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Extensive damage to cotton crop in Malwa
Flood threat looms over 100 villages
in Patiala district
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Cong to take up ‘kerosene scam’ with Lokpal
Clemency for Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar
Kaypee, Jaura meet PM on Anand Marriage Act
Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh meets the BSP workers who joined the Congress. Tribune photo: S Chandan
Deputy CM Sukhbir S Badal addresses a rally in Amritsar.
Kewal Singh keeps it clean
Rs 2.9 crore seized during raids on realty firms
Despite Brar’s tough talk, posters remain
Teachers to intensify stir
Staff crunch hits ITI’s functioning
Police suvidha centres in Punjab by October
PRTC delays payment of KM scheme buses
Students get tips on patent protection
Follow orders on removal of hoardings, DCs warned
Two minor girls drown in pool
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Extensive damage to cotton crop in Malwa
The worst affected are the Muktsar, Bathinda, Fazilka districts and some areas in Abohar, where not only the cotton bolls have been affected, but also the standing plants have started withering due to water logging. According to preliminary estimates of the government, cotton crop over an area of about 90,000 hectares has been affected. Muktsar Deputy Commissioner Arshdeep Singh Thind said 400 pumps have been installed in the affected areas to drain out the accumulated water from the fields. Preliminary estimates indicate that the cotton crop over an area of 74,000 hectares in Bathinda district, 10,700 hectares in Muktsar and 3,200 hectares in Fazilka. Farmers in these areas raised slogans against the authorities for inadequate steps to drain out the rain water from their fields. According to the Agriculture Department officials cotton crop on 25,000 hectares out of 35,000 hectares has been affected in Bathinda block. In Nathana, 10,000 hectares out of 15,000 hectares of cotton crop has been affected, 6,200 hectares out of 31,000 in Sangat, 25,000 out of 41,000 in Talwandi Sabo, 6,000 out of 20,000 in Maur, 1,500 out of 14,000 in Rampura, 1,000 out of 9,000 hectares cotton crop in Phul got affected. Cotton crop on about 10,700 hectares in Muktsar is under knee-deep water, especially in low lying areas, while 50 per cent cotton crop in about 500 hectares has affected adversely in about two dozens of villages of the Muktsar, Lambi and Gidderbaha areas. Chief Agriculture Officer Paramjit Singh said so far 257 mm rainfall has been recorded in Talwandi Sabo, 79 mm in Rampura and 184 mm in Bathinda this month. Special Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister KJS Cheema today visited the rain-affected villages of Malout and Lambi to take stock of the situation. He said a sum of Rs 10 lakh had already been released for relief operations, while another Rs 20 lakh had been sanctioned. “The chief engineers of the Drainage and the Sewerage Departments have been ordered to camp in the affected areas to supervise drainage of the rain water and disposal of the sewerage water,” he added. Baldev Singh, a farmer from Abul Khurana village (Malout), said the cotton crop on about 250 acres in his village had been damaged. An assessment by a private textile industry estimates 8 to 10 per cent loss to the cotton crop due to incessant rains in the cotton belt of Punjab this season. According to the initial estimates in Ferozepur, around 10,000 hectares of standing paddy crop in areas of Makhu (3,480 hectares), Fazilka (4,268 hectares), Ferozpur (1,514 hectares) and Mamdot (622 hectares) has been affected during the recent floods and rains. A total of 2,51,000 hectares of land in Ferozepur is under cultivation of paddy and in another 1,24,000 hectares cotton has been sown. The farmers across the state are a worried lot as the cotton and maize crops are at the picking stage at most of the places. Head of the Department of Agronomy, PAU, said, “Of all the standing crops, the rain is more harmful for cotton and maize. In case of cotton, the cotton balls are opening and the rain will harm its quality. In case of maize, the accumulated water in the field will damage the stalks.” However, one good aspect of the rains is that the farmers who usually irrigate their paddy at this time would not have to do so for the next few days. This would also check the fall in the water table of the state, he added. Director, Indian Metrological Department, Punjab, Surinder Singh said the weather would clear up in the next 36 hours and would remain normal after that. Water released into Beas river
