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Bad weather
Security beefed up ahead of elections
NGOs campaign against drugs-for-votes finds admn’s favour
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Foetus found near rly station
Wastage of water goes unabated for want of awareness
Asia’s biggest, but
not well-connected yet
SAD, BJP leaders top the list of absentees
City has a foggy start as mercury nosedives
Two killed in road accident
Legal aid clinic, front office to be inaugurated
GRDIET to host national conference
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School bus operators seek change in opening time of schools
Gurdeep Singh Mann Tribune News Service
Bathinda, January 3 The members met Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav today and apprised him of the difficulties they were encountering while ferrying school children during the wee hours. Demanding flexibility in the school timings, they said the timings should match with the weather conditions so as to avoid any untoward accident. Many accidents take place when drivers are in hurry to pick up children from their respective homes and drop them at their school before its gates are closed. “Since all schools open at fixed time before 9 am, van drivers remain under constant pressure to reach in time. School vehicles are always driven in haste, especially during the morning hours and during the foggy weather, and there is always a risk of meeting with an accident,” said president of the association Gurpreet Happy. Though many accidents have taken place in Bathinda and school children have got injured while travelling in vans, nothing concrete has been done to stop or at least reduce the number of accidents involving school vans, he added. “The school timing is the major factor behind such accidents. Children often come out of their homes late and vans always run behind schedule. However, the onus lies on the van driver to reach in time. To escape the reprimand from the van owner or the school principal, van drivers drive fast and meet with accidents,” Gurpreet said. The association members have demanded that the timings be rescheduled after 10 am as visibility on the roads is nearly zero between 8 and 9 am. The school children belonging to the city and studying at nearby mandis and villages, comprising Sangat, Gill Patti, Goniana, Jeeda, Kot Shamir and Bhuchho Mandi, are the worst-affected as they have to travel more distance. The Deputy Commissioner assured the members of the association of taking up the matter with the management of the school authorities concerned day after tomorrow. Meanwhile, Suraj Setia, principal of the Lord Rama School, said the school timings needed to the rescheduled when winter was at its peak. Children coming from the city outskirts suffer as fog disrupts the traffic movement mostly in the city’s periphery. At least, there should be relaxation for the children coming in vans from far-off places, he added. Principal of Dashmesh School Dr Ravinder Singh said the morning time of all the schools should be similar and during winters, it must be 10 am.
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Security beefed up ahead of elections
Bathinda, January 3 Apart from searching four wheelers, the police also inspected the two wheelers and other suspected elements during the naka's. Bathinda SSP Sukhchain Singh Gill said since the day the election code of conduct was imposed, an amount of Rs 33. 58 lakh, 56 litres of illicit liquor, 389 bottles of country-made liquor, 15 boxes of beer, eight boxes of whisky, 159 kg of poppy husk, 160 bottles of intoxicating syrup, 1700 kgs of intoxicating powder and a kg of ganja (marijuana), have been seized in Bathinda district. He said police parties have been deployed to check the flow of drugs and unaccounted money, if any, being carried by unscrupulous elements during the elections. He added that the police force has been instructed to continue the search operations round the clock and keep a tab over the people involved in manipulations during the elections using money and power. Police have also banned carrying of arms by the area residents and the same has been taken into custody by the police. A section of SHOs at Bathinda police stations while talking to TNS said that nearly 50 per cent arms have been taken into possession. The police officials said the prominent people of the city, including jewellers, petrol-pump owners and showroom owners, who have to carry gold and cash frequently with them are not pressurised to deposit their arms in view of their security. A number of cops from every police station has been deployed to sensitise people to deposit their arms at the earliest. People, however, are not cooperative enough and try to get rid of the procedure of depositing arms. Many of them fear that the police will not take care of their arms well at the weapon store. People take receipts from the police station or the gun house after depositing their arms during elections. |
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NGOs campaign against drugs-for-votes finds admn’s favour
Bathinda, January 3 “The DC held a meeting with us on Monday evening, wherein he spoke about our plan of taking out rallies and campaigning in various areas of Bathinda district against the use of drugs, liquor and money by political parties and candidates to garner votes. We were asked to give the DC office a list of 15 NGOs that will take part in these rallies,” said Rakesh Narula, president of the Bathinda Vikas Manch, one of the NGOs planning such rallies and campaigns. He added that district secretary of the Red Cross, JR Goyal, and coordinator of the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration (MGSIPA), Bathinda, Mandeep Singh would be helping the NGOs in their campaigns. Speaking to the Bathinda Tribune and confirming the development, Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav said, “On reading the news, I thought the work that the NGOs were planning to do can be a good platform to make voters aware of their rights and duties. We have held a preliminary meeting with some NGOs to figure out if they have any
political allegiance or inclination. We cannot take this joint effort forward
