State asks BBMB to stagger releases to avoid flash floods
Chandigarh, August 20
Punjab has asked the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) to stagger any water release planned from the Bhakra dam tomorrow with inflows coming into the Sutlej and Beas rivers from seasonal rivulets so as to avoid flash floods as well as undue pressure on the Harike headworks.

Longowal, August 20
Perturbed at reports about Sikhs in Jammu and Kashmir being threatened by some Islamic organisations to either embrace Islam or quit the state, Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal said today that a delegation of SAD-BJP MPs would meet the Prime Minister to draw his attention towards the issue. He said the delegation would ask the PM to take necessary measures to protect the lives of minorities in general and Sikhs in particular in the state.

The CM further said he had also talked to the J&K Chief Minister in this regard and told him that if safety of Sikhs was not ensured in the state, his party along with others would stall proceedings in Parliament. He also called upon the PM to ascertain the gravity of the situation in J&K in the wake of the reported threats to Sikhs.

He was addressing a gathering on the 25th death anniversary of Sant Harchand Singh Longowal at a state-level function organised at the grain market today, which was attended by national leader and former BJP chief Rajnath Singh and Janta Dal-United chief Sharad Yadav. Badal flayed the former Punjab Governor Arjun Singh and asked him to explain what stopped the Centre from transferring Chandigarh to Punjab on January 26, 1986, as promised in the Rajiv-Longowal Accord of 1985.

He was commenting on Arjun’s allegations that the Accord was scuttled by Badal’s non-cooperation. “Did I ask the Centre not to transfer the city or in what other sense did the Centre need my cooperation for fulfilling its promise to Sant Longowal,” said the CM. Holding the Congress responsible from backtracking on the issue of the Rajiv-Longowal Accord, Badal described it as “an act of treachery that must be condemned by one and all”. The CM said he had forewarned Sant Longowal that he might be deceived. “I have been proved right as the Accord has not been implemented yet,” he added. Meanwhile, the CM gave a cheque for Rs 2.50 crore to former minister Gobind Singh Longowal for installing sewerage system in Longowal town. He announced that the town would be covered under the scheme of safe drinking water, roads and street lighting in a year.

BJP leader Rajnath Singh said whatever was happening in Kashmir was heart rending. He said some separatists were asking minorities there to leave the Valley, but they would not be allowed to succeed.

Paying tributes to Sant Longowal, Rajnath described him an apostle of peace, communal harmony and secularism who sacrificed his life for bringing normalcy in the disturbed state. But unfortunately, he was deceived by the Congress, which did not honour the Rajiv-Longwoal Accord.

Sharad Yadav said he always held Sikhs in a high esteem as they had played an important role in the national freedom struggle. Paying homage to Longowal, Yadav said his selfless and supreme sacrifice would remain a source of inspiration for all. The SGPC chief, PWD Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, SAD general secretary Prem Singh Chandumajra and senior vice-president Gurdev Singh Badal also paid tributes.

Longowal, August 20
Paying tributes to Sant Harchand Singh Longowal on his 25th death anniversary at a function organised by the SAD (Longowal) here today, the SAD (Longowal), the SAD (Delhi) and the SAD (1920) announced that they would contest the forthcoming SGPC poll jointly to get the SGPC freed from the control of the Badals.

To give an assurance in this regard, SAD (L) chief Surjit Kaur Barnala, SAD (Delhi) chief Paramjit Singh Sarna and senior vice-president of the SAD (1920) Darshan Singh Issapur raised their hands before the gathering.

The SAD (L) also announced the formation of a “Third Front” to end the turn-wise regime of the SAD and the Congress from the state saying it will work for forming the government of the common masses. It also took a pledge to fulfill the programmes chalked out by Sant Longowal.

National president of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) Ram Bilas Paswan said his party would pressurise the Centre to implement the Rajiv Gandhi-Longowal Accord for which Sant Longowal had sacrificed his life.

