The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Civil society seeks Environment Ministry’s help
Bathinda, September 13
Amid reports of uranium concentration in the drinking water and increasing air pollution, a joint action committee (JAC) of the civil society here has sought intervention of the Union Environment Ministry to conduct a scientific survey of the problem and order closure of the 37-year-old thermal power plant that has become the main source of air pollution.

No relief from sewage in Abohar
Abohar, September 13
Even when the Municipal Council had decided to supply drinking water for just two-three hours only on alternate days in different areas to reduce pressure on the sewerage system, there has been no relief for thousands of residents from the stagnating sewage that had accumulated after last week's downpour.

Tota Singh wants Akalis to shun factionalism
Moga, September 13
Senior SAD leader Jathedar Tota Singh has appealed to all the Akali workers to shun petty factionalism at the grassroot level and come on a common platform to steer the party to a massive victory in the ensuing SGPC elections.

Mansa MC fails to recover Rs1.75 crore house tax
Mansa, September 13
The Municipal Council, Mansa, has failed to recover house tax worth nearly Rs 1.75 crores from various private and government buildings for the past over a decade. The amount is increasing as the rate of interest keeps increasing.

AISSF wants separate identity for Sikhs
Peer Mohammad (Moga), September 13
The All India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) has declared that it will start a nationwide campaign to motivate and mobilize the public in support of the demand of the Sikhs to amend Article 25 of the Constitution to restore the independent status of Sikhism.

Jats threaten to renew stir
Ferozepur, September 13
To commemorate the first death anniversary of Sunil Sheoran, who was killed during the Jat reservation agitation in Haryana last year, the All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti today held a state-level function here at Gurudwara Saragarhi to mark the day.

Pbi varsity VC visits Ghudda campus
Bathinda, September 13 The Vice-chancellor of the Punjabi University, Dr Jaspal Singh, visited the newly-established Punjabi University College at Ghudda village.

2 kids among four injured
Bathinda, September 13 Four persons received serious injuries when an LPG cylinder burst at a house in Partap Nagar here this morning.

4 hurt in road mishap
Bathinda, September 13
Four persons received injuries in an accident that took place on the Barnala road here.

