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Bhakra spillways opened again
Creek flooded, land washed away
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Flood Management Programme
CANCER-AFFECTED AREAS
Budha Nullah
Procurement agencies, rice millers in panic
Revised Pensionary Benefits
Chaos at PTU counselling
Advertise vacancies soon: ETT teachers
Beant Case
MLA against sending farmers to South America
Punjab all set to recharge groundwater from canals
Docs’ panel to probe infants’ death
Brick kiln owners on strike from Sept 25
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Bhakra spillways opened again
Nangal/ Anandpur Sahib, September 22 With the re-opening of the spillways, Ropar district administration has issued an alert asking people of the low-lying areas to shift to the safer places. Water level of Bhakra was 1,681.34 feet today. While the inflow of water in reservoir was 35,227 in the morning, it got swollen to more than 54,000 cusec by the evening. 12,500 cusecs water is being released into Nangal hydel channel, 10,450 in the Sutlej and 10,150 in Anandpur Sahib hydel channel. Heavy rains in the catchment area of Bhakra reservoir as well as in parts of Punjab may take its toll on the villages situated along the Sutlej. Once the water reaches Ropar headworks, 40,000 cusec of it will be released further. If the rain continues, the BBMB authorities will release more water through the spillways posing a danger to population situated along the river in the Anandpur Sahib and Kiratpur Sahib area. Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner AS Miglani today visited village Lodhipur at Anandpur Sahib where breach in the Sutlej had caused damage to crops. With increase in the water level in the Sutlej, the breach is expected to widen from existing 350 feet to around one
km, reaching the nearby villages. The dhusi bundh on the Sutlej, near Lodhipur, had got damaged on August 24. Even temporary arrangements could not save the bundh, which was
victim of corruption and poor design.
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Creek flooded, land washed away
Fazilka, September 22 The strong currents have also been hitting the defence bundh raised during the Kargil War. Hundreds of Army men in association with other agencies of the state government have started strengthening the advance bundh at three points, where it got weakened to avoid breaches and subsequently flooding of nearby villages. Soil Conservation Officer (Ferozepur) Attar Singh Bedi, who visited the affected areas, said preliminary assessment revealed that about 100 acres of land had been washed away in the past two days. Naib tehsildar (Fazilka) Jagmel Singh said weak points, which had developed in the left side embankment of the Sutlej creek at 17 to 18 RD, 22 to 23 RD and 27 to 28 RD, were being strengthened by raising their height and putting more sand by using tractor-trailers and JCB machines since last night. “So far, the situation is under control as the water level in the creek is around 18 ft. If more water is released into the Sutlej from the Hussainiwala headworks, the situation may become serious,” he said. Water has entered fields of villages, including Dona Skandri, Kawanwala, Noor Shah, Kurkan, Dona Nanka, Teja Rawela, Gudder Bahini, Hasta Kalan, Mauzam, Mahatam Nagar and Mohar Jamsher of this subdivision. It is learnt that water level in the creek went up after a large volume of water ranging from 36,000 cusecs to 41,000 cusecs was released from the Hussainiwala headworks towards Pakistan in the past few days. The water, after travelling some distance in Pakistan, again entered India in the Fazilka sector area.
