Bathinda, April 25
In a hurry to ensure that water reaches Lehra Mohabbat thermal plant by April 27, deadline fixed by the Chief Minister, the irrigation department cleaned the seven kms stretch of the Sirhind canal speedily and dumped the entire garbage on the road leading to National Colony area and the Bir Talab road.

The Bir Talab road has been blocked with mounds of silt and garbage extracted from the canal bed leaving no space for commuters’ movement.

In a bid to complete the job as soon as possible, even the wall lining the canal has been knocked down to make way for the machines that are engaged in the work of cleaning the bed.

The first mound of garbage could be seen while turning towards Bir Talab road from GT Road. People going towards the areas of Janta Nagar have to take a maze of streets to circumvent the mound.

A little ahead, similar mounds have been dumped on Santpura Road making it impossible for even pedestrians to access the area beyond the garbage heap.

Unable to assess the amount of garbage that would come out of the canal, the irrigation department decided that the entire silt would be dumped in trenches of forest department running parallel to the Sirhind canal. While the trenches are situated on the Thermal Colony side, the other sides have motorable roads.

Now, in a hurry to abide by the deadline laid by the Chief Minister (for ensuring water supply to Lehra Mohabbat thermal plant by April 27), irrigation department has dumped the garbage on the main roads.

“We have completed the task at a breakneck speed. More then ten machines were pressed into action. The work has been completed in less than a week’s time, whereas it was to be done in more than ten days,” said an irrigation department officials.

XEN, Irrigation, Nirmal Singh Brar said the entire silt would be spread evenly in trenches once the work was over. “Our emphasis is on completing the task to ensure that water reaches Guru Hargobind Thermal Power Plant Lehra Mohabbat by April 27. Similarly, Bathinda city would get water supply by April 28 and water would be available for irrigation by April 29,” he added.

Meanwhile, XEN, Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), Nazar Singh Mansahia said he was unaware of the city roads being trashed. “We will look into the issue,” he said.

Bathinda, April 25
Police have arrested two middlemen for preparing fake driving licence and fake copies of vehicle registrations.

Police officials said the accused took advantage of the slow procedures adopted by the government departments for preparing driving licences, vehicle registration and other such documents.

The accused, Kewal Singh of Partap Nagar and Sonu of Parasram Nagar have been arrested by the police in this connection.

Sub-inspector, Jai Singh from the Canal police station said he had arrested the accused on a tip-off provided by one of his sources. After groundwork and detailed investigation over many days, the police finally managed to nab the two middlemen yesterday and efforts are on to nab the other co-accused in the case.

Jai Singh said people who wish to get back their driving licences from the office of the District Transport Office without wasting time were caught in the web of the accused.

The accused, along with three or four unidentified persons, told people that they could expedite the process of preparing driving license. However in actual, they used fake stamps to prepare the licences and copies of vehicle registrations.

Jai Singh said the arrested accused were not much educated and had been operating around the district court complex for more than a year.

“We also took some registration copies into our possession, which the accused claimed to be genuine. We are investigating if the registration copies are genuine or the accused prepared them using fake stamps and signatures of the senior government functionaries,” he said.

Police said though the exact number of fake documents prepared by the accused would be ascertained only after the completion of investigation and arrests of all the other accused, as per the estimate, the accused might have prepared more than 500 fake documents during the past one year.

They said the accused managed to allure at least one or two customers every day. People were caught in the designs of the accused, who used to identify themselves as agents help in the preparation of driving licenses and vehicle registration copies in lieu of extra money.

Not ruling out the possibility of more arrests in the case, Jai Singh said it appeared to be a racket involving many more people.

A case under the sections 420, 465, 467, 468 and 471 of the IPC has been registered against the accused at Canal Colony police station. Further investigations are on in the case.

Bathinda, April 25
Unpleasant news for the wheat and cotton growers emanated from the Met office on Wednesday as weather conditions prevailing in the region, unfavourable for the crops, are likely to continue for at least the next 24 hours.

