Flood Situation Grim
Scarcity of fodder,  fresh vegetables
Chandigarh, July 8
Flooding of fields, low-lying areas, villages and colonies along the embankments of rivers and canals besides scarcity of fodder and fresh vegetables are the problems that are aggravating with the advancement of the south-west monsoon into its second week in Punjab.

COURT

Submit report on Virk case, HC tells Punjab
Chandigarh, July 8
Justice Permod Kohli of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed the State of Punjab to submit status report on investigation in a September 2007 case registered by the Vigilance Bureau against Punjab’s former Director-General of Police Sarbjeet Singh Virk.

Dera Bassi/Mohali, July 8
The recent downpour has taken a heavy toll on the essential services in Mohali district. As the water receded from the flooded areas in Dera Bassi, Lalru, Mohali and Kharar, 40 major and minor link roads in the district have borne the burnt of the gushing rainwater.

Six persons have lost their lives due to the incessant rains in Lalru area. Electricity and water supply in a number of villages has been disrupted in the area for the last two days.

Even today fields were under knee-deep water at Dera Bassi, Lalru and Zirakpur. With the rainwater virtually taking over the area around Jharmeri village, side portions of the Ambala-Chandigarh national highway has also been damaged. The district administration has asked the National Highway Authorities of India (NHAI) to repair the highway at the earliest and take preventive steps like providing more culverts to save the highway from any damages in the future.

Seeing the gravity of the situation, Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur today visited the flood-affected areas in Lalru and assured the residents that the Central Government would provide every possible help to them. She blamed the state government for not cleaning the drains and repairing bundhs for the last three years. She was accompanied by Congress leader Dipender Singh Dhillon, RR Bhardwaj and Aamritpal Singh.

Mohali Deputy Commissioner Prabhjot Singh Mand said there were reports that about 55 villages had suffered maximum damage. Mohali SDM RPS Walia said the situation was under control in the subdivision.

Dera Bassi SDM Puneet Goyal said in Dera Bassi subdivision, Punjab Mandi Board and PWD Department had identified the link roads that had suffered damage. Sections of the Ambala-Jalauli road have been washed away. Others roads that suffered damage were Mubarakpur-Ramgarh, Barwala road, Lalru-Handesra road and Bakanpur-Mubarakpur road.

Similarly, the Kharar-Baur road has been washed away at two places. It might take some more days before the road was opened to traffic. Officials admitted that at number of places in Lalru, Dera Bassi and Zirakpur, encroachments in seasonal rivulets were the cause of flooding.

Meanwhile, Local MLA Jasjit Singh Bunny announced that Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir had approved Rs 1.50 crore for the repair of bundhs on Ghaggar river in Dera Bassi area. He assured that repair work would start in two days.

Fatehgarh Sahib: Water continues to wreak havoc in the district even though it has not rained in the past 24 hours. Water entered residential areas of Bassi Pathana and was seen accumulating in agricultural fields on Chunni-Landran, Bassi Pathana-Morinda roads and also in the areas of Khamano.

As per Agriculture Department officials, nearly 5,000 hectares of recently sown paddy crop, vegetables and green fodder has been affected in the rains.

“Since water got accumulated in the fields for more than 24 hours, paddy crop is completely damaged on nearly 1,000 hectares. Low-lying areas of Bassi Pathana and Khamano areas are worst affected,” said Chief Agriculture Officer Sarabjit Singh Kandhari.

He also stated that blocks of Amloh and Mandi Gobindgarh have witnessed less rain as compared to Bassi Pathana and Sirhind areas. The officials said so far 110 mm rain was witnessed in Fatehgarh Sahib, Bassi Pathana and Amloh areas, which is highest in the last five years.

The officials said farmers had begin paddy transplantation today to cover the remaining 10 per cent area under Basmati 1121 variety. July is most suitable for this variety and many farmers were seen sowing the paddy in their fields today.

Meanwhile, some farmers tried to drain out water from their fields near Bassi Pathana and it entered residential areas near Guga Mari Basti near Bassi Pathana-Sanghol bypass.

