Jalandhar, May 29
The Kala Sanghian drain is proving “cancerous” for scores of villages located along its banks. The situation has turned alarming in the past 10 years. A tributary of the Satluj, the drain is wreaking havoc with human lives and the livestock beside poisoning agricultural land.

Carrying toxic effluents, discharged by industrial units in the Jalandhar Industrial Area, the drain joins Chitti Bein which subsequently merges with the Satluj.

Besides the local industry, the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation has also been throwing its sewage into the drain at at five points.

The worst-affected villages are Janangir, Essewal, Muridwal, Rupewali, Sidhpur, Badshapur and Sunarh Kalan. Diseases such as cancer, jaundice, hepatitis and renal failure have become common in these villages.

Say villagers: “The industrialists are making huge profits at the cost of our lives and livelihood.” A survey conducted by St Avtar Singh Memorial College, Seechewal, reveals that 64 villagers have lost their lives due to cancer in the past 10 years and scores are suffering from skin diseases.

In Jahangir 11 village have died of cancer, Essewal eight, Muridwal six, Rupewali five village and Sidhpur three.

Jasbir Singh, a resident of Jahanjir village, who lost his brother and father to cancer in the past three years, is now struggling to save his wife Satpal Kaur from the jaws of the disease.

“I’m suffering from a skin disease. I fear for my children’s health. This is all due to the toxic drain water,” laments Malkiat Singh of Essewal village.

“As there is no supply of potable water to the village, we are forced to consume polluted water drawn from hand pumps,” he adds.

“The lifespan of milch cattle has also been affected with cancer afflicting the livestock too,” claims Lal Singh of Rupewali village.

Noted environmentalist Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal, member of the Punjab Pollution Control Board, has launched a “Save Environment” movement and blocked the Kala Sanghia drain a couple of times. Now the pollution board has set up a camp office at the banks of the drain. But with local industrialists refusing to cooperate with the authorities to tackle the menace, the issue remains far from resolved.

Jalandhar, May 29
Within next two years, the farmers and residents of Punjab may find themselves armed with real-time weather forecast on the lines of advanced countries like the US and Canada. For, the Indian Meteorological Department is in the process of setting up satellite-linked weather observation stations at the block-level in the state.

According to Surinder Singh, the state Director of Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), weather stations would be set up at the block level in the state. The aim, said he, was to arm the farmers and the residents with accurate forecasts. “We have already selected the sites for installation of the ultra-modern satellite-linked weather forecast equipment across Punjab. The project is likely to be completed within two years,” he said.

Notably, the move follows after the state Agriculture Department had suggested the IMD to install more weather observatories to facilitate the farmers.

Meanwhile, farm experts have expressed concern over the increasingly changing weather phenomenon in Punjab. While the past few years had witnessed a decrease in the annual and monsoon rainfall, a rising incidence of thunderstorms had been seen.

Though the intensity of the freaky weather conditions was not so sharp to cause any panic amongst the farming community or agricultural experts, the IMD was studying the trend as part of its long-term weather analysis of the Punjab region.

“The quantum of annual and monsoon rainfall has been on a decline during the past three decades. The rainfall has decreased from two to four millimetres in certain pockets of Punjab. On the other hand, Punjab has started witnessing more and more thunderstorms. Not only this, the temperature of the Punjab region has registered some rise. We are studying the situation,” said Surinder Singh.

Chandigarh, May 29
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati today said her party would not indulge in any alliance politics for the forthcoming assembly polls in Punjab.

Addressing a ‘North Zone Workers Convention’ of her party at the Rally Ground in Sector 25 here, Mayawati exhorted her party cadres to bring the BSP to power to “replicate UP’s development model in their respective states”.

Alleging that there was a conspiracy to run down the BSP government, she said ever since the BSP had assumed power in UP, “opposition parties with casteist mindset were trying to destabilise her regime by blowing minor issues out of proportion”.

Blaming the Congress for allegedly fuelling the recent farmer protests in Bhatta and Parsaul villages of Greater Noida, she said: “The Congress has hatched this conspiracy…. The BSP will demand in Parliament the framing of a uniform land acquisition policy for the entire nation.”

Coming down heavily on the Congress-led UPA Government for various scams plaguing the country, the BSP supremo alleged that the money collected through corrupt means was being stashed in foreign banks.

Blaming the widespread poverty and unemployment on the “lop-sided” economic policies followed by the successive governments that ruled at the Centre, the UP Chief Minister asserted that the ruling parties were not cadre-based. “In fact, the BSP is the only party which is cadre-based and discourages dynastic politics.”