	Heavy rains prove blessing in disguise Improve dwindling level of groundwater in Bathinda Gurdeep Singh Mann Tribune News Service Bathinda, September 13 Though rains wreaked havoc on the cotton crop in Malwa, it proved to be fruitful in improving the depleting water table in Bathinda. As per the officials of Agriculture Department and PAU regional research station, Bathinda, the district normally receives 423.9 mm rainfall every year. However, 431.7 mm rainfall has already been recorded till today. PAU regional research station officials said moderate rains with cloudy weather and thundershowers may continue for the next 24 hours. The officials said last year, 447.2 mm rainfall was recorded and it helped in increasing the overall water table of the district by one and a half feet. Due to heavy rainfall, similar improvement will be witnessed this year too. Agriculture department officials said Bathinda had been divided into three zones, namely Overexploited, Safe and Critical. Nathana, Phul, Bhagta, Rampura and Maur areas fall in the Overexploited category where drawing of water from ground is more than 100 per cent while Bathinda, Sangat and Talwandi Sabo are declared as Safe areas. Overall, the Bathinda district has fallen under the Critical category. The assistant geologist of the groundwater cell of the Agriculture Department, Ashok Kumar, said though the water table was improving in Bathinda district since 2009, it improved immensely during the past two years due to heavy rainfall. During the past 10 years, the water level in Bathinda has gone down by 44 meters and efforts were made by the government to raise it, he said. He added that introduction of the Preservation of Sub Soil Water Act-2009 had helped in increasing the water table. Officials of the department said though rains were improving the water table in Bathinda the problem of water-logging in adjoining Muktsar, Faridkot and some villages of Mansa district was aggravating due to heavy rains. Submersible pumps have been installed in areas of Rampura, Phul, Bhagta, Nathana and some parts of Bathinda while in Sangat, Talwandi Sabo and Maur areas, people have installed centrifugal pumps, which are costly and discharge less water. While 407 mm rainfall was recorded in 2007, it was 433 mm in 2008, 292.9 mm in 2009 and 447.2 mm in 2010. This year, 431.7 mm has been recorded in Bathinda district so far and it is predicted that rains may continue for the next two days.
	58 test positive for dengue in district this season Sushil Goyal Tribune News Service Bathinda, September 13 As many as 58 positive cases of dengue have been reported from the Bathinda district this season (from July onwards). These cases were reported to the district health authorities by the DMC Hospital, Ludhiana, the Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, the Civil Hospital, Bathinda, and the Apollo Hospital, Ludhiana. According to information available, Mac Elisa test was conducted on 86 suspected dengue cases from the district. Of these, 58 were tested positive for dengue. As many as 39 dengue positive cases were detected from the city while 15 cases were detected from the Raman Mandi area in Talwandi Sabo block. Besides, three cases were detected in Sangat block and one case in Goniana block. The Mac Elisa test is a confirmatory test for dengue, which is conducted on the blood samples of suspected dengue cases. The DMC Hospital, Ludhiana has sent the report of 23 dengue positive cases to the district health authorities while the Ludhiana Civil Hospital informed the authorities about 18 dengue cases. Likewise, the Bathinda Civil Hospital reported detection of 15 dengue cases and the Apollo Hospital, Ludhiana, informed about two cases. District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Raghubir Singh Randhawa said here today on receiving information about any suspected dengue patient, they took all necessary measures to check the disease in the particular area and other parts of the district. It may be mentioned here that during 2010, as many as 364 positive cases of dengue had been reported from the district, of which 318 were from the city only while remaining were from Talwandi Sabo area (22), Bhagta (7), Goniana (2), Ballianwali (5), Sangat (6) and Nathana (4). However, the health teams have so far found larvae of mosquito causing dengue at about 24 places in the city, including the Ajit Road area, Court Road, Parasram Nagar, Nai Basti, Power House Road, Guru Ki Nagri, Balla Ram Nagar, Model Town Phase-1, Lal Singh Basti, Adarsh Nagar and Civil Hospital premises. The health staff destroyed the larvae on the spot and educated people about preventive measures against dengue.
	Transporters accuse Mansa DTO of impounding buses Had refused vehicles for Harsimrat rally Gurdeep Singh Mann Tribune News Service Mansa, September 13 Fourteen transporters from Mansa today lodged complaints against the District Transport Officer (DTO) for issuing challans and impounding buses after they refused to give vehicles for the rally of the SAD-BJP at Mansa today. In their complaint to the Election Commission, Governor, Chief Minister and the Deputy Commissioner, the transporters alleged that the buses were impounded following their refusal. Raj Singh of Jhunir Transport alleged that eight buses were impounded today. Some of these are parked in government depots and some in private houses as well. He said the eight buses were impounded today following the refusal of the transporters to give buses for political rallies. Raj said the small transporters with one or two buses were the worst affected as the department officials threaten