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Water, power shortage add to city’s summer woes
City police dogged by canine force shortage
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Sale of over-the-counter abortion pills goes on unabated in the city
Ravi Bhagat is city’s DC for 2 months
Upset over wife’s illicit relations, man ends life
Short-term course at GZS PTU campus
Over 800 appear in test for stamp vendors
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Water, power shortage add to city’s summer woes
Bathinda, July 1 “It is a very difficult situation. Though many of us have motors installed to pump up underground water, but the same is not fit enough to be consumed. In the absence of water supply from the public works department, we have to heavily depend on the RO water treatment plants installed near by,” said Jatinder Pal Singh, a resident of Paras Ram Nagar. The high lying areas around the fort are the worst hit as these have been getting water supply every alternate day. XEN water supply, Jagdev Singh, said the problem of high lying areas would be solved in a few months as the department was constructing water tank in the area. City’s daily requirement of water is 32.6 million liters per day, which is met with water flowing in Sirhind canal as well as that available at the five tubewells located in different parts of city. Area residents demanded that government should augment water storage capacity as per the growing needs of city. Meanwhile, the city residents are also battling the the problem of voltage fluctuation. In the areas of Panchvati Nagar and Green Avenue near Mittal Mall, people faced problem of voltage fluctuation on Saturday as well as on Sunday. “Neither the air-conditioners are working nor the desert coolers. This is the first time that we have to brave this problem of acute voltage fluctuation. First the power supply was snapped off for a couple of hours in the morning. When it resumed in the afternoon, the voltage started fluctuating. Fearing damage to electrical appliances, we switched all of them off,” said Gurpreet Kaur, a resident of Panchvati Nagar. |
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City police dogged by canine force shortage
Bathinda, July 1 City residents also complain that the rate of recovery of the stolen goods is also quite low as compared to the number of thefts. While talking to Tribune News Service, many residents said the police failed to crack cases of burglaries and auto thefts. Dr Pawan Kumar of Maur Mandi, who had lodged a complaint of a bicycle being stolen from outside his hospital, said a drug addict has been involved in stealing bicycles from outside his hospital for the past few months. Despite informing the police about the activities of the addict, no action had been initiated against him. “Every time the area residents inform the police about thefts, cops wash their hands of by saying that the thief was a drug addict and he might die if arrested,” the doctor said. He added that the thief must have stolen more than a dozen bicycles in the past few months. He added that the residents got upset over the thefts and apprehended him with a stolen bicycle yesterday. He was handed over to the police who lodged an FIR against him and sent him to jail under the public pressure. The doctor said a case under sections 454 and 380 of the IPC had been registered against the thief who has been identified as Devinder Singh of Ward Number 5. He said the police registered a case only after being pressurised by the public. The doctor added that the police failed to bring either a dog squad or a finger print experts or use any other modern methods to crack the theft cases. Refuting the claims of the residents, Maur SHO, Jaswinderpal, asserted that he had never been informed about the bicycle thefts in his area. “Yesterday too we came to know about public manhandling a thief by public and an ASI was sent to enquire into the incident. We brought the thief to the police station and a case was registered against him,” the SHO said. He added that theft incidents have reduced to a great extent after intensifying police patrolling. A police officer, pleading anonymity, said presently Bathinda police had only two dogs, Julie and Abdul, whose services were being availed during VIP duties. “Though we are short of expert dogs, these two are rarely pressed into service to crack theft cases,” said the police officer. Most of the time our force depends on secret information and people have to give tip off about the thieves. He said a dog squad and a fingerprint expert were imperative in nabbing criminals. The cops said modern forensic laboratories with DNA testing facility, automated system to check fingerprints to ensure fast investigation were still a distant dream for the police. The present investigation methods are quite costly and time consuming and most of the burden of the inquiry depends upon the victim himself. An inquiry officer in such cases remains busy with the courts, paper work, VIP duties and other clerical jobs and hardly finds time to visit the scene of crime or develop sources to nab the culprits. ASP City-II, Kuldip Chahal, claimed that the recent strengthening of the Police Control Room (PCR) had led to a decline in the number of theft cases. He said a PCR arrested a thief stealing goods from a shop yesterday and a case was registered against him at the Canal Colony police station. He pointed out that a list of habitual offenders had also been prepared and police stations were working to nab the culprits. |
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Sale of over-the-counter abortion pills goes on unabated in the city
Bathinda, July 1 A schedule H drug of Drugs and Cosmetics Rules 1945, which cannot be sold without prescription, the abortion drugs are being openly sold as over-the-counter (OTC) medicines as the health department prefers to look the other way. Even the chemists do not ask for any prescription and sell the drug to minors too. The medicine is easily available for everyