Bathinda, November 7
The city has virtually turned into garbage dump as since November 3, sweepers in the city are observing strike. They are responding to a statewide call for strike seeking regularisation of the temporary employees.

In absence of sweepers, city residents are dumping garbage at every vacant space available. Vacant plots and spaces on the roadsides are not being spared. Worst to suffer are the city markets as well the areas around the Fort.

The vegetable market situated opposite the Gole Diggi market is littered with garbage. Similarly, heaps of garbage could be noticed near the Railway Station, in some pockets of the Civil Lines and near religious places on the Amrik Singh road.

Condition in colonies is pathetic, where dustbins are overflowing and stray animals are adding to the trouble by scattering the garbage.

During the Bathinda Municipal Corporation (BMC) meeting convened on November 4, the entire brigade of corporation officials had agreed to fulfill the demands of sweepers. The BMC would now send its recommendation to the government local bodies.

President of the Safai Karamchari Union Gora Lal said though the BMC had agreed to fulfill their demands, it holds little significance for them.

"The BMC has passed a resolution declaring that all 381 temporary sweepers in the city be regularised. Earlier too, on April 1, the House had passed a resolution declaring that around 300 sweepers be regularised. However, when we got appointment letters, only 90 employees were regularised," Gora Lal said.

He said none of the sweepers would resume work unless and until the government does not issue appointment letters to the temporary ones. He added that members of state union were holding talks with the government over the issue.

Interestingly, during the meeting, municipal councillors accused the sweepers of being negligent towards their duties and demanded that 'mohalla' committee sweepers regularised in April should be reverted as temporary sweepers.

Municipal councillors had alleged that permanent sweepers do not report in their respective areas daily and had demanded that deduction in their salary for the absence.

Sweepers said the strike had emphasised upon the amount of work that they do to ensure cleanliness in the city.

While the tussle between sweepers and the BMC continues, it is the city residents who are bearing the brunt of inadequacies.

Bathinda, November 7
Residents of the Model Town phase II fear of an epidemic due to stagnant water in the vacant plots, worth crores, of the Bathinda Development Authority (BDA).

In a letter written to senior officials of the BDA, over 25 area residents accused the BDA and the district health authorities of awaiting an epidemic in their area.

Professor JS Brar Rangi alleged that the BDA authorities impose exorbitant fine on those who purchase plots and do not construct houses within a stipulated time period, but they never care for the upkeep of the area.

"Apart from pocketing lakhs as fine, the authorities also ask residents to deposit money in the form of various other fees," he said.

Area residents Jeet Singh, Paramjit Singh, Jagpal Singh, Devinder Kaur and others alleged that apart from the vacant plots, there are few unsold plots in the locality, which were worth crores. It seems that the authorities are waiting for someone to encroach upon these unsold plots, which are now full of garbage and filth.

They said plot numbers 81, 82 and 44 are full of stagnant water and cow dung. The condition of plot numbers 1 to 5 and 14 to 20 is no better. The residents of a nearby slum area use these plots to attend nature's call.

Even as the area is known as one of the posh areas in the city where higher government officials besides Bathinda MLA reside, it is full of garbage and sewage spills on to the roads.

The plots not only emanate foul smell but also provide suitable environment for breeding of mosquitoes. Dangerous poisonous insects could be seen crawling on the road and at times, they enter the houses nearby.

The area residents alleged that they were under constant threat of dreaded diseases.

Vacant plots and unkempt parks in the locality are full of Congress grass and nobody ever cared to clean the area, alleged Rahul Brar, a resident of the locality.

He said kids were more prone to diseases due to the unhygienic conditions prevailing there. "If this is the condition of a posh area, one could easily guess what could be the situation in other localities," he said.

Brar demanded that the authorities concerned should take immediate and effective measures or the area residents would be forced to contemplate an agitation against the erring authorities and the Punjab Government.

He said copies of the letter have been sent to Congress MLA Harminder Jassi, SAD-BJP constituency in-charge Sarup Chand Singla, the Deputy Commissioner, the BDA authorities, the Chief Medical Officer, the BMC Commissioner and the municipal councillor concerned. 

Chandigarh, November 7
Thirty four years after a chunk of land near Bathinda’s main bazaar was acquired by the Improvement Trust, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has enhanced the compensation amount.

The landowners will now get a compensation of Rs 70 per square yard, instead of Rs40 per square yard. The development is significant as initially, the market value of the acquired land was assessed at Rs 20 per square yard.

