Forest cover shrinks in kandi area
Jalandhar, August 29
Illegal felling of trees on a massive scale, conversion of forests for agricultural use, construction of farm houses by the politician-bureaucrat-businessmen mafia has substantially reduced the forest cover in the kandi area of Punjab.

Ferozepur, August 29
Strong current the Sutlej today washed away pipe culvert bridge, located between Kamalwala and Kilchian villages in the district, and subsequently snapped links of five villages and one border observation post (BOP) with the city. The bridge on the inlet of Buddha creek collapsed when some labourers were filling sand alongside its approaches to strength the same.

Information revealed that the gushing water started entering fields and within a few minutes about 300 acres was inundated. The residents fear that by tomorrow, the water would cover a wider stretch of fields upto Mallanwala.

With the collapse of the bridge, people have been forced to cover longer distance to reach villages like Basti Rajput wali, Chugge Lal Singh, Nihale Wala and their neighbouring localities. The shortest link of Kasso Ke BOP has also been snapped and it could now be approached only by covering additional distance of about 20 km.

Information revealed that the water was leaking from the bundhs raised alongside the bridge for the past three days. All of a sudden a big crack developed in the bundh and within minutes the entire structure was washed away.

“The pipe culvert bridge was constructed over inlet Buddha creek to stop the water of the Sutlej from reaching Basti Ram Lal Wala area to avoid flooding as it was already under water,” stated a senior functionary of the Drainage Department.

He added, “When the level of the water started receding today, it caused breach in the bundhs constructed alongside pipe culvert bridge. We have started plugging the breach and reconstructing the bridge. Hopefully within three days, it will be opened for public use.”

The crops in only the area located inside the Buddha creek were damaged. The people had cultivated there despite the fact that it was a low lying area and prone to floods, he claimed, adding there was no threat to populated areas.

Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav said situation was under control and every possible measure was being taken to save the crops.

Patiala, August 29
A consortium of the Indian Farmers Association (IFA) will file a writ petition in the Supreme Court for the implementation of recommendations of the National Commission on Farmers (NCF) headed by renowned agriculture scientist MS Swaminathan.

President of the state unit of the IFA Satnam Singh Behru said they would file the petition in the apex court in the first week of September. He said the IFA had already consulted lawyers and a panel of three advocates would take up their case in the SC.

Behru said the Centre had failed to implement the recommendations made by eminent agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan. He said despite repeated requests to the government, a report drafted by the NCF had not been implemented following which they had decided to move the court.

“The successive governments have ignored problems being faced by farmers. During the past two decades, about two lakh farmers have committed suicide the state as they failed to cope up with the rising input costs and debt trap,” said Behru.

He further said as per the report prepared by PAU, Ludhiana, 2,890 farmers committed suicides in Bathinda and Sangrur districts during the period 2000 to 2008.

He added that there was immediate need to implement the recommendations and the government should change its anti-farmer policies that were forcing poor farmers to commit suicide.

Alleging that the Centre neglected the rising input costs in production while fixing MSP for crops, Behru demanded that the Centre should give constitutional status to the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).

“A separate Budget for the agriculture sector should be tabled in Parliament for the proper allocation of funds to the agriculture sector. Farming is no longer a safe occupation and a crop insurance policy should be introduced by the Centre,” he demanded. 

Jalandhar, August 29
Illegal felling of trees on a massive scale, conversion of forests for agricultural use, construction of farm houses by the politician-bureaucrat-businessmen mafia has substantially reduced the forest cover in the kandi area of Punjab.

Although the Forest Survey of India (FSI), in its latest report, says that the state’s green cover has witnessed a gain of 4 sq km, yet the kandi belt has lost its green cover to a great extent. The belt contributes the maximum share to the state’s green belt.

According to the report, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahr districts have suffered a major loss of its forests.

Interestingly, there is no change in the adjoining Roopnagar forest area.

Plantation on private land and roadsides in Amritsar, Bathinda, Ferozepur, Mansa, Muktsar and the areas surrounding Raja Sansi Airport in Amritsar has thickened its green cover, the report says.