them with impounding buses without any rhyme or reason. Raj Singh said he has 11 buses and usually gets orders for buses to ferry crowds to various rally venues. "During the few days past, the buses from Mansa ferried passengers to Chandigarh, Lehra, Dirba and Longowal. When asked for money, the officials of the department give only 10 to 20 per cent of the total expenses," he said. "It has become a norm that the department impounds the buses to ferry party workers to different political functions. Last time too, 70 buses were taken by the department to ferry workers to Chandigarh and the bus drivers were told to drop workers in different villages of Punjab," he said. "Transporters are already suffering losses and further damage is being done by the politicians," said Manpreet, another transporter. "Now, when we refused to offer buses for the coming rallies at Lambi and Badal villages, the department officials dealt with the situation with an iron hand. The buses were impounded even without checking documents," he said. Mansa DTO Dilraj Singh, when contacted, denied that the buses had been impounded due to vendetta. "Four or five buses were issued challans today as they did not have the proper papers. It has nothing to do with the rallies of any political party," the DTO said.
	Closure of thermal plant Civil society seeks Environment Ministry’s help SP Sharma Tribune News Service Bathinda, September 13 Amid reports of uranium concentration in the drinking water and increasing air pollution, a joint action committee (JAC) of the civil society here has sought intervention of the Union Environment Ministry to conduct a scientific survey of the problem and order closure of the 37-year-old thermal power plant that has become the main source of air pollution. In a letter sent to the ministry and the state chief minister, the 10-member JAC headed by MM Behal has expressed concern over the high concentration of uranium in the groundwater. The problem was detected by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Bathinda and certain other areas of Malwa where coal based thermal power plants have been set up. The JAC has warned that it would revive its agitation if the government failed to take effective steps to control the serious threat of contamination of water with uranium. The air-polluting thermal power plant here should either be dismantled or replaced with modern technology, they demanded. It has been pointed out in the letter that the Malwa region of Punjab was already facing high incidence of cancer mainly due to air and water pollution and that burning of coal in these thermal power plants was compounding the problem. The fly ash emitting from the thermal power plant was causing air pollution resulting in respiratory and other ailments among the residents. The Punjab Government was not serious towards solving the problem and providing relief to residents of the town, it alleged. The JAC has pointed out in the letter that in the audit of 44-month working of the Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant at Bathinda, the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General has revealed that the level of suspended particulate matters from Units 1 and 2 of the thermal plant was in the range of 101 to 149 mg/Nm against the optimum level of 100 mg/Nm, thus posing a severe risk to the health of the area residents.
	No relief from sewage in Abohar Raj Sadosh Abohar, September 13 Even when the Municipal Council had decided to supply drinking water for just two-three hours only on alternate days in different areas to reduce pressure on the sewerage system, there has been no relief for thousands of residents from the stagnating sewage that had accumulated after last week's downpour. As the council could not drain out water from the streets that are used by the devotees to pay obeisance at a gurdwara in Jammu Basti here, residents organised a protest in the afternoon today. Led by Captain Nirmaljit Singh (retd), the protesters rued that their councillor in ward number 2 had also not been able to get the problem resolved. Sources said the streets had got damaged due to sub-standard construction during the past few years but the council had not earmarked any budget for repair. The desilting of sewerage pipes too was long due. A similar situation had troubled the residents of Jain Nagari, a housewife Suman Bhardwaj said. The seweage pushes back water even after few minutes of rain, she said. RK Gupta, a resident of Suraj Nagari said residents in the posh colony have to pass through overflowing seweage at least half the year. Memorandums submitted to district and state officials have not yielded the desired results. Senior councillor Vimal Thathai said the situation had deteriorated after the shifting of the sub- divisional office of the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board after May 1 when the workers of the saffron party had allegedly thrashed the sub-divisional engineer and the council did not extend contract with the Board for the current financial year for the maintenance of water works and sewerage system. Meanwhile, Abohar MLA Sunil Jakhar has alleged that standing cotton crop in more than 18,000 acres in the Balluana segment of the sub- division has been ruined to save 700 acres of agricultural land in Lambi segment. Speaking to the media during a whirlwind tour of the villages marooned by overflowing of drains on Monday, Jakhar regretted that since ruling politicians were busy in SGPC elections, the situation here had not improved even marginally. The assurances given by members of the state cabinet had fallen flat, he rued.

