Bathinda, May 29
No one in the city is responsible for four precious lives lost while cleaning city’s muck and grime. On May 22, two people lost their lives while working at the Mansa road disposal, while at Lal Singh Basti two more persons lost their lives while cleaning the sewer in Lal Singh Basti area.

All that the families of the four deceased have got is assurances and money that does not equate the productive lives lost.

With the death of two persons at Lal Singh Basti, the Municipal Corporation and the sewerage board indulged in a blame game. While the corporation held the sewerage board responsible for the tragedy, sewerage board blamed its contractor for not following norms and regulations.

As an eyewash, two workers of sewerage board, including SDO Ravi Kumar and junior engineer SK Kapoor, were suspended for negligence and dereliction of duties, while the corporation failed to devise a mechanism to monitor sewer works in the city.

“When a person is killed in road accident, the offender is booked and arrested. But there is no provision to fix responsibility for the lives lost in sewers. Municipal Corporation commissioner and Mayor should be held responsible for such lapses as it is the MC on whose behalf the sewerage board maintains and lays sewer in city,” said the Congress councilor Jagrup Singh Gill.

He added that the incident has also highlighted the worst-kept secret of the corporation wherein contractors sublet the contract to third party, while corporation turns a blind eye to such things.

“Subletting is done at a handsome price and in its bid to earn maximum money, safety of workers is compromised with. Forget about safety gear, we don’t even get cheap gloves to work with,” said one of the sewer men, working on contract, pleading anonymity.

Owing to such lapses, the city has witnessed three sewer tragedies in the last 45 days. No contractor is monitored for following safety norms. Municipal councilors allege that in many cases, contracts are awarded to politically well-connected people.

When contacted, BMC Commissioner, Uma Shankar Gupta, said, “I have written to the principal secretary, Local Bodies, apprising his office of the unprofessional attitude of the people working in sewerage board. Monitoring and execution is with the sewerage board and it’s the board, which is responsible for all kind of safety measures.”

“I have also sent a strong worded demi-official letter to the principal secretary recommending charge sheet of the sewerage board XEN. No sewer works in the city would be undertaken unless and until board certifies that all safety measures are being followed in all the works. I have repeatedly directed the board to buy all kind of safety gears required, but no one followed the instructions,” he added.

BJP MC, Krishan Kumar Garg, demanded that criminal cases be registered against the officials of sewerage board and the operation and maintenance (O&M) department.

He said, “In the early 1980s, entire sewerage near Civil Hospital had choked. Acting swiftly, the then Punjab governor had got criminal cases registered against the higher officials of the municipal council and the entire system was put back on track. Similarly, officials should be booked here.”

Bathinda, May 29
Congress today demanded a vigilance inquiry into the quality of work being executed in the ongoing sewer projects in city in the wake of an incident wherein two sewer men lost their lives.

Congress workers, led by former MLA Bathinda, Harminder Singh Jassi, today submitted their memorandum of demands to the Deputy Commissioner, Kamal Kishore Yadav.

Fearing the use of sub-standard material in laying sewer projects in the city, Congress demanded that the vigilance department be entrusted with the job of checking if the project is being executed within the norms. “If not, the offenders should be taken to task,” said Jassi.

Referring to the May 26 accident, wherein two precious lives were lost while working at sewer in Lal Singh Basti area, the delegation asked when the municipal corporation officials had accepted that the deaths were due to the lack of proper safety measures, why did it not take any initiative for ensuring the same.

Congress workers demanded `5 lakh ex-gratia amount for the relatives of the deceased and jobs for the next of kin in the government sector. They also demanded that the responsibilities of the corporation officials and sewerage board officials be fixed for dereliction of duty.

The delegation laid emphasis on awarding sewer works to only those contractors and companies that have a clean track record and those that fulfill all conditions pertaining to safety measures.

