Bathinda, October 8
The Bathinda ring road project, dubbed as a strategic link to the city, remains jinxed for the past two decades. Planned to connect the Bathinda-Mansa and the Bathinda-Barnala road, the cost of the 5.8 km long project has escalated beyond imagination in the last 21 years. In the absence of a ring road, people continue to face traffic snarls and hundreds have died so far because of the movement of heavy vehicles on the radial roads of the city.

Lack of political will and prolonged litigation are the two major reasons hat have delayed this project, which could have provided much relief to traffic in the city by providing an alternative route for the heavy vehicles to ply.

As per the 2009 field survey mentioned in the master plan of Bathinda under the Local Planning Authority (LPA), the 200-feet wide ring road phase-I is a missing road that can clear the major bottlenecks in the city by providing for a free flow of traffic.

Divided into six parts--- A, B, C, D, E and F (see the plan), the A and B portions are under the Bathinda Improvement Trust (BIT), while the C, D, E and F parts are under the Bathinda Development Authority (BDA). The entire 600 m long A area under the BIT has a 100 feet wide road laid on it, while another 100 feet is pending, while a case of 400 m long area regarding B is pending in the court.

A dispute over eight acres of area under part D has been settled in favor of the people and the file is being moved to re-acquire the area.

A majority of the portion under E (from Dhobiana Basti to the Patiala railway line) has been laid except for a 28 m wide bottleneck near the water tanks of the Bhagu water works.

The area F (from Patiala railway line to Mansa road) of 2100 m is to be acquired. Already, 90 per cent of the people, whose land comes under the section, have given their consent in writing to the BDA for the acquisition of land.

It is expected that the Bathinda Development Authority would acquire the land from the area at the rate of Rs 1.50 crore per acre and a notification for the same would be issued soon.

Bathinda, October 8
A day after the registration of a case against the former sub-inspector of the Criminal Investigation Agency (CIA), Rajinder Kumar, following the orders of the High Court, the victims of the police high- handedness — from Abohar — today demanded the immediate arrest of the accused policemen.

A case against Rajinder Kumar, ASI Kirpal Singh and five others was registered at the Kotwali police station under various sections of the IPC for criminal intimidation, trespassing, extortion and other offences.

The complainant, Ram Sarup Sharma, of Basant Nagar, Abohar, today alleged that the police, including senior police officials are trying their best to shield the accused policemen.

He alleged that despite the fact that the incident took place at Abohar, the case has been registered at Bathinda which will further lead to the harassment of his family members. Also, the sections applied in the FIR did not include the Prevention of Corruption Act.

"The case was registered against the policemen only after the intervention of the High Court as repeated complaints and pleas had fallen on deaf ears," said a wailing Ram Sarup Sharma, a senior citizen of Abohar.

He alleged that continuous harassment by the police upset the life of his family members including his wife, daughters and son.

"We still feel insulated in the city and have been turned into 'criminals' due to the repeated harassment by the police," he said.

"The accused cops kept abusing the entire family, created ruckus and upset our routine without having the authority or a case registered against any of the family members," he added.

"The cops demanded that my son-in-law, Sunder Dass, be produced before the police as he had cheated some people. But the police officials failed to produce any warrant, court order or any other valid document which could declare him a wanted," he said.

Ram Sarup added that the police picked up his son and was kept in illegal detention due to which he became upset and is now undergoing treatment for mental imbalance.

"We heaved a sigh of relief with the intervention of the High Court but fear still looms large as the accused policemen are roaming freely despite the registration of a case against them," he said.

Ram Sarup's son, Sanjiv Kumar, demanding a high- level probe against the wealth amassed by the former CIA in-charge said the cop had done many wrongs during his deployment as the CIA in-charge in Bathinda and also at other plum postings.

He is known to be close to many senior police functionaries and got promotions out of turn, he alleged.

He added that the policemen raided his house without any authority or duty assigned by any senior police functionary.

Their crime was proved by a 20-minute video footage prepared at his house wherein policemen, who have no authority to raid their house, are seen authoritatively at their house.

SP (Detective) Sukhdev Singh Chahal, when contacted, claimed that they are dealing with the case as per the law. "The accused have been booked by the police just two days ago and we will arrest them if the law requires their arrest," he said.

On the registration of case at Bathinda instead of Abohar, he replied, "The case could be registered anywhere. As the matter was investigated by the SSP Bathinda, so the case has been registered here on the intervention of the High Court and after taking the opinion of the legal experts," he said.