The acquired land is near the city’s main bazaar, towards its southern end. The Railway Station and the Gold Diggi Shopping Complex are also in the vicinity. Kamal Cinema adjoins the acquired land and the Samrat Hotel is also quite near.

The enhancement orders by the Bench of Acting Chief Justice MM Kumar and Justice Rajiv Narain Raina came on a petition filed by Surinder Kaur and other landowners against the Bathinda Improvement Trust and other respondents.

The Land Acquisition Officer had assessed the market value of the acquired land at Rs20 per square yard, but the Land Acquisition Tribunal enhanced it to Rs40 per square yard. The land was acquired on April 4, 1977, and the award was declared by the Tribunal on January 4, 1990, against which the writ petition was filed.

The petitioners contended that the compensation of Rs 40 per square yard was inadequate and that it should be enhanced to at least Rs 175 per square yard as the land in dispute had a great commercial potential on the date of acquisition.

On the other hand, the counsel for the Improvement Trust argued that it was a fit case for reduction in compensation, as there were “squatters on the land”.

The Bench asserted: “We do not agree with the counsel for the Improvement Trust that merely because there were squatters or that the land is low-lying, it would be sufficient to non-suit the claimants in their claim for enhancement or that it should serve as ground for reduction of compensation.

“We have no doubt that the land in dispute had high potential value, as known in the commercial sense. The sale deeds produced by the owners inspire sufficient confidence in us that award of Rs 40 per square yard by the Tribunal is wholly inadequate….

“We think it just, fair and equitable to award Rs 70 per square yard in the present case.

Consequently, the owners appeal is allowed partially to the extent of enhancement of compensation from Rs 40 per square yard to Rs 70 per square yard.”

Bathinda, November 7
The Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) is all set to spend nearly Rs 35 crores on streetlights installed in the Bathinda parliamentary constituency.

Apart from spending money on laying premix on roads, installing reverse osmosis (RO) systems, tree plantation and streets, the maximum expenditure will be incurred upon lighting.

Special measures have been taken to light up the dark areas for which lights were installed even in those areas which are yet to be developed. A sub-Divisional officer (SDO) has already received reprimands for installing lights in under-developed areas.

The BDA has spent Rs 3.32 crores on 95 RO systems in Bathinda district and spent another Rs 34.74 crores on streetlights on the main roads.

Officials said they have purchased the streetlights from manufacturing firms in Haryana which save 60 per cent of energy and reduce power bill.

BDA Executive Engineer Paramjit Singh said that though money is being spent upon the street-lights but the expenditure was revised recently.

Now money would be spent on laying roads, streets and streetlights as per the demands of the people in the cities where development works have been initiated by the BDA.

Street-lights have been installed in 12 cities of the Bathinda parliamentary constituency and only the Bhikhi area of Mansa district is bereft of the street-lights where no expenditure has been incurred on it.

Under a special project, the BDA has planned to spend Rs 147.97 crores and a major percentage of the project was spent upon the lights and relaying of the roads.

Besides RO, the authorities have spent Rs 1.27 crore on plantation whereas the forest department has already launched various tree plantation drives in the area.

A project of Rs 25.37 crores was chalked out for Mansa district, of which almost 35 per cent (Rs 8.37) crores have been spent on streetlights.

Rs 8.25 crore is being spent on laying premix on roads in the Mansa district. Similarly in Maur Mandi, Rs 13.90 crore is being spent and Rs 5.09 crore will be spent on the lights and Rs 4.70 on laying premix on the roads.

Rs 4.68 crores have been allocated for Talwandi Sabo out of which Rs 4.28 crores will be spent on streetlights.

Out of Rs 19.01 crores for Rampura, Rs 2.91 will be spent on lights.

The XEN said that 15 to 20 per cent of the amount would be spent on lights and total cost incurred on streetlights will be recovered by reducing power bill within one and a half years.

The 45 watt LED bulb will be equal to that of 150 watt lights. It is for the first time that the state is using LED for streetlights. The electricity bills of the Municipal Corporations and Municipal Councils will reduce to a great extent by installing these lights, claimed the BDA officials.

The bulbs will be replaced by the company free of cost for three years which will include replacement by the contractor for the first one and a half years.

Bathinda, November 7
A damaged iron pole standing at the Rose Garden Chowk poses threat to the commuters. Though the issue has been raised at the Bathinda Municipal Corporation meeting (BMC), it has not been removed yet.