The DCC chief Ashok Kumar, vice-president Parkash Chand, Jagroop Singh, general secretary Roopinder Bindra and Jaswant Singh were part of the delegation.

Bathinda, May 29
Under the grip of scorching summer, the residents of Bathinda and its adjoining areas experienced another facet of nature’s fury on Tuesday when the north-bound mercury climbed the next level, surpassing the 45 degree Celsius mark, recording the highest temperature of this summer so far.

With the new mood swing of the mercury, the prevailing heat wave conditions intensified today as the temperature was recorded at 45.4 degrees Celsius, nearly 1.4 degree higher than yesterday, as per the agri-met department of the Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) regional station, Bathinda.

The minimum temperature was 24 degree Celsius, equal to what was recorded on Monday morning.

The much-required respite from the heat is not in sight in the near future as Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday predicted an increase in the maximum and minimum temperature in the next two to three days in the region.

As per the IMD, the maximum temperature may go up to 48 degree Celsius in the next few days in Bathinda and its adjoining areas.

The minimum temperature is also likely to climb up to 33 degree Celsius during the period. There is possibility of dust storms in the isolated parts in the region, the IMD indicated.

Bathinda, May 29
Vigyan Bharati, the largest nation building science movement in the country, would be holding Indian Science Seminar and Exhibition at Jalandhar from October 11 to October 14 this year with an aim to sensitise young scientists and awaken people on relation between Vedas and the modern science.

National secretary of the organisation, which has eminent scientists from the country including Dr APJ Kalam on its panel, Dr Som Dev Bhardwaj said this while talking to TNS here today. Dr Bhardwaj was here to deliver lecture at a local institute.

The Indian Science Seminar and Exhibition is dedicated to the great inventor Sir Ramanujam and is open for all kind of students starting from higher secondary, who are associated with the world of science in one way or another. Punjab Technical University is holding this conference in collaboration with Lovely Professional University.

“Even an illiterate, who has invented something like ‘jugaad’ (indigenous invention), is welcome at the congress. Language is no barrier and neither is educational qualification. We are looking for inventors hiding in all of us,” said Dr Bharadwaj.

The four-day affair will have one day dedicated to exhibitions and galleries, two days exclusively for interaction of eminent scientists with students and one day for seminar. Around 1,500 scientists from the country are expected to be part of the four-day scientific extravaganza.

Elaborating on the works of Vigyan Bhararti, Dr Bharadwaj said state chapters of the body have been contributing a lot. Punjab chapter, which is only an year old, is hosting this conference.

Talking about lack of inventiveness in Punjab, he said students as well as teachers need sensitisation.

“We have tie-ups with universities and colleges where lectures and seminars are regularly held. India has had a great history of inventors, but we can’t rely on history alone. We need more inventors to make this place a better world to live in,” he said.

Dr Bharadwaj said Indian Vedas were a treasure of scientific knowledge, which was applicable in the modern day science world as well. “World’s first surgeon was Acharya Sushrut from India who wrote Sushrut Samhita and Ayurevda is India’s best gift to the mankind. World’s first patent on cloning belongs to Dr Matapurkar Dutt, who now lives in Delhi. He was the first man in the world to talk about cloning and he drew inspiration for the same from Mahabharata, where Gandhari had hundred sons from cloning of stem cells,” he added.

It is this rich Vedic science that students would be told about at the Jalandhar event.

Bathinda, May 29
The Science Express —Biodiversity Special will finally chug into the Bathinda railway station on November 29 and will be stationed here till December 1, before moving on to Delhi Cantt. The train was earlier scheduled to be in Bathinda from April 25 to April 30, but the tour was cancelled as the train was sent for maintenance and upkeep.

As per the new schedule, in its Phase 5, the Science Express will start its journey on June 5 from Delhi and move on to cover 52 cities across India.