	Mansa MC fails to recover Rs1.75 crore house tax Official residences of DC, SSP in list of defaulters Gurdeep Singh Mann Tribune News Service Mansa, September 13 The Municipal Council, Mansa, has failed to recover house tax worth nearly Rs 1.75 crores from various private and government buildings for the past over a decade. The amount is increasing as the rate of interest keeps increasing. As per the information procured under Right to Information Act by Vinod Kumar, a resident of Mansa, the amount to be recovered from the government buildings has crossed Rs 70 lakh and from private buildings, it is more than Rs 1 crore. Mansa Deputy Commissioner owes a house tax of nearly Rs 20 lakh while the SSP owes Rs 9 lakh as house tax to the Municipal Council. The information reveals that DTO, ADC, district welfare office, DEO (Secondary), panchayat samiti, zila parishad, civil hospital and many other government departments are in the list of defaulters, who are not paying the house tax. There are many influential private people, who have declined to pay house tax on some pretext. The total amount to be recovered from the government buildings is Rs 69,55012, which includes Rs 5,02664 rate of interest. The house tax of private buildings is Rs 1.7 crores. The maximum amount, Rs 2,69,825 is to be paid by the Mansa police besides other government departments in the district. President of the Mansa Municipal Council Atamjit Kala rued that despite of writing to the police and the civil administration a number of times, but to no avail. Municipal Council officials said many pending developmental works by the Council could be done, if the money is recovered. Vinod Kumar, who procured the information, said the Municipal Council too is supposed to pay to the tune of many lakhs and some of its employees have moved the court in view of their pending dues. "If the house tax pending with the government and private people is recovered, many pending works of the committee could be done," he said.
	AISSF wants separate identity for Sikhs Kulwinder Sandhu Tribune News Service Peer Mohammad (Moga), September 13 The All India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) has declared that it will start a nationwide campaign to motivate and mobilize the public in support of the demand of the Sikhs to amend Article 25 of the Constitution to restore the independent status of Sikhism. A resolution in this regard was passed by the AISSF at its 67th annual conference held here, today. The AISSF maintained that Sikhism is a separate religion and is acknowledged as such throughout the world, except in India, wherein, Article 25 of the Constitution has amalgamated Sikhs in the Hindu religion. "Sikhs across the world object to this undermining of their religious identity and demand restoration of separate identity and the status of their religion in the Indian Constitution," said Karnail Singh Peer Mohammad, President of the AISSF, while presiding over the annual conference. Religious leader Baljit Singh Daduwal appealed to the members of the Sikh community to support the 'Proud to be Sikh Campaign' launched by the federation. Devinder Singh Sodhi, general secretary, AISSF, said the organization was established in 1944 to promote the principles of Sikhism. Its principal objectives is to keep alive the concept of distinct and sovereign identity of the Sikhs.
	Jats threaten to renew stir Our Correspondent Ferozepur, September 13 To commemorate the first death anniversary of Sunil Sheoran, who was killed during the Jat reservation agitation in Haryana last year, the All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti today held a state-level function here at Gurudwara Saragarhi to mark the day. Sttae president Karnail Singh Bhawra said Sunil was allegedly shot dead by a senior police officer in Haryana on September 13 last year while the samiti members were protesting peacefully in support of their demand for reservation for Jats. Bhawra said the Jats will renew their stir as the time-frame asked for by the government to consider their demand has lapsed. Senior leaders of the sangharsh Samiti from all over the state were present on the occasion.
	Pbi varsity VC visits Ghudda campus Bathinda, September 13 The Vice-chancellor of the Punjabi University, Dr Jaspal Singh, visited the newly-established Punjabi University College at Ghudda village. In a press release issued here today, principal Dr DK Madaan said Dr Jamshid Ali Khan, Dean, College Development Council accompanied the VC. The university established its college at Ghudda under the 11th plan of the University Grants Commission for setting up seven new model degree colleges in Punjab. The college has enrolled 272 students for first year courses in BA, B Com (professional), B Sc (non-medical), BCA and PGDCA. The annual fee charged by the college was around 30 per cent less than that of government colleges, he added. — TNS