Bathinda and its adjoining areas continued to experience the vagaries of weather conditions with dust storms and light showers in isolated places remaining prominent features during the considerable part of the last two days.

Although the intermittent drizzle caused the mercury to dip, it left the wheat and cotton farmers high and dry.

Cloudiness and rain are not considered beneficial for wheat during these days as the harvesting of the crops goes on. There are also chances of wheat attracting the moisture content. The showers may also not be beneficial in the areas where cotton sowing is in progress. The maximum temperature recorded on Wednesday was 28.6 degree Celsius, as per the agri-met department of the PAU regional station, Bathinda. The day’s low was 16.8 degree Celsius.

Meanwhile, the weathermen predicted on Tuesday that there was a possibilities of dust storms, thunderstorms and light rains in isolated parts in the region in the next one or two days.

Bathinda, April 25
“There is no specific material available to prove what exactly are the causes of the gradual rise in the number of cancer cases in Punjab, especially the Malwa region,” said Dr Gurwattan Singh Miranpuri, while delivering a special lecture at the Central University of Punjab, city campus, today.

Dr Singh is an internationally recognised scientist, who is currently working as a senior scientist in the Department of Neurological Surgery at University of Wisconsin, Medison, USA. After doing his doctorate from PAU, Ludhiana, he did his research work in many universities of the US, Canada and UK.

Discussing cancer consciousness in India, he said awareness about cancer causes, symptoms and cures was generally lacking and efforts were required to create more awareness among people. He said the weaker sections of society and farmers were in urgent need of this awareness, since they were the primary users and victims of cancer-causing chemicals.

Elaborating on his statement, Dr Singh said, “The statements made by experts on cancer may sound contradictory, with one saying the use of pesticides is the reason, while the other may say the presence of uranium in the soil of Punjab is the reason behind the increasing cases of cancer.”

“I would say all these are hypothesis. All the experts are studying different reasons and hence, no single study has been able to list out all the causes and also prove which factor is more responsible for causing the disease than the others,” he added

Emphasising the role of extensive use of pesticides in causing cancer in the area, he said, “It is my hypothesis that the extensive and injudicious use of pesticides by the farmers in the agricultural belts of Punjab is one of the major reasons behind cancer. Insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, rodenticides, nematicides and acaricides are all known to be carcinogenic.”

Listing out the types of cancer that may be caused by prolonged exposure to pesticides, he said, “Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, leukemia, multiple myloma, soft tissue sarcoma, melanoma, skin, lip, stomach, brain, prostrate and testes cancer may be caused by pesticides.”

Discussing the evidence of carcinogenicity in pesticides, he said, “Most knowledge of the co-relation between the use of pesticides and human cancer comes from studies that have been conducted on farmers. The cases of cancers in the farmers who were more exposed to pesticides were found to be higher than among those who were exposed lesser to pesticides. During the studies, the use of herbicides, insecticides and the protective equipment used were examined.”

Apart from pesticides, he said, other causes of cancer may be food additives, medicines, pollution, tobacco, infections, occupation, and alcohol.

“We are responsible for bringing upon ourselves this deadly disease. Punjab doesn’t need an attack from Pakistan for its people to suffer, the next generations will suffer from this disease,” he said.

Bathinda, April 25
The district administration has declared holidays for 24 schools from April 26 to April 28 in view of the visit of Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, who will be inaugurating the Guru Gobind Singh Refinery at Phulokhari.

All the 24 schools, where holidays have been declared, would be used to house the security forces. The school authorities have been directed to give possession of their schools to the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Talwandi Sabo.

Holidays have been declared in Government Secondary School Pucca Kalan, Government Elementary School Gurthadi, Govenrment High School Gurthadi, Government Secondary School Sekhu, Government Middle School Phallad, Government Secondary School Chak Hira Singh Wala, Government Middle School Tarkhanwala and Government Primary School Phulokhari.