Kapurthala Deputy Commissioner Harkesh Singh Sidhu said the widespread rain had not affected the crops. Although nearly 30,000-35,000 cusecs of water was being released into the Beas by the authorities from the Pong Dam, the situation was under control. The flood threat arises when water released into the river is above 70, 000 cusecs, he said. “We are keeping a close watch on the situation,” he added. (With inputs from Sushil Goyal, Balwant Garg, Kulwinder Sandhu, Gurdeep Mann, Anirudh Gupta, Raj Sadosh and Praful
Nagpal) Bus falls into drain, none hurt Gurdeep Singh Mann/TNS Mansa: It was a narrow escape for more than 30 college girls when their bus fell into a drain near Bir Nagar area on Friday. Area residents said the thin boundary wall of the drain had been washed away by the rain and the bus driver failed to spot it. Panicky students cried for help as water entered the bus. Local residents helped in rescuing the girls. The vehicle got stuck in the mud. Meanwhile, important files and documents in the Powercom office here were damaged in rainwater.
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Flood threat looms over 100 villages
in Patiala district
Patiala, September 9 As per the information given by the Department of Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management, the Ghaggar is flowing much below the danger mark. Speaking to The Tribune over phone, inhabitants of the flood-prone villages near the Ghaggar have expressed their apprehensions that in case the rain continues for another 48 hours, as per the reported weather forecast, flood threat looms large in about 100 villages of Patiala, situated on the Patiala-Kaithal state highway. Rattan Singh of Dharmheri village has urged the state government to take preventive measures to ensure that in case of any exigency, the villagers could be evacuated safely. "Had the government of Punjab and Haryana sorted out the dispute over the concrete 3.75-km wall being constructed by the Haryana, alongside the Hansi-Butana canal embankment, there would have been no flood threat but now the situation is otherwise", said Ujjagar Singh of village Hassanpur. The villagers also accused the state government of not taking requisite measures for cleansing of the drains. "As of now, there has been no damage to the paddy crop but if it rains heavily in the coming days, it could spell doom for the farmers", said Satbir Grewal of Haripur village. However, District Revenue officer (DRO) Rajvir Singh claimed that situation was completely under control and there was no threat of flood. "Our report says that there has been no crop damage", he said. The officials of the Drainage Department claimed that proper desilting was done by their department before the start of the monsoon season.
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Cong to take up ‘kerosene scam’ with Lokpal
Chandigarh, September 9 The “scandal”, which has been unearthed by the party’s Flagship Programme Implementation Committee head Sunil Jakhar, will be submitted by the party to the Lokpal for necessary action within this month. Jakhar has asked all the legislators and district Congress presidents to collect affidavits from ration card holders as to whether they are receiving subsidised kerosene or not. Around 15,000 affidavits will be submitted to
the Lokpal. Sources said the move had the support of Congress president Sonia Gandhi who was keen to take up corruption issues that touch the common man. Party sources feel the man on the street can easily understand this as he
is directly affected. Punjab Congress incharge Gulchain Singh Charak said the issue would also be highlighted at the anti corruption meetings being organised by the party. According to Jakhar, Punjab gets a total of 23.71 crore litres of kerosene annually and had been lifting the entire amount every year for the past four years. He said as per this allocation everybody who did not have a gas connection was eligible for supply of 10 litres of kerosene per month. The Congress leader said 20 lakh families could be covered under the kerosene allocation, which virtually account for more than 40 per cent of the entire population of the state. He said, however, preliminary queries had revealed that hardly anyone was getting kerosene. PPCC president Capt Amarinder Singh claimed that kerosene was being sold to petrol pump owners for dilution in diesel, both in Punjab and Rajasthan, for Rs 32 per litre. He claimed that the buck did not stop at Food and Civil Supplies Minister Adesh Partap Singh Kairon but went right to the top as the entire scheme had falsified. He claimed that even if the bungling covered 50 per cent of the scheme, it amounted to a scam worth Rs 650 crore. “The ramification of the scam is, however, much more”, he added.