Mukesh Kumar, municipal councillor, ward number 5, had pointed out in the House meeting that the pole can result in a mishap if it accidentally slips from its place and falls on the traffic that moves around.

“The Rose Garden chowk is a major landmark of the city. A number of motorcades of the VIPs and the VVIPs pass through the Chowk during their visit but no one has ever bothered to ensure that the pole is either removed or restored to its original position,” Mukesh had pointed out in the meeting held on November 4. Even three days after the issue being raised in the presence of top officials of the corporation, the pole stands mocking at the authorities.

While the GT Road lies under the PWD officials, the rotaries lying on the road have been given for the maintenance to the private companies.

The Rose Garden Chowk has been given to a private cement company that is responsible for the maintenance and landscaping.

Despite the pole lying unattended for the last one month, none of the BMC officials have bothered to get it removed. As per the rules of the BMC, if a private company does not abide by the regulations (in this case, does not take proper care of the rotary), the company would be served a notice.

“We can also withdraw the authority of rotaries entrusted to the companies,” said Kamal Kant, assistant commissioner, BMC. He said he had ordered the removal of pole. “We will ensure that the pole is removed from spot tomorrow,” he asserted.

Bathinda November 7
To spread awareness against corruption, the National Fertilisers Limited (NFL), Bathinda unit, celebrated the Vigilance Awareness Week. On the occasion, KB Verma, executive director, administrated pledge to the employees.

Besides, banners depicting slogans against corruption were displayed at various locations in the factory as well as the town. An essay writing competition on the topics including ‘How to tackle corrupt practices in public life and corruption’, ‘A stigma in social life’ for the NFL/CISF employees was held.

The declamation contest on ‘Honesty and integrity is the key to success’ for the students of the Rose Marry Convent School and a lecture on ‘Domestic inquiry’ was also organised. The executive director gave away the prizes to the winners of the competitions.

Bathinda, November 7
The handing over of 20 bed new extension block of the local District Ayurvedic Hospital by the Punjab Health Systems Corporation (PHSC) to the authorities concerned has been delayed by four months. As per the original time-frame, the block was to be completed by June 30, and then it was to be handed over to the Ayurvedic hospital authorities.

The delay is being attributed to the non-completion of all types of works within the stipulated time. Even it was noticed that there were some works including electricity, which are yet to be given final touch. Even regarding the setting up of a nurse station in the new block, a lot of work is yet to be done.

The new block would house the three doctors’ rooms, a ward each for the male and female patients, a common toilet besides the nurse station. Though the tubelights and the ceiling fans have already been installed in the new block, the electricity connection is yet to be provided for it.

In the existing block of the District Ayurvedic Hospital, the Ksharsutra Centre (Anorectal surgery) would be set up after the completion of the renovation work there.

Sources in the hospital said the structure of the new block was constructed by June last year but after that the remaining works could not be done by the authorities concerned.

This was the reason as to why the final touches were being given to the new block for the last few months. The sources also said the incomplete works should be done without any further delay to make the new block functional. SDO, Punjab Health Systems Corporation (PHSC), Dinesh Kumar said the completion of the new block was delayed due to some problems.

However, he said they would now complete the remaining works within the next 20 days to hand it over to the hospital authorities by November-end. He also said a power generator would also be installed at the new block for back up in case of power cut.

On being asked about the renovation of the old block of the hospital, he replied, “They would certainly renovate it provided they have funds in surplus after the completion of the new block The foundation stone of the new block was laid on December 7, last year, by the then Health Minister, Punjab Laxmi Kanta Chawla. At that time it was announced that the block would be ready by June next.” 

Bathinda, November 7
Principal, DAV College, Dr JS Anand, was conferred the Dr MS Randhawa Award for the promotion of education, art and culture at the 33rd Prof. Mohan Singh Memorial Festival, held in collaboration with the Youth Clubs Organisation.

Dr Anand has authored 24 books in English and Punjabi. His books “Khillarda Sangreh”, “Sach te Kach” and “Sarap Mukt” in Punjabi and “Beyond Life Beyond Death”, “Bliss and I Belong to You” in English have been well received. He has also worked on re-writing English proverbs and won several awards in recognition of his administrative, educational and literary pursuits.

He thanked the chairman of Prof Mohan Singh Foundation Jagdev Singh Jassowal and president, Youth Clubs Organisation, Jasbir Singh Grewal.

