Bathinda, May 29
While Bathinda is being projected as one of the fast-developing cities in the state, nearly 40 per cent of its population is still battling for supply of potable water.

With the rise in mercury, the problem has aggravated and residents have started lodging protests against the authorities of the local Municipal Corporation (BMC) for a major deficiency in providing the basic facility.

Notably, more than 20 localities within the municipal limits have no access to the routine water supply. As per an estimate, nearly 40 per cent of the total population (nearly 3 lakh) settled within the BMC limits does not get water supply due to an uneven water-distribution system.

The official data of the BMC states that the gap between demand and supply of potable water was just 10 per cent. However, the ground reality is that the gap is more than 40 per cent and due to poor water-distribution system, some localities are supplied water round-the-clock while taps in some remain absolute dry.

Residents of Lal Singh Basti, Sanguana Basti, Dashmesh Nagar, Birbal Basti, Dhillon Basti, Bangi Nagar, Udham Singh Nagar, Sanjay Nagar, Hazi Rattan road, Awa Basti, Rambagh area, Amarpura Basti, Guru Nanak Pura, Kartar Basti, Kothe Kame Ke, Dhobiana Basti, Anoop Nagar and Ajit road are terribly affected.

Finding that the problem may evoke anger among the residents, the BMC authorities have hired 10 tankers to supply water to these areas. Though the BMC officials claim it to be the solution to the menace, it leads to dramas and even quarrels when a tanker reaches a locality. One such incident took place at Sanjay Nagar locality on Saturday. On seeing the water tanker coming, a large number of people carrying plastic cans, buckets and other utensils, rushed towards it. Some women grumbled to secure their turn to get water.

The domestic reservoirs in the Jujhar Singh Nagar locality are lying dry for past seven days. Residents of the locality accuse the staff of a telephone network provider company of damaging the pipelines. Further, they alleged that so far, the BMC officials did nothing in this regard even as several complaints have been lodged with the local body.

The situation in Pujjaan Wala Mohalla and surrounding areas is also grim. On Saturday, residents here staged a demonstration against scarcity of water.

Finding the protesters getting aggressive, senior officials of the BMC visited the place and assured them of finding the solution to the problem.

Interestingly, the water supply department had initiated various projects in the past with a target to meet the gap between the demand and supply during this summer, but hardly any of these could go off the mark.

BMC Commissioner Umashankar Gupta says he is aware of the problem and claims that the corporation staff is putting its best to sort out the issues at the earliest possible.

Bathinda, May 29
The Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi would shortly visit Punjab to oversee the membership drive of the Youth Congress.

This was stated by union ministers Ambika Soni and Pawan Kumar Bansal here today while talking to party workers who came to see them while they were on their way back from Badal village where they had gone to offer condolences to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on the death of his wife Surinder Kaur Badal.

They said Rahul Gandhi was keen that the elections of the Youth Congress were held only after completion of the membership drive so that genuine activists occupied the official positions in the party.

Soni and Bansal were accompanied by the leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, and MLAs Surinderpal Singh Sewian and Gurdeep Singh Ranike. General secretary of the PPCC Bikram Singh Bajwa and activists Sukhdev Singh Chahal and Roopinder Bindra were also present.

Pawan Bansal said the BJP was inflicted with infighting and the latest bout came between its top leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley.

The BJP has already witnessed turmoil in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.

Meanwhile, a delegation of cotton spinning millers called on the union ministers and sought incentives for the spinning mills that were suffering huge losses due to the sudden fall in the price of yarn following ban on its export.

They urged the central ministers to take up the issue with the textile ministry to save the spinning mills from further financial loss. They pointed out that the ban on export since April 1 has resulted in accumulation of massive stocks of yarn.

Bathinda, May 29
With heightened security along 553-km-long India-Pakistan border in Punjab and all possible routes of smuggling contrabands been detected by sleuths of different agencies and the Border Security Force (BSF), a section of Punjab-based smugglers have started shifting their operations to Rajasthan border.

Indication in this regard came in following seizure of 6.3 kg heroin from Sukhwinder Singh alias Pappu, a resident of Dal village situated close to the Indo-Pak border in Tarn Taran district, by the Abohar police on Saturday. The contraband has been brought to Punjab from a place near the international border in Rajasthan.

Earlier, in the last week of March 2010, State Special Operation Cell (SSOC), Punjab, managed to arrest five smugglers and recovered 26 kg of heroin from them, which was reportedly smuggled from Pakistan through Indo-Pak border falling in Sriganganagar sector of Rajasthan.

A senior functionary of the BSF wishing anonymity said the recovery of heroin, which was being brought from Hindumalkot border yesterday, was a strong indication that Punjab-based smugglers and their counterparts across the Radcliffe Line, had been shifting their activities to the Indo-Pak border in Rajasthan.

He claimed that attempts to push men and explosives to India from Pakistan through Rajasthan border by anti-India elements sitting across the border had also come to light in the past few years.

A senior functionary of the Counter Intelligence (CI), Punjab, pleading anonymity, claimed that they had confirmed inputs that a section of smugglers of Punjab had temporarily shifted their operations towards the Indo-Pak border in Rajasthan.

