Gurdaspur, March 18
Harried residents took to the streets against the decision of the Gurdaspur, Batala and Pathankot municipal councils of not lifting garbage littered at various points in all the thee towns.

The towns have virtually been turned into massive garbage pits owing to the strike called by the Municipal Council Employees Union in protest against the indecisiveness of the Punjab Government in fulfilling their demands, including regularisation of service of 5,000 employees currently working on a temporary basis.

Scores of residents gathered at the busy Hanuman Chowk here in the morning where they staged a protest. Congress leader Raman Bahl, who spearheaded the agitation, commented, “The impasse between the striking MC employees and the state government should be broken at the earliest. It is a case of the pot calling the kettle black with the state government blaming the MC staff and vice-versa. It is fight between two entities but why are the residents being made to suffer for absolutely no fault of theirs? The situation in all the three towns of Gurdaspur, Batala and Pathankot is fast deteriorating and people may well be facing a serious health hazard in the next few days if mounds of garbage are not lifted from the streets.”

Vijay Thapa, general secretary of the Gurdaspur Municipal Council Employees Union, claimed that if the state government did not heed to their genuine demands they would be forced to intensify their agitation. A livid Thapa claimed, “Our next step will be to throw garbage in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office.”

However, he failed to reply when countered that the DC had no role to play as it was a matter between the MCs and the Local Bodies Department.

Raju Gharala, a resident, said, “There is a danger of an epidemic breaking out in the next few days. The situation is all the more dangerous in Gurdaspur and Batala where garbage heaps have accumulated in the labyrinthine bylanes. Politicians cutting across party lines are playing their own games and nobody is ready to take the issue of striking MC employees. In Batala, MLA Jagdeesh Sahni is trying to garner political mileage as far as converting Batala tehsil into a district is concerned but what is he doing for the beleaguered residents of the town?”

Phagwara: The strike of municipal employees and safai karamcharis, which entered 12th day today, got more support of different political and social organizations today.

Nakodar: Criticising the state government for not paying heed to their demands, Safai Karamchari Sangathan of Shahkot Municipal Committee today burnt the effigy of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and even warned to halt the water supply of the town.

Tarn Taran: The employees of the Municipal Council blocked road traffic at Chauk Bohri here today.

Employees also held a rally in front of the MC office.

* Employees’ union to intensify stir

* Irked residents stage protests against MC employees

Nawanshahr, March 18
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal visited Khatkar Kalan today to take stock of the mega SAD-BJP political conference scheduled to be held here to commemorate the martyrdom day of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev on March 23. Chaudhary Nand Lal, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, MLAs Jatinder Singh Kariha and Mohan Lal were also present on the occasion.

A huge pandal in 40-acre land is being set up at Khatkar Kalan for the rally which would be attended by two lakh people. Besides, parking facility would be made available in 50-acre land and special arrangements for preparing and serving langar to the people participating in the rally had also been made. Answering a query in connection with the boycott of debate on budget by the Congress, Sukhbir said the people of the state had been appreciating the budget and the Congress had been finding it hard to digest it.

“The talks are going on with the striking municipal council employees to end the strike,” said the Deputy CM when his attention was drawn to the deteriorating sanitary conditions in the towns of the state.

It is worthwhile to mention here that Khatkar Kalan, the native village of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, has suddenly emerged as a centre of attraction.

Both the ruling SAD-BJP combine and Congress are gearing up for converting their annual ‘political conferences’ at Khatkar Kalan to mark the martyrdom day on March 23 into a major show of strength as part of their preparation for the ensuing assembly polls in the state.

The rallies are also meant to counter the challenge posed by former Finance Minister Manpreet Badal, who is going to constitute a new political party by organising a rally at Khatkar Kalan on March 27.

The Congress is also gearing up to organise its political conference in a big way. Senior congress leader, O.P. Soni has been made coordinator of the Khatkar Kalan rally. Besides, former minister, Lal Singh, Chaudhary Santokh Singh, former MLA, Tarlochan Singh Soondh, former MP, Charanjit Singh Channi, PPCC member, GurIqbal Kaur Babli, have been mobilising people to participate in the rally. Talochan Singh Soondh, who is supervising the setting up of the pandal for the Congress Rally, said that the Congress would expose the false claims of development being made by the SAD-BJP govt.

The Left parties - CPI, CPM and CPI (ML) New Democracy are also making arrangements for their political conferences at Khatkar Kalan. 

Pathankot, March 18
“Perhaps the greatest of all educational fallacies is the notion that a person learns only the particular thing he is studying at that time. Actually the fact is that a young student learns more when he is continuously exposed to new environments.”This was stated by the Principal of the Indian Heritage School Soham Anand who recently took a team of 20 students to Kennedy Space Centre of the National Aeronautics Space Administration, the agency which is responsible for US civilian space programme.

Pranshu Bharti, an 8th standard student of the school, disclosed, “Mars scientists are helping students from all over the world to help them understand what the Red Planet is all about. These days NASA scientists are studying whether water and subsequently life existed on Mars or not.”

The students, who returned from the trip an enlightened and excited lot, were also taken around the world famous Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. Said Aahna Dhyani, a 9th standard student, “The Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) is an astronaut training facility maintained by and located at the Sonny Carter Training Facility Facility on NASA’s Johnson Space Centre. The NBL consists of a large indoor pool of water, the largest in the world in which astronauts perform simulated functions in preparation for upcoming missions.” The students also had a glimpse of Saturn-V, the longest rocket in the world and which in the late sixties and early eighties was used by NASA to propel Apollo and Skylab into space.

The NASA visit was aptly described by Anubhav Sharma, a 7th standard student when he remarked, “NASA is the temple of science. It was really an experience interacting with some of the most intelligent people on earth. We have learn’t so many things which we could never have done so while sitting in the class room.” 

Jalandhar, March 18
The annual flower show and garden competition held at Jawahar Garden in Jalandhar Cantt today remained a lacklustre affair.

The residents blamed the authorities for conducting the flower show on a working day, which led to fewer spectators. The show, which is being organised for the past 70 years, is usually been held on Sundays.

The show was jointly conducted by the Station Headquarters and Cantonment Board, Jalandhar, under the aegis of Vajra Corps.

“Even the duration of the flower show was very less as compared to the previous years. We reached the Jawahar Garden at around 11.30 am to find that the show was almost over. Earlier it used to go on till 3 pm with better events and stalls adding charm to the show,” a resident said.

The spectators also pointed out that another crowd puller, the dog show, was also not held. “I was disappointed to know that there was no dog show this time. I had especially brought my children along to watch the daring acts of the army dogs, but all that we could see were a few stalls of dogs species,” added a mother of two.

Many nature lovers were of the opinion that the number of flowers on display this year was very less as compared to previous years. “The display of flowers was also not impressive,” a youngster said.

Defence PRO Naresh Vig said the flower show was held today as it was Holi on Sunday. When asked about the dog show not being conducted, he said: “This is second consecutive year when the dog show was not held,” he added.

Earlier in the morning, GOC of Vajra Corps Lt-Gen Munish Sibal inaugurated the flower show.

Around 200 varieties of flowers, including foliage plant, potted flower, cut flowers and dry flowers were put on display. A separate garden show was also held that was divided into two groups. First group was open for all whereas the second group was only for serving soldiers. Gardens from various educational institutions of city, individual and public gardens, terrace gardens and regimental gardens also participated in the event. A special spot rangoli and painting competition for the children was also held on this occasion.