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Clemency
for Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar
Patiala , September 9 Addressing SGPC election rallies at Amloh, Fatehgarh Sahib and Bassi Pathana, Badal said: "The BJP is a separate political party and may have a different view on the matter. However, in Punjab the BJP is a partner in the SAD Government and we will certainly table a resolution in the assembly seeking clemency for Bhullar." The Chief Minister said Panthic Morcha candidates for the SGPC elections were indulging in false and baseless propaganda against the SAD candidates at the behest of the Congress. Addressing a gathering at Amloh, from where Akali candidate RS Khalsa is contesting, Badal said the Congress had always claimed it was a secular party but was not. "The Congress has always tried to meddle in the Sikh religious affairs to create unrest with the sole objective of drawing political mileage and to cause damage to the Akali Dal. But the Congress will not be able to succeed in its nefarious designs", he thundered. Addressing another rally at Fatehgarh Sahib, from where GS Randhawa is the SAD candidate, Badal said SAD (Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann was a Congress agent. "It is better not to pay any heed to Mann’s utterances because he has no concrete agenda, except attacking the Akali Dal for vested interests", he said. At the election rally in Bassi Pathana, from where RS Cheema and Avtar Singh are in the fray, Badal said Punjab was on the road to progress under the SAD-BJP regime. On the WikiLeaks revelations, the CM said: "Nothing of it is true,” he said.
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Kaypee, Jaura meet PM on Anand Marriage Act
New Delhi, September 9 Jaura said the PM was told that there was a need for the Act felt among the Sikhs globally. Jaura, along with former Union Minister MS Gill, had met Law minister Salmaan Khursheed two days back on the issue.
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‘Parivartan yatra’ next month: Amarinder
Chandigarh, September 9 The yatra will be preceded by district-level agitations starting from September 15 against the “land, cable, liquor and mining mafia” being run under the aegis of the SAD-BJP Government. The yatra is the brainchild of Pradesh Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh and is on the same pattern as the ‘vijay yatra’ organised by him during the fag-end of his tenure as Chief Minister. The yatra will be held in the first week of October. Starting from Pathankot, it will travel from Majha to Malwa and Doaba regions. Announcing the yatra here, Amarinder said it would focus on corruption as well as “repressive actions” of the SAD-BJP government. It will cover the state in a month. The PPCC chief said things had come to such a pass that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal and SAD youth wing president Bikramjit Singh Majithia were running the state as a private company. When questioned, he denied he had any role in the withdrawal of the notification on Sehajdharis in the High Court as claimed by the SAD. He said if the Sehajdharis had come to him, he would have assisted them in getting legal aid. About his wife and Patiala MP Preneet Kaur’s role in the case, he said there was nothing wrong in recommending that a senior counsel be appointed to appear in the case. He said he did not know the details of Preneet Kaur’s recommendation. Amarinder claimed that the SAD had left the SGPC bankrupt, which had incurred a loss of Rs 23 crore. Claiming that in 1996, the SGPC had fixed deposits worth Rs 70 crore, he said the “community would like to know where this money has disappeared.” The PPCC chief demanded action in a rape and murder case of a newly married woman allegedly by an Akali minister’s supporter and the murder of an NRI at Batala. Earlier, following a meeting of the party’s district presidents, campaign committee and manifesto committee, a number of BSP workers of Bathinda, Mansa and Sangrur led by Surjit Singh joined the Congress in the presence of the PPCC chief, party incharge GS Charak and CLP leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal.