He claimed that almost all the routes of smuggling in Punjab border had been detected by the CI units. The activities of all the suspected elements living in the state were under constant surveillance. These were the two major factors, which had forced the smugglers to shift their base towards Rajasthan border.

He added that as the Amritsar-based CI unit had made a huge recovery of arms, ammunition, narcotics and arrested number of terrorists besides Pakistan nationals in the past few years, the smugglers were under tremendous pressure to leave Punjab to escape the police net.

Meanwhile, the development has put the BSF authorities on extra alert.

Abohar, May 29
The Abohar police authorities have decided to send Sukhwinder Singh alias Pappu, a smuggler, to the Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC), Amritsar, tomorrow so that information in connection with modus oprandi could be extracted from him.

The decision was taken by the police authorities concerned as he did not disclose anything in connection with the modus oprandi being used by him and his associates in connection with smuggling of narcotics to Punjab from Pakistan.

The police arrested Pappu yesterday at a special check-post and recovered 6.3 kilograms of heroin from his possession worth Rs 32 crore in the international markets. Sarwan Singh alias Sama and Balwinder Singh alias Bhinda, his two associates escaped the police net. All the three smugglers belonged to Tarn Taran district of Punjab.

Though he was questioned by the senior functionaries of Punjab police, he failed to divulge the details in connection with his two associates. Abohar SP Varinder Singh Brar said Pappu was remanded into police custody till June 4 when he was presented before the duty magistrate concerned today. “Pappu has repeatedly been claiming that he was made to sit at Dhaba, located near Hindumalkot town, by his two associates, who went for picking up the consignment of heroin,” Brar said.

He said a police party, which raided the dwellings of Sarwan Singh alias Sama and Balwinder Singh alias Bhinda, in their respective villages in Tarn Taran district with the help of the local police, found them locked.

However, it has come to light that the accused were notorious smugglers of the area and were involved in a number of smuggling activities and other crimes. A number of cases were registered against them in different police stations of Tarn Taran district, he said.

Badal, May 29
About 2200 cops drawn from different districts of Punjab would be deployed for providing foolproof security cover to the function of bhog ceremony of Akhand Path of Shri Guru Granth Sahib to be held here on June 2 in connection with the demise of Surinder Kaur Badal, wife of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Besides providing foolproof security cover to VVIPs, expected to attend the Bhog ceremony, the cops would also ensure that commoners, who would also come to the function from different parts of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan are not harassed on any account. While Rajan Gupta, DGP, Law and order, Punjab, has reviewed the security and other arrangements once, PS Gill, DGP, Punjab, would visit this village tomorrow to oversee the arrangement being made at the venue.

A senior functionary of the Punjab police pleading anonymity disclosed that so far former deputy prime minister and senior BJP leader LK Advani had confirmed his programme of attending the Bhog ceremony. “The other VVIPs, expected to attend the function, to be held on the Bathinda-Badal road, included top leadership of the BJP including leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Central leaders of other parties,” he added. Information gathered by the TNS revealed that six helipads would be set up at Lambi, Kaljharani and Badal villages for the choppers to be used by the VVIPs. Separate land routes had been earmarked for the movement of the VVIPs and commoners.

The parking facilities for the VVIP and commoners' vehicles had been set up near the main Pandal, which was being erected in a huge area to accommodate thousands of people, expected to attend Bhog ceremony.

People would not have to walk over 100 yards to reach Pandal from the parking area, said another official of the Punjab police.

The traffic movement would be managed by a large contingent of the Punjab police personnel. Meanwhile, noted religious figures from different parts of the country would organise ‘Shabad Kirtan’ on the occasion. 

Jalalabad (Ferozepur), May 29
A cotton yarn manufacturing unit, Grospinz Fabz Limited, located near Chak Saido Ke village on the Jalalabad-Muktsar road suffered huge damages after a major fire broke out in its premises, today in the afternoon.

Though fire tenders, which were called from Muktsar, Ferozepur and Fazilka, were pressed into service, the fire could be brought under control after about six hours. The fire extinguishing system installed in the factory premises also helped in bringing the fire under control. Rajiv Prashar, SDM, Jalalabad, who along with other civil and police officials reached the spot, said an inquiry into the incident would be conducted.

Babu Ram Grover, owner of the unit, said the fire broke out at the cotton stock lying in the open premises of the unit. As soon as the fire broke out, the staff members at the unit came into action.

The reason for the fire could not be ascertained. However, he said all the employees of the factory were safe.

Bathinda, May 29
PC Hota, who served as the chairman of the Union Public Service Commission, delivered a lecture concerning the challenges of 21st century at the Central University of Punjab, Bathinda. On the occasion, Prof HS Hosch (former Vice-Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar) was the guest of honour.

In his lecture, Hota mentioned that the progress of a nation depends on the quality of education. He also laid stress on the idea of learning various languages, especially English, for inter-disciplinary studies. He conveyed that the 21st century is going to be knowledge century.

He emphasised on extreme population growth, less agriculture production and many more challenges.