Among others who attended the function were former minister Manjit Singh Kolkata, former MLA Gaganjit Singh Barnala, secretary-general of the SAD (Longowal) Baldev Singh Mann, former MP Tarlochan Singh Tur, president of the Istri Wing of the SAD (L) Gurdeep Kaur Brar and state president of the LJP Kiranjit Singh Gehri.

Anandpur Sahib, August 20
There are just five boats, five oars, one searchlight and no tents to deal with floods at Anandpur Sahib. Around 30 villages of the teshil, situated on banks of the Satluj, have just five boats to ferry villagers in case of flooding, which is expected by tomorrow.

As the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) opens floodgates of the Bhakra reservoir tomorrow at 8 am for 20 minutes, the Satluj is expected to 
swell in a big way with floodwaters entering first Lodhipur village.

At the district meeting held for flood-control measures at Ropar today, inflated figures of availability of boats, oars, searchlights and tents in view of floods, were presented. According to the data available, there are eight boats in Ropar tehsil, three of which are in working condition, two are in need of repairs and remaining three have outlived their lives.

Similarly, in Anandpur Sahib there are six boats, five of which are in working condition. Nangal has one boat and Chamkaur Sahib does not have any boat at all. There are four oars in Ropar, five at Anandpur Sahib and one at Nangal. Similarly, there is one searchlight each at Ropar, Anandpur Sahib, Nangal and none at Chamkaur Sahib. There are five tents at Ropar and none for Anandpur Sahib, Chamkaur Sahib and Nangal.

A bundh constructed a year back near Lodhipur village to control Satluj waters, too, has got damaged. While the actual plan included setting up of a stud (stones held together with a net), it was never executed.

At a cost of Rs 42 lakh, the Drainage Department constructed this bundh, while Rs 23 lakh were demanded for the stud, which remains a distant dream. To control the damage, mud filled plastic sacks are being installed since August 13, but to no avail.

“Everyday more than 51, 000 such sacks are put to control damage to bundh, but strong gushes of water carry it away,” said a worker at site. While BBMB is to release water tomorrow, till today the work of repair has not been completed.

Villagers of Lodhipur, who are the first one to suffer from the swelling Satluj, said every time water rises they help themselves. Some good samaritans and philanthropists have lent helping hand at the time of flood-like situation.

Meanwhile, the administration has alerted the villages, who have refused to budge from their homes unless and until flood water forays into their houses.

All four floodgates of Bhakra reservoir will be raised to a height of four feet. Today the level of water was 1,668.53 feet and by tomorrow it is expected to reach the mark of 1,670 feet. Water will be released in such a manner that it does not increase beyond a foot a day in the reservoir.

Water inflow in reservoir was 72,817 cusecs and discharge was 34,480. All except one Bhakra units are running and generating 1,217 MW with net generation of 287 lakh units.

Chairman, All-India Power Engineers Federation, Padamjit Singh said spillways should not be opened as the water level is at 1,670 feet and is no danger for the reservoir.

Chandigarh, August 20
Punjab has asked the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) to stagger any water release planned from the Bhakra dam tomorrow with inflows coming into the Sutlej and Beas rivers from seasonal rivulets so as to avoid flash floods as well as undue pressure on the Harike headworks.

The state Drainage Department took this step in view of the flash floods being caused by the Chakki tributary near Pathankot today. The department has also received reports that seasonal rivulets flowing into the Sutlej river downstream of the Bhakra dam were bringing in huge volumes of water in spells due to heavy rainfall in the hills. The state does not want any release from the dam tomorrow or on subsequent days to happen at the same time when these rivulets are in spate.

Drainage Department Chief Engineer Vinod Chaudhary told TNS that he had asked BBMB Member (Irrigation) MK Gupta to hold on for a few hours before releasing water from the Bhakra in case the tributaries downstream were in spate as was the case today. Chaudhary said since tributaries created a flash flood situation for a few hours only before the water was drained out, the BBMB authorities could stagger releases while working in tandem with the Punjab authorities.