The family members of Ram Sarup, along with some reputed people from Abohar and Bathinda, said that they would not sit idle until stringent action is initiated against the former CIA in-charge, Rajinder Kumar, ASI Kirpal Singh and all the other policemen involved in harassing the entire family members.

"Our life has been disturbed due to the unnecessary harassment by the officials who abused their authority without any check. Such incidents should not happen again with anyone else and the erring policemen must get stringent punishment for their misconduct,” said Sharma.

Bathinda, October 8
The Bathinda Municipal Corporation's (BMC) pre-agenda meeting held at the residence of the Mayor turned sour today following heated argument between the municipal councilors and the BMC officials.

The meeting was convened to discuss the issues as a precursor to the BMC House meeting tentatively scheduled for next week. At the meeting, senior deputy mayor Tarsem Goyal raised the issue of BMC officials not listening to the MC's directives.

At this, BMC commissioner Uma Shankar Gupta intervened saying that officials do whatever is in the larger interest of the masses. The argument turned into a heated exchange with both Goyal and Gupta disagreeing with each other's opinion.

Assistant commissioner Kamal Kant too joined Gupta, while the SAD-BJP municipal councillors sided with Tarsem Goyal. BJP councillors present at the meeting included Kishore Bansal, Krishan Garg and Ram Gupta, while the SAD councillors included Mayor Baljit Singh Bir Behman, MC Tek Singh Khalsa and Daljit Singh Brar.

Due to the dispute between the councilors and the officials, not even a single programme listed in the pre-agenda list could be discussed today. There were around 30 items listed today including the Rs 49 lakh sewerage work in the city.

Meanwhile, when contacted, Mayor Baljit Singh Bir Behman agreed that there was a dispute among those present at the pre-agenda meeting.

"It was a small tiff and some misunderstanding. All of us then intervened and amicably resolved the issue," he said.

He agreed that the agenda could not be discussed and that the meeting would be convened again.

"Not enough number of officials and municipal councillors were present today. So, we decided to convene a meeting again," he added.

It is learnt that the SAD leader Sarup Singla has also informed BJP senior leader Neeraj Tayal of the issue.

Bathinda, October 8
The three-day international Professor Mohan Singh Yadgari Mela would be held at Bathinda for the first time, from October 18.

The 33rd mela was earlier organised in various districts of Punjab and most of the time, it was organised in Ludhiana. Addressing a press conference, spokesperson Jagdev Singh Jassowal, president of the foundation, Pargat Singh Grewal, senior vice- president and folk singer Mohammad Sadik, general secretary Nirmal Jaura, Sadhu Singh Grewal and others said the mela would bring forth the Punjabi culture and sports.

The mela would be dedicated to the birth anniversary of Sant Fateh Singh (Badiala).

Religious programmes and exhibitions of the cultural heritage would be held on the first day of the festival on October 18.

The next day will witness sports events, kavi darbar. Theatre artists would enthrall the audience.

On the last day of the event, people associated with the literature, music and others would be honoured and the Punjabi folk singers would also perform. The awards and prizes would be given away by Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab Sukhbir Singh Badal.

While the city has been holding Virasat Mela for some time now, it will be for the first time that it will host this prestigious event.

Bathinda, October 8
The indefinite strike by the medical laboratory technicians, working at the government hospitals and health centres in the district, entered its fifth day today. Due to the strike, barring dengue and emergency cases, routine tests of the patients are not being conducted.

As per the information, the government has called the Association leaders to Chandigarh on October 12 to hold talks regarding their demands in the presence of the CM Parkash Singh Badal. Besides the Association's representatives, senior bureaucrats would also be present in the meeting.

There are 33 regular medical laboratory technicians while 15 are working on a contract basis in the district's hospitals and health centres. However, some of them have been allowed by the Association to work in the laboratories just to conduct dengue-related tests as there is a large number of dengue patients (suspected or confirmed) in Bathinda and other parts of the district.

The patients are the worst sufferers as their routine tests such as HB, TLC, DLC, blood sugar, blood urea, urine are not being conducted in the government laboratories. They are forced to pay more money for the routine tests at the private laboratories.

Notably, the rapid test (card test) for dengue from a private laboratory costs around Rs 800 while in the government hospitals, the charges are only Rs 300. Likewise, for haemogram test (to know about platelet count), the private laboratory charges Rs 150 while in a government hospital, it costs only Rs 60.