Mayawati alleged that policies of most of the mainstream parties were guided by the interests of the big industrialists and businessmen with whose support they came to power.

Claiming that Centre's various poverty alleviation programmes had been a “failure”, she demanded an amendment in the law framed to list Below Poverty Line families so that maximum people could get the benefits under various schemes meant for them.

Mayawati also refuted the propaganda that the BSP was against upper castes. She said BSP activists would stage demonstrations across the state to protest hike in petrol prices and other “anti-people” policies of the UPA government. The first such demonstration, she said, would be held in all district headquarters in Uttar Pradesh on May 31.

Chandigarh, May 29
The regional convention of the BSP here on the eve of Punjab elections is not without significance. At a time when the ties between the ruling SAD, BJP alliance are under strain, Mayawati’s announcement of “going it alone at the hustings” has a hidden meaning. It appears that the BSP is actually looking for an alliance.

Further, her bitter attack on the Congress and the BJP and not a word either in favour or against the SAD, suggests that the BSP is hopeful of an alliance with the Akalis. It is a different matter that the SAD is better of with an informal pact with the BSP. Past trends in Punjab suggest that while the Akali votes get transferred to the BSP candidates, the BSP votes go to the Congress.

Despite Punjab having the highest SC population in the country (29 pc), the BSP has not fared well in the past elections. In the 1992 assembly elections that were boycotted by the mainstream Akalis, the BSP had won nine of the 105 seats it contested, polling 17.59 per cent votes. Though Kanshi Ram, who floated the BSP in 1984, belonged to Khawaspur village in Ropar district, he remained politically active outside Punjab. His political heir, Mayawati who hails from Badalpur village in Uttar Pradesh, consolidated the party in Delhi and UP.

By the 2007 Punjab elections, the BSP stood fragmented, having split into the Democratic Bahujan Samaj Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party (Ambedkar). The BSP contested 115 of the 117 seats, but won none. Its vote share crumbled to 4.17 per cent.

Mayawati realises that Punjab (which has 34 of the 117 assembly seats reserved for SCs) offers a potential for power sharing. There is talk of her having met senior Akali leaders more than once in the recent past. With Manpreet Singh Badal breaking away from the SAD to form Punjab People’s Party (PPP), the Akalis could form an informal alliance with the BSP.

On 17 of the 115 seats the BSP contested in 2007, its candidates secured over 10,000 votes, a substantial number to tilt the poll outcome with the winning margins less than the number of votes polled by the BSP candidates.

During her 45-minute speech, Mayawati had nothing good to say about most political parties and politicians. But she deliberately did not make any mention of the main ruling party in Punjab.

Bathinda, May 29
Senior Supreme Court advocate HS Phoolka said today that human rights activists would come to the rescue of former militant Devinderpal Singh Bhullar, raising their voice against the rejection of his mercy petition by President Pratibha Patil although the Supreme Court Bench was not unanimous while pronouncing the death sentence.

Phoolka, a rights activist who is fighting the 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases in the court, pointed out that only two of the three judges had upheld Bhullar’s conviction by the High Court. The third judge, Justice MP Shah, had acquitted him.

“The President should have taken this into account and converted the death sentence into life imprisonment,” he said.

“This is for the first time that someone has been sentenced to death on the basis of confession made in police custody, which was later retracted in the court. Moreover, there is no witness against Bhullar.”

Bhullar was accused of triggering an explosion on September 11, 1993, outside the Indian Youth Congress building that killed nine persons and injured MS Bitta.

Phoolka said three former Prime Ministers- Chandra Shekhar, HD Deve Gowda and VP Singh- had written to the President to convert Bhullar’s death sentence to life imprisonment. He said of the 30 mercy petitions pending before the President, only the one by Bhullar was taken up and rejected despite the court not being unanimous in sentencing him to death.

Various Sikh organisations, including the SAD (Panchpradhani) and Ek Noor Khalsa Force, today announced that they would launch a signature campaign in 542 villages of Bathinda and Mansa districts on the issue.

SAD(P) leader Darshan Singh Jagatirath, Baba Hardeep Singh and Ek Noor Khalsa Force leader Baljinder Singh demanded that because of his bad health, Bhullar should be shifted to a jail in Punjab.

Jalandhar, May 29
Close on the heels of Exercise Vijayee Bhava conducted on a massive scale in a semi-desert environment of Rajasthan by Western Command’s offensive formations, another major exercise by this command is underway in the plains of Punjab to validate concepts of an offensive defence in a network-centric environment.