Chaudhary said in the case of the Sutlej there were various tributaries downstream of the Bhakra dam, including the Swan, Lohand, Charan Ganga, Budki, Rao and Siswan, that were in spate periodically.

The Indian Meteorology Bureau (IMB) had forewarned of heavy rainfall after August 18. This spell is expected to continue for a few days.

Rivulets, canals,etc, which merge into the Beas, including the Chakki, the Dasuya-Langarpur choe, the Madhopur-Beas Link and the Mukerian hydel channel, are also on the watch list. This is because all water from both the Sutlej and the Beas merge into the Harike headworks. The Drainage Department is keen that no pressure should be imposed on the headworks and all releases be planned properly.

BBMB Member (Irrigation) MK Gupta, who has held detailed discussions with Punjab officials, says sufficient warning was being given before release of water from the floodgates and that all concerns of the partner states would be taken into account. He said as far as inflows were concerned, Bhakra was continuing to get inflows of more than 70,000 cusecs.

He said the level of the dam was likely to go beyond 1,670 feet tomorrow following which the dam authorities would release around 20,000 cusecs of water.

The BBMB authorities will continue to release water periodically so as to maintain the level of 1,670 feet.

The authorities are playing safe and want to keep a cushion, as there is still a month to go before the filling season will come to an end on September 22. The maximum level to which water can be stored safely in the dam is 1,680 feet.

Jalandhar, August 20
A tug-of-war is going on between certain sections of the SAD and the BJP over the issue of making funds available for the development of the urban areas, especially those from where the BJP had won seats in the last Assembly elections in the state.

Sources said the state leadership of the BJP has approached former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, in charge of party affairs in Punjab, to secure the funds from the state government for the urban areas.

Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia has sought Rs 400 crore- Rs 100 crore for each quarter- from Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal to raise a loan of Rs 2,400 crore to take up what it (BJP) calls development works in various towns and cities. Kalia’s plan is to deposit Rs 400 crore in a bank to get the escrow account opened with the objective of raising a loan of Rs 2,400 crore. Earlier, urging for the implementation of the Sukhbir-Kalia committee decision, the BJP had sought Rs 1,000 crore that is to be collected by way of surcharge on the VAT from the CM.

On the one hand, the BJP has been saying openly that the SAD-led government has denied it adequate funds for the development of the municipal committees, where it is in power, but on the other hand, it has given enough money to the MCs, where it (SAD) is in power, from the Punjab Infrastructure Development Fund.

Mohar Jamsher (Fazilka), August 20
As the water level in the Sutlej has started going up, the district administration today made the residents of Mohar Jamsher and Kalu Wala villages, which are situated near the river, to vacate their houses and shift to relief camps.

The water level in the river is expected to go up when the gates of the Bhakra Dam will be opened and more water will be released into this river, which forms the international boundary between India and Pakistan in this district at many places. Most of these villagers have started shifting to relief camps and other safer places fearing floods.

The paddy crop in fields of Mohar Jamsher village has already submerged under water.

The BSF authorities have also started taking precautionary measures to deal with the flood-like situation. Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav said: “We don’t want to take any chance. While Mohar Jamsher village is located inside the embankment of the Sutlej, Kalu Wala village is located inside the area, which forms the area of the Hussainiwala reservoir. Both villages are prone to the floods whenever the water level in the Sutlej rises than its normal level during the rainy season.”

Talking to mediapersons after a meeting with officials regarding flood-control measures, the DC said police patrolling had been started alongside the embankments of the Sutlej. A flood contingency plan had been activated and district officials had been told to remain alert.

DIG (BSF), Abohar sector, Vimal Satyarthi said the water wing of the BSF had been pressed into service. Heavy machinery deployed near the Pattan and Bahini Dilawar BOPs had been brought back to safer places.

Chandigarh, August 20
The Punjab Government has decided to construct as many as 140 railway overbridges and railway underbridges (ROBs and RUBs) at various locations identified in the state.