Similarly, holidays have been declared in Government Elementary School Kanakwal, Government Elementary School Jajjal, Government high School Jajjal, Government Primary School Raman village, Government Middle School Gatwali, Government Primary School Gatwali, Government Elementary School Malkana, Government Secondary School Malkana, Government High School Giana, Government Middle School Ramsra, Government Primary School Ramsra, Arya High School Raman Mandi and Government Primary Schools at Bagha, Kamalu and Sukhlehri.

Bathinda, April 25
To chalk out the plans forcontrolling floods during the ensuing rainy season, the district administration today held a meeting here.

The meeting was presided over by the District Revenue Officer (DRO) Amandeep Singh Bhatti.

In the meeting, assistant commissioner, municipal corporation, Kamal Kant Goyal, the commandant of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) RK Verma and officials from various departments took part. Addressing the meeting, Bhatti instructed the officials of various departments to make elaborate arrangements so that people do not face problems and inconveniences during the rainy season and floods.

Bhatti said the Bathinda city has been divided into 12 sectors to tackle the floods. The responsibility for each sector would be given to an officer. The list of these officers would be issued soon. Besides, flood control rooms would also be set up in the district, he added.

He also said the administration would seek the cooperation of non-government organisations during any emergency. The drains would be cleaned before the rainy season, he added.

The DRO also asked the authorities of the water supply and the electricity departments to make elaborate arrangements so that people did not face any inconvenience. He also directed the Block Development and Panchayat Officers to get the ponds in the villages cleaned.

He instructed the officers of the animal husbandry department to arrange the medicines before the rainy season for the treatment of animals. He asked the health authorities to store the medicines and form medical teams.

He said the municipal corporation would spray medicines to protect the residents from mosquitoes and diseases. He said arrangements would also be made to drain out the rainy water from the low-lying areas of the city.

Bathinda, April 25
Central University of Punjab organised a special lecture by Dr Gurwattan Singh Miranpuri at its city campus today.

Dr Singh, an internationally recognised scientist, currently working as a senior scientist in the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Wisconsin, Medison, USA, talked about the rise of pesticide-induced cancer in Punjab and also on 'Emerging mechanism of neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury'.

Talking about the rise in cancer cases in Punjab, especially the Malwa belt, he presented his hypothesis that the increase may be linked to the high and indiscriminate use of pesticides. He emphasised the need for systematic and detailed study of this linkage so that verifiable data can be obtained.

Speaking on the 'Emerging mechanism of neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury', he said all over the world, a lot of people suffered from spinal cord injuries and there was no definite cure for this injury.

Paralysed by the injury, the life of the patient becomes worse than death, he added. Describing his efforts to find a cure for this disease, he said his team was experimenting on mice to understand the mechanism of neuropathic pain and the chances of recovery.

Another special lecture on 'Biography, Autobiography and Translation' was organised at the CUP campus today.

Bal Anand (IFS), a renowned Indian diplomat who served in many capacities in various countries, delivered the lecture.

Addressing the students and the faculty members of the Centre for Comparative Literature at CUP, he debated a vast variety of observations on biography, autobiography and translation.

Throwing light on the various facets of the genre of biography, he discussed the development of these genres.

He also deliberated on some famous biographies in India and abroad. He stressed that literature was an expression of life irrespective of its language.

He discussed the impact and significance of Dalit autobiographies in modern India in the formulation of a Dalit experience. The lecture was followed by discussion and interaction with the resource person by the faculty and the students.

These special lectures were part of the series of lectures being organised by the Central University of Punjab in order to acquaint its faculty and students with current issues and trends in academics.

Bathinda, April 25
Six persons received injuries in a road accident involving an Innova and a Swift car.

Both the vehicles collided head-on near Gehri Buttar village on the Bathinda-Dabwali road at around 6 pm.

The occupants of the Innova were on way to Bathinda to attend a marriage while the passengers of Swift were on their way to Sirsa.

The injured were rushed to the Civil Hospital, Bathinda, by volunteers of the Sangat Sahara.

