Ferozepur, July 19
Taking a serious view of problems being faced by the officials of the irrigation department in running the channels smoothly to make the water reach every field, Deputy Chief Minister, Punjab, Sukhbir Singh Badal today asked the authorities concerned to release Rs 11 crore to them immediately so that cleanliness of canals, distributaries and minors could be taken up without any delay.

Badal also called a meeting of the senior functionaries of the irrigation and other departments at Chandigarh to work out the strategy to arrange funds to the tune of Rs 33 crores for rehabilitation of various irrigation channels including distributaries and minors mostly running into the Malwa region of Punjab.

Information gathered by the TNS revealed that Badal had to intervene into the matter after he was made aware of the fact that due to deposition of silt and presence of hyacinths, the water flow in almost all the channels had come down drastically and hence the same had not been reaching the villages situated at the tail-ends of these channels.

He was also made aware of the fact by the irrigation department officials that such a situation had been triggering off agitations among the farmers and hardly any day passed when blocking of traffic, protest march and rally held by farmers was not reported from the Malwa region. At most of the places, the banks of water channels had been damaged due to choking of the flow of water by hyacinths.

Amarjit Singh Dullet, chief engineer, irrigation, Punjab, when contacted, said the Deputy Chief Minister had also asked the Deputy Commissioners concerned to release funds to his department under the NREGA scheme so that cleanliness of irrigation channels could be done on a rotation basis.

He said Rs 11 crores would be given by the Punjab government for the task connected with cleanliness of water channels. Besides, a sum of Rs 40 lakh would be given by the Deputy Commissioner, Muktsar and Rs 32 lakh by the Deputy Commissioner, Moga, under the NREGA scheme.

The Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner had also promised that he would give the required money from the NREGA funds for this task.

Dullet disclosed that channels, which would be rehabilitated with Rs 33 crores, likely to be sanctioned on July 21 at Chandigarh, included Teona, Raika, Abulkhurana, New Bodiwala, Karamgarh, Mehma Mada, Kotbhai, Jagga branch, Giana branch, 
Arniwala and Sukhchain distributaries and minors on a rotation basis.

Abohar, July 19
Anguished over the failure of administration to fulfill its promise of making canal water available in the tail-end villages, hundreds of farmers started an indefinite dharna at the canal colony here today.

The farmers from different villages led by senior functionaries of the Bhartiya Kisan Union Ekta-Ugrahan, Jamhoori Kisan Sabha, Dehati Majdoor Sabha and Kisan Majdoor Talmel Committee marched to the divisional office of the irrigation department to discuss the issue with the senior officials.

However, none of the officials was present in the office even when prior notice for the meeting had been given, a spokesman for the joint action committee said. They were to decide the course of agitation after the expected meeting. However, the situation forced them to sit on dharna and give a call for starting an indefinite agitation, he said.

The agitators who shouted slogans against the government were also joined by a former legislator Parkash Singh Bhatti.

He lambasted the state government for backtracking on its promises over solving the canal water irrigation problem of the region.

The canals in the Abohar sub-division were being run by rotation and the farmers in the tail-end villages might be ruined again due to non-availability of water, he said.

Fazilka, July 19
A pall of gloom descended on a marriage party in the nearby village of Bodiwala Pitha as two youths accompanying the married party were drowned in the Gang Canal on Sunday evening.

There bodies were recovered today. While giving details, in-charge of the Khui Khera police station, Beant Singh Bhatti said a marriage party from the local Ananadpur Mohalla went to village Bodiwala Pitha of this sub-division for solemnising marriage of a local youth Raj Kumar.

Due to the intense heat, six youths went for a dip in the Gang canal nearby.

After some time, four persons came out of the canal after taking bath.

However, two of them, Kalu Ram (17), a resident of Sriganganagar and Parvesh Kumar (18), a resident of Bikaner (Rajasthan) did not come out of the canal. They were suspected to have drowned. Their family member launched a search operation. However, they could not find them anywhere.

The family members went to different barrages of the canal where the bodies of those drowned usually get trapped. Their bodies were recovered from the Khakh head of the Gang canal near village Roop Nagar in the afternoon today. Police registered a case under section 174 (unnatural death).

Meanwhile, about two dozen persons reportedly fell sick after taking meal in village Udham Singh Nagar alias Chack Mannewala on Sunday night. Senior Medical Officer Dr Baldev Raj said they suffered from vomiting due to hot humid weather. A team of doctors led by assistant civil surgeon DP Godara visited the village.

Ferozepur, July 19
Kaka Singh, a resident of village Kilchia of this district, was murdered in broad daylight by eight accused of the same village while he was on his way back home from the fields before noon today.

Police sources said about eight accused, armed with sharp-edged weapons and iron rods, attacked Kaka Singh, when he reached the middle of the village along with his wife and son Hansa Singh.

The accused hit Kaka Singh on his head, legs, arms and other parts of body. Though Kaka Singh was taken to the civil hospital, Ferozepur, he succumbed to his injuries within a few hours.