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Flood Management Programme
Chandigarh, September 22 Politicians in Punjab have been crying foul, levelling the charge of discrimination against the state in terms of disbursement of funds, but on the contrary, despite the CWC asking Punjab to submit an integrated project report covering all rivers to avail central assistance under the Flood Management Programme
(FMP), Punjab has not responded. Union Minister for Water Resources Pawan Kumar Bansal has in a letter written to a Congress MLA Sukhpal Khaira clearly stated that Punjab has shown no interest in seeking financial assistance from the Centre despite the fact that Punjab is inundated year after year. The Union Minister has pointed out that in February 2009, the Department of Irrigation and Drainage, Punjab, had submitted six separate schemes for flood protection, located on the
Beas, to the CWC. The CWC, after a techno-economic appraisal for extending funds under the FMP asked Punjab to formulate an integrated project covering the entire rivers to avail central assistance under the
FMP. Again in July 2009, the CWC asked Punjab to integrate all schemes and submit a fresh proposal. But the state government
did not respond to the CWC directive. Bansal wrote to Khaira after the latter had taken up the matter of frequent flooding of villages in the Bholath constituency. Khaira had asked for the Union Water Resources Minister’s intervention in the matter and sought funds under the FMP for his constituency. Unable to extend funds to individual projects, the CWC has asked Punjab to submit an integrated report so that all flood-prone areas along the Beas and Sutlej can be fortified to prevent breaches. Punjab has seen flooding in many areas during the monsoon of 2009 and now again in 2010.
Khaira had pointed out that projects amounting to Rs 68 lakh and Rs 10 crore had been sanctioned in his constituency, but the Punjab government had not released the funds. Now finally, the Union Water Resources Minister has asked Khaira to take up the issue with the state government as the Centre cannot fund individual projects, but had adequate funds if the state government submitted an integrated project, covering all vulnerable points along the Punjab rivers.
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CANCER-AFFECTED AREAS
Jalandhar, September 22 During its second round of water testing, the Central Ground Water Board had taken 32 subsoil water samples, most of them from the Mansa-Bathinda belt of the Malwa region where cancer has not only become one of the major killers but also a hot political issue. The second round of testing was held to reconfirm the presence of arsenic in the subsoil water and also to check the presence of any other harmful matter in the water. During the first round, the board team had also found the presence of arsenic in the water. Union Minister for Water Resources Pawan Kumar Bansal had issued orders in this regard following a written representation made to him by Ram Pal Dhaipi, general secretary of the PPCC. Besides arsenic, the board team has also found the level of fluoride beyond the approved limit. The WHO has approved the upper limit at 10 ppb of arsenic in drinking water. In a water sample at Dhaipi village, near Bhikhi, it was 23 ppb and in another sample of water at the same village it was 16.1 ppb. At Kotra Kalan, it was 12.4 and in Ghari-Bhagi village, near Bathinda, it was 12.9 ppb. At Meerpur Dhani, it was 15.9 ppb. However, it was stunningly high in two water samples taken at Bhamme Kalan. In a sample drawn from the bus station, it was 270 ppb and in another sample drawn from a hand pump of Leela Singh, it was 176 ppb. Presence of fluoride in drinking water has also been found beyond the fixed upper limit, that is 0.5 to 1.5 mgI (milligram per litre), at many places. At Hero Kalan, it was found to be 3.72 mgl, at Dhaipi village up to 5.88 mgl and Kotra Kalan 11.9 mgl. However, it was shockingly high -- 20.4 mgl -- in a water sample drawn from Meerpur Dhani and 20.6 mgl in a sample drawn from Nangal Dhani village. At some other villages, it was also found well beyond limit. In excess, fluoride not only causes dental flourosis but also it has been associated with Alzheimer’s disease and it can also cause a crippling bone disease called skeletal
fluorosis.