Out of these, the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) has undertaken the construction of 45 bridges in the first phase, which is going to cost the state Rs 910 crore.

MD (PIDB) Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu said 13 bridges were nearing completion and would be open to traffic by year-end. “Work on another 18 at a cost of Rs 450 crore is proposed to begin shortly,” he added.

The bridges which were almost ready include: Jagraon bridge (Jagraon-Raikot road) on the Ludhiana-Ferozepur railway line (RL); Bathinda crossing (Bathinda-Dabwali road) on the Ambala Bathinda RL; Khalsa College, Jalandhar (GT road, Jalandhar) on the Jalandhar-Nakodar RL; Amritsar (on Amritsar-Tarn Taran) on the Patti-Khemkaran RL; Jalandhar City (Maqsoodan crossing) old GT road, Jalandhar city, on the Amritsar- Delhi RL; Mansa crossing on the Delhi- Bathinda RL; Bathinda on the Bathinda yard; Beas crossing (Batala-Beas SH-16 road) on the Jalandhar- Amritsar RL; Ferozepur Cantt (Ferozepur city) on the Ferozepur Cantt RL: Morinda Bypass crossing (Chandigarh-Ludhiana road) on the Morinda- Chandigarh RL; Fatehgarh Sahib in Sirhind city on the Ludhiana -Delhi RL: and Kheowali- Badal on the Bathinda- Suratgarh RL.

“Any location which has a train vehicle unit of 1,00,000 or more per day qualifies for the construction of an ROB. The cost of construction is shared by the state government with the Union Ministry of Railways. The contribution received from the Centre is, however, only 27 per cent of the awarded cost and the state’s share is being funded by the PIDB,” said Dr Sandhu.

“Approaches to ROBs are being constructed by the PWD and the railway portion is normally constructed by the Railways. Recently, however, in order to speed up the construction of the next set of ROBs, we have signed a MoU with the Ministry of Railways that allows us to execute the entire construction. This is expected to reduce delays caused by coordination between the Punjab Government and the Centre,” he added.

Chandigarh, August 20
The state government will be unable to implement its move of direct disbursement of cheques towards payment of crops to farmers for this kharif season. Embroiled in legal tangles, the procurement will have no direct financial dealings with the farmers for their paddy crop and payment will be made to them by commission agents as was being done previously.

Stating this here today at a meeting with commission agents (Arhtiyas), Punjab Mandi Board chairman Ajmer Singh Lakhowal said the government was very keen to introduce the system of direct payment to farmers for their crop through cheques, but it was unlikely to be implemented before the rabi season.

Various representatives of the Arhtiya associations from across the state met Lakhowal under the leadership of their president Vijay Kalra and demanded smoothing of the procurement process. The commission agents have demanded that the procurement agencies, like Pungrain, Markfed, Punsup, Punjab State Warehousing Corporation and Punjab Agro should ensure prompt lifting of paddy to prevent undue harassment to farmers and facilitate timely payment.

However, the procurement agencies have been asked to make arrangements of linking the proposed purchase centres/mandis with the storage points/milling centres to make the process effortless and to reduce expenditure on transportation.

The commission agents criticised the government report, which suggested that most farmers do not want the procurement agencies to pay them directly.

Kalra said the report compiled by PAU, Ludhiana, was without basis as most farmers wanted the government to continue with the old system of making payments through the commission agents as it helped them to establish a rapport with commission agents, who also lends money to small and marginal farmers for fertilisers, diesel and other inputs.

The commission agents said though the payment for the produce was quick, the procurement agencies delayed payments to labourers and transporters. They demanded smoothening in all payment procedures and asked the government to give contract of lifting and transportation to the commission agents rather than to outsiders with political connections.

Patiala, August 20
Senior Environmental Engineer of Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) Gulshan Rai met the representatives of the Sangrur Industrial Chamber on Tuesday and listened to the problems being faced by them.

