Bathinda, April 17
In a shocking revelation, it has come to light that the fly ash billowing out of the chimneys of the thermal power plant in Bathinda has not only been causing skin and respiratory problems but also damaging the orthopaedic health of the residents of the colonies located around it.

During a special orthopaedic health check-up camp held today at Panchwati Nagar, the colony located adjacent to the thermal power plant, the doctors found that of the 204 persons in different age-groups, who underwent diagnosis, except for 42, all were experiencing bone-related problems.

Speaking to The Tribune, the doctors informed that a majority of the residents were facing Osteopenia — a condition where bone mineral density is lower than normal. Besides, some cases were found to be of osteoporosis, an ailment that causes thin bones.

It is learnt that such diseases occur more frequently in post-menopausal women and can also be exacerbated by lifestyle factors such as lack of exercise and excess consumption of alcohol. Meanwhile, smoking or prolonged use of glucocorticoid medications, such as those prescribed for asthma, are also the reasons behind these diseases.

People in these colonies are of the belief that the raining fly ash and the smoke of the thermal plant, which burns a full rake of 52 coal wagons a day, is the prime reason behind the deterioration of their health. They mentioned that the fly ash has not only polluted air and water but also the food products.

After the check-up, Dr Nitin Bansal, assistant professor (orthopaedic), Adesh Medical College and Hospital, Bathinda, described bone pain, tenderness, fractures with little trauma, pain in the neck, spine and hip fractures as the late symptoms of the diseases.

Speaking about the causes, the doctor suspected pollution to be a major factor.

Blaming the authorities of the thermal plant and the Pollution Control Board for the problems, convener of the Joint Action Committee (formed to raise protests against the pollution) MM Behal, who is also a resident of Panchvati Nagar, said, "We have requested the authorities concerned to check the menace of fly ash but hardly any action has been taken yet."

Ferozepur, April 17
A high-level probe has been launched by the divisional railway authorities, Ferozepur, into the bizarre incident connected with a DMU train covering a distance of about 35 kilometers on the Srinagar-Badgam rail section without driver at the dead of night yesterday.

Official sources said that a panel comprising the chief area manager, Srinagar and Deputy Chief Mechanical Engineer had been tasked to conduct the probe into this incident by the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Ferozepur, Vishwesh Chobey.

Whether this incident was an accident or a mischief by the militants, operating in the Kashmir valley, would be known only after the probe is completed.

Information gathered by TNS revealed that at the dead of night, a DMU train was found running on the track from Qazikund to Awantipura side by the station master of those stations, which were located on this section and the general railway police (GRP) personnel, who were on security duty.

Before the authorities could swing into action, the DMU train came to a halt on its own when it approached the up gradient section of the Qazikund-Awantipura section. Before it came to a halt, the DMU train had almost touched the Awantipura railway station.

A senior functionary of the railways, while pleading anonymity, said that had this incident taken place during the day time, there could have been a big disaster.

He added that trains were not plied on the rail sections of Kashmir valley during the night.

He said that what had been raising doubts about the role of officials concerned posted at the point where this DMU train was parked was that when it was chained or obstacles were placed in the wheels to prevent it from rolling down on the gradient of the rail section then how it rolled down for such a large distance at a speed of 80 to 90 kilometers per hour.

Moreover, he said that in the probe, it would be found also that whether officials concerned had taken the standard safety measures or not.

Chandigarh, April 17
Just about a month after the Supreme Court quashed the appointment of PJ Thomas as the Central Vigilance Commissioner, the Punjab and Haryana High Court quoted his case to rule that a candidate’s name cannot be recommended for appointment to a higher post once a vigilance inquiry has been initiated against him.

The ruling by Justice MM Kumar and Justice TPS Mann came on a petition by Surender Singh Taxak against the Food Corporation of India and other respondents.

He had challenged a Single Judge’s judgment dated March 14. The Judge had held “once vigilance inquiry is pending against the appellant, he cannot be granted a no-objection certificate and his application cannot be forwarded for consideration of his name for appointment to the post of Deputy General Manager, which is to be filled by direct recruitment”.

The Bench ruled: “The pendency of a criminal case was considered sufficient for quashing the appointment of the Central Vigilance Commissioner in a recent judgment rendered in the case of Centre for PIL and another versus Union of India and others.

“The Supreme Court set aside the appointment of PJ Thomas as Chief Vigilance Commissioner because criminal prosecution under Section 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, read with Section 120 B of the Indian Penal Code was pending against him in the Court of Special Judge, Thiruvanathapuram. Once a vigilance inquiry has been initiated against a government employee, as is the situation in the present case, it is a far cry to expect that the name of such a delinquent employee would be recommended for appointment by way of direct recruitment to a higher post”.

Bathinda, April 17
The Punjab Government's initiative — introducing administrative reforms to cut red-tape and make official work hassle-free — has begun on a positive note, especially in the daily routine work.