Some of the major cities that will be covered during the tour include Patna, Dibrugarh, Siliguri, Howrah, Ranchi, Cuttack, Visakhapatnam, Chennai, Kanyakumari, Mumbai, Nagpur, Gaya, Lucknow, Ambala, Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar.

Before coming to Bathinda, the Science Express would also be make a stopover at the Ferozepur city railway station from November 26 to November 28.

The exhibition aboard the train will be based on the theme of Biodiversity, since 2010-2020 has been declared as the ‘Decade of Biodiversity’ by the United Nations.

The 13th Coach of the train houses the ‘Joy of Science’, a hands-on lab, which has been developed by the Vikram A Sarabhai Community Science Centre (VASCSC) in the 13th coach of the Science Express.

It is an area where the participants will get a chance to perform hands-on activities and experiments in Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Electronics and Mathematics. The lab will be functional at all the stations where schools will be able to bring their students with prior registration.

The topics of the exhibitions in all the 13 coaches of the Science Express are different and focus on the various aspects of the history of and the progress in the field of science and technology.

The exhibition aboard Coach 001 focuses on the laws of nature while throwing light on the Big Bang, human life, radioactive decay, gravitation, electromagnetic interaction, particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology.

While Coach 002 exhibition focuses on Nano Cosmos, Coach 003 focuses on the building blocks of life. The exhibition talks about organisation of tissues, organs, cell-sealing membranes, enzymes, imbalances leading to various diseases, childhood and the causes of aging.

While Coach 004 focuses on decoding the human genome, Coach 005 imparts knowledge about the workings of the brain, Coach 006 talks about the world of human senses and Coach 007 shares details about the technologies for the future.

Causes, effects and mitigation of climate change are the topics of exhibition on Coach 008. It talks about the changes that have come in the weather over the years. The exhibition throws light on the effects of greenhouse gases, deforestation, and burning of fossil fuels.

The challenges being faced by the world for sustainable development is the topic of the exhibition on Coach 009 while Coach 010 focuses on the earth and its space. Exhibition aboard Coach 011 is about stars and planets.

The exhibition aboard Coach 012 is about the origin and existence of the universe. India’s achievements in science and technology is the topic of exhibition in Coach 013. This coach also houses the Joy of Science lab.

Bathinda, May 29
In connection with prevention of dengue, malaria and other vector-borne diseases during the ensuing months in the district, a meeting of the district coordination committee was held under the presidentship of additional deputy commissioner (ADC) Rajiv Prashar at the district administrative complex here today.

In this meeting besides other officers of various government departments, Commissioner of Bathinda municipal corporation Uma Shanker, Civil Surgeon Dr Ajay Sahni and district health officer (DHO) Dr Raghubir Singh Randhawa also took part.

The DHO Dr Randhawa said to check the dengue fever cases in the Bathinda city, the teams of the health department and the Bathinda municipal corporation were jointly conducting survey of the houses. He said since May 3 the survey teams had surveyed 44,122 houses in the city but they had not found larva of dengue mosquito from anywhere so far. Besides, the people were also being educated about the preventive measures, he added.

Dr Randhawa told the meeting in detail about the preventive measures of the vector-borne diseases. He also told the meeting that how other departments could assist them in the prevention of vector-borne diseases. He also said though the survey teams had not found dengue larva from anywhere so far, the departmental officials and the common masses should get ready to check the problem.

Dr Randhawa also appealed to the president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to issue instructions to the members of the IMA to refer the patients for getting platelets after their dengue test.

He also told the meeting about Gambujia fish that become helpful in finishing dengue larva. He said in coordination with the municipal corporation, a water tank would be constructed at the civil hospital here for bringing up the Gambujia fish there.

The ADC Rajiv Prashar emphasised on creating awareness among the masses about the vector-borne diseases. He said the teams of the health department should create awareness among the people so that they could protect themselves from these diseases.

The civil surgeon Dr Ajay Sahni said without the help of people's participation, no such programme could get success.