Termed exercise “Pine Prahar”, it envisages swift mobilisation of units and formations to occupy defences while also training for offensive operations by integrating all arms and support elements to achieve the formation’s designated objective. Though the primary role of pivot formations is hold and defend territory and thereby set the stage for offensive action by strike formations, the pivot corps also have the requisite strike capability to undertake limited offensives.

Being conducted by Jalandhar-based Vajra Corps, the pivot formation tasked with the defence of Punjab, the month-long exercise involves close to 12,000 troops deployed along the Sutlej across two districts of Ludhiana and Nawanshahr. Chief of the Army Staff, Gen V.K. Singh is expected to visit the exercise zone tomorrow to review the training activities.

For about a decade, the Army has been conceiving and fine-tuning doctrines to fight a high-intensity short-duration war in semi-urban areas through exploitation of information and high-end technology across the entire spectrum of conflict. The past few years have also seen an array of new generation battlefield surveillance equipment and communication gadgets being inducted into service.

A visit to the exercise zone revealed mechanised formations, involving T-72 tanks and BMP-2 infantry combat vehicles, training for assaults across various obstacles, including water bodies. Armoured vehicles, spearheading a simulated offensive were able to negotiate the 400-metre wide swollen Sutlej within the stipulated timespan. A para drop by members of the Special Forces also demonstrated.

The manoeuvres are being conducted in a networked environment backed by real-time intelligence from unarmed aerial vehicles, geo-stationary satellites, ground-based sensors and human intelligence. Inputs from these sources are being beamed across the formations laterally as well as vertically to assist field commanders in battlefield transparency, quick decision-making and swift execution of operations.

Another aspect of the exercise is fine-tuning the integration between the Army and the Air Force and conduct of operations by attack helicopters and fighter ground attack support.

Kusum Arora adds: Vajra Corps, the “Defenders of Punjab” is ready for any war-like situation with round-the-clock operational readiness to tackle the enemy.

These thoughts were expressed by General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Vajra Corps, Jalandhar Cantt, Lt Gen Munish Sibal during a month-long war exercise “Pine Prahar” being held somewhere in the western sector. The exercise will conclude on June 1.

Gen Sibal said, “Vajra Corps, the strike formation, plays a pivotal role in the western sector and acts as a launch pad for the forces. The corps has always kept itself up with the learning curve and maintained itself as a force to reckon with,” he added.

Chandigarh, May 29
With elections to the Punjab assembly round the corner, Sikh core issues, including challenge to the temporal authority of Akal Takht on the amended Nanakshahi calendar and delay in holding elections to the SGPC are back into focus.

The refusal of the government to reveal the names of 27 blacklisted Sikhs even after the deletion of 117 names early this month and the rejection of the mercy petition of Devinderpal Singh Bhullar by the President has given enough ammunition to the the ruling Akalis to attack the Congress-led UPA government for its “anti-Sikh” bias.

The decision of the Pakistan Government not to allow a Sikh jatha to Pakistan to observe Martyrdom Day of Guru Arjan Dev in accordance with the amended Nanakshahi calendar has evoked a strong reaction from the Sikhs.

“The Pakistan Government is unnecessarily interfering in the religious affairs of the Sikhs,” said SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar. “How can the Pakistan Government over-rule the Sikh temporal authority on the issue?”

He blamed the Centre for trying to create a wedge in the SGPC, saying it was the Congress that was primarily behind the demand for a separate Sikh gurdwara management committee and was now delaying elections to the SGPC. The elections were due more than a year ago. The Sikh Gurdwara election commisssion had recommended March and then May for the elections.

The rejection of Bhullar’s mercy petition is snowballing into another controversy.

The issue has generated a debate in legal circles -whether the Supreme Court could still adjudicate the review petition filed on behalf of Bhullar for converting his death sentence into life imprisonment.

Fresh petitions to the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the President have been made by various Sikh organisations, including the DSGMC, to demand a review of the decision.

The emotive issue of deletion of names from the blacklist also continues to be debated. “It is indeed intrigung that on the one hand India wants some Sikh militants in Pakistan to be handed over and on the other their names appear on the blacklist,” remarked a senior police officer.

The list is notional and has no legal sanctity.

CM Parkash Singh Badal with TN Governor Surjit Singh Barnala at Badal village on Sunday. Tribune photos

Among others who visited the Badals were Tamil Nadu Governor Surjit Singh Barnala, his wife Surjit Kaur; Paramjit Singh Sarna, DSGMC president, and eminent Supreme Court lawyer HS Phoolka. — TNS

Fatehgarh Sahib, May 29
Rice millers of Fatehgarh Sahib have demanded a ban on the cultivation of PAU 201 variety as 1 lakh tonne unmilled rice of this variety is already pending across Punjab.