Dr Jai Rup Singh and Prof HS Hosch also addressed the faculty and students from different colleges. Dr Jai Rup Singh presented a momento to PC Hota as a token of respect for his service to the society. He also honoured Prof HS Hosch with a shawl. The vote of thanks was proposed by Prof Paramjit Singh Ramana.

Ferozepur, May 29
Surinder Singh alias Babbu has won the Cantonment Board by-election from the Ward number 7 held here today, by defeating his nearest rival Dharminder Kumar by 956 votes.

Colonel Navjot Singh, the returning officer, declared the result after the counting took place in the Cantonment Board office amidst high security and video recording.

He informed that out of total of 2,211 votes in the ward, 1,685 votes were polled at two polling centres at the Grammar School and the Scout Park in the cantonment today. Out of these, 30 were cancelled. Surinder polled 1308 votes to win the election.

The election was necessitated following the death of a sitting member of the ward, BK Sharma. Earlier, the election of member from ward 7 was held amidst unprecedented security following allegations of a section of Dalit voters been intimidated by persons owing allegiance to the ruling SAD.

SP (H) Surjit Singh said no untoward incident was reported during the election.

President of the Cantonment Board Brigadier S Sengupta, CEO Amit Kumar and SSP Kaustubh Sharma besides other army officials took round of the polling booths in the morning to ensure smooth and uninterrupted process of polling.

Moga, May 29
Many villages in the Moga-1 and Moga-2 blocks in south-west Punjab are fast losing fertility of its soil owing to extensive use of underground water for paddy cultivation leading to accumulation of Residual Sodium Carbonates (RSC) on the upper crust of the soil and reserves of underground water setting alarm bells for the agriculture scientists and policy makers of the state.

Expressing concern on the issue, the chief agriculture officer Dr Ravi Kumar Sabbarwal and agriculture officer Dr Jaswinder Singh Brar said RSC in many villages of these blocks is above 3.5 milliequivalent in water and a high ph of 8-10, which has made the soil alkaline decreasing the availability of nutrients in the soil thus affecting the growth of plants.

Adding that the Agriculture Department has decided to check the fertility of soil and mineral contents of underground water in all the villages of this district so that a road map could be prepared for sustainable agriculture growth of agriculture through technological innovations, Dr Sabbarwal said for this purpose they had introduced a mobile soil and water testing laboratory, this week. The mobile lab would conduct soil and water tests and the agriculture scientists/technicians travelling on it would advise the farmers on the use of fertilisers suitable for the crops they intend to grow as well as the quantity of water required for irrigation, he said.

The soil tests would disclose the percentage of carbon, availability of phosphorus and potash and the extent of salinity, which would help the farmers in taking timely decision about the crop pattern. The tests would be conducted free of cost.

According to Dr Sukhraj Kaur, in-charge of the Agriculture Department's laboratory and mobile soil testing van, the department has fixed a target to conduct 5000 tests of soil and water during the current financial year, out of which, 320 soils and 127 water samples had already been tested in the laboratory.

In these tests, it has come to light that RSC in underground water between 200 and 300 feet is high in the villages of Moga-1 and Moga-2 blocks. Due to salinity in water, the soil has become unhealthy affecting the crop and productivity. Dr Sabbarwal said, “We have decided to adopt 25 villages- 5 in each block of the district to conduct soil and water tests of each and every farmer's land and make a soil fertility map for them.”

Fazilka, May 29
The Municipal Council had carved out a colony in local Dhobi Ghat locality in thickly populated area over a year ago and had auctioned its plot with much fanfare. The colony was named after Dr Shayama Parsad Mukherjee and was inaugurated by the then local self government minister Manoranjan Kalia.

As per the officials, over100 plots have been auctioned so far. At the time of auction, the bidders were promised to carry out development of the proposed colony. The purchasers had also deposited the development charges at a rate of Rs 39.88 per square feet along with the first installment.

However, there is a huge pond of sewage water on the proposed colony land seeping from a sewage watercourse passing adjacent to the proposed colony site.

Now, the MC has issued notices to the bidders to deposit the full amount by June 3. The purchasers have been warned by the Council that if they do not deposit the amount, their earnest money (first installment) would be forfeited. The prospective owners said if the MC carries out the development works, then only they are ready to deposit the full amount.

On the other hand, president, MC, Anil Sethi, said as per the rules notices have been served upon the purchasers for depositing the remaining amount. He said the Council would carry out the development work as soon as the installments are deposited as agreed by the bidders at the time of auction.

Abohar, May 29
Responding to the persistent demand of several NGOs and elected representatives; the Public Works Department (PWD) and railway authorities have initiated survey to examine technical feasibility of providing another railway over bridge (RoB) to this town.

A team of the PWD engineers and subordinate staff was found measuring stretch of the Abohar-Sriganganagar road on both sides of the railway crossing outside the abandoned Shree Bhawani Cotton Mills (SBCM) recently.

The first phase of the survey indicated that the Powercom will have to shift two transformers and 17 electricity poles to facilitate construction of the RoB.

However, there were not many trees to be axed as had been done during the construction of the RoB on the college road (state highway).