According to the Forest Department, Punjab has a total green cover of 6.67 per cent comprising a forest cover (3.30 per cent) and a tree cover (3.37 per cent).

Ironically, the kandi belt has been gradually losing its forests despite the completion of a Japan Bank International Corporation (JBIC) aided projected under which that state was granted a soft loan to increase the forest cover to 15 per cent till 2005.

This project, too, ran into a controversy with allegations of misappropriation of funds and non-plantation of saplings in the earmarked areas. In most of the cases, the saplings withered away due to the negligence of the Forest Department officials. Environmentalists have raised a hue and cry over the large-scale deforestation due to the ongoing major national road projects in the region.

Jalandhar, August 29
Scores of members of the Contract Multipurpose Health Workers Union, Punjab, who staged a state-level dharna in front of the residence of Punjab Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia, were forcibly dispersed by the police. The police had to resort to a mild cane charge to disperse the agitators from the site.

The contractual workers of the Health Department today assembled to attend a convention in the local Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall in the morning and later marched up to the minister’s residence. The union had decided to hold the convention at Jalandhar after Punjab Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla turned down their demands and even refused to listen to their grievances, claimed Kiranjit Kaur, president of the union.

Up in arms against the Health Minister and the state government, the irate protesters reached outside Kalia’s residence and staged a dharna for over three hours.

The protesters were demanding “same work same pay”, claiming that the multipurpose health workers (MHWs) employed on contractual basis were denied the salary and perks which the regular MHWs were availing. Moreover, the MHWs are also “discriminated against” while paying salaries.

Talking to The Tribune, Sarabjit Kaur, general secretary of the union, said over 29,000 MHWs, who are recruited on contractual basis, are getting salaries almost three time less that that of the regular MHWs for the same nature of work. The contractual MHWs are also debarred from other benefits and allowances.

A delegation of the protesting MHWS later submitted a memorandum of their demands to the minister and terminated the dharna.

The union has decided to hold district-level rallies from September 7 onwards and threatened to gherao the office of the director in Chandigarh on September 24 if their demands were not met. 

Ludhiana, August 29
As the last date for filling the voters’ forms for the SGPC general house elections has expired, the parties involved in the fray are now busy having new alignments. The SGPC is at present controlled by the SAD led by Sukhbir Singh Badal and his father being the patron of the party.

Bhai Jasbir Singh Rode, former Jathedar, Akal Takht, who has been opposing the SAD and was a part of the Khalsa Action Council, which was formed to oppose the activities of the Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmit Singh Ram Raheem, has now decided to set up his own Akali party to contest the SGPC elections.

Bhai Rode told The Tribune today that he was now touring the state and meeting the workers to mobilise them for the SGPC elections. He would announce the formation of the new party soon.

Bhai Rode further said that the Khalsa Action Council, which comprised Damdami Taksal, Sant Samaj, Akali Dal (Panch Pradhani) led by Daljit Singh Bittu and Akali Dal 1920 headed by Ravi Inder Singh, had been successful against the Sacha Sauda Dera chief. But ultimately the benefit of their fight was taken by the Congress. In the initial stages, there was unity among the constituents of the Khalsa Action Council but later differences erupted. The former Jathedar of Akal Takht said that the Sant Samaj would also extend support to his Akali Dal.

Bhai Rode said they would have an alliance with the SAD. He ruled out the possibility of his joining the Akali Dal led by Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Baba Harnam Singh Khalsa, President, Sant Samaj, is already extending support to the ruling Akali Dal. Daljit Singh Bittu, President of the Akali Dal (Panch Pradhani), is behind bars for the past one year. 

Amritsar, August 29
The All-India Jat Reservation Sangharsh Committee launched its rath yatra from the Golden Temple here today. They are protesting against the government’s failure to grant OBC status to the Jat community of Punjab, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir.