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Budha Nullah
Chandigarh, September 22 A lifetime exposure to chromium at levels above the maximum contaminant level can cause damage to liver, kidney circulatory and nerve tissues besides skin irritation. The data was furnished to the high court after the Punjab Pollution Control Board carried out a detailed study on pollution in the Budha Nullah before it mixes with the
Sutlej. An affidavit submitted to the court said: “The heavy metals are mainly contributed by the electroplating industries”. Taking cognisance of the high levels, the Bench of Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Ajay Tewari asked the Punjab Pollution Control Board in the open court to suggest emergency measures to curtail the discharge, since chromium was admittedly a “very corrosive effluent”. The Bench also asked the state to take emergency steps to ensure that domestic sewerage was not discharged directly into the Budha Nullah without being treated. The affidavit shall also disclose as to how many compounds such as ferric chloride and ferrous sulphate are present and what preventive measures are being taken to curtail the same, the Bench asserted. The Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board has also been directed to file an affidavit giving a breakup of the expenditure incurred in the process and the manner of its spending. The Central Pollution Control Board, too, was directed to check the levels of the pollutants in the water flowing from the sewerage treatment plants in
Balloke, Bhattian and Jamalpur villages. It was also directed to examine the functioning of the STPs and the level of the pollutants in the treated effluents. The status reports by the Central and Punjab Pollution Control Boards, along with the Sewerage Board, were directed to be filed within eight weeks. Meanwhile, in just more than a year from April 1, 2009, to August 31 this year, as many as 98 units were directed to close down the operations “for non-compliance of provisions of environmental laws”. As many as 11 applications were filed before the court for “violation of the provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974”.
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Govt to ensure smooth passage of Bills, says Sukhbir
Baghapurana (Moga), September 22 “I hope that the Opposition will play a constructive role by helping to pass the Bills and reports to be laid down in the house,” he said. Reiterating that elections of co-operative societies/ bodies would be held in due time, he said the Congress was indulging in false propaganda that the government may shy away from holding elections. He said Rs 1,000 crore had been earmarked to strengthen the sewerage system in urban areas falling in the periphery of big cities. Earlier, Sukhbir met panches and sarpanches of 36 villages and councillors of the Baghapurana municipal council. He gave grants to the tune of Rs 8.73 crore to 71 panchayats and the municipal council. Meanwhile, the police foiled a plan of BEd teachers to intrude into the function of Sukhbir and rounded up as many as 35 of them, who were later on released in the evening. Although the teachers claimed that they were cane-charged by the police, SSP Sneh Deep Sharma denied the allegation, saying, “We just blocked them from entering the Deputy CM’s function as a preventive measure.”
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Procurement agencies, rice millers in panic
Besides, the minimum 150 metric tonne self purchase, which is a statutory obligation by the government to the rice millers, quantity of custom milling has also been increased this year. Rice mills with one ton storage capacity was allocated 2,500 metric tonne paddy last year and has now increased to 3,000 MT, for 2 tonne capacity increase is 3,500 MT to 4,.000 MT and for 3 tonne capacity allocation of the paddy has been increased from 4,200 MT to 4,500 MT. The government was forced to increase this allocation due to the 25 lakh metric tonne of paddy already lying pending with the rice millers. Since, the government will not allocate more paddy to those millers who failed to deliver it last year, burden is now put on others due to lack of a pro-active approach of the government, said the rice millers. “Since we are told to lift more paddy as compared to previous year, now we will be more cautious this time and will lift only better grain from the market,” said Vijay Verma, another rice miller. There are 3,200 rice mills in the state and every rice miller faces acute shortage of space for storage. This time the expected production of paddy in Punjab is 140 lakh metric tonne and neither state, nor central agencies and millers have capacity to store such huge quantity of grain. The procurement agencies whose paddy is rotting in Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Sangrur, Barnala and other districts have urged to reduce target this time, but their request was turned down. The rice millers said the government should adopt a strategy, wherein paddy already stocked in godowns should be given to deficit states or the government should allow export to other states.
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Gurbhajan refuses to embrace freedom
Patiala, September 22 After breaking the lock, the authorities went inside the house and spoke to Gurbhajan. After the SDM recorded the statements of Gurbhajan, the authorities requested Gurbhajan to accompany them, as they wanted to shift him to an old age home. But Gurbhajan refused to leave the house stating that he would not leave that house without consent of his son Jagpal Singh. Notably, after The Tribune highlighted the plight of the Gurbhajan, yesterday Patiala Deputy Commissioner Dipinder Singh had stated that they would get Gurbhajan shifted to some old age home on humanitarian grounds. Speaking to The Tribune, Dipinder said Gurbhajan’s son Jagpal Singh was adamant that he would take care of his father. Dipinder further said in wake of the fact that Gurbhajan’s neighbour told the SDM that at times, he used to create nuisance, a four-member committee, comprising civil surgeon Dr Sham Lal Mahajan and other doctors, has been constituted to medically examine Gurbhajan. “The doctors will conduct necessary tests tomorrow, after which we will be able to ascertain Gurbhajan’s medical state of mind. Subsequently, we will take decision whether Gurbhajan should be shifted to an old age home or he needs some treatment at an asylum,” added Dipinder. Meanwhile, Gurbhajan’s condition continues to be the same as he has once again been left in the locked house.
