The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Injuries abound on Divali night
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 6
Several persons, most of them young men and children, were injured on Divali night owing to an incident which occurred while they were bursting crackers. Various city hospitals received emergency cases last night. At least eight persons reported eye injuries, with one of them getting operated upon at the Thind Eye Hospital.

Four persons got their right hand burnt. Three persons suffered bronchial allergies and an elderly man suffered temporary hearing loss.

Eye specialist Dr Saurabh Mittal said most of the patients he got were children who suffered chemical injuries from gun powder in their eyes, or the burning of lashes.

“There were children who accidentally got burns from the bursting of anaars, or even burning candles and diyas, to which they came very close. An 18-year-old boy, who was operated upon at the eye hospital, is said to have got hit by a projectile which burst too low. Splinters from the crackers had entered his eye, which had to be removed immediately”, Dr Mittal said.

Dr Jaswant Bath, plastic surgeon, said four young boys got their right hands injured while bursting anaars in their hands. “All of them got their hands bandaged and were sent back”, he said.

ENT specialist Dr Sanjeev Sharma said an elderly man had suffered temporary hearing loss due to noise from bombs.

“He has been given treatment but will recover in four to five days. If he hears a noise of the same intensity again, a few more times, he is likely to suffer permanent hearing loss”, he opined. He said three patients with a history of asthmatic attacks, too, had to be hospitalised.

Elsewhere

Phagwara: Despite price rise of essential commodities, Divali was celebrated with fervour in several parts of the region including in Phagwara, Goraya, Phillaur, Nakodar, Bilga, Apra, Noormahal etc.

In Phagwara, sweetshop owners and other eatables sellers took advantage of the busy schedule of the teams of the Health Department due to stoppage of “Red Ribbon Express” train from November 4 to 6 and nobody was their from health department to check the huge sale of spurious sweets. Residential and commercial establishments were decorated with lights. — OC

Hoshiarpur: Traditional Divali festival was celebrated here with fervour. People illuminated their houses and shops, exchanged sweets, dry fruits and gift items with each other to mark the occasion. Despite price hike, majority of the shopkeepers, including fire cracker sellers, crockery, handloom and dry fruit sellers did brisk business.

However, halwais did not have a good business on account of regular campaigning and propagation regarding food adulteration.

According to the police sources, two cars parked in local Vasant Bihar locality caught fire due to fireworks last night. — OC

Cracker effect: Major tragedy averted at police station
24 fire incidents at various places in the city on Divali night
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 6
A major mishap was averted when a fire broke out at the Baradari police station here on Saturday. According to information, a burnt firecracker fell in an oil drum lying in the police station premises.

As a result, the drum caught fire. The fire spread to other illegal oil drums lying there - which had been seized from different areas.

Luckily, a person, who had come to the police station to lodge a complaint, was carrying a fire extinguisher with him.

He started putting out the fire.

Meanwhile, policemen present there also started extinguishing the fire. They also informed fire tenders and a fire tender reached there in time.

Subsequently, the fire was put out and a major mishap was averted.

According to information, several seized gas cylinders, scooters and motorcycles were also lying there.

Had the fire spread to them, it would have created more harm to the building.

Meanwhile, according to the fire department sources, fire broke out at as many as 26 places in different areas during Divali night. However, no major loss of property was reported from anywhere.

Burning of Paddy Stubble
Force can’t fix problems, educating farmers can: Experts
Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, November 6
The environment that we abuse and the living things that we kill, in the end, will take their revenge; for in exploiting their presence, we are diminishing our future.

Had this basic dictum been understood by farmers who have developed the unhealthy habit of burning paddy straw with impunity, the damage being inflicted to the environment could have been controlled.

The Gurdaspur District Administration has recently announced a slew of measures to check the menace of paddy stubble burning in the region, including registering of criminal cases and severance of power supply to the erring farmers.

However, environmentalists have questioned the efficacy and wisdom of the implementation of such “rules which have no teeth” and have rubbished such regulations by saying that “the authorities can not see the wood for the trees. They are not focusing on the real issue.

Banning paddy straw burning is going to take the issue nowhere and more practical measures are the need of the hour.”

Farm scientists of the region rigidly maintain that filing criminal cases against erring farmers is not a solution to the problem, whose tentacles have now spread deep and wide.