Sources added that Niranjan Singh, a farmer of the same village, led the group, who attacked Kaka Singh. Niranjan Singh was angry with Kaka Singh as a few days ago, the son of Kaka Singh and Niranjan Singh had a wordy duel over the grazing of cattle.

Gobinder Singh, SHO, police station, Sadar, said a case had been registered in this connection. Police teams had been despatched to nab the culprits.

Bathinda, July 19
MP from Bathinda Harsimrat Kaur Badal today visited villages Phulo Khari, Kanakwal, Jajjal, Bhagwanpura, Gehlewala, Jogewala, Tangrali and Teona of Talwandi Sabo Assembly constituency and heard the grievances of the people there. She also distributed development grants worth about Rs 60 lakh for the maintenance of ponds, disposal of dirty water, construction of streets and drains, dharamshalas and rooms in schools etc.

Addressing the gatherings, she asked people to pay special attention towards preservation of trees and oppose female foeticide in a big way.

She said every person should plant a sapling so that the humanity could be saved from natural calamities. She further said people should also come forward to end the social evil of female foeticide.

She said about Rs 2.50 crore had been released in a year for development works in Talwandi Sabo constituency. There would be no dearth in the release of funds for the development of this constituency in future also, she added.

Bathinda, July 19
Irked over water shortage, residents of the Urban Estate Phases I, II and III threatened to launch a stir against the administration if the problem was not resolved soon.

In a meeting held on Sunday, residents of the localities passed a resolution that a deputation would meet the Commissioner of the Bathinda Municipal Corporation to apprise him of the situation. If he failed to do the needful, then they would launch a stir.

The residents alleged that the waterworks located in the Model Town was originally meant to cater to the needs of that locality only but with the passage of time, officials concerned connected the Power House road and Jujhar Singh Nagar also to it, which left the area high and dry. — TNS

Bathinda, July 19
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Bathinda, recently slapped a penalty of Rs 10,000 on the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (Powercom) along with a direction to refund about Rs 83,000 collected from a consumer as fine and compoundable charges for allegedly tampering with a domestic electricity metre.

Going through the complaint of one Jasmail Kaur of local Shant Nagar locality, the Forum observed that the metre in question was installed outside the premises of the consumer. So, she was not liable for any tampering. Rather, Powercom officials were bound to ensure its safety. In the judgment, the three-member Forum bench stated that the Powercom officials had alleged that the inspection team found the metre tampered with but did not mention the mode of theft after opening the metre.

Meanwhile, the Powercom officials accused Paramveer Singh, son of the consumer in question, of misbehaving and detaining the checking squad. On the other hand, the complainant accused an executive engineer of the Powercom of harassing them intentionally, as her son runs a gas agency and had refused to entertain the official's unjustified demand. — TNS

Bathinda, July 19
The Arya Samaj honoured a noted English and Punjabi poet, Dr JS Anand, who is principal of the local DAV College, for his contribution to life and letters.

While bestowing the honour on Dr Anand at a function held recently, Swami Surya Dev addressed him as a distinguished educationist and a moral philosopher, who had authored 11 books in English, six in Punjabi and two in Hindi. Anand has also contributed some soulful songs in Punjabi and Hindi, which had a substantial international audience. On the occasion, Anand thanked the Arya Samaj for the honour and reiterated his commitment to the ideals of the Samaj. — TNS

Moga, July 19
Three persons including a Class IX student and a woman were killed in a road accident when a tempo by which they were travelling rammed into an overloaded truck near Dala village in the Moga district on Monday.

Those who died include Davinder Singh (15), a resident of Dhurkot Charat Singh Wala village, Amar Kaur, a resident of Bughipura village and Naibdin, son of Suman Khan, a resident of Dala village of the Moga district. Ten persons have reportedly sustained injuries.

The police registered a criminal case against Jagtar Singh, driver of the truck, under sections 304-A, 279, 337, 338 and 427 of the IPC at the Ajitwal police station and also arrested him.

The district magistrate Satwant Singh Johal, SSP Sneh Deep Sharma and former education minister Jathedar Tota Singh visited the spot.

The DM has assured free medical aid to the injured in the district hospital. 

Bathinda, July 19
The hunger strike by undertrials of the Central Jail here entered its second day today.According to information available, undertrials were demanding release stating that they had already undergone more imprisonment than the period mentioned in the Act due to long delay in legal proceedings.

They were also asking about the implementation of Supreme Court’s ruling in this regard.

Observing that the strike was gaining momentum, the jail authorities disconnected the cable network of the televisions kept for jail inmates. Irked over this, seven undertrials today met the deputy jail superintendent with their demand, which he reportedly turned down.

Taking preventive measures against representatives leading the inmates further, the jail authorities lodged them in a separate barrack.

However, jail authorities told mediapersons that many of the protesting undertrials had called off the strike and started taking food by evening. — TNS