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Capt trying to stop Central funds for projects: Sukhbir
Amritsar, September 9 He said the Chief Minister had recently obtained sanction from Kumari Selja for a Rs 750 crore project under which basic civic amenities would be provided to people of 50 towns. The Deputy CM said: “Amarinder sees the impending defeat of the Congress in the coming assembly elections and is trying to scuttle new projects.” He said Amarinder, after failing to execute any power project during his tenure as CM, was now trying to scuttle the power projects being installed by the SAD-BJP Government. He said the PPCC chief was getting panicky on witnessing the expeditious completion of development projects initiated by the SAD-BJP Government and was trying to stop fiscal help for these projects. The SAD president said if Amarinder was genuinely concerned about Punjab’s interests, he should approach the Centre to raise the share of Punjab in the Central taxes from 1.2 per cent to 50 per cent. “Ever since it came into being, the Congress has time and again tried to take control of the SGPC in a covert manner but Sikhs have always thwarted its nefarious designs," he said.
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Kewal Singh keeps it clean
On a hot and humid Thursday morning, Kewal Singh has a long list of must-visit villages. His main rival is Panthic Morcha candidate Mohinder Singh Lali. He starts with Ladian Kalan. A convoy of cars stops near one of the gurdwaras in the village. He talks about his achievements as SGPC junior vice-president. The speech is peppered liberally with the word “seva”. He has been an SGPC member for the past 16 years. Kewal Singh got first elected as junior vice-president in 1996 from Sidhwan Bet with a margin of over 16,000 votes. In 2004, he was again elected as junior vice-president from the same constituency. Unlike his father, septuagenarian Gurdev Singh Badal, former Agriculture Minister in the Akali Government, the mild-mannered Kewal Singh is low on rhetoric. After he has spoken, MLA Darshan Singh Shivalik dribbles some election homilies and then comes a strident speech by Gurdev Singh Badal. Kewal Singh has toured over 50 of the total 109 villages in his constituency so far. Kewal Singh is clear on two counts. First, he asserts, he is “spotless” as far as his conduct is concerned. “I am absolutely clean when it comes to financial matters. Each rupee of the SGPC grant has been accounted for.” His father adds that Kewal Singh does not use “official” funds for his car fuel. He streses on the fact that he has always steered clear of maligning his opponents. “I am more interested in the constructive work that I have been doing. I don’t want to waste my breath berating my opponents.” Among his achievements he says is getting at least 35 gurdwaras built and providing books for libraries managed at the gurdwaras. His agenda, he says, continues to be “seva” to the Sikh sangat. His rival Lali, however, alleges that Kewal Singh has been busy with every kind of “seva” except the “seva” that he was ordained to do in his capacity as SGPC junior vice-president.
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Tota Singh slugs it out
He gets up in the morning at 3.30 am,goes for a 30-minute walk, bathes, offer prayers and quickly goes through the newspapers. At 8 am after breakfast, he leaves for campaigning. Two other candidates, Harmel Singh of the SAD (Amritsar) and Inderjit Singh, an Independent, are in the fray against the powerful SAD leader. There are a total of 26,761 voters in Moga constituency. Vying for the post of SGPC chief, Jathedar Tota Singh is in high spirits and hopes to win with a huge margin as he harps on the development works by the SAD during the past five years. He promises to launch an awareness campaign for curbing the menace of drug addiction among the youth and set up a medical college in the Dharmkot subdivision. “The Akal Takht and the SGPC had pressed upon the state government to take stern action against drug traffickers, but the enforcement agencies, particularly the police, has not played its role as per the expectations of the party leadership”, he explains. “The SGPC will launch a movement to bring in social reforms and focus on education to ensure a prosperous future for the youth”, he claims. Claiming that SAD is committed to the welfare of the people, he says the government has launched hundreds of development projects and welfare schemes, improved the power sector, raised the standard of educational institutes and filled thousands of vacancies in government departments. He says the Congress is indirectly interfering in the SGPC poll. Local leaders of the Congress are actively campaigning against the SAD candidates, he claims. Tota Singh, as member of the SGPC for 17 years, headed the SGPC education committee as senior vice-president. It is to his credit that several educational institutes were opened in the eighties and the nineties.