The yatra will pass through various districts of three states before culminating on September 13 at Sonepat (Haryana), which will be observed as “Jat Chetavani Divas”. On the day, the district units of various states would hold rallies across the country, said Yashpal Malik, national president of the committee, which had already declared to disrupt the Commonwealth Games.

He said the community had been fighting for getting the OBC status for the past 19 years. He alleged that the community was feeling dejected over the continuous indifferent attitude of the governments at the Centre and three states which had adopted double standards by granting the status to other similar caste and communities like Yadav, Ahir, Saini, Kamboj, Gurjar etc.

He said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA President Sonia Gandhi had invited them for talks, but they had not fixed any date of meeting, which prompted the committee to launch the yatra.

Chandigarh, August 29
The state government has decided to spend Rs 4 crore in this financial year under the Kanya Jagriti Jyoti Scheme. The focus would be to uplift the social status of girls and reduce school dropouts.

A Social Security Department spokesperson said girls born before January 1996 in families below poverty line (annual income below Rs 20,000) would be covered underthe scheme. The families would be required to adopt the two-child norm and two girl children would be covered under the scheme.

He further said the state government would invest Rs 5000 for each beneficiary with the Life Insurance Corporation. At the age of six years, the child would get a scholarship of Rs 1,200 per annum up to the age of 12 years. Then it would be increased to Rs 2,400 per annum up to the age of 18 years. It said 8,000 beneficiaries were covered under the scheme last year. 

Patiala, August 29
Minister for Public Works Department (PWD) Parminder Dhindsa today said that as many as 18 new Railway Over Bridges (ROBs) and flyovers would be constructed in the state. He also announced that a project for four-laning of Zirakhpur-Bahadurgarh National Highway and six-laning of Bahadurgarh-Patiala would be initiated.

Addressing the gathering here after laying the foundation stone of the project for widening of Patiala-Rajpura road to Gurudwara Nim Sahib Road (via Daunkala), Akar village , at a cost of Rs 4.59 crore, Dhindsa said that the road widening project would be completed in one years’ time. “The existing road covering stretch of 9 km would be widened,” he added. Dhindsa also said for the clearance of construction of new ROBs in Punjab, the case has been sent to the Railway Ministry.

“The work of ROB at Bahadurgarh-Ghanaur connecting to Shambhu Road at an estimated cost of Rs 39 crore would be initiated soon. The work of eight-laning of Rajpura-Ludhiana Highway is proceeding at war footing,” added Dhindsa. The minister said that so far 125 km of Link Roads in Patiala district had been widened at a cost of Rs 50 crore.

Patiala, August 29
Those commuting in Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) buses are having a tough time on account of overloading, rash driving and playing of music on high pitch. Several commuters also complain of drunken people creating nuisance in buses. The authorities have not done anything to redress these problems, they say.

Citing a specific instance, octogenarian OP Gupta said he boarded a Bathinda-Chandigarh bus from Patiala. “The driver drove the bus at a very high speed with music playing on high pitch. The journey was hardly comfortable for commuters, particularly senior citizens,” he added.

Giving another example, he said he recently had a horrifying experience of travelling in a PRTC AC bus. “I travelled in a PRTC AC bus from Chandigarh to Patiala, but despite the fact that the bus was full to its capacity, the conductor allowed 30 more passengers to board the bus, who had to stand all the way to Patiala, thus creating suffocation in the vehicle,” he alleged.

Jatinder Singh Gulati, who is a frequent traveller from Patiala to Ludhiana, said he often spotted persons in inebriated condition in buses. “There have been instances when the person in drunken state created nuisance in the vehicle,” he claimed, while adding that bus drivers had developed a habit of rash driving, which increased the chances of road mishaps.

Ritika, a college student, said she often travelled in PRTC buses from Patiala to Chandigarh, but could hardly remember an instance when she had a comfortable journey. “Travelling in PRTC buses is a tough experience because of overloading and playing of music on high volume,” she added.

PRTC MD Manvesh Singh Sidhu said he had not received any such complaint from anyone. He claimed there was no overloading in buses. “As far as playing of music or rash driving are concerned, the number of complaint centre is mentioned in every bus and the person facing any problem can make a complaint from the bus itself,” he added.