Talking to the TNS here, district secretary, Medical Laboratory Technicians Association, Resham Singh Jalal said they had paralysed the laboratory work at the hospitals and health centres at Bathinda, Talwandi Sabo, Rampura Phul, Maur, Bhagta, Nathana, Goniana, Sangat, Ballianwali, Bhucho and Raman Mandi, but they were conducting tests for dengue and emergency cases.

He said the CM had called them to Chandigarh on October 12 to hold talks, in which besides the Association leaders, some senior bureaucrats would also take part. He said their demands include risk allowance, rent free accommodation and parity of pay-scales according to the 1996 revision made by the Fourth Pay Commission.

• Barring dengue and emergency cases, routine tests of the patients are not being conducted
• The rapid test (card test) for dengue from a private laboratory costs around Rs 800 while in the government hospitals, the charges are only Rs 300
• For haemogram test, the private laboratory charges Rs 150 while in a government hospital, it costs only Rs 60

Bathinda, October 8
As many as 115 patients suffering from fever were undergoing treatment at the Civil Hospital, today. Some of them also include dengue positive patients.

According to the medical specialist at the Civil Hospital here, Dr KK Goyal, every patient suffering from fever is not a patient of the dengue fever.

He said most of the people had apprehensions in their minds about the dengue fever due to a large number of dengue cases (suspected or confirmed) reported from the Bathinda city during the past fortnight.

He also said as per the results of Mac Elisa tests, every suspected dengue case was not a dengue positive case.

Meanwhile, a team of the Health officials, led by District Health Officer Dr RS Randhawa, today took a round of the hospital wards and visited the patients suffering from fever.

Area in-charge of the SAD for Bathinda (Urban) Assembly constituency Sarup Chand Singla and representatives of NGOs also visited the patients today to inquire about their health and the problems being faced by them.

Dr Randhawa appealed to the members of the NGOs to disseminate the message among the patients suffering from fever that every such case was not a case of dengue, so there was no need to worry about it.

He said if any patient feels that he has been suffering from dengue, he should come to the Civil Hospital for Mac Elisa test, which is conducted free of cost at the Blood Bank here.

Bathinda October 8
The city residents are gearing up for the long-awaited festival of lights. Though the Diwali celebrations are the same every year, people always have something special to do on the occasion.

“Every year, we celebrate the day at our ancestral home at Bhucho village. All of our family members go to the village and perform rituals. In our busy schedules, the festivals are the occasions when we can spend some time with our relatives,” said Baljit Kaur, a resident of Model Town.

A student of class V of St. Joseph School Gursharn Singh is quite eager for the upcoming occasion. “I am very happy as I would buy lots of crackers. However, our school teachers are making us aware of the hazards of bursting crackers but I would like to burst ‘Anar’, which causes less noise pollution and looks beautiful.”

On the other hand, youngsters who are away from their family would come back to their homes for their celebrations. Isha Dahuja and Neha Kakkar, pursuing graduation at the GCG Sector 11, Chandigarh, are planning to hang out with their school mates.

“We would go for shopping in the city markets with friends and family. On Dhanteras, a day before the Diwali, our family usually go to buy gold items. All the rituals are performed 
on Diwali such as Luxmi Puja and sweet exchange,” said Isha.

The trend of gift exchange is changing with times. “No one prefers typical sweets packs rather the latest trend includes exchanging packs dry-fruits, fruits, juices. Perhaps, it is due to prevailing diseases like diabetes and hypertension that people have become health conscious and give nutritious gifts,” said Neha.

The Archies galleries have the Diwali greetings within the range from Rs 15 to Rs 175. The Child Rights and You (CRY), an NGO, has also made greetings for the occasion. The gallery has special candles with fragrance, photo frames and flower-pots on display. On the whole, despite religion and age, the city residents have been in an euphoric state for the preparation of the festival.

However, the other side presents a different story where no enthusiasm could be sensed for the occasion.

Seva Ram, a rickshaw-puller, said, “I earn Rs 100-150 a day. What would I eat, if all the money is spent on the festival. I have no home and family.”

So, there is a huge gap in the aspirations and preparations between the different classes of society.

Bathinda, October 8
Four people including a woman lost their lives in separate mishaps in Bathinda. Two people, Tejwinder Singh of Mehraj village and Sukhvir Singh, were going to Dabwali in a car and died in an accident.

A labourer, Murti Devi died in another accident near the cantonment police station. She was travelling in a tempo when a speeding canter hit the tempo from the rear. In another incident, 28-year-old Jagmohan Singh died in Mahi Nangal village after he got buried under soil which was taken out while laying sewerage pipes. — TNS