Manoj Banda of Bassi Pathana said the farmers had drain out water from their fields through a pipe that has increased the water level in streets.

He rued that though the SDM and tehsildar made rounds of the area, nothing has been done to stop the flow of water from the fields into the residential areas. 

Chandigarh, July 8
Flooding of fields, low-lying areas, villages and colonies along the embankments of rivers and canals besides scarcity of fodder and fresh vegetables are the problems that are aggravating with the advancement of the south-west monsoon into its second week in Punjab.

Hundreds and thousands of passengers have been stranded in different parts of the state because of disruptions in road, rail and air traffic because of inclement weather.

Many in the flood-ravaged areas are apprehensive of epidemics breaking out as teams of doctors and paramedics are yet to reach them to provide them immunity from water-borne diseases.

The situation is alarming not only in parts of Samrala, but also in Patran, Sangrur, Nabha, Dhuri, Samana, Malerkotla, Sunam and Ludhiana where low-lying areas have been inundated in the absence of adequate drainage.

Paddy in hundreds of thousands of acres has been severely damaged by floods. Farmers are agitated as little has been done to provide them relief from the fury of the nature aggravated by apathy and neglect by various government agencies.

“While the whole state is reeling under the fury of unexpected floods, officials of the Drainage Department are nowhere to be seen,” alleges Balbir Singh Rajewal, President of one of the factions of the Bharti Kisan Union.

Simranjit Singh Mann, President, Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), also blames the Revenue Department for its apathy and neglect. “There is a roaster that every year the Financial Commissioner (Revenue) undertakes an extensive tour of the state in January, February, March and April to ensure that all flood-protection machinery is in place. The FCR gets reports from the District Magistrates besides making inspections. But this practice, too, appears to have been discontinued,” adds Mann.

At some places, including Devigarh, paddy fields are knee to waist-deep in water.

Meanwhile, the BKU has also demanded an immediate review of the amount of compensation given to farmers, affected by a natural calamity like floods. According to the existing formula, in case the damage to crops is 75 per cent or above, the permissible compensation is Rs 5,000 per acre. For lesser damage, say 50 per cent and 25 per cent, it comes down to Rs 2,000 an acre. The BKU has, however, demanded a minimum compensation of Rs 30,000 an acre for damage exceeding 75 per cent.

Patiala, July 8
The floods, following the breach at different points in the Ghaggar and SYL, continued to play havoc in hundreds of villages of the district today. Though there are reports of a few people being washed away in water, the district administration has confirmed deaths of only two children by drowning in the Devigarh area of Patiala. Meanwhile, two brothers of Budhmore village (Devigarh), identified as Deepa and Soma, were washed away while saving a child. The divers of a rescue team made attempts to find them but could not.

Struggling for survival, the villagers, trapped in the flood-hit areas, are being rescued by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel, but still thousands of people are facing extreme difficulty on account of there being no food. With fodder stocks getting washed away, the survival of the even cattle is now at God’s mercy.

Patiala IG Paramjit Singh Gill, SSP Ranbir Singh Khattar and Deputy Commissioner Dipinder Singh visited the flood-affected areas of the district. Giving details about the rescue operations, DC Dipinder Singh said as many as 150 personnel from the NDMF had been pressed into rescue operations.

“Led by Assistant Commandant Lokendra Singh, in three teams of 50 each, the NDMF personnel have been deputed in the areas of Nawa Gaon, Sarala (Ghanaur) and Julka (Devigarh) - the worst affected areas,” he told The Tribune, adding that each NDRF team had got eight boats, divers, life jackets, communication facilities and other equipment to deal with any exigency.

The officials added that medical teams had also been stationed in the flood-hit areas. Though the exact estimate of crop damage was yet to be known, as per reports, crops in thousands of acres of land had been submerged in water. A Central Water Commission team is also visiting the area today to review the situation.

Giving details about the present water level in the Ghaggar, he said, “Since there is no rainfall for the past 12 hours, the water level has come down.”

Meanwhile, the president of the Punjab Rural Medical Services Association (RMSA), Dr Aslam Parvez, and adviser JP Narula have urged the rural doctors, who are on a path of agitation, to suspend the protest for the time being and remain stationed in the dispensaries in the rural areas to help the needy. 