Regarding the menace of drunken people travelling in PRTC buses, he said only the police could check that. If bus conductors did not allow such persons to board buses, the PRTC would lose revenue, he said.

Banur, August 29
Under construction Dairi bridge, near Dairi village, in Banur is posing threat to hundreds of vehicles passing over it every day. The situation worsens during rains, when the temporary path constructed besides the bridge gets inundated and vehicles fail to move across.

“The rough patches over the temporary path badly damage vehicles and pose serious threat to commuters,” said Manoj Kumar, a resident of Kharar, who was on the way to Rajpura in a car today.

He revealed that there was nobody to guide them during night hours or whenever it rains.

He pointed out that his newly bought car’s engine got damaged when its engine came in contact with the road due to rough patches over the temporary path.

The commuters have to travel more than 20 km to reach at their desired destinations during the rainy days through villages of Mohali. Moreover, the commuters from far off places were not aware of the bridge being constructed and got confused after reaching halfway between Banur and Kharar.

Either they have to travel all the way back up to Banur and reach Mohali through Zirakpur and Chandigarh or just got confused in the serpentine routes in Mohali villages. Situation worsens during night hours when there is nobody to guide them.

Officials of the PWD B&R Department said process of construction has delayed due to the rainy season. However, they claimed that the bridge would be completed before September 20.

Nangal, August 29
NFL Nangal claims to have developed a total recycle process for its treated process liquid effluents.

The spokesperson said treated process water recycling system was taken in line on June 14 and now no treated process effluent from NFL is discharged into the Sutlej. A new ash pond has also been built at a cost of about Rs 4.5 crore and taken in line.

The spokesperson claimed that with commissioning of new ash pond and total recycle process for treated effluents, there’s no scope of polluting the Sutlej by NFL.

NFL Nangal unit has released Rs 7.20 lakh for rejuvenation of aquatic life in the Sutlej on instructions of the district administration and Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB).

The amount has already been deposited with assistant director, Department of Fisheries, Ropar. Seeds of different varieties of rare breeds of fish would be released in the Sutlej in September-October. A committee has been constituted for this job and a NFL representative was also a member of this committee.

This action would not only rejuvenate aquatic life in the Sutlej, but would also provide livelihood to about 500 fishermen living on banks of the Sutlej. 

Chandigarh, August 29
Coming to the rescue to disabled Border Security Force personnel disabled in the line of duty, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the Central government to release their disability pension after placing them in the correct medical category.

Disposing-off several petitions collectively, the bench ruled, “Once, under the statutory rules, a person is entitled to pension, it cannot be denied, merely because under the wrong advice the petitioner had opted to avail benefits which were less beneficial than the one to which he was entitled to under the rules, specially when right to pension has been recognised as right to property under the Constitution.”

Taking up the case of constable Pawan Singh, the bench observed that he received five bullet injuries when his party was ambushed by terrorists during counter insurgency operations in Kashmir. After being hospitalised for several months, he was certified as 50 per cent disabled with permanent physical impairment of the left lower limb.

In January 2006, a medical board declared him unfit for further service. In September 2006, was granted invalid pension of Rs 1,913 per month. Later, he learnt that persons who were similarly boarded out were getting a pension of Rs 6,330, which was almost equivalent to their last drawn pay.

He took up the matter with the authorities and was told that he was not entitled to disability pension as he had already been paid disability compensation of Rs 2.72 lakh as per his option. He was also told that option once exercised was final and there was no provision to refund compensation and sanction disability pension instead.

Counsel for the petitioner contended that as per revised rules the petitioner was entitled to disability pension and he was boarded out the revised rules came into force. Counsel of respondents contended that the earlier rules were still in vogue and relied on a letter issued by the government, denying the petitioner disability pension.

The bench observed that the benefit due under the statutory regulations could not be denied to the petitioner merely on the basis of a letter which was contrary to the revised rules. There was no provision under the revised rules which barred the grant of disability pension, the bench ruled.