B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

NGOs join hands to launch Chipko Andolan
Fazilka, March 1
Half a dozen local NGOs have joined hands to launch a Chipko Andolan to protest against Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) for its alleged proposal to axe trees to carve out a colony.


Activists of Chipko Movement hug the eucalyptus trees to protect them from being felled. Photo by writer

‘Prison Olympics’ begins in F’pur
Ferozepur, March 1
To keep the prisoners and undertrials away from drug menace and at the same time channelise their energy through sports, the Central Jail authorities today organized a three-day sports championship.

Jail inmates particpating in tug-of-war during the Prison Olympics organised in the Central Jail, Ferozepur, on Thursday. A Tribune photograph

Embezzlement case
Rice mill owner booked
Ferozepur, March 1
The Ferozepur police have registered a case against the owner of a rice mill in connection with alleged embezzlement of paddy worth lakhs which had been stored by the Punjab Agro for milling in a rice sheller at Talwandi Bhai.

Woman found HIVpositive; husband, girlfriend booked
Abohar, March 1
Taking notice of the PGI (Chandigarh) report, confirming that a married girl has been found HIV positive, the police here have registered a case against her husband and his alleged girlfriend under Sections 307, 326 and 120B of the IPC.

Abohar colleges to have Red Ribbon Club
Abohar, March 1
While all the six colleges, including the Homeopathic Medical College have agreed to form the Red Ribbon Club (RRC), none of the colleges from Fazilka and Jalalabad attended the coordination-cum-sensitization workshop held at the Scout Hall of the Government Senior Secondary School (Boys) here today.

Advance subsidy on polyhouses can boost organic farming
Moga, March 1
Farmers here have set up 11 polyhouses and 3 nethouses in the district during the last few years to grow vegetables, particularly tomatoes and capsicum, by getting 50 per cent subsidy from the union government under the horticulture technology mission programme.

Undertrial dies
Ferozepur, March 1
An undertrial lodged in the local Central Jail has died following a brief illness. Sources said, Kalu Ram, a resident of village Rudrapur in Kashipur district of Uttarakhand, was arrested by the police in connection with a kidnapping case and later sent to judicial remand. — OC

NGOs join hands to launch Chipko Andolan
Praful Chander Nagpal

Fazilka, March 1
Half a dozen local NGOs have joined hands to launch a Chipko Andolan to protest against Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) for its alleged proposal to axe trees to carve out a colony in the wetland area near the residence of the Deputy Commissioner, Fazilka.

The NGOs have alleged that hundreds of trees have to be axed for constructing a colony in the fragile eco-friendly zone of the town near the extinct Badha lake. As a mark of protest, dozens of members hugged the trees to protect them from being felled.

"We want to make it a mass movement by involving the residents of village Badha as the NGOs have started motivating them against the move," said an activist, Lachhman Dost.

Notably, Badha village, where the colony is proposed to set up, is situated on the outskirts of Fazilka town. "The members shall also visit the nearby villages and towns to seek the participation of the residents there, maintained Dost.

Dozens of activists of different organizations, including the Graduate Welfare Association Fazilka (GWAF), Shaheed Bhagat Singh Sports Club, Fazilka 20-20 Cricket Association, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Youth Club and Guru Gobind Singh Youth Club, gathered at the site of the proposed colony and staged a protest by hugging the trees as part of the Chipko movement.

"Most of the nearly 400 eucalyptuses and other variety of trees at the site will have to be felled if the colony comes into existence, which we shall not allow," said Umesh Chander Kukkar, president of the GWAF.

It may be mentioned that local resident Navdeep Asija had filed a writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the construction of a PUDA colony in the wetland area of Fazilka. "Despite the fact that the case is still pending in the court, PUDA has started the process of allotting 56 plots to the buyers on this land," alleged Asija. The next date of hearing is March 21.

"The cutting of tree would disturb the ecological fabric of the area," alleged another activist, Capt (retd) MS Bedi.

On the other hand, SDO, PUDA, Dharampal and Estate Officer N Grewal refused to speak on the issue maintaining that only their seniors are authorised to speak in this regard.

‘Prison Olympics’ begins in F’pur
Anirudh Gupta

Ferozepur, March 1
To keep the prisoners and undertrials away from drug menace and at the same time channelise their energy through sports, the Central Jail authorities today organized a three-day sports championship, ‘Prison Olympics’ on the jail premises.

These games were formally inaugurated by Ramandeep Singh Sandhu, the jail superintendent.

Sandhu said the new initiative to conduct the sports meet has been taken as per the directives of the DGP, Prisons. He added that the inmates showed a lot of enthusiasm and zeal towards the games.

According to the jail superintendent, the prisoners competed in various events like kabaddi, wrestling, tug-of-war besides other sports.

DSP Amarjit Singh and assistant jail superintendent Jiwan Lal Thakur were also present on the occasion.

Embezzlement case
Rice mill owner booked
Our Correspondent

Ferozepur, March 1
The Ferozepur police have registered a case against the owner of a rice mill in connection with alleged embezzlement of paddy worth lakhs which had been stored by the Punjab Agro for milling in a rice sheller at Talwandi Bhai.