if the NGOs have some kind of political backing or are engaged in political activities.” “During the meeting, we chalked out a strategy to identify the areas where the NGOs can help us. We will identify areas which are more prone to the lure of drugs, liquor and money in lieu of votes. This will include the peripheral areas of Bathinda district besides slum areas. Our plan is to bring together the NGO workers and booth-level officers for a common cause - voters’ awareness,” he added. The Deputy Commissioner will meet the NGOs again on January 5 to further strengthen the plan of action to make the upcoming assembly elections free of corrupt practices of buying votes. Some of the NGOs named in the list of 15 NGOs are the Sahara Jan Sewa, the Naujawan Welfare Society, the Yogsewa Samiti, the Rotary Club, Bathinda Cantonment, the Inner Wheel Club, the People for Animal Society, the Asra Welfare Society, the Dost Welfare Society, the Rahat Foundation, the Loksewa Samiti, the Art of Living, Bathinda Chapter, and the Bathinda Vikas Manch. |
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Foetus found near rly station
Bathinda, January 3 President of the NGO, Vijay Goyal said the phone call was received at around 5 pm. The foetus seemed to be six-month-old and it was lying between the railway lines near the railway station. The Government Railway Police officials were informed about the incident who took the foetus in their possession and sent it for medical examination at the local Civil Hospital. A case in this connection was being registered by the GRP. The volunteers who helped GRP officials in shifting the foetus were Tek Chand, Shyam Murari and Sandeep Kumar. Goyal said around three months ago, a three- month-old boy was found lying abandoned in one of the bogies of a train at the railway station. The boy was sent to an Ashram in Patiala after the intervention of the district administration. |
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Wastage of water goes unabated for want of awareness
Bathinda, January 3 The irrigation department supplies water to the Bathinda city from the Sirhind feeder at 70 to 135 litres per day per head. The supply remains constant throughout the year, whereas the demand fluctuates during the winter and summer season. While in summer, the demand for water rises, in winter, it falls down substantially. The water is further supplied to various residential areas from the water supply and sewerage board tanks constructed at various places in the city. However, with no rationing at this end, water is going waste. In the morning hours, one could frequently see water overflowing from the tanks constructed above different houses. The treated water continues to overflow till the water supply is switched off from the respective water supplying units dotting the city. "The problem has a very simple solution. People should install valves or balloons inside the water tanks. Whenever the tanks get completely filled, these balloons or valves stop the water supply on their own," suggested an engineer with the water supply board. While many households avoid installing these simple tools, some have gone a step ahead and installed alarms that ring when the tanks are full. Thereafter, the water supply could be switched off from the valves installed at the ground floor of the houses. As per the records of the Bathinda Municipal Corporation (BMC), maintenance of water supply of all 50 wards is with the water supply and sewerage board. For the 2.82 lakh population of the city, water supply of 84 MGD per day is needed. Presently, only 70 MGD water is being supplied, thereby covering 93 per cent of the area with the drinking water supply. "If used judiciously, the drinking water supply could be extended to the entire population, thereby enabling everyone to have a share in the potable drinking water," said Jagmohan Singh of Amarpura Basti. BMC officials said emphasis should be laid on spreading awareness amongst the people so that water is not wasted. "The trick is to make people aware about the consequences of not having water," said Maninder Kaur of Model Town, phase I. |
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Asia’s biggest, but
not well-connected yet
Passengers say that rationalising the timing of some trains can prove helpful Sudhanshu Verma Tribune News Service
Bathinda, January 3 The station sends and receives trains from altogether six directions. Though over 62 trains pass through the station and 20,000 passengers use the station daily, the station is yet to be termed as a well-connected station. It may be mentioned that the station caters to the need of the Malwa region to a great extent. The cry of the passengers for better connectivity could be addressed on the part of the railways, said the members of passengers' welfare associations, "provided that the railways give some thought over the train timings here." As per the sources, the meeting of the train time-table committee of the railways is scheduled to be held this month. Demanding better connectivity, members of the passengers suggested change in the timings of a few trains to increase connectively. Suggesting more connectivity with Mumbai, the commercial hub of the country, Hanuman Dass Goyal, general secretary of the Railway Passengers Welfare Association, Bathinda, said that the train number 14712 Sriganganagar- Haridwar reaches Bathinda at 6.35 am while the train to Mumbai 19024 Ferozepur-Mumbai Janata Express departs from Bathinda also at 6.35 am. Goyal demanded that 15 to 30 minutes of change in the timing of either of the trains could give an option for Mumbai to passengers residing in Sriganganagar, Abohar and nearby places. Goyal said that the association had written letters in this regard to the Northern Railway and also to the officials concerned at the Ambala division. Goyal also suggested that the passengers of three trains, including train number 15609 Awadh-Asam Express, train number 14731- Delhi-Ambala-Bathinda and train number 14519 Kisan Express could get an option for travelling towards Sriganganagar late in the night, if train number 54751 Rewari-Bathinda-Sriganganagar departs from Bathinda at 10.30 pm instead of its present time at 9.40 pm. Goyal said that all the three trains reach Bathinda after 10 pm. President of the Passengers' Welfare Association, Jasvir Singh, said the change in the timing of the train number 54751, which also gives more passengers to the train as passengers from the three trains would catch the train towards Sriganganagar, could prove to be helpful.