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Rs 2.9 crore seized during raids on realty firms
Chandigarh, September 9 The officials, who had sealed Barnala’s Sector 8 residence last night after he failed to show up, opened the house in his presence at about 4 pm. More than 24 officials were searching the house till the filing of the report. Talking to The Tribune, the Director (Investigation), YR Saini, said the raids at two real estate firms had so far led to the recovery of Rs 2.9 crore in cash and jewellery worth Rs 20 lakh. Sources said three lockers owned by the two companies in the tricity, were also sealed and would be opened on Monday. The IT officials have seized several computers and incriminating documents. The Chinar group has several projects including Chinar Heights, Chinar Apartments and Chinar Homes in Kishanpura. Talking to mediapersons outside his house, Gaganjit Singh dubbed the IT raids at his residence as a “political conspiracy” against him and his family. He claimed to be “clean”.
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Despite Brar’s tough talk, posters remain
Chandigarh, September 9 The Chief Commissioner, Gurdwara Election Commission, Justice (retd) HS Brar, has asked all deputy commissioners to ensure compliance of the commission’s orders as the posters and banners had been put up violation of the model code of conduct. Meanwhile, senior Akali leader Jaswant Singh Mann has objected to the kind of campaigning being done by candidates in gurdwaras. Mann told The Tribune that the SGPC elections were primarily concerned with the management of gurdwaras. “The candidates should only talk of ways to improve the management and working of gurdwaras”, he emphasised. meanwhile, Justice Brar has said in case of any complaint by some party or individual, the commission would allow the videography of the events on the request by the candidate at his own expense. He said the Returning Officers would grant such permission, keeping in view the law and order situation. The videography could be allowed only outside polling stations and not inside the booth.
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Teachers to intensify stir
Patiala, September 9 The teachers staged a protest in the city yesterday and raised slogans against the state government. They held a rally from Bassi Theatre to the DC office and handed over a memorandum to the District Revenue Officer in this regard. They alleged that despite repeated requests to various government authorities, they were not ready to accept their genuine demands and were making false promises time and again. Giving information in this regard, press secretary of the SSA/RMSA Teachers’ Union, Punjab, Baljeet Singh informed that their primary demand was regularisation of their services. “Services of many of our counterparts in a few states have already been regularised and we are also demanding regular jobs. Moreover, we want that our salaries should be on a par with the Education Department teachers because we do the same amount of work. The master cadre teachers amongst us get just Rs 18,000 as salary and there is no provision of PF and GPF, whereas the master cadre teachers in the Education Department get Rs 25,000, along with PF and GPF facility,” he added. He further informed that women employees under the SSA and RMSA face great difficulty as they get maternity leave of just three months and that, too, without pay. He said, “Since the women employees working in the Education Department get six month leave with pay, even these teachers should get the same as discriminating with these employees over this sensitive issue is morally unjust. Moreover, we get only 10 casual leaves and medical leaves, which could only be sought if we apply in advance.” Meanwhile, Baljeet informed that the union had already presented a memorandum to the Chief Minister in this regard, but to no avail. Therefore, we would now organise state-level protests against the government in order to get our genuine demands met.