Meanwhile, Vandana Narula of Bathinda was declared first in race in the age-group of 30-35 during the fifth Inter Zone Sports meet held at the Thapar University, Patiala. Out of 50 participants from the Bathinda zone, seven were declared winners. The seven players got 11 positions in different sports events. She also topped in musical chair and stood second in badminton. Trishla stood first in the age-group of above 45.

Rakesh Jain stood second in musical chairs, Kulbhushan Bansal in carom, in race, Vipin Anand stood second while Uddham Singh obtained third position. Member, Central Sports Committee, Narinder Bansal congratulated the players.

Bathinda, November 7
The 15th Punjab State Wushu Championship was held at the Guru Nanak Dev Senior Secondary School. A total of 550 students from various parts of the state Punjab participated in it.

The participants competed for the sub-junior, junior and senior categories in Wushu.

The gold medal winners in the sub-junior (Boys) in the below 20-kg category included Nishan Chouhan, Lovepreet Singh in the below 24-kg, Deepanshu in the below 28-kg category, Sunny in the below 32-kg category, Gurlal in the below 36-kg category, Kushal Kumar in the below 40-kg category, Sandeep in the below 44-kg category, Sunil Kumar in the below 48-kg category and Manpreet in the below 52-kg category, respectively.

For the same event, in the sub-junior (Girls), the gold medal winners included, Arshdeep in the below 24-kg category, Ravikiran Kaur in the below 28-kg category, Parmanpreet Kaur in the below 32-kg category, Komaldeep Kaur in the below 36-kg category, Ramandeep Kaur in the below 40-kg category, Pardeep Kaur in the below 44-kg category, Dharampreet in the below 48-kg category, and Amanpreet Kaur in the below 52-kg category, respecively.

In the junior (Boys), the gold medal winners included Sanjeet in the below 45-kg category, Sandeep in the below 48-kg category, Naveen in the below 52-kg category, Charanjeet in the below 56-kg category, Akashdeep in the below 60-kg category, Abhishek in the below 65-kg category, Maninderjit in the below 70-kg category, Rishabh in the below 75-kg category and Sandeep in the below 80-kg category, respectively.

Similarly, amongst the junior (Girls), the gold medal winners consisted of Manpreet in the below 45-kg category, Jatinder in the below 48-kg category, Veena in the below 52-kg category, Harveer in the below 56-kg category and Manjot in the below 60-kg category, respectively.

In the senior boys, the medal winners comprised Kuldeep in the below 48-kg category, Gurdeep in the below 52-kg, Arun in the below 56-kg, Ramesh in the below 60-kg category, Rishi Singh in the below 65-kg category, Varinder Singh in the below 70-kg category, Khushpreet in the below 75 -kg category, Punjab Singh in the below 80-kg category, Washim Khan in the below 85-kg category, Harpreet in the below 90-kg category was while Kuldeep in the above 90-kg category, respectively.

In the senior (Girls), the winner of the gold medal were, Baljeet in the below 45-kg category, Jagjeet in the below 48-kg category, Gurleen in the below 52-kg category, Manpreet in the below 56-kg category, Mandeep in the below 60-kg category, Kiranjot in the below 65-kg category, Supinderpal in the below 70-kg category, Baljinder in the below 75-kg and Milandeep in the below 80-kg category, respectively.

Bathinda, November 7
As per the official figure, a total of 563 confirmed dengue fever cases have been reported from the city so far while private practitioners claim to have treated thousands of suspected as well as confirmed dengue fever cases this season.

Various local NGOs have come forward to make the blood units available to the needy dengue fever patients besides making the donors available to them. Each NGO has donated blood units in hundreds. But now, they are unable to find blood donors for the new cases as their members or the blood donors associated with them have already donated blood.

As per the details, over 4,000 blood donors have donated blood at the local blood bank, situated on the premises of the Government Civil Hospital, since September 12 last. Of these, over 4,000 blood units, 85 per cent blood units have been utilised for preparing the PRP units at the blood bank. Besides, over 235 donors have presented themselves at the blood bank since September 16 for preparing the SDP units.

President, local NGO, United Welfare Society, Vijay Bhatt said due to heavy demand of blood during the last two months, they had almost exhausted their list of blood donors. He said they had to invite donors from villages through the youth clubs.

Sonu and Ramesh Mehta, presidents of other local NGOs, Naujwan Welfare Society and Aasra Welfare Society and secretary of the Sathi Welfare Society Ravi Kant Arora admitted the same problem. A Dera Sacha Sauda follower Narinder Goyal said they were not facing problems as they had a large number of blood donors. However, they were facing the problem in connection with blood groups.