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Revised Pensionary Benefits
Amritsar, September 22 More than 100 retired principals and 500 retired lecturers have been left devoid of the revised pensionary benefits while other retired government employees have been accorded this benefit in the light of the Fifth Punjab Pay Commission. SP Dhir, an office-bearer of the Punjab Government College Retired Teachers’ Welfare Association, said the state government had issued a notification regarding the revision of pension of government employees in February. “The notification did not talk about retired principals and lecturers of government colleges. A proposal was then made by the DPI (Colleges) and was submitted to the Education Secretary, who, in turn, submitted it to the Finance Department for the issuance of a separate notification. But nothing has been done even after seven months as the Finance Department is yet to issue a notification in this regard,” said Dhir. If the notification was issued by the government at this stage, each of the retired principals and lecturers will be able to get a raise between Rs 4,000 and Rs 5,000 every month in respect of his/her family pension. “Justice is being denied to us as we have been left out of the revision process,” said Gianeshwar Sood, a retired college teacher. “The revision of pension of government college principals and lecturers is to be made as per the new UGC grades, which have already been implemented in government colleges by the government,” added Dhir.
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Chaos at PTU counselling
Jalandhar, September 22 Parents raised slogans over the unorganised conduct of PTU to seek clarity from higher officials on various queries. Since details of the counselling were put on the website yesterday only, many of them had not read them. “We had been sent SMSs by the PTU and we came rushing here”, parents rued. As the applicants were not aware of the schedule, many boys who were to appear tomorrow also turned up today. A majority of the applicants, who had already taken admission in one of the PTU-affiliated colleges, also assembled on the campus today from where they got to know that their counselling would be held at their respective colleges. These students said they called back in their colleges for information where officials instead told them to be at PTU for counselling. Till 2 pm, many of such candidates did not know what to do. Of the 14 registered candidates under physically challenged category, just one polio-afflicted boy from Moga had turned up. Pardeep Singh, son of a small farmer, did not have a certificate showing income less than Rs 2.5 lakh owing to which he was told to go back and re-appear tomorrow if possible. One of the major reasons for the chaos was that officials of the university had not updated the list of the candidates according to allotment in the second counseling. It was after parents barged into the room of the Vice- Chancellor, Dr Rajneesh Arora, raising slogans that their issues were somewhat settled. The VC individually heard every case and assured that, “All 877 students, who have already taken admission in any of the 83 PTU colleges, will be given fee waiver by their respective colleges on the basis of merit. They have all given us a consent.” As per an understanding with representatives of PUTIA, none of the students was allowed to change his college, whether he had taken admission in counselling or management quota.
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Advertise vacancies soon: ETT teachers
Patiala, September 22 The teachers alleged that despite assurance, the government was not advertising new posts. Sensing trouble, the cops arrested five teachers because of which other teachers left the venue.
Upinderjeet Kaur, when questioned in this regard, said the government would soon publish 3,425 posts as promised. “Due to some legal problems, there is a delay in the process. Once it is cleared, I assure you that the posts will be published in the ratio of 70:30 that means 70 per cent seats will be for those who have done their ETT from Punjab and 30 per cent for those who did their ETT from Jammu,” she added. Talking about the demand of the ETT teachers to regularise their services, she said this issue had been discussed in detail during the Cabinet meeting.