A meeting of the Rice Millers Association was presided over by its district president Inderjit Singh Sandhu wherein state press secretary Nakesh Jindal was also present. Millers allege that damage in this variety is comparatively more than other rice varieties grown in Punjab and pinhead of the rice grain is black. The millers refuse to accept grains of this variety citing various problems in this variety.

Nakesh said besides creating a dint in the income of rice millers, delay in the milling process had also led to losses to the government and the non-government procurement agencies.

The agencies and millers have spent crores on storing the unmilled rice, which led to losses, alleged the millers. Despite extending date of milling numerous times the pending 1 lakh tonne rice, out of 25 lakh tonne, purchased in 2009-2010, is yet to be milled in Punjab.

This time its deadline was May 15. Farmers continue to cultivate PAU-201 variety despite banned by the government and this practice should be stopped immediately, said the millers. Vijay Verma, Sanjeev Kumar, Vinod Kumar, Sanjay Kumar, Roshan Lal and Lakhvir Singh were present during the meeting.

Patiala, May 29
The Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) has fixed June 20 as the deadline to fill examination forms for Class X and Class XII despite the fact that summer vacations had begun from May 23. Principals and teachers are irked over this decision stating that they hardly get holiday in this hot weather and the Board had ruined them as well. “The Education Department is a vocational department and we are entitled to leaves unlike other government departments which have privilege leaves. The government is forcing us to work even in holidays.

Firstly, the government must consider the fact that even we need rest and secondly, if they make us work they should at least pay us for this extra work as we have only eight privilege leaves in a year.” “Moreover, it is very difficult to catch hold of students in summer holidays as they often go out of city. We don’t have contact numbers of many students. So, how do they expect us to call them and fill their forms. Even if we send messages, we are not sure whether they will turn up to fill the forms. Also, the result of Class X and XII has not been declared yet.

Khamano (Fatehgarh Sahib), May 29
Ami Lal Khichi, who retired as Civil Judge, Senior Division, Bathinda, was seriously hurt and his daughter killed in a head-on collision between a truck and a car near Khant village on the Chandigarh-Ludhiana road.

Ami Lal, who retired a few years ago and is a resident of Muktsar, his daughter Kavita and his friend from Maur Mandi were in the car

Kavita and the car driver were fatally injured while the retired judge and his friend sustained multiple injuries.

They were rushed to Khamano government hospital from where they were referred to PGI, Chandigarh.

A motorcyclist, Satinder Singh of Kajauli village, too got hurt when his bike collided with the car lying on the road. Retired judge Ami Lal Pirthi, his 24-year-old daughter Kavita, Satpal of Maur Mandi and owner of a scooter-bike agency near Bathinda bus stand and his driver Rajvinder had left from Chandigarh for Muktsar in a car which collided head on with a truck. Kavita, the eldest of four siblings, had completed law from Panjab University and her father had come to take her back to Muktsar in his friend’s car. Police officials said the truck driver, who is absconding, was on the wrong side as he was trying to overtake a vehicle. The accident took place at around 8 pm and traffic remain blocked for more than two hours. While the two injured were taken out from the badly damaged car within 45 minutes, it took more than one and a half hour to pull out the body of the driver. Police officials said that a case under Sections 279, 304-A, 337 and 427 of the IPC has been registered against the truck driver.

Four of family die in accident@@Shariq Majeed@@Tribune News Service@@Sangrur, May 29@@Four of a family were drowned after their vehicle crashed into the Babunpur canal near Dhuri this morning.@@Sources said that Rajwinder Singh, alias Babbu, of Dirba Mandi and his wife Rajprit Kaur, daughter Harpreet Kaur (2), son Lovepreet Singh (4) and brother-in-law Karamjit Singh of Samana were travelling from Dura village in Dhuri after meeting their relatives when their Maruti Alto car (PB-11F-0030) hit the canal embankment and fell into the water.@@Karamjit, the lone survivor, received serious injuries and was admitted to the Dhuri Civil Hospital.@@Eyewitnesses said the villagers extricated the bodies from the canal with much difficulty. The bodies were brought to the Dhuri Civil Hospital for postmortem. The condition of Kamaljit was stated to be serious but stable.@@DSP Dhuri Sharanjit Singh said that a case has been registered.