Finding that people were being harassed in the government departments by being made to file unnecessary affidavits for various kinds of services including public utilities like water, sewerage connections etc., the state government, a couple of months ago, replaced the affidavits with self-declaration.

Though initially, laxity among the bureaucrats was witnessed in implementing the reform (discontinuation of affidavits) in many districts, the strictness of the government and awareness among the people, lead to the change gradually resulting in substantial saving of time and money of the people.

Comparative details of the number of affidavits being issued from the Suwidha Centre, Bathinda, revealed that the total number of affidavits issued in a month has been reduced to one-fourth.

As per the month-wise details, the Suwidha Centre had issued 1818 affidavits in 2009 and 1932 in 2010 but with the introduction of reforms, the affidavits issued was reduced to just 290.

The staff of the Suwidha Centre informed that following the directions of the state government, the issuance of various types of affidavits meant for lost mobile phone, school admissions, GPF withdrawal, seeking leave, etc. had been discontinued as they were not at all required.

However, they informed that still a number of schools force parents to submit an affidavit of responsibility regarding their children at the time of admission.

"Whenever such a case comes to us, we try to make the person understand that the government has waived any such requirement and if the school authorities still demand an affidavit, they can lodge a complaint with the district officials," claimed the Suwidha centre in-charge Jaswinder Singh.

It may be mentioned that the idea of waiving the affidavits was introduced to save people the trouble of purchasing stamp paper, finding a deed writer, making payment for attestation, etc. But while replacing it with self-attestation, it has also been declared that making a wrong declaration would be punishable as in the case of false evidence.

People in various age-groups whom TNS spoke to, were happy about the change but some of them demanded immediate and strict action against those who still compel the common people to submit affidavits without any requirement.

Moga, April 17
A decade after stepping into the 21st century, the Punjab Police is restructuring itself to become people-friendly by adopting modern technology.

After computerisation of the First Information Reports (FIRs), air-conditioned suvidha centres have been set up at the main police stations, particularly, in the densely populated urban areas, across the state to provide the copies of FIRs, status report of complaints and other inquiries related to prevention of crime.

Besides, outreach centres have also been set up at the police stations, located in the far-flung areas from the district headquarters, so that the people do not have to travel a long distance for getting petty information or status reports.

Trained cops accompanied with experienced staff having computer knowledge have been put on duty in the centres.

Over 100 such centres have already started functioning in the state with renewed emphasis on improving the work efficiency of cops with the help of hi-tech gadgets and monitoring systems. In the next few days, all the SSPs at the police districts will get Touch Screen 3G enabled Dell Company made mobile phones, which would have direct access to all information available in the suvidha centres with online connectivity.

For this, the cops are being provided with basic computer training and advanced computer training program designed for the purpose by the information technology wing of the state police. The training aims at providing the latest computer gadgetry and advance computer course to make the cops technology savvy.

Plans are underway to make all cops computer literate with the help of the Punjab Information and Communication Technology Corporation. A memorandum of understanding has already been signed by the state police with the corporation.

Moga SSP Sneh Deep Sharma, while talking to The Tribune, said, “Crime detection with accurate investigation is on top of the agenda.” Next on the agenda, is to provide GPS/GPRS-based mobile phones to all the beat officers so that the SSPs could watch their locations through their cell phones. The digital map facility would help police to find the exact location of the crime site as well.

Dalip Singh Pandhi, Member, Punjab State Commission for Scheduled Castes, while welcoming the modernisation of police force said there is a need to sensitise the cops towards the people, particularly the weaker sections and women.

Bathinda, April 17
When one compares the functioning of the District Library, being run by the state government here, and the privately managed Public Library, the difference is there for all to see.

The former is in a pathetic conditions, more so because of the vacant posts of the librarian for the last eight years and the restorer for the past nine months. On the other hand, the Public Library has been proving to be a boon for the residents.

The Public Library was set up in 1938 in a room in the local Sirki Bazaar. It was shifted to its existing building (near the old telephone exchange) around 1954. The library has around 45,000 books and about 2700 members. It provides around 40 copies of various newspapers, besides over 100 weekly, fortnightly and monthly magazines, to its readers. The expenses of the library (about Rs four lakh) are borne by the managing body from the donations received and the rent of the shops.

The Public Library has a staff of six members, a librarian, an accountant, three attendants and a sweeper. Interestingly, the District Library is being run by an attendant and a sweeper-cum-chowkidar.

Due to the pathetic condition of the District Library, the number of visitors there has come down to about 10, who read the newspapers and magazines daily, while on the other hand, hundreds visit the reading hall of the Public Library daily. Besides, the Public Library members get about 50 books issued daily from there while of the more than 700 members of the District Library, only a few get the books issued in a month. The Public Library purchases books, including those for competitions, worth thousands of rupees every year.

It also has a new set of 32 volumes of the New Encyclopaedia Britannica and a separate section for women.