The meeting was attended by the members of the Sangrur District Industrial Chamber, including its president Sumer Garg. Giving details of the meeting in a press statement issued here on Wednesday, PPCB Deputy Director (PR) Charanjit Singh stated that main demand of the industrialist was that the board should start issuing the no objection certificates at the level of the PPCB regional offices.

“Apart from this, the industrialists have requested that decisions pertaining to the increase in load up to 20 per cent should be taken at the level of the board’s environmental engineer,” he added. The industrialists have also demanded that soap and the PVC pipe manufacturing units should be kept in green category industrial units.

Fatehgarh Sahib, August 20
At least 24 fresh cases of diarrhoea were reported in Bhamarsi village today. More than 100 people of the village have fallen victim to diarrhoea after consuming contaminated water and two of them died on Tuesday night.

The doctors camping in the village said 65 patients were treated today and 24 of them shown symptoms of diarrhoea. Chief medical officer Dr Reena Sandhu said three patients were suffering with high-grade fever and were admitted to civil hospital. Their condition was stated to be normal now and doctors were continuously monitoring their condition.

The villagers have been counselled to drink boiled water and were told to eat fresh food only. So far, 14,000 chlorine tablets have been distributed among the villagers. The Health Department officials said the main water pipeline of the village had been cleaned and fresh water supply would resume in a day or two. The residents of the adjoining villages have also been warned and were told to keep their water tanks clean.

Patiala, August 20
Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with M/s Indiabulls Power Limited for setting up 1,350-MW coal-fired Thermal Power Project, near Bhupal and Harisinghwala villages, 9 km from Mansa district, in two phases.

Giving this information, chairman-cum-managing director, PSPCL, KD Chaudhri said the company would develop two units of 270-MW each (total 540 MW) in the first phase and three units of 270-MW each (total 810-MW) in the second phase. The MoU was signed by PSPCL director/generation GS Chhabra and Sanjay Nagrare on behalf of M/s Indiabulls Power Limited, here today.

Chaudhri further said for the purpose of development of the project, the company has created a special purpose vehicle, M/s Peona Power Development Limited, a 100 per cent subsidiary of India Bulls Group. “The proposal for the project has been made under the new power generation policy, notified by the Punjab Government in June this year,” he added. — TNS

Chandigarh, August 20
Just about four days after 146 Punjab Police inspectors were sought to be promoted as deputy superintendents of police, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today stayed the operation of the order.

The order will remain in operation till a committee constituted for the purpose of promotions will decide the matter. The case will now come up for further hearing on October 7.

The direction by Justice Ajai Lamba came on a petition filed by Gurbinder Singh and another petitioner against the state of Punjab and other respondents. They were seeking a stay on the operation of order dated August 16 vide which the inspectors were sought to be promoted as DSPs.

Counsel for petitioners Anil Pal Singh Shergill contended the names of inspectors in the relevant list would “show and demonstrate the illegality which was again being committed in utter violation and contemptuous manner against the order passed by the court”.

Shergill contended: “The state had agreed in principle to have a committee of officers to decide the inter-se dispute between non-gazetted officers”. All promotions were required “to go through the committee after finalisation of the seniority list, and only on the recommendation of the committee. A perusal of the court order dated July 29 would reflect and prove this fact”.

Shergill added, “There is an admitted absence of the Inspector-General”. Earlier Inspector-General Parag Jain “stands transferred out on central deputation and as on date nobody is occupying position and office of the Inspector-General (Headquarters)”.

“Then how the order dated August 16 has come into being in utter contempt of all orders passed by the court and in total disrespect of the agreed method of resolution of the dispute through the formation of an executive committee of senior police officer to fairly solve and adjudicate the issue,” he asked.

Shergill said the perusal of the list would also reveal that those inspectors, who had not cleared matriculation, had been recommended for promotions as DSPs and ineligible candidates had been recommended for appointments under sports quota.