainfall in Ferozepur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur, Bathinda, Moga, Muktsar, Jalandhar, Phagwara and Kapurthala during the past 48 hours. However, there are reports of good and heavy rainfall in the Samrala, Nabha, Rajpura, Patiala, Amloh and Morinda areas. The Nabha area recorded maximum rainfall of 145 mm, whereas Rajpura recorded 125mm.

“The Monsoon is yet to reach the Malwa region and other parts of the state. However, there has been a good rainfall in the Fatehgarh-Samrala zone”, said Balwinder Singh Sidhu, Director (Agriculture).

“I have received reports of light rain from Garhshankar, Dasuya and Ludhiana. Besides, reports of light to moderate rain have come from Samana, Patran, Mansa, Maur, Barnala, Sangrur and Rampuraphul,” he added.

The transplantation of common varieties of paddy has been going fast. Till date, it has been planted in 20 lakh hectares and about 2 lakh hectares is expected to be covered more under common varieties in the next few days. The transplantation of basmati varieties, which are also known as superfine varieties and sown late, has begun.

From the ongoing trend, it appears that the area under basmati varieties would go up to 5 lakh hectares this year in the state, which has fixed a target to cover 27 lakh hectares under paddy this year against the last year’s figure of 28.50 lakh hectares.

Apprehending shortage of power and water, the state government has appealed to farmers to reduce area under paddy by 1.50 lakh hectares and to increase area under cotton, sugarcane and maize.

“To some extent, farmers have responded to our appeal. They have increased area under cotton by 20,000 hectares and also under sugarcane crop,” said Sidhu.

However, farmers have transplanted PR-120 variety, the sowing of which also has been objected by the state government. It is also high-yielding variety and has almost all properties and characters of the PAU-201.

Kapurthala, July 5
The Bholath police has arrested four Dalits of Surkha village on the charge of attacking policemen. On the contrary, the Pendu Mazdoor Union (PMU) alleged that they had been falsely implicated in the case.

A delegation led by PMU district secretary Kashmir Ghugshor met SSP Ram Singh, who marked an inquiry into the case to Bholath DSP Mohinder Singh. The SSP said he had asked the DSP to submit his report within a week.

Earlier, Ghugshor alleged that the police picked up Tarsem, his son Sukhdev Singh alias Bunty, Balbir Singh and Joginder Singh of Surkha village on Saturday evening. However, when the PMU brought the matter into the notice of high officials, an FIR under Section 353 of the IPC was registered against them on Sunday.

Ghugshor said some relatives of a widow involved in illicit liquor trade attacked some Dalits a few days back as the latter had brought the matter of the trade to the notice of the officials concerned. One of the wounded Dalits, Lakhbir Kala, was admitted to a Bholath hospital.

When the matter was reported to the Bholath police, it caught one of the attackers but later released him without taking any action. He further alleged the attackers again targeted the Dalits after his release on Saturday. At this, the matter was again reported to the police.

Subsequently, the SHO reached Surkha village but instead of taking action against the attackers, he tried to take two Dalits with him, Ghugshor alleged, adding that when the Dalits protested, the police beat them up and did not spare Tarsem’s young daughter Sarabjeet Kaur.

Denying the allegations, SHO Gurwinder Singh said the Dalits had attacked the policemen in his presence.

Moga, July 5
Contrary to the policy guidelines framed by the Punjab government, the district administration, particularly the police and the health department, has adopted an insensitive attitude towards the illegal detention of 24 youths, who have been lying in the lock-up of an unauthorised drug de-addiction centre, run by a local society at Ghal Kalan village in Moga district.

Instead of taking legal action for violation of the new policy of the state government against the persons who are running this centre, the district administration has rather given protection to them under political pressure of the local SAD leaders.

Chief Medical Officer Kulwant Singh admitted that the centre was running illegally without the permission of the government and there were no qualified doctors in the centre but refused to take any action, saying that he “does not have the powers to shut down the centre, rescue the youths and take legal action” even as the health department and social welfare departments had been authorized by the state government to look into the functioning of these centres.

SSP Sneh Deep Sharma said he would take action if the CMO gave him the report that the centre was running illegally. The CMO, after getting an on-the-spot inquiry conducted by SMO of Daroli Bhai Surjit Singh Gill, has so far not submitted his report to the senior civil and police officers of the district administration.

SDM of Moga subdivision HS Sandhu said he would apprise the district magistrate of all facts and seek directions from him whether to take any legal action or not.

The Tribune, in a news report carried in these columns last month, had highlighted the plight of these youths kept in illegal confinement.

So far, only one youth, identified as Barjinder Singh, has been released from the centre on the directions of Dalip Singh Pandhi, member of the Punjab State Commission for Scheduled Castes.

Rest all of them have been kept under the 24-hour CCTV camera observation in total violation of human rights and breach of privacy.

Investigations made by The Tribune had revealed that at least two youths had died in this illegal centre during the past two years and the incidents were not reported to the police.

Chandigarh, July 5
Punjab Agriculture Minister Suchha Singh Langah is in the midst of a controversy with his personal assistant (PA) leaving behind a suicide note, saying that the minister was behind harassment being meted out to him before disappearing near the Narwana branch of the Bhakra canal near Naggal in Ambala district.

