Abohar, March 21
Several thousand residents in ward 19 and 20, which form part of Nai Abadi adjacent to Azeemgarh here, could neither celebrate the festival of colours. They were also not able to offer prayers at the famous Panchmukhi Dhaam since their houses remained surrounded by stinking sewage for the past two weeks.

The residents today shouted slogans against the Municipal Council (MC) and Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board (PWSSB) officials. Hundreds of students including girls from three schools in the locality (upper areas of Nai Abadi) had to walk through the dirty water. “We are expected to be more careful about health and hygiene,” said Daropadi, a girl child.

A housewife, Rameshwari, regretted that the rehriwalas too had stopped passing through the streets making it difficult for the residents to purchase vegetables and other essential commodities. Sewage had accumulated in the washrooms of scores of houses while others face a threat to their boundary walls.

A retired employee of the Central government, Kundan Lal Soni, said, “Mosquitoes have grown in numbers and the situation becomes worse due to the power cuts.” Some other residents including Chiman Lal and Vijay Kumar Doda said a thick green layer had developed on the dirty water. Rajinder Soni said the people had repeatedly lodged complaints with the Municipal Council and the PWSSB but to no avail.

Soni said that when he spoke to the Municipal Council president over the phone in the presence of the protesters, the latter replied that his ward too faced a similar situation and expressed his helplessness. National award recipient Yogi Sukhram said such attitude of the authorities could make people sick.

While giving a two-day period to the authorities to resolve the problem, the residents warned that they would gherao the residence of the Municipal Council and the PWSSB officials, burn their effigies and force a blockade on the highway if results were not visible.

Bathinda, March 21
The draw of lots for the allotment of all 438 vends of the Punjab Medium Liquor (L-14 A) and Indian Made Foreign Liquor (L-2) in the district today passed off peacefully.

With the total quota of liquor fixed at 63.84 lakh proof litres, the department is expected to earn Rs 114.28 crore as license fee from the vends in the year 2011-12, excluding an amount of Rs 8.25 crore, that the excise and taxation department has already earned from 4,100 (approximately) applications received for the draw of vends.

According to officials of the department concerned, more than 15 new faces succeeded in getting the allotment this time.

Interestingly, unlike the year 2010-11, luck smiled on a woman applicant this time with Shanti Devi of Rajasthan getting a group of units named Chak Kharak Singh Wala. The Rs 1.42 crore worth (licence fee) group has eight vends including two of IMFL with a total quota of 79,322 proof litres.

To make the process impartial and transparent, the officials of the excise and taxation department, prepared the video recording of the event and screened it on three LCD screen installed in the hall.

The slips were picked by people sitting in the hall in the presence of the SDM, Rampura Phul, A. Kartik. The event started with the draw of lots for the municipal council of Rampura for which the slip was picked by a local journalist Papinder Singhmar.

Though the slips were in the names of individuals, the officials said that like on previous occasions, the Ponty Chadha group bagged a major share with nearly seven groups of units.

Besides those from Punjab, there were a number of successful liquor traders who belonged to neighbouring states like Haryana and Rajasthan.

There were a total of 98 vends, divided in 12 units each of four zones with the total annual quota of 5.63 lakh proof litres for the area within the limits of Bathinda Municipal Corporation (BMC). The total quota of liquor within the BMC limits has been fixed at 22.52 lakh proof litres from which the department is expected to earn Rs 40.32 crore as licence fee.

The four successful participants of the draw within the BMC zones are — Harsewak group, Amrit Pal group, ABS Wines Ltd and the Vinod Kumar Sharma group from Rajasthan.

Confirming the details, Bathinda AETC Pawan Garg said, “It was a joint effort and the event took place peacefully.”

Gumjal (Ferozepur), March 21
Gumjal, located in Ferozepur district and the last village of Punjab, has attracted the maximum number of applications for liquor vends for the year 2011-12 in the state.

Facing an acute shortage of water, the successive governments have failed to take care of its residents by ensuring them proper supply of canal water. Many a time, residents who have launched agitations for water, have demanded that the village must be transferred to neighbouring Rajasthan as they would then be able to get adequate water from the Indira Gandhi canal.

However, for those who deal in liquor, the village seems to have become an important spot in Punjab as liquor is much in demand here due to its geographical location.

Official sources said the liquor vend groups in the village attracted 549 applications. The liquor vend groups in other villages of Punjab, which had attracted an unusual number of applications included Seoda Kerian and Bamial, located near the Indo-Pak border and Punjab-J&K border in the Gurdaspur district.

Sources said a number of liquor vend groups, located in the Punjab-Rajasthan, Punjab-Himachal Pradesh, Punjab-Haryana and Punjab-J&K border area, had attracted a large number of applicants.

PS Randhawa, Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner (AETC), Ferozepur, said for the Gumjal group comprising a vend of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and a vend of country-made liquor, 549 applications were received from individuals, the highest in the state.

He said the number of applications received for liquor vends in Gumjal last year was more than 650. However, last year, the Gumjal group consisted of liquor vends located in the village as well as those located in village Kallar Khera. This season, village Kallar Khera, which has been made a separate group, attracted 189 applications from individuals and groups of individuals for the purchase of liquor vend.

