The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Abohar MC fails to pay electricity bills for last six months Power supply to sewage disposal works snapped Raj Sadosh Abohar, March 20 The Powercom has disconnected electricity supply to the main sewage disposal works here regretting that the Municipal Council (MC) had not paid the bills for the last six months. The next step would be to disconnect 2,000 streetlights, sources in the Powercom said as the authorities were under pressure to recover the dues from all the government/semi-government departments before March 31. Disconnecting power supply aggravated the situation in scores of residential areas this morning. Senior Congress councillor Vimal Thatai regretted that the council, run by the BJP, had misutilised about Rs seven crore by the year end on petty works but bothered not to pay electricity dues for the past one year. The amount has crossed Rs 3 crore. The dues are Rs 78 lakh against the disposal works, Rs 1.25 crore against old water works and Rs one crore against the new water works, respectively. It is worth mentioning that school-going students and other residents of the localities here and in the neighbouring village Kandhwala Amarkot are having a tough time crossing the streets as water has accumulated due to poor function of the disposal system. Here, stepping out is an arduous task, kids said. The village, a part of the sub-division, now falls under Balluana constituency. The problem was triggered due to encroachment upon three of the ponds by some political activists. Directions issued by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana to get the encroachments removed, however, could not motivate the administration. The new leader of the CLP, Sunil Jakhar had apprised the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal of the sewerage and water problem thrice during the last five years. The latter, a few days ahead of the beginning of the election process, had agreed to sanction Rs 10 crore. It is hoped that Jakhar would be able to get the funds released now, said social activists BL Khatri and Sushil Goyal. Importantly, BJP MP Avinash Rai Khanna, when informed about the chronic problem by state secretary Sandeep Rinwa recently, had issued an advisory to the new government that development projects should not suffer due to political differences. The ruling politicians had claimed in the first week of the current year that the state government had released Rs 2.5 crore as the first installment to lay cement pipes to connect the sewage disposal works with Sayeedwala drain. They had laid the foundation of the project also. However, sources in the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board said that as of now, no funds have been received. Residents in Bhagwanpura and Dayal Nagari, regretted that the sewerage line laid a few months back has collapsed. Drains in most of the localities in the old town area, remain filled with stagnant water. Hundreds of houses are located around Patel Park in Patel Nagar and Prem Nagar areas. Sunder Nagari and Indira Nagari also remain affected due to the collapse of the sewerage system.
	Low return from cotton, farmers turn to guar seed Balwant Garg Tribune News Service Faridkot, March 20 It’s not just the low price of cotton but also a whopping rise in the rate of guar seed-- a crop grown in the semi-arid areas - that are all set to reduce the area under cotton cultivation, by seven to ten per cent, in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan this year. Due to low return from the cotton produce this season, a large number of farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan are opting to grow guar seed this monsoon. A rich source of protein and carbohydrate, guar seed is the key material for producing guar gum which is used as a thickening agent and additive in food products like instant soups, ice-creams, processed meat products and yoghurt. Besides, it also has industrial applications in paper and textiles, ore flotation, explosives and fracturing of oil and natural gas formations. India accounts for a major chunk of the global supplies and the commodity is mainly exported to the US. Being a semi-arid area crop, guar is mainly grown in Rajasthan, some parts of Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh. If a year back, the price of the guar seed was Rs 1,600 per quintal, the prevailing price is Rs 25,370 per quintal. India being the only supplier of guar gum to the global markets accounting for 80 per cent of the global exports, Indian exporters have monopoly in deciding the price trend. The export of guar gum from April to November 2011 stood at 6.7 lakh tons showing a rise of 194 per cent compared to 2.28 lakh tons a year ago, said Tarsem Sachdeva, a commission agent in Faridkot. For this reason, more and more farmers in the semi-arid areas of Punjab and Haryana are preferring to grow guar seed over cotton. Besides saving water, this crop is good for improving soil by fixing nitrogen with its residues and roots, said Avtar Singh, a former sarpanch of Kameana village in Faridkot, who is sowing the crop for the first time. “Though we are hopeful of cotton prices improving in the coming season due to a drastic cut in cotton cultivation in China and two per cent increase in excise duty on man-made fibre in India but as guar seed is yielding more income with low inputs, so a large number of farmers in the semi-arid areas of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan would go for guar crop this season,” said Rajesh Singla, vice-president, SEL, a Ludhiana-based leading yarn export company. After their dwindling returns in cotton ginning and pressing units in the border areas of Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana, some millers are even planning to set up units to produce guar gum besides churi and korma, two byproducts which are used as cattle feed for their high nutritious value.