Langah’s personal assistant Harbans Lal, who is a resident of Pathan Majra in Ambala district, had come home on July 2. He had not been traceable since then. According to a police complaint registered at the Naggal police station, Harbans Lal’s brother Kashmiri Lal has claimed that his brother had gone on a bicycle on the night of July 2 and was not seen thereafter.

Kashmiri Lal told the police that the bicycle as well as Harbans Lal’s shoes was found near the Narwana branch of the Bhakra canal indicating that the assistant could have committed suicide.

Kashmiri Lal has also handed out a suicide note which, he claimed, had been written by Harbans Lal. In the note, the assistant says that a bank manager of Amloh in Fatehgarh Sahib was harassing him at the instance of the minister. The note claimed that the assistant was forced to take this extreme step as he could not bear the harassment any longer.

Naggal SHO Ajaib Singh said it was not clear yet as to whether there was any dispute over money in the case. He said the police had not started any verification in this regard as it was still trying to recover the body. He said divers had been pressed into service.

Ropar, July 5
According to sources, the passport of German national Thomas Keuhen, who was arrested for spying in Nangal, has been used twice for flying to Nepal.

Disclosure came forth while the police raided the house of Russian national Olga Timoshik, an alleged accomplice of Thomas, in Jaipur. Ropar SSP LK Yadav said the police had got incriminating evidences proving that twice tickets for Kathmandu were bought on his (Thomas) passport from Jet Light India office in Jaipur. The first ticket was for June 18, 2008, (flight No. S2501) whereas another was for July 4, 2008, (flight No. S2501).

“We also found that his passport was used at Nepal border on July 4, 2008. We have now written to the Jaipur-based Jet Light office to verify further details, including who bought the ticket and whether someone actually travelled on these. If no one has travelled, then were the same cancelled,” he added.

Earlier, Thomas told the police that Olga had taken his passport for renewal but never returned. But the police seized some documents at Olga’s house and found that she was a manager in a Hong Kong-based company. Preliminary investigations, however, said the afore-said company seemed to exist only on papers.

The police said Olga had claimed that she was a photographer working for a jewellery firm and magazine. She had never revealed that she worked with a company in Hong Kong.

Despite repeated instructions, Olga has not provided details of the Trade Bank Account. The police said Olga made most transactions to this account through Internet.

Meanwhile, Anandpur Sahib court today rejected her bail plea. Olga is undergoing a judicial remand from July 4 to July 15.

Chandigarh, July 5
Orders of the Ludhiana District and Sessions Judge, declining the plea of Punjab former additional Advocate-General Harpreet Sandhu on issuance of a no objection certificate for renewal of passport, has failed to find the favour from Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Justice Nirmaljit Kaur has set aside the order dated May 5 and directed the court concerned to “grant no objection certificate to the petitioner for getting his passport renewed”.

Justice Nirmaljit Kaur observed: “The petitioner had moved an application, dated April 22, before the Ludhiana Sessions Judge seeking the no objection certificate for renewal of his passport. The necessity arose as one of the conditions in the application form for renewal of the passport was that in case any criminal proceedings are pending before a court in India, the NOC has to be attached.”

The Vigilance Bureau took Sandhu into custody soon after formation of the SAD-BJP government in the State in a case allegedly involving Punjab’s former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh. Sandhu has all along been claiming implication due to political vendetta.

In his petition, Sandhu contended that he was to visit France from July 27 to August 8 to understand the functioning of the criminal courts in Paris as a part of his research work. In fact, he had received an invitation by the “Cour De Cassation” stating that “Gerard Palisse, judge from the criminal chamber of the court of Cassation shall receive him”.

Justice Nirmaljit Kaur added: “It is brought to the court’s notice that in response to the application, a short reply was filed by the DSP, Ludhiana Vigilance Bureau, before the court stating that there is an apprehension that after getting the passport renewed the petitioner may go abroad and shall not return to India, which would affect the case….

“It is not denied that Sandhu, had earlier been granted liberty by the Ludhiana Judge, vide order dated October 16, 2009, to go to Germany for getting his book released and to participate in a seminar. It is submitted he returned within time and reported before the trial court. Also, the petitioner never misused the concession of bail and has been regularly appearing in the court. Thus, I find no justification in refusing to grant NOC to the petitioner.”

Ropar, July 5
The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) general secretary, Rampal Dhaipi, has approached Rajya Sabha MP Ambika Soni, seeking declaration of Malwa as a cancer zone.

Dhaipi, who is also the vice-chairperson of the Punjab State Tubewell Corporation, has sent a report to Soni seeking the earliest free cancer treatment facility and intervention for needy patients in this belt.

It is learnt that Soni has asserted to take up the matter with Union Minister for Environment Jairam Ramesh and Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Dhaipi reasoned that daily two to three persons were dying of cancer in Malwa, which pegs the figure at about 63 cancer deaths per month. “Sadly, Malwa belt has fallen victim to cancer due to excessive use of chemicals for farming and poor quality of sub soil. Our (illiterate) people do not have access to quality medical facilities and do not have even an iota of idea of preventive measures,” Dhaipi added.