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Staff crunch hits ITI’s functioning
Dera Bassi, September 9 The Central Government has approved Rs 3 crore for the same and the ITI management has received Rs 1 crore for hostel building and Rs 1 crore for machinery. “Earlier scheduled for August this year, the first batch will start now by February next year due to lack of arrangements” said sources. Principal of the ITI, Lalru, Jaswant Singh said a proposal for more staff had been sent to the government and it would be decided by the state department authority. The institute was already facing staff shortage and with the additional responsibility of training the instructors of six states, the problems are bound
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Police suvidha centres in Punjab by October
Patiala, September 9 Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal is expected to inaugurate the same formally in October, right after the SGPC elections. Patiala could become one of the first districts in the state to implement and start with the much publicised Community Police Suvidha Centres (CPSC), with five such centres almost complete at the sub-divisional level. The district police is awaiting the nod from the Deputy Chief Minister to inaugurate it in the coming few days. Holding a meeting at the IG Zone Patiala office, ADGP SK Sharma personally met the entire staff and ensured that the staff is through with training. Sharma said the centres would help to integrate community policing and save time of common man as he would no longer need to go to police stations for minor issues. In Patiala, five such centres have started at Sadar police station Rajpura, Sadar police station Patiala, Kotwali Police Station Nabha, police stations in Samana and Patran. However, the final work is on in Samana. Disclosing more details on the project, SSP Patiala Gurpreet Singh Gill said: “After these centres start operating, the common man will not have to go to the police stations or to the district headquarters. Instead he would have to submit an application in the nearest suwidha centre nearest to get all the details. Sharma added that many such CPSCs would come up in various districts of the state, thus making police-public interaction much easier.
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PRTC delays payment of KM scheme buses
Patiala, September 9 The owners of few buses have already received notice from various banks as they could not pay the loan instalments for their buses due to delay being caused by the PRTC in making these payments. There are around 283 KM scheme buses running on the road as of now. Sewa Singh, president of the Scheme Bus Owners’ Union, informed that as per their contract with the PRTC, the management is supposed to pay Rs 6.59 per km to the bus owners every fortnight but it’s been almost four-months that they have not made their payment due to which they were facing difficulty. “Almost all owners have taken bank loan to purchase these buses and as many as 40 buses are almost on the verge of sale due to non-payment of bank loans. Around 10 to 14 checks of all buses have been stopped. The condition has become so critical that we are ready to sell these buses as we are unable to pay the loan, but we are not getting buyers. Many owners are paying money from their own pockets but we are not sure as to how long they will be able to continue this. The PRTC does not seem to be doing anything in this regard,” he added. Managing Director of PRTC Manvesh Sidhu said: “We have already sought money from the state government in this regard. We have got a part of the money and with this we have paid the salaries of the employees. When we get more money, we will make the payment of these buses as well. If the owners of buses have not paid the bank instalments, it’s their personal equation with the bank. I cannot comment on that,” he added.
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Fatehgarh Sahib farmer bags national award
Patiala, September 9 In September last year, a lot of basmati crop was damaged due to hailstorm (around 30 to 40 percent) in some areas of Fatehgarh Sahib. The grains were shattered on the ground during hailstorm and harvesting. The shattered grains were collected with the machine designed by suction created with centrifugal pump which sucks the grain from the ground and put it into the drum. The machine has been taken into use by other farmers of the district as well. Rohit Sharma, Assistant Professor (Agriculture Engineering), Harinder Singh (Deputy Director) and Arwinder Singh Kang from Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Fatehgarh Sahib, validated the machine for its technical performance and the national award was applied to Directorate of Rice Research, Hyderabad. He was awarded at the Rice farmers Innovators Meet at Hyderabad on August 2. Other 25 farmers and farm women from all over the country were awarded with only three farmers from Punjab.
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Students get tips on patent protection
Dera Bassi, September 9 More than 150 final and pre-final year students attended the workshop. He said this topic was knowledge based and highly important for the future of engineering and management students since it was not covered in their syllabus. He further enlightened the students not to disclose their invention before filing patent applications.