Ludhiana, July 8
The receded water in flooded Garhi, Urna, Pal Majra, Neelon, Mushkabad, Dhande villages near Samrala has failed to bring much respite to the villagers as they are still waiting for the promised relief from the administration.

The opening up of nullahs and pullies on the Samrala/ Machchiwara road has helped in pumping out water from the villages, but the move on the part of the government to provide relief is limited to promises. Jaspal Singh and his wife from Urna village pointed towards the unequal distribution of the fodder for cattle by the district administration. Bhajan Singh, a marginal farmer from Pal Majra said he had no intimation of any relief from the administration.

The Ludhiana DC along with officials from the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Water and Sanitation and Local Bodies visited the worst affected villages near Samrala. 

Patiala, July 8
Union Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur today came down heavily on the ruling SAD-BJP combine for the present “disastrous” situation, crop damage, loss of human life and property, due to flash floods in various parts of the district.

Accusing the state government of failing to take steps for the cleansing of the drains before the monsoons, Preneet, who represents Patiala as an MP, rued that even after the flash floods, the relief operations initiated by the Punjab were dissatisfactory.

Accompanied by MLA Dakala Lal Singh, Ghanaur MLA Madan Lal Jalalpur and senior Congress leader Hardyal Kambij, the minister today visited villages falling in Ghanuar including Chapar, Zarikpur, Har Majri, Kapoori, Ballonpur, Nardanpur. She also visited Bolar Kakal, Bossar Kalan, Hooda, Bhulheri, Rohar Jangeer villages of Dakala Assembly constituency besides taking stock of the breach at Ghaggar near Ghanaur.

Later, speaking to The Tribune, Preneet said, “The first casualty of the incessant rain has been the choked drainage system. The drain that comes from Sirhind has not been cleaned for years. Though some six months ago, I had directed that NREGA funds should be utilised in cleaning up of drains but to no avail.” 

Fatehgarh Sahib, July 8
Trainees undergoing the pre-recruitment test at the district Sainik Board voluntarily cleaned the muck in Sirhind choe during the flood-like situation in Fatehgarh Sahib yesterday.

The volunteers undertook the cleaning of the choe as no government official or employees of the Drainage Department were there to clean the seasonal rivulet.

The gushing water overflowed the choe due to a blockade by water hyacinth and muck. The volunteers using ropes and long sticks paved the way for water and set aside the muck and hyacinth.

“Flow of water in the choe got blocked due to illegal construction on the Bassi road and growth of wild grass and shrubs,” said Harnek Singh, a resident.

The residents said the blockade lead to overflowing of water from the choe and they got panicked as it might enter into the urban areas and agricultural fields.

Director of the District Welfare Board Colonel Sudhanshu Kumar Randev (retd) motivated the youth undergoing the pre-recruitment test. The volunteers walked up to 3 km beside the choe to identify the blockade and cleared the path for the water.

Deputy commissioner Yashvir Mahajan appreciated the efforts of the volunteers and announced to honour them here on August 15.

The government officials said the XEN of the Drainage Department, Patiala, was recently given the additional charge of Fatehgarh Sahib, but he was busy looking after the flood-prone areas near Patiala.

Even the XEN of the PWD (B&R) was seen assisting the cleaning of the choe near the district administrative complex.

The officials said the wild growth was growing in front of the district administrative complex, besides the illegal constructions in the bed of the choe for a long time, but no action was initiated in this regard.

Jalandhar, July 8
Preliminary survey conducted by the Drainage Department has revealed that 1,500-acre land of various drains, through which rainwater flows out, is under illegal possession. Besides, hundreds of acres of land of various seasonal nadis, choes and other natural outlets have been encroached by land mafia.

Sources said the reports with regard to the illegal possession on the land of drains and natural outlets of floodwaters were available in the records of the Drainage Department. A few months back, a senior officer of the state government had ordered a survey in this regard and had told the executive engineers concerned to get the illegal possession removed. However, as influential persons back many of those involved in illegal possession, engineers were unable to do much in this regard, except issuing formal notices to get the land vacated.