Demanding a modern cancer research and medical treatment institute laced with latest diagnostic facilities for Malwa, he said: “We need to have mobile cancer-detecting vans, which should be equipped with latest technology and adequate medicos. It can help in detecting cancer at an early stage.”

It has been suggested that the mobile vans be taken under the wings of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and people should be insured against this disease.

“Emphasising on the treatment alone will do no good unless the government does not identify the major cause that has spread cancer like an epidemic. Studies have pointed out that huge amount of depleted uranium traces has been found in Malwa. The government should work on it in a consolidated manner to deal with the situation,” he said.

Dhaipi had earlier also written to Minister for Water Resources Pawan Kumar Bansal, following which he had sent a team that collected ground water samples.

Patiala, July 5
The PSEB Engineers’ Association has decided to launch an agitation against the failure of the State and the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (Powercom) management to fulfil assurances given by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal during the time of unbundling of the Punjab State Electricity Board.

Association president HS Bedi said the action plan would be announced soon.

Bedi said: “Before restructuring the PSEB, Badal assured the engineers /employees that their services and pension benefits would be protected in the new set up. They were told that a tripartite agreement between the State, management of companies and the association would be immediately signed after the Cabinet decides to unbundle the board, as has been done in all other states.”

Bedi rued that even after nearly three months, the process has not begun. He said the HP Government, which started this process last month, had not only signed the agreement but got the transfer scheme notification approved too, assuring common seniority, no further unbundling of corporations and guarantee for salary/pension.

Association general secretary Bhupinder Singh said the tripartite agreement was of paramount importance since financial status of the State and the board’s successor companies was bad. “The board had utilised over Rs 1,800 crore from the Employees’ Provident Fund and the State had neither created a statutory fund/trust nor has extended any solemn guarantee for payment of retirement benefits or provident fund withdrawal,” he added.

Chandigarh, July 5
Just over a month after the Punjab and Haryana High Court took suo motu cognisance of a news report “After DLF, Omaxe wants panchayat land on lease” published in these columns, at least 10 panchayats have denied being approached by DLF Homes Limited “or any such company” for developing a golf course on the panchayat land.

In replies placed before the Division Bench of Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Ajay Tewari, almost all the panchayats have added that no such resolution was also passed.

In one of the written statements, the panchayat of Devinagar Bharonjian said: “Neither DLF Homes Limited nor any such company has ever approached the panchayat for leasing panchayat land for developing a golf course on the panchayat land or for any other purpose.”

“Moreover, no resolution has been passed by the panchayat in favour of the company or any other company to give panchayat land on lease”.

Other gram panchayats taking similar stand are Dhanora, Bancepur, Masatgarh, Mullanpur Garibdas, Togan, Ratwara, Milkh, Chahar Majra and Tira.

The high court had earlier directed that “till further orders, no land belonging to panchayats shall be given on lease to private companies and lease if reached will not be put to operation till further direction from this court”.

Justice Ranjit Singh had ruled in the suo motu order, “Lease of the panchayat land for setting up a golf course certainly will not advance the cause of farmers and some considerations have gone to some pockets.”

In his detailed three-page order, Justice Ranjit Singh observed: “At stake is a huge chunk of the panchayat land - 230 acres - which has been doled out to the DLF under the garb of lease and ultimately may turn out to be a permanent transfer. Private real estate companies will be able to grab this valuable land without spending a penny. Who will not be interested in such benevolence?

“Members of the panchayat and the farming community may not even be in a position to buy a golf stick, what to talk of golf set. What public purpose will be achieved in leasing this land to the private builders who have vast resources to buy land on the periphery of Chandigarh?”

Chandigarh, July 5
The Punjab’s Jail Reform Committee, headed by Justice Amar Dutt, has asserted the security equipment in the state prisons was outdated.

In an interim report placed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s Division Bench of Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Ajay Tewari, the committee asserted: “The weapons in jails are outdated and would be of hardly any help. The security in the Punjab jails needs immediate attention. Security must be beefed up in jails, which house people in conflict with the law”, Justice Dutt’s report adds.

The HC had constituted the committee last year for suggesting measures to improve the conditions of jails. It had submitted the internal report on the same, which was taken up by the Division Bench today. The report said the staff was not trained to handle latest riot-control equipment. The jail staff, otherwise, was predominantly equipped with musket and a mussle-loading gun, first used in 1912 and weaned out by the Army before 1942.

Other weapon in use were .303 rifle first used before the World War II and is no longer in use. Single sten-gun being used had also been replaced , the report said.

The committee recommended immediate replacement of musket and 303 by 5.56 SLR as these were easy to handle. Also, 7.62 SLR, carbines or AK 47 should be provided; and suggested introduction of rubber bullets in the jails.

The metal detectors in all 27 jails were found to be non -functional and dumped in stores. The hand held metal detectors could also be used effectively, not only for checking arms, but also the mobile phone chips, the report suggested.

The report said during previous visits to Patiala and Ludhiana central jails, sewerage were blocked. The committee expressed desirability of getting the blockage removed on priority.