President and secretary of the managing body of the Public Library, Bhagat Singh Dhaliwal and Kuldip Dhingra, said the record of all types of books would be computerised by 2011.

The librarian, Parveen Garg, said some work for the computerisation of the book records has already been done to help readers access the books of their choice.

Bathinda, April 17
Harpal Kaur (68), wife of Amarjeet Singh Sidhu, in-charge SAD (B) for Talwandi Sabo constituency, lost the battle for life to cancer, this morning. She was suffering from the disease for nearly six years. Her cremation was performed at village Dhann Singh Khana in the district.

Among others, CM Parkash Singh Badal, Irrigation Minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Jagdeep Singh Nakai, Congress MLA from Nathana Ajaib Singh Bhatti, Jathedar Damdama Sahib Balwant Singh Nandgarh, district president of BJP (rural) Dyal Dass Sodhi, former DGP NPS Aulakh, IGP (Bathinda zone) NS Dhillon, expressed condolence. The deceased is survived by her husband, two daughters and a son, Sukhman Singh Sidhu, who is the general secretary of Youth Akali Dal. — TNS

Abohar, April 17
Anguished over the failure of the state government in completing the process of nominating the State Information Commissioners (SICs), the RTI Federation (Punjab) has decided to organise a demonstration at Chandigarh on May 15. District president Sat Pal Khariwal said two State Information Commissioners were going to retire by the next month but the government has maintained an apathy over completing the nominations.

The Federation faxed a memorandum last month to the Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal in this connection.

“While the state government deserved appreciation for taking the initiative to frame a policy for giving protection to the RTI activists, we are concerned that none of the activists had so far been appointed as State Information Commissioner,” he said.

The equity and justice requires that at least 50 per cent of the posts of Information Commissioners should be filled by nominating prominent RTI activists and they must of persons of unimpeachable integrity, he said.

Ferozepur, April 17
A woman was killed while two others were hurt when they were hit by a speeding tractor-trolley outside Dear Radha Swani Beas near village Sandhe Hasham on the Ferozepur-Zira road today morning.

Maninder alias Manika along with her sister-in-law Baljinder Kaur was coming out of the Dera. After hitting the two women, the tractor driver, in panic, hit another cyclist whose leg got fractured in the incident. The tractor driver fled from spot.

The police have registered a case against the driver at Kulgarhi police station on the basis of a complaint lodged by the husband of the deceased.

Meanwhile, an unidentified person was crushed to death at the rail track near washing line area of the cantonment railway station today. GRP officials said the body had been sent to the Civil Hospital.

Fazilka, April 17
With speculation of Fazilka being elevated to the district headquarters status, the prices of property have skyrocketed in Fazilka and surrounding areas. Those involved in real estate are making a fast buck.

The rates of urban property at important residential and commercial sites have shot up. A small commercial shop measuring to about 10’x30’ (total 300 sq ft) at Gaushalla road is pegged at Rs 20 to Rs 25 lakh.

The decision in connection with district status is still awaited. The residents hope that the decision would be announced soon this year.

On the other hand, Fazilka MLA Surjit Kumar Jyani, who had been spearheading the agitation for getting district headquarters status and also went on fast-unto-death in January, claimed that all the formalities have almost been completed.

He hoped that Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who is abroad, would announce the district headquarters status to Fazilka after he returns.

Fazilka, April 17
The dream project of Fazika residents to get canal-based drinking water is going to be a reality soon as the local MLA Surjit Kumar Jyani initiated the construction work of water course near village Khui Khera of Fazilka sub-division, yesterday.

The water course would be constructed on the perennial Gang canal through which five cusecs of water is proposed to be supplied to the canal-based drinking water project installed in Fazilka near Sacred Heart Convent School at a cost of Rs 5.5 crores to meet the requirement of canal-based drinking water to the local area residents and Army personnel.

Jyani informed that for the construction of water-course and lying of 15 kilometre long water supply pipes from the Gang canal to the canal-based water project site, the Punjab government has prepared a Rs 12.69 crore project.

Out of this amount, the Punjab government and the Municipal Council has deposited the first installment with the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board, which has been assigned the construction work.

Municipal Council, president, Anil Sethi, Market Committee, chairman, Ashok Jairath, Zila Parishad, vice-chairman, Prem Kularia and other BJP leaders and officials were present on the occasion.

Fazilka, April 17
Complimenting the government for making an attempt to check the problem of waterlogging at village Shajrana and nearby areas of Fazilka subdivision, the villagers have urged the government to pay attention to another important issue afflicting the area — cancer.

They have alleged that the Punjab Chief Secretary, during his recent visit, did not make any attempt to mitigate the problem of ensuring pure drinking water.

Former Jalalabad Congress MLA and former cabinet minister Hans Raj Josan, after touring Shajrana ,village claimed that the residents told him that due to contaminated water, the number of deaths due to cancer has increased.

“The hue and cry raised by the government about its concern for cancer patients is confined to papers only,” alleged Josan.