The issue came to light as Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had promised to get the illegal possession, which obviously impedes the natural flow of the rainwater, removed. During his visit to the flood-affected areas in the Samrala and Patiala area, Sukhbir had admitted that encroaching of the various drains, nadis, choes etc by various gangs has impeded the natural flow of the rainwater that has resulted into flooding of some parts of the state.

The sources said 158-acre land of Model Town Choe, Chotti Nadi, Patiala Nadi, Singewala Choe was in illegal possession in Patiala district alone. At one drain, which used to pass along the Sirhind road, has completely disappeared and hotels, showrooms and other buildings have come up there.

Some parts of Kala Sangia drain in Jalandhar, a part of Chamkaur-Machiwara drain in Ropar district, some portion of Budha Nala in Ludhiana and a part of Chabbal drain and Golewala drain in Amritsar has been encroached.

In fact, influential persons have also encroached even vast portions of various rivers such as Sutlej and grow crops on encroached parts of the riverbeds. Some officers were also said to be involved in such encroachments of riverbeds. One could see crops growing on a part of the bed of the Sutlej, near Machiwara, Gidderpindi, Ludhiana.

The most uncontrolled encroachments of choes and nadis are in Mohali and Ropar districts. Vast portions of beds of nadis and choes near Kharar, Nayagaon, Mohali have been encroached by land mafia. Being close to Chandigarh, the encroached part of these nadis and choes are worth several hundred crores. In a nadi near Kharar, walls and pillars are being raised systematically to encroach its bed, said a former Chief Engineer of the Irrigation Department. 

Patiala, July 8
The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) Officers’ Welfare Association today flayed the alleged misbehaviour with the board SDO Pooja Sharma and assault on her driver by Sudarshan Gosain, son of Punjab Vidhan Sabha Deputy Speaker Sat Pal Gosain on July 5. Sharma had gone for inspecting an industrial unit owned by Sudarshan.

Demanding his immediate arrest, association secretary. Charanjit Singh stated that they would not buckle under pressure and would continue to perform their duties honestly.

Notably, on July 5 Sharma had visited the industrial unit situated in Phase-V, Focal Point area of Ludhiana. Perturbed with the shortcomings pointed out by the officer, Sudarshan allegedly misbehaved with her and also assaulted her driver Karamjit Singh. The board officer has also alleged that Sudarshan snatched her register and other documents and she was kept in illegal confinement for about an hour.

Following the incident, the board officials met top brass of the district police and a case was registered against Sudarshan. Charanjit Singh, while appreciating the courage of the official, said: “It is commendable that despite political connections of the erring industrialist, she did not buckle under pressure.”

He further said the association had convened a meeting to discuss the matter today. “The guilty must be arrested immediately,” he added. 

Chandigarh, July 8
A division has surfaced between petroleum dealers in the state with several of them advocating abstaining from participating in the July 13 call to keep the petrol stations closed. Describing the call for strike as unjustified, a section of petrol pump owners has not only announced to keep their pumps running, but also appealed to others to do the same.

Voicing the concern for the impending hardships to the common man, Raman Kumar a Hindustan Petroleum dealer and member, District Vigilance and Monitoring Committee, Ludhiana, said, “We are strongly opposed to the strike as it is not only unjustified, but will not help anyone”.

He said, “The consumption of diesel in Punjab was almost 10 times more than petrol and diesel in Punjab was among the cheapest in India, while petrol prices in Punjab were the second highest. Contrary to the demand of the dealers, any increase in diesel taxes will cause unbearable burden on farmers, transporters and industrialists”.

Other dealers too say that the octroi on diesel should continue as it is the assured source of income to create and maintain urban infrastructure. Moreover, its removal will cause shift of rural consumers to urban outlets, thereby causing more rural petrol pumps to close down as they are predominantly diesel-selling outlets.

A splinter group of petroleum dealers has questioned the representative nature of the Punjab Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA), saying that this was not the representative body of dealers as most of the new petrol pump owners were not associated with it and many old petroleum dealers had not become members because of vested interest of the PPDA.