As per the available information, the District Manager (DM), Punjab Agro, Sukhminder Singh had lodged a complaint with the police that their agency had stocked 49,673 bags of paddy for milling in Ganesh Rice Mills, Talwandi Bhai, during the year 2010-11.

The DM said that following a series of notices sent to the owners of the rice mill, the agency conducted a physical verification of the stock on the premises of the said mill during which the alleged embezzlement came to light.

The investigation has been entrusted to the economic offences wing (EOW) for further enquiry into the matter.

Woman found HIVpositive; husband, girlfriend booked
Raj Sadosh

Abohar, March 1
Taking notice of the PGI (Chandigarh) report, confirming that a married girl has been found HIV positive, the police here have registered a case against her husband and his alleged girlfriend under Sections 307, 326 and 120B of the IPC.

The man's girlfriend has moved an application before the district court seeking anticipatory bail while rebutting the allegations, sources said.

Superintendent of Police Virender Singh Brar, who conducted the inquiry and recommended registration of a case, confirmed that a resident of Sirsa had lodged a complaint that his daughter had been married to a youth of village Telupura in Abohar sub-division.

The youth later developed relations with a classmate at a polytechnic at Bathinda while studying there.

The girl, who belonged to Moga district, later came to know that his lover was already married and had concealed the fact.

The married girl from Sirsa alleged that her husband and his beloved had conspired to inject in her body the HIV virus under the pretext of treatment as she was suffering from fever.

Since she had developed some unusual symptoms, her father got her examined by a senior physician at Sirsa.

The doctor referred her to the PGI, Chandigarh.

Lab tests there reportedly confirmed that she was HIV positive. She is still under treatment there.

A police team from Khuyiansarwar, led by ASI Pragat Singh, is making efforts to nab the suspects, sources added.

Abohar colleges to have Red Ribbon Club
Our Correspondent

Abohar, March 1
While all the six colleges, including the Homeopathic Medical College have agreed to form the Red Ribbon Club (RRC), none of the colleges from Fazilka and Jalalabad attended the coordination-cum-sensitization workshop held at the Scout Hall of the Government Senior Secondary School (Boys) here today.

Youth Services Department Assistant Director Dr Kamaljeet Singh Sidhu said on the sidelines of the workshop that a target for opening 20 such clubs in Ferozepur, Fazilka and Muktsar district has been fixed while the department has been assigned the task of promoting 200 clubs in the Malwa region.

NSS project in-charges from three districts were present at the workshop.

Speaking on the occasion, UN community AIDS educator Narinder Kumar Bassi said that RRC aims at harnessing the potential of the youth by equipping them with correct information on HIV/AIDS prevention, care, support and treatment.

It also aims at building their capacities as peer educators in spreading the message on positive health behaviour in an enabling environment and increasing voluntary blood donation among the youth.

Explaining the objectives of RRCs, Punjab State AIDS Control Society official Manish Kumar said the clubs would try to reduce new HIV infection among the youth by raising their risk perception through awareness on sex, sexuality and HIV/AIDS.

Advance subsidy on polyhouses can boost organic farming
Kulwinder Sandhu
Tribune News Service

Moga, March 1
Farmers here have set up 11 polyhouses and 3 nethouses in the district during the last few years to grow vegetables, particularly tomatoes and capsicum, by getting 50 per cent subsidy from the union government under the horticulture technology mission programme.

The chief agriculture officer, Dr Ravi Kumar Sabbarwal, said the farmers grow off-season vegetables in controlled temperature with the help of drip irrigation facility without using insecticides or pesticides.

Adding that the farmers should adopt innovative ideas to grow a variety of crops by using organic manure, he said the union and the state governments were promoting modern technologies by giving subsidy to facilitate the farmers.

Sabbarwal said the total cost of setting up a polyhouse on a two-kanal plot of land is approximately Rs 9 lakh on which the union government provides 50 per cent subsidy. It means that a farmer has to spend Rs 4.5 lakh from his own pocket. The income from growing off-season vegetables is rewarding, and may range from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh from one polyhouse per year.

Gurtej Singh, a farmer of Raoke village who has set up the polyhouse on two kanal of land said the technique has proved to be quite a success in various aspects, improving his income.

“It will be more helpful for the illiterate farmers if the government ensures a minimum support price for the organic vegetables grown in polyhouses and provides marketing facilities,” he said.

Darshan Singh, a marginal farmer of Takhtuwala village, said he wants to have his own polyhouse for growing off-season vegetables but does not have the Rs 9 lakh needed for investment. The 50 per cent subsidy is reimbursed after the farmer sets up the polyhouse by shelling out the total cost from his pocket.

He said the union government should change its subsidy policy and provide more loans liberally so that more and more farmers could be attracted to this innovative technology. It could help in raising the socio-economic status of the small and marginal farmers, he felt.

Dr Jaswinder Singh Brar, an agro-scientist, said the small and marginal farmers need to adopt the allied practices of agriculture and diversify a portion of their land from the wheat-paddy rotation to enhance their incomes.

He said vegetables have been grown in an area of 7,408 hectares in Moga district during the current season but not even one per cent of this cultivation had come under organic farming through polyhouses. “The farmers should maximise the area in organic farming, which not only enhances income but also helps in maintaining soil fertility,” he added.