The common refrain among environmentalists was that “bringing in special legislations or enacting special laws to deal with the problem, which, over the years, has assumed gigantic proportions, will be of no value till the farmers themselves are educated on the ill effects of paddy residue burning.”

State awardee for agriculture and noted environmentalist Vikram Ahuja said authorities have their hands tied to their backs, when it comes to fighting the scourge.

He disclosed, “Burning of paddy straw ironically does not come under the purview of the Air Pollution Act, 1981. Legal experts are of the view that action can be taken against the erring farmers under the Public Nuisance Act.”

Interestingly, farmers care two hoots for the administration’s warnings.

Reason: Last year, the Gurdaspur police failed to book even a single farmer for setting farm residue ablaze, even as tonnes of paddy straw went up in flames.

PS Bagga, a noted farm scientist and director, PAU Regional

Research Station, Gurdaspur, says, “There are some practical solutions to the issue. Farmers should be asked to use Happy Seeder - a post-harvest machine developed by the Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) in collaboration with Australian Centre for International Research (ACIR). In this technology moisture of the pervious crop can be used, which results in fuel and water saving. By using the Happy Seeder, nutrient rich straw is allowed to be decomposed slowly and moreover, organic matter and friendly pests are conserved.”

Bagga adds, “Setting up of bio-mass power plants is also an answer. These plants have super efficient burners which makes it possible to recover and utilise every calorie of energy when straw is burnt. Moreover, force can not stop farmers from burning straw. Before doing anything else, we need to educate them.”

Many wonder why, in the first place, farmers resort to straw burning.

Says Bagga, “The reason why most of the farmers burn off straw is the lack of a market for the resource. Currently, rice straw has no commercial value. Its disposal rather constitutes an extra cost.

Ploughing it into soil consumes time and energy, and the residues take a long time to decompose. Burning straw on the field is the most economic and easiest way to get rid of it.”

“This “burning problem” - an unhealthy cocktail of serious air pollution, leading to respiratory illnesses, large emissions of climate-destructive gases and a huge wastage of energy - can be gotten rid of to ensure a bright and green future, simply by using the resource as a feedstock for modern bio-energy production, using bio-mass power plants,” he added.

Govt thinking of extending SC facilities to BCs
Our Correspondent

Tarn Taran, November 6
The state government was seriously thinking of giving Scheduled Caste (SC) facilities to the members of backward classes (BCs) to uplift their lifestyle. This was revealed by Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, minister for rural development and panchayat, Punjab, while addressing a rural gathering at the Jahangir village, 18 km from here today.

Brahmpura said the members of backward classes in the state were not living a good lifestyle and by giving them facilities on par with the SC categories, they would be given more reservation in jobs, admission in higher classes etc.

The minister also highlighted the different developmental schemes and policies of the state government.

Alwinder Pal Singh Pakhoke, chairman, Punjab State Warehouse Corporation were among the others who spoke on the occasion. The minister took stock of the developmental works going in Deenewal village and Malchak in the area.

Folk group from Greece comes calling
Our Correspondent

Phagwara, November 6
Polymorfi Folk Group from Greece is visiting Punjab on the invitation of the Punjab Cultural Promotion Council as part of cultural exchange programmes. The group is headed by Director Madam Zanthenia-Mantas.

PCPC Director Davinder Singh Chhina said here today the 11-member group would tour Punjab till November 12 and study Punjabi culture, and Sikh traditions.

The group will visit Batala, Gurusar-Sudhar, Amritsar and Ludhiana. PCPC members Gurmeet Kaur, Bansi Lal, Dr Manjit Kaur Narula, Jaspreet Singh and Verleen Kaur are also accompanying the group which would interact with Punjabi students during their cultural exchange programmes.

Abandoned infant dies
Our Correspondent

Phagwara, November 6
A newborn girl was found abandoned in a barron plot on the Khottra Road here today. After getting the information, the police admitted to have found the infant in the civil hospital. But she could not be survived and breathed her last this afternoon.

The police is investigating the matter and inquiring the involvement of a midwife or a nursing home.

Phagwara SDM Amarjit Paul said he would soon issue instructions to the police to check the records of all nursing homes and midwives to stop this illegal practice.