Randhawa said the Ferozepur district had another achievement to its credit as it had earned the highest revenue hike in Punjab by registering 39 per cent increase in its revenue from the sale of its liquor vends for the next financial year. Last year, the total revenue from liquor vends in the Ferozepur district was Rs 81.73 crores and it would be Rs 113.62 crores for the year 2011-12.

Bathinda, March 21
Nathana MLA Ajaib Singh Bhatti and Pakka Kalan MLA Makhan Singh, in a statement issued here today, accused the leaders of the ruling SAD of taking the common man for a ride in the name of initiating development projects.

They alleged that the state government was acquiring fertile land to hand it over to private players for their personal gains.

Taking serious notice of the proposed thermal power plant at Kotshamir village, the two MLAs not only accused the SAD leaders of duping the farmers but also expressed concern over the ecological threat that the power plant will pose in the region.

Meanwhile, in a press release issued here, district president (rural) of the Congress, Narinder Singh Bhaleria stated that the Bathinda unit of the party had made all preparations to make the Khatkar Kalan rally on March 23 a success.

Bhaleria claimed that thousands of party workers from Bathinda would reach Khatkar Kalan and show the ruling SAD leaders that a change in rule was no longer a distant possibility. — TNS

Ferozepur, March 21
Several government employees were found absent during a surprise check conducted in various schools, hospital and government offices, falling in Mamdot block. The checking was conducted by Raminder Singh, Commissioner, Ferozepur Division, along with the other officials today.

At the Government veterinary hospital, Avinash Chander Narang, medical officer and Mangal Singh, helper, were found absent. The office was open but no one was present on duty at the time of inspection.

Similarly, in the BDPO office, three employees, Subhash Chander, Ranjit Singh and Ashwani Kumar, were found absent. The commissioner said their leave applications were found but the applications had not been sanctioned. Hence, they were considered absent. Even the BDPO, who has additional charge of Ghal Khurd office, was not present at the time of checking, he said. The Child Development and Project Officer (CDPO) was also found absent along with the supervisor Kamaljit. Only the helper was present in the CDPO office, who said that he has not been paid the salary for the last five months.

On the other hand, the entire staff of the market committee office was found on duty. Likewise, during the checking of 66KV sub-station of the PSPC at Mamdot, Harmel Singh, SDO, along with the entire staff was present during the inspection.

The Commissioner also checked the attendance of teaching staff and students at Shahid RK Wadhwa Senior Secondary School where the officiating principal Urmila Sharma pointed out that a staff member Tejinder Kaur had gone for some official work to Ferozepur while the rest of the teaching staff was present.

The SMO posted at the Civil Hospital, Mamdot, was on leave. The medical officer on duty informed the Commissioner that only two patients were admitted to the hospital, which is otherwise a 30-bed hospital. Raminder Singh pointed out that the special checking was being done on a regular basis to ensure punctuality among the government employees.

The Commissioner said that stringent action would be initiated against the employees who were found absent from duty. 

Abohar, March 21
Two youths of Nagour district of Rajasthan, Nand Ram and Mani Ram, who had been acting as courier of narcotics for a notorious smuggler of Rajasthan, were arrested by the local police while they were trying to smuggle over three kilograms of opium from their native place to Amritsar district. The accused confessed they were taking the opium to Amritsar district.

The duo added that they had already made a number of rounds to Amritsar in the past and had delivered consignments to people there on the instruction of their boss. They added that they were never told about their specific destination in Amritsar by their superior. Whenever they reached Amritsar with the consignment, they were asked to stay at a particular point by their boss. Later, some strangers used to approach them and make them speak to their boss over the phone for the delivery of the consignment. They had been getting Rs 20,000 from their boss for a round.

Varinder Brar, SP, Abohar, while talking to the media, said the Rajasthan police authorities were contacted to find out the criminal record of Nand Ram and Mani Ram.

He said seven cases connected with the smuggling of narcotics had been registered in the Abohar sub-division area in the last one week while five cases were related to the smuggling of poppy husk and one each with the smuggling of smack and opium.

A case under the NDPS Act had been registered against the accused at the Sadar police station. 

Sriganganagar, March 21
A pilgrim from Bathinda was killed while three of his companions were hurt as the car by which they were travelling overturned near Rawatsar. Sources said Bhagwan Dass Garg of Prajapat Colony (Bathinda) along with his relatives Inder Garg, Satish Garg and Pawan were returning after visiting Salasar Dhaam on Sunday.

They had stopped at Pallu before proceeding to Rawatsar. 

Bathinda, March 21
A store selling pesticides and seeds, located at the grain market here, caught fire on Sunday evening.

A number of fire tenders rushed to the spot but the flames had engulfed the premises of the Romana seed store and the goods turned into ashes in no time.

It has been reported that the fire broke out when the owner of the shop, Amandeep Singh, attempted to switch on the light in the evening. An electric spark triggered a fire in the bags of pesticides which are highly combustible.

Amandeep stained injuries while attempting to douse the flames. A motorcycle parked outside the shop also caught fire. People assembled there rushed Amandeep to the Civil Hospital. Meanwhile, eye-witnesses said mild blasts took place in the boxes lying in the shop.

The owner of the shop claimed that he had incurred a loss of Rs 30 lakh due to the fire. Kotwali police has begun an investigation into the case.