Three of the injured received fractures while the others received minor injuries. The injured have been identified as 25-year-old Parvesh, his grandfather Om Parkash and his uncle Rajesh Kumar. They were travelling in an Innova from Peelianbanga in Rajasthan.

Sandeep Sharma, Balwinder and an unidentified person, all residents of Bathinda, were in the Swift car. Police was informed about the accident and the statements of the accident victims were being recorded.

Bathinda, April 25
The registrar, cooperative societies, Punjab, Kirandeep Singh Bhullar today held a meeting with the officials of the procuring agencies and took stock of the ongoing procurement process.

He directed the officials to ensure that farmers do not face any kind of problems in the procurement procedure. Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav, District Mandi Officer Gursewak Singh Sidhu, District Food Supplies Officer Gulbahar Singh and others were also present at the meeting.

Yadav told Bhullar about the elaborate arrangements made for procurement. He said that arrangements for procurement, lifting, auctioning, gunny bags, labour hands, power and water supply have been done in the district's grain markets.

Apprising Bhullar about their problems, the officials said there were some problems in the Mehraj grain market pertaining to trucks and at Mandi Kalan pertaining to the auction.

Bathinda, April 25
Seven persons have been arrested by the police for possessing habit-forming drugs and contraband at different police stations in Bathinda district.

Police have arrested Gurwant Singh, a resident of Powerhouse road for possessing 150 habit-forming tablets. He was arrested from near Santpura road following a tip-off by sub-inspector Harjinder Kaur, deployed at the Kotwali police station. A case under sections 22, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused for further investigation. He was brought to the police station for interrogation and was produced before a local court.

Nine kg of poppy husk was recovered from the possession of Vijay Kumar, a resident of Aggarwal Colony. He was arrested from near Naruana road. A case under sections 15, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused at the Canal Colony police station.

Sonu Kumar, a resident of Jogi Nagar, has been arrested by the police with five grams of smack. He was arrested from near Balluana village. A case under sections 21, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused at the Sadar police station.

Kulwant Singh and Sukhdev Singh, both residents of Jangiana village, have been arrested by the police for possessing seven kilograms of poppy husk. They were arrested from near Bambiha village and were booked for investigation under sections 15, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act at Nandgarh police Station.

Bathinda, April 25
Students of the Government Polytechnic College, Bathinda, brought laurels by excelling in the sixth technical fest held at the CT Polytechnic College, Shahpur, Jalandhar.

In a press statement issued here today, principal Yadwinder Singh stated that polytechnic colleges from Punjab and Chandigarh participated in the state-level function which was organised by the Punjab Technical Institutions' Sports (PTIS).

Students of the computer engineering department of Bathinda college, including Imanpreet Kaur, Sukhmanpreet Kaur, Manmeet Kaur and Pooja, presented a website on traffic education that secured the first place in the state under the computer software project. In paper presentation, Tejinder Kaur from the ECE department of the college, secured the second place in the state. Imanpreet Kaur from the computer department secured the second place and Shashank Sharma from architecture secured the third place.

Besides, the ECE department's Shubham, Navneet Kaur and Tejinder Kaur's project secured third place in the state. Similarly, the project by architecture department of the college bagged consolation prizes.

All the winners were honored at a specially convened ceremony today.

Prominent among others present on the occasion, included the head of the architecture department, Anuja Gopal, head of computer department, RK Chopra, head of ECE department, SP Rana, college's training and placement officer Manjit Singh Bhullar, secretary SRC Sanjiv Goyal, lecturer Jagdeep Kaur, Munish Kumar and Gurbinder Kaur.

Bathinda, April 25
Police has booked a resident of Guru Gobind Singh Nagar and his parents for allegedly demanding dowry and harassing his wife.

In her complaint to the police, Kulwinder Kaur alleged that her husband, Satnam Singh and her in-laws, Gurdeep Singh and Kuldeep Kaur, have been harassing her.

A case under Sections 498-A, 406 and 34 of the IPC has been registered in this connection against the husband and his parents at the women police station.

No arrests have been made by the police in this regard so far.