— TNS
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Beant Case
Chandigarh, September 22 As the appeals filed in the assassination case came up for hearing before a Division Bench of Justice Mehtab Singh Gill and Justice Arvind Kumar this morning, senior advocate Baldev Singh said till date no notification had been issued banning the Babbar Khalsa International under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Referring to the prosecution version, Baldev Singh said the conspiracy was alleged to have been hatched in Pakistan by the
BKI, formed in 1978. The CBI, he added, had claimed masterminds Wadhawa Singh and Mahal Singh were in Pakistan. The conspiracy to assassinate the then Chief Minister was discussed and formulated in May-June 1995 between them and Jagtar Singh Hawara in Pakistan.
Hawara, subsequently, was sent to India for executing the operation. Baldev Singh said nothing on record had come to suggest whether Wadhawa Singh and Mahal Singh were dead or alive, and whether they were in Pakistan or some other country. The prosecution had not mentioned any address or details of the place where the conspiracy was hatched in Pakistan. In fact, there was no evidence to suggest Hawara was even a BKI
member. Baldev Singh added even the RDX theory propounded by the prosecution had been belied by its own witness. The owner of the truck, in which RDX was allegedly brought by Hawara from near
Ajnala, had not supported the prosecution case, Baldev Singh concluded.
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Canada’s first Indian-origin woman minister dead
Chandigarh, September 22 She served as the first British Columbia Provincial Liberal MLA for Okanagan-West and Kelowna-Mission from 1996 to 2009. During her tenure, she served as Deputy Speaker, Minister of State for Inter-governmental Relations and as Minister of Health Planning. It was in 2004 that she was diagnosed to be suffering from acute myeloid leukaemia. Born in New Delhi in 1958, her father took his four children and wife to Canada where he made a home in a small Saskatchewan town before the family moved and settled in Calgary in Alberta province. A couple of years ago, she had come as a part of a Canadian delegation to India. When her end came, all her four sisters -Rupie, Moni, Seema and Pam - and only brother - Lucky - were by her side. Both Rupie and Moni are also qualified nurses. Incidentally, it was Seema who was the donor, both in 2004 and 2007, when Sindi went for bone marrow transplant. She had to go through pangs of separation in her married life. Before her election to the legislative assembly, Hawkins worked as a registered nurse in general duty, intensive care, management, education and consulting. She spent 12 years treating cancer patients before studying and pursuing law career. She set up her own company as a lawyer with an interest in medical-legal issues. She received both her bachelor of nursing and her bachelor of law degrees from the University of Calgary. She was among the first few to do a postgraduate certificate in neurosciences. Only yesterday, the premier of British Columbia Campbell named the BC Cancer Agency’s Centre for the Southern Interior named after her. The Sindi Hawkins Cancer Centre for the Southern Interior serves a population of over 70 lakh spanning an area of 2, 50,000 sq km. “Sindi Hawkins has selflessly dedicated her life to helping others, as a nurse, an MLA and an advocate to raise awareness for cancer,” said Premier Campbell. “Naming the Southern Interior Cancer Centre after her will be a lasting legacy of her kindness, her passion for helping others and her generosity of spirit.” After first being elected in 1996, she started the annual Sindi Hawkins and Friends Charity Golf Classic for Cancer Care.
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MLA against sending farmers to South America
Chandigarh, September 22 In a letter addressed to the Deputy CM, the MLA said, “I am shocked that the major lesson from your latest international jaunt is a call to the poor farmers to migrate to South America.” Khangura said there were major geological and seasonal variations and the large farms of that region contrasted sharply with the meagre sub-5 acre landholdings of Punjab. He said, “Brazil may appear a land of great opportunity, but unless you can directly transfer farming practices and technologies from that country to Punjab, your latest visit will yet again have been a waste of money”.