	Seizure from SGPC member’s house CFSL report still awaited Archit Watts Tribune News Service Muktsar, March 20 Almost two months later, the report of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), about the 15 packets containing some suspicious substance, seized from the house of the SGPC member Dyal Singh Kolianwali in Lambi assembly constituency, is still awaited. The income-tax sleuths, accompanied by paramilitary forces, had conducted a raid on Dyal Singh’s house in Kolianwali village on January 25 and seized 15 packets, apparently containing poppy husk, during the search. Dyal Singh is a close aide of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. After the raid, Director Investigation, Income Tax Department, HS Sohi had said, “Our team has seized 15 packets of apparently some narcotics from the house of Dyal Singh Kolianwali and the same have been handed over to the police to investigate further. Besides, some cash and gold was also found but that was within the permissible limit." When contacted, Jaswant Singh, DSP, Malout, said, “The matter is in the knowledge of the higher- ups and the CFSL report is awaited.” On being asked about the reason behind the delay in the CFSL report, he said, “The CFSL officials can comment on it.” It may be mentioned that the income tax raid was conducted just five days before the assembly elections and had lasted for almost seven hours.
	Acquisition of land hangs fire Kulwinder Sandhu Tribune News Service Moga, March 20 Acquisition of 12 acres of land for the construction of an ultra-modern new judicial complex and residential colony for the judicial officers at Moga is hanging fire even as the state government has issued a notification in this regard and given the required money to pay to the farmers for taking possession of the land. Interestingly, the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, a few weeks back, had asked the district administration to compensate the farmers by assessing the new market rates. A local advocate, Harinder Singh, has moved a petition before the High Court demanding compensation for the farmers at the new market rates. The Punjab government had issued a notification to acquire the said land falling under the revenue area of Ghal Kalan village under the provisions of Section-6 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, on September 21, 2011. After this, the public works department had also deposited a sum of Rs 6,05,80,000 with the Sub-Divisional Magistrate-cum-Land Acquisition Collector of Moga on January 31 this year to disburse the compensation to the farmers from whom the land is being acquired, revealed Balwinder Singh, executive engineer, public works department. A senior official of the district administration said the administration would soon file a revision petition before the High Court because the notification for acquiring the land was issued in September, 2011 and the rates assessed for compensation were as per the prevailing market rates. It was learnt that the counsel for the state government failed to explain to the High Court that the notification for acquiring the land was issued just a few months back and the money could not be disbursed due to the implementation of the model code of conduct for the assembly elections. The revenue authorities were of the view that the market rates had not changed during the last six months and there was no question for fresh assessment of the rates. Presently, the judicial complex is in the heart of the town but due to the increase in the number of courts and the proposed setting up of sessions division besides the growing number of advocates, the land is falling short of meeting the requirements. The judicial courts were also shifted about a decade back from the main square of the town to the present location after the formation of the district but the present premises had also fallen short of accommodating the courts and the advocates.
	Over 12 persons booked for attack on brick kiln Abohar, March 20 The city police have booked activists of Lal Jhanda Mazdoor Union in connection with attacking accounts clerk and damaging the property of a brick kiln. Those booked included Puran Chand, Sonu, Bhola Singh, Pappu and Manoj along with ten others under Sections 452, 427, 323, 148 and 149 of the IPC. Notably, the weeklong stir by brick kiln workers spearheaded under the banner of Lal Jhanda Mazdoor Union turned violent on Monday as scores of agitators stormed a brick kiln located on the Killianwali road. They reportedly attacked accounts clerk Mukesh Kumar of village Choohriwala Dhanna as he had not joined the strike. Mukesh was admitted to the Civil Hospital here. Brick Kiln Association members led by president Pardeep Periwal had met DSP Vibhor Kumar Sharma to express anguish over the high-handedness of the workers. — OC