Sanjeev Kumar, another dealer, said they hoped that the PPDA would rework and re-engage its dealers to ensure consensus on decisions taken by them. He said some dealers felt that the call for closure of pumps on July 13 was tantamount to disruption of essential services and hence should not happen.

Amritsar, July 8
The fate of the new-born baby is still hanging in balance with the police decided to hand over the child to the Red Cross Society for his upkeep even as the unwed mother showing no remorse for her inhuman act.

Highly placed sources in hospital said the mother of the child had bluntly refused to feed or meet the baby.

“The mother denied feeding the baby when a gynaecologist asked her to do so,” an official in the hospital said.

Meanwhile, Police Commissioner Varinder Kumar said: “I have spoken to the DC in this regard. The child will be handed over to the Red Cross Society under the district-run Pangura (Cradle) scheme.”

The child was abandoned in the toilet of a Turkmenistan Airlines flight arrived at Amritsar international airport yesterday. It was a miraculous escape for the baby boy whose head was stuck in the toilet seat of the aircraft. Doctors at the hospital rescued the child by cutting the seat using electrical cutter.

According to information, the baby was first spotted by the cleaning staff after de-boarding. They immediately informed the crew staff who contacted the airlines’ authorities.

Dr Sushil Mittal, Medical Officer, Airport Authority of India, rushed to the spot with his staff who rescued the child.

Jalandhar, July 8
Taking a serious note of the illegal detention of six persons in the New Baradri police station lock-up, the Punjab State Human Rights Commission (PHRC) has issued a show cause notice to the Jalandhar police commissioner.

The commission has also directed the commissioner to file a report on July 28 after conducting an inquiry into the matter. Commission members Justice Baldev Singh, LR Roojam and KK Bhatnagar - observed that the Jalandhar police did not follow the directions of the apex court on the DK Basu case.

Roojam, a member of the commission, on June 22 morning made a surprise visit to the New Baradri police station and found that the six persons were lodged in the police lock-up and the SHO could not produce any record related to the offence under which they were put behind bars.

Apart from this, he also made observations that a police official was absent from sentry duty, no separate room for female was earmarked and the washrooms/toilets of the police station were filthy.

Considering the surprise visit as a complaint, the commission took a cognizance of this matter and issued directions to the commissioner. 

Malerkotla, July 8
Tension gripped the town today when hundreds of residents protested outside the Civil Hospital after the death of a youth who was crushed by a truck near the hospital.

The protesters were demanding the arrest of truck driver. However, the truck driver escaped from the accident site.

Jalandhar, July 8
The Jalandhar police (rural) claims to have nabbed five members of an inter-state gang of contract killers active in this part of the region after a brief encounter in Kartarpur, near here, yesterday.

Apart from arms and ammunition, the police has also recovered a stolen car from their possession. No casualty was reported on the both sides during the cross firing, which went on for almost an hour, the police claimed.

SSP (Rural) Ashish Chaudhary, talking to mediapersons, claimed that the arrested gangsters include members of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh-based noted gangs and have been identified as Ruchan Kamboj of Karnal, Monu Tyagi of Muzaffarnagar, Gurpreet Singh, Gursewak Singh and Harmesh Kumar from Patiala.

Despite contract killing, the SSP claimed that the gang was also active in highway robberies, land grabbing and liquor mafia and was wanted in various criminal cases lodged against them in Karnal (Haryana), Patiala (Punjab), Muzaffarnagar (UP). Acting on a tip-off, the police laid a trap and nabbed them.

The gang was present in the area to materialise a contract killing in Fatehgarh Sahib on the directions of an NRI from the Doaba region. The SSP said 10 pistols along with cartridges, cash and the car, they were travelling in, have been recovered from them.

The gang was also in contact with a hardcore gangster lodged in Patiala jail. He said the gang has supplied arms and ammunition to Chamkaour Singh, a resident of Pasla village in Jalandhar and Deepa of Dallewal near here. They have also stolen cars from Dehradun, Haridwar and Patiala.

The UP and Haryana police has also been informed about the arrests. The five were later produced before a local court and were remanded to police custody till July 12.