On the occasion the representatives of the NGOs assured the administration that they would extend every type of help to the health department in this regard. 

Bathinda, May 29
A local NGO, Bathinda Vikas Manch, organised a seminar on Right to Information (RTI) Act under the presidentship of Professor Ashok Singh Mittal of Teachers' Forum here. On the occasion, the chief guest was a retired Principal Gobind Singh while Professor N.K. Gosain was the special guest.

The general secretary of the local Gaushala S.R. Kusla spoke at length about the RTI Act. He said the RTI Act was a solid instrument in the hands of common masses as they could get any type of information under the Act about their government works. He said any person who wanted to get information could apply to the Public Information Officer (PIO) of the department concerned for getting information by submitting a fee of Rs 10.

Professor Ramesh Pasrija said this Act had been made in the larger interests of the public but sometimes people also misused it for personal interests. He said misuse of the RTI Act was against the fundamental spirit of the Act.

On the occasion Ramneek Walia, Navneet Singla and Radhey Shayam Bansal also shared their experiences about the Act.

Among others who extended their support in the organisation of the seminar included Rakesh Narula, Gyan Chand, J.C. Goyal, D.K. Garg, Ashok Kumar, Sandip Parchanda, Darshan Singh Jaura, A.P. Grover and Sonu Maheshwari.

Bathinda, May 29
Election observer for the local bodies election schedule for June 7, M P Arora, held a meeting with candidates of different political parties today.

During the meeting convened at the Zila Parishad, the ADC (development) - cum -additional election officer Mohammad Taiyyab, SDM Bathinda Ramvir, SDM Talwandi Sabo Anil Kumar Garg and others were also present. Observer M P Arora laid emphasis on holding unbiased, transparent and peaceful elections in the district. He encouraged candidates to seek votes in the name of development and not indulge in any kind of mud-slinging and added that the election code of conduct be followed in true spirit.

ADC Mohammad Taiyyab said candidates should refrain from indulging in wrong acts of selling liquor and distributing money. Every candidate will have to maintain record of his or her expenses incurred in the elections and submit the same to concerned officer. It is mandatory to send a copy of all election propaganda material to the returning officer. Candidates will also have to seek prior permission for using loudspeakers and vehicles for campaigning.

Votes would be cast on June 7 from 8 am to 4 pm and counting would be held on June 10. Voters can caste their vote on the basis of voter's I card or any 12 identity proofs listed by the election office.

All the liquor vends would remain closed on this day. Liquor sale and consumption is banned at all public and private places, including hotels, restaurants, clubs, vends, dhabas and other places. — TNS

Bathinda, May 29
The Department of Textile Engineering of the Punjab Technical University GZS Campus, Bathinda, is organising a short-term course (STC) on “Total Quality Management and NBA accreditation in Technical Institutes”, in association with the NITTTR, Chandigarh from May 28 to June 1.

The STC coordinator, Dr Anupam Kumar and the coordinator Prof Devanand Uttam told Bathinda Tribune that Dr DD Sharma, professor and head, Entrepreneurship Development and Industrial Coordination (EDIC) department and Dr SK Dhamija, professor and head, Information Management and Coordination Unit, have come as experts and shared their experiences with the faculty of various engineering colleges.

As per the experts, the course will help teachers working in the professional colleges to better understand the students, academic activities and the institute system. Dr Gursharan Singh, professor and head, Applied Science Department welcomed the experts from the NITTTR, Chandigarh and congratulated the faculty for participating in the STC.

Campus director, Dr JS Hundal, emphasised the importance of organising such courses as these were quite helpful in the overall development of the educational organisations. — TNS

Bathinda, May 29
Police has registered a case against unidentified thieves for stealing edibles and LPG cylinders from two government schools. Thieves took away seven bags full of rice having three quintal 50 kg rice, four bags of wheat containing two-quintal wheat and an LPG gas cylinder from Government Primary School in Banger Mohammad village.