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No hope of respite from power cuts, fluctuations
Jalandhar, October 4
Power consumers in the hearts of big cities like Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Amritsar and Bathinda are facing problems like fluctuation and low voltage in the electricity supply as the Power Corp is increasingly finding it difficult to get land for setting up new substations or grids within the municipal limits of the big cities of Punjab.

Villagers say agitation against polluting units politically motivated
Chandigarh, October 4
Concerned with the growing pollution in the region, a group of panches and sarpanches of the Ansron, Balachaur industrial belt, have taken upon themselves the task of spreading awareness on the issue. A meeting was convened at Banah, Toansa (Ropar), yesterday where sarpanches of all the nearby villages participated.

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	No hope of respite from power cuts, fluctuations Power Corp faces problems in setting up new substations in big cities due to high land prices Varinder Singh Tribune News Service Jalandhar, October 4 Power consumers in the hearts of big cities like Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Amritsar and Bathinda are facing problems like fluctuation and low voltage in the electricity supply as the Power Corp is increasingly finding it difficult to get land for setting up new substations or grids within the municipal limits of the big cities of Punjab. What is coming in the way of the Power Corp in setting up new substations or grids is shooting up of land prices due to fast-paced urbanisation in the state, particularly in Jalandhar, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Bathinda, where more and more consumers are facing voltage fluctuations and low-voltage problems. The power supply situation is turning grim within the municipal limits of these cities as a large number of high power-consuming commercial establishments, like malls, cinemas halls, hotels and restaurants, have come up during the past four-five years. These along with the increasing “AC culture” have put additional burden on the power supply system and forcing it to go in over-load mode and resulting in frequent spells of fluctuations and low voltage, particularly in the heart of big cities. If the average daily power demand was around 1,350 lakh units about three years ago, the current power demand is hovering between 1,540 and 1,710 lakh units. Punjab has nearly 800 power grids and going by the average annual increase of 8 per cent demand of electricity supply, the state is in need of nearly 70-80 new grids or substations for power supply augmentation. Most of the existing grids are located on the periphery of big cities. “Since, the consumption has shot up in the inner parts of big cities, we need to set up new substations or grids deep within these cities so as to ensure smooth power supply there. But we are facing a big problem in getting land for the installation of new power augmentation facilities because of huge cost of land and increasing opposition by residents of such areas,” revealed a senior Power Corp officer, adding that fortunately demand did not shoot up towards the fag end of summer due to good rainfall this time. Even in the case of the proposed Focal Point-based substation, Power Corp officials had to make concerted efforts to get land from the Industry Department for years. It was only recently that the land was granted to it by the Punjab Government for the project.
	Villagers say agitation against polluting units politically motivated Tribune News Service Chandigarh, October 4 Concerned with the growing pollution in the region, a group of panches and sarpanches of the Ansron, Balachaur industrial belt, have taken upon themselves the task of spreading awareness on the issue. A meeting was convened at Banah, Toansa (Ropar), yesterday where sarpanches of all the nearby villages participated. Reacting to the ongoing agitation against industrial pollution, the sarpanches said that though the issue of pollution needed to be addressed, but the ongoing agitation was nothing but work of some miscreants who are trying to draw political mileage from it.Though a consensus emerged over the issue that the groundwater in the area had become polluted, but there was a difference in opinion about the reason for the same. Speaking on the occasion, the sarpanch of Banah village and a member of Environment Committee (Punjab), Parminder Banth, said that water pollution has become a major problem, but launching an agitation against the industries was not a solution. He suggested that the villagers must talk to the industries and must try to resolve the issue. Shashi Rana, sarpanch of Toansa, said that the industries had taken adequate measures to control and reduce pollution to the maximum extent, yet more efforts are required. The sarpanch of Bholewal, Capt Gian Chand, acknowledged the help extended by the industries. He said the industries have provided healthcare facilities, clean drinking water, street lights, upgraded educational facilities and other recreational facilities to the villagers. Kamaljit, a prominent Akali leader, said that ongoing agitation against the industry was politically motivated. Sardara Singh and Jagdish Singh, sarpanches of Majra Jattan and Bela Tajowal, respectively, said that they are associated with the industry since last two decades and never had any health problems. Pardeep Kushan, local Congress leader, criticised the agitation. Everyone present in the meeting unanimously agreed that the industries are providing direct and indirect employment to thousands of locals and have contributed in the overall development of this backward area.
	‘Parties biased against women while giving tickets' Jalandhar, October 4 The Punjab Election Watch (PEW) and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), two civil society organisations working for electoral and political reforms, have appealed to the political parties to shun electoral malpractices and distribute tickets to candidates having clean image during the forthcoming assembly polls in the state. Prof Jagdeep Chhokar, founding member of ADR, said that a dismal five per cent of the tickets were given to women candidates in 2007. This number was even lower than in the 2002 Assembly elections when eight per cent women were given tickets. He said this shows the bias against women being practiced by every political party in the political spectrum. Jaskirat Singh, the Coordinator of PEW, alleged that in the 2007 polls all the major political players gave tickets to scores of candidates facing serious criminal charges. The Shiromani Akali Dal leads the list with 29 out of 94 candidates having criminal cases pending against them. The INC has 14 such candidates out of 117 and BJP had two candidates out of 23, he pointed out. — TNS
	Farmers gherao Market Committee office Tarn Taran, October 4 A large number of farmers, under the banner of Kisan Sangharsh Committee (KSC), gheraoed the Market Committee office here today to initiate the procurement of paddy. The procurement was to start from October 1 but could not happen due to the ongoing strike by the staff of the procurement agencies. In these four days, about 2 lakh quintals of paddy have been lying un-procured in the local grain market. Satnam Singh Pannu, the state president of the KSC, alleged that the state government was doing so to favour the interests of some private firms. The farmers lifted their gherao when Paramjit Singh Cheema, Secretary of the Market Committee, assured the farmers that the procurement work would start today. — OC
	Woman found murdered Amritsar: Chander Kanta Sethi, a resident of Nirankari Colony located at Fatehgarh Churian Road, was brutally murdered by unidentified persons on Tuesday. The incident came to light when her son Rakesh Sethi returned home from his office in the evening and saw her body lying in the pool of blood.The accused allegedly slit the throat the victim in her seventies, said the police officials. — TNS