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Heavy rain throws life out of gear in Patiala
Patiala, September 22 As the heavy rains lashed the city, virtual puddles could be spotted in several city areas, including Model Town, Leela
Bhawan, Raghu Majra, bus stand, Chhoti Baradari, Rajpura colony and Arya
Samaj. For a while, the roads in different parts of the city looked like running streams. In areas like Rajpura colony, water even entered into houses and the sewerage system got choked in many localities of the city. The condition in the narrow lanes of the interior city was worst. In many busy markets having narrow roads, drains spilled over to the roads, adding filth to the knee-deep water there. The traffic jams could be seen till afternoon. In some areas, where the traffic lights had become non-functional for a few hours, it was a virtual chaos. “Patiala municipal functionaries always make claims of ensuring proper drainage arrangements, but fails every time,” said majority of the residents. — TNS
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Punjab all set to recharge groundwater from canals Ropar, September 22 For this the World Bank project, assisted by NABARD, the directorate has already zeroed in 55 sites spread across 14 districts of the state, said director, Water Resources, Punjab, Kuldip Singh Takshi. These include Sangrur, Patiala, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Ropar, which are mainly Bhakra command districts. The sites are canal rest houses that will double up as recharging structures. These will be fitted with specially built structures such as sedimentation tanks and injection pumps, wherein water of canals will be utilised to recharge the groundwater. The canal water is considered the best sources of water. “We cannot use just any water to recharge the groundwater table. The canal water is best quality of water available, as it flows down from the catchment areas of reservoirs, where it is stored in. We hope to start project within next three months,” added Takshi. Around four months back, the Punjab State Farmers’ Commission had recommended this kind of water recharging. “Long ago, farmers along the Bist-Doab canal had requested the government to stop the flow of water in canal, as it led to the water seepage. Now, the water has receded more than 400 feet below. We have recommended that water be released in these canals again and banks need not be converted into concrete structure to allow easy seepage,” said farming expert with the commission PS Rangi. He added that the recharging water table alone would do no good unless and until the vicious paddy-wheat cycle was not done away with. While water has been receding down at alarming proportions, the farmers were replacing centrifugal pumps with submersible ones digging deeper. More than 4.75 lakh such pumps in state have resulted in sharp decline of the water table in 2008 to 2009. Paddy, being a high-water consuming crop, is highly dependent on irrigation in a low rainfall area of Punjab. Canal irrigation is grossly inadequate to provide for paddy making farmers dependent on tubewell irrigation and depleting groundwater at a fast pace.
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Docs’ panel to probe infants’ death
Kharar, September 22 Also, civil surgeon Mohali Dr PK Sridhar today convened a meeting of the civil hospital doctors. He reportedly reconstructed the chain of events of the incidents on infants’ death and the circumstances under which it happened. Meanwhile, SAD leader Bir Devinder demanded to complete a thorough probe into the issue within a week or else has threatened to sit on dharna outside the Civil Hospital along with the affected families. “The Health Minister should visit the hospital and seek apology from the affected family,” he added. The police have registered a daily diary report (DDR) number 37 of the incidents on complaint of Subedar Gurcharan Singh, a resident of Ranjit Nagar, who had alleged that his daughter Jagjit Kaur delivered a baby boy that died soon after. While doctors at the civil hospital said the infant had died due to twisting of umbilical cord six times around child’s neck. The patient had come on 7 am on September 20 and delivered baby at 3 am on September 21. Experts opined that if the hospital staff felt foetal distress at any point of time, the baby should have been delivered through C-section.
— TNS
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Brick kiln owners on strike from Sept 25
Patiala, September 22 “The manufacturing of bricks has already been put on hold since June and the association has also prohibited the sale of bricks by retailers. This decision will give a big blow to infrastructure and construction projects of the private as well as government sector”, he added. After reviewing the matter at a meeting of the Patiala Brick Kiln Owners’ Association held under the headship of its president Yashpal Singla, the decision to go on strike was announced by association leaders.
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Fatehgarh Sahib, September 22