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giving election meetings a miss Megha Mann Tribune News Service
Bathinda, January 3 The office of district election officer has repeatedly convened meetings for issuing directions of the Election Commission on various issues. “But not all the political parties send their representatives for these meetings. During the all-party meeting held on January 2 delegates from Congress, BSP and CPI attended the meeting. Rest all were missing,” said district administration officials present at the meeting. January 2 meeting was convened to discuss the final publication of voters’ list, which is one of the most important documents of the elections. Earlier, meetings have been held about the expenditure monitoring training, election schedule, model code of conduct and the next meeting would be held on January 5. The meeting will be about the Election Commission’s notification on filing the candidatures. The ruling party workers of SAD and BJP top the list of absentees at these meetings. “Perhaps the ruling party is overconfident of repeating their government and care two hoots for rules and regulations,” quipped one of the officials. The officials said that all registered political parties are informed and repeated reminders are sent asking them to ensure that meetings are attended. “Some directives of election commission are very tough to understand and follow. None of the parties can sail through the elections smoothly unless and until they understand the nitty-gritty of different procedures,” the officials said. Officials dealing with elections said that on not following directions properly, any of the party can be caught on a sticky wicket, which may even lead to glitches in filing nominations and finalizing candidates. “Most of the political parties could find themselves in a catch-22 situation on the issue of expenses per candidate as the limit is set at Rs 16 lakhs, which many are not aware of,” said the officials. All political parties are supposed to appoint booth level agents as per the “None of the parties wanted to draw ire of other workers by appointing one as BLA. So playing safe, they did not appoint any BLA,” said the Congress workers. District election officer KK Yadav said that attending meetings is not mandatory and election office cannot play any role in it. Fact File
* Unlike last assembly elections, the voters cannot vote by showing any identity proof such as passport etc. *
99.81 per cent of voters have been issued EPIC cards or their photos are present with photo electoral rolls. *
Voter slips, which were earlier given outside polling stations by political parties, would be given to people from door-to-door. *
There are 929 polling booths in district. Hypothetically, even if there are six parties, 5574 BLAs were required. |
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City has a foggy start as mercury nosedives
Bathinda, January 3 After recording 7.2 degrees Celsius on Sunday morning, mercury today dipped to register 1.6 degrees Celsius at 7.30 am, as per the agri-met department of the PAU, regional station, Bathinda. The day’s high, however, was 20.2 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature on Monday was 3.6 degrees Celsius, nearly two degrees higher than today. Meanwhile, weathermen, on Tuesday, predicted continuation of the severe cold waves conditions with chances of fog in some parts in the next 48 hours. However, after that there is a possibility of light showers in the isolated places in the region, weathermen said, adding that the night temperature during the period may rise due to the presence of clouds.
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Two killed in road accident
Bathinda, January 3 One of their relatives, Balraj Singh, said that he was following the boys on another bike, when he saw their bike collide with an agricultural tool being dragged by a tractor. A case under sections 279, 337, 338 and 427 of the IPC has been registered in this regard against the tractor driver. – TNS
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Legal aid clinic, front office to be inaugurated
Bathinda, January 3 In a press statement issued here today, the district and sessions judge, SK Aggarwal, said that on January 4, these clinics would be inaugurated in the areas of Chugge Kalan, Mehraj, Chauke, Bhagta Bhai Ka, Pucca Kalan and Maur. An advocate each from the respective areas has been appointed to provide free legal aid to people in these areas every Saturday. These advocates would be paid Rs 500 per day. These clinics will give legal aid to the economically-weaker sections of the society. The front office of this legal aid clinic would be inaugurated at the judicial complex tomorrow. Six advocates have been specially appointed to run this front office. These advocates would be paid Rs 5,000 per month. Everyday, two advocates would be deputed who will provide free legal aid. Besides this, they would also work out ways to solve different cases, laying emphasis on compromises.
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GRDIET to host national conference
Bathinda, January 3 The convener, Daljit Singh, said that the institute has received 350 papers not only from India, but also from abroad. The Inspector General of Police (Chandigarh), PK Srivastava, and Dr Boota Singh, Dean, Academic Affair PTU, will be the chief guests on the occasion. Chairman, Prof Harbhajan Singh, said the conference would encourage the researchers, academicians and students to get an international platform to exhibit their talent in technical field. – TNS
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Following the school van mishap that took place in Ambala causing fatal injuries to some students while leaving some seriously injured, members of the local School Van Operators Association have demanded rescheduling of school timings.
Security has been beefed up in the city ahead of the Vidhan Sabha polls. Heavy security was deployed at all the city entry points, roundabouts and busy marketplaces in the city.
Bathinda, January 3