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Punjab civil servant holds exhibition in Lahore
Chandigarh, September 9 The exhibition organised by the Lahore Arts Council in collaboration with the Kinnaird College for Women is perhaps the first one by a serving Indian civil servant in Pakistan. Damanbir had earlier organised a similar exhibition in the US. The exhibition, inaugurated yesterday by University of Punjab Vice Chancellor Dr Mujahid Kamran has been given wide coverage by the Pak media. In a six column photo feature titled “Exhibition features Sikh shrines, trees and peace”, leading English daily Dawn noted that after three years, Lahore’s prestigious Al Hamra Art Centre is hosting an Indian exhibition in an attempt to resume cultural ties between the two countries. It quoted Damanbir to underline that increased interaction between young people in India and Pakistan will help establish peace between the two countries. Pakistan Today’s headline “Sikhism’s love for trees displayed at Lahore Arts Council” was followed by a detailed story that says that the “exhibition will be of great interest to nature lovers and environmentalists and help draw attention of a wider audience to the common composite culture of this region.” The Daily Times commented that the exhibition is a reminder that “places are sacred not merely because of the temples built there but also because of the trees they are built around.” Urdu daily Jinnah said people of Pakistan are obliged to Damanbir for drawing attention to the importance of trees at a time when trees are the first victims of urbanisation. Tryst with Trees- Punjab's Sacred Heritage, is a pictorial documentation of 58 sacred and historical Sikh shrines in India and Pakistan named after 19 species of trees, example Gurdwara Tahli Sahib; Gurdwara Nim Sahib, Patiala; Gurdwara Ber Sahib, Sialkot; Gurdwara Amb Sahib, Mohali; Gurdwara Ritha Sahib and Gurdwara Lahura Sahib, Ghavindi, Lahore.Damanbir traveled extensively all over India and Pakistan over three years to photograph and document 58 sacred Sikh shrines in India and Pakistan named after 19 species of trees. Dr Mujahid Kamran congratulated Damanbir Jaspal for his pioneering effort in bringing out the close bond between religion and nature. He emphasised the danger to the environment from unbridled consumerism and commercialism and called upon political and religious leaders and social activists to come forward to save the nature, which is God’s gift to mankind. Dr Kamran disclosed that he had taken a strong stand against cutting of trees in the University campus which is why Punjab University has a greener look today. Principal, Kinnaird College for Women, Dr Rukhsana David urged the youth, particularly women, to come forward as the custodians of our natural heritage and environment.
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Follow orders on removal of hoardings, DCs warned
Chandigarh, September 9 The HC has asked the State of Punjab to inform the Bench on the action proposed to be taken against the DCs in case of failure to comply with the orders on removal of unauthorised hoardings. Taking up the traffic regulation and pollution control case, Justice Rajive Bhalla asserted: “SK Sandhu, secretary to the Government of Punjab, Public Works Department, Chandigarh, has filed an affidavit informing the court that directions have been issued to all DCs and departments concerned to get unauthorised hoardings removed. “Sandhu is directed to file an affidavit whether these orders have been complied with and if not, what action is proposed against the DCs.” The bench, on the previous date of hearing, had directed the State of Punjab to file an affidavit on the legality of the hoardings. Justice Rajive Bhalla had asserted: “The State of Punjab is further directed to file an affidavit with respect to the legality of the hoardings put up by political leaders, political parties and commercial organisations on the berms or land abutting the national / state highways, municipal roads etc”. Justice Bhalla had observed the hoardings had been put up in gross violation of the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, and the earlier directions issued by this court. Initially the directions on the removal of hoardings were issued by the Bench of Justice Sat Pal and Justice Swatantra Kumar in Namit Kumar’s case. The state government had, subsequently, appealed against the decision of the HC to direct the removal of advertisements facing the highways, main roads and side roads, saying it would lead to a huge loss of revenue. The Supreme Court, disposing of the matter on September 27, 2004, had maintained its earlier position on the hazards of hoardings.
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Two minor girls drown in pool
Moga, September 9 As per the details, the families of labourers had gathered on the brick kiln to perform a religious rite of ‘Gugga peer’. While the labourers were busy performing the religious rites, the girls went to a waterlogged pool for a bath. As per the preliminary police investigations, the girls could not get out of the water due to slippery edges. A hunt was immediately launched to trace the missing girls but amid poor light conditions in the evening, they could not be found. The police has recovered the bodies and has initiated inquest proceedings under section 174 of the CrPC.
— TNS
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Bathinda/Jalandhar,
September 9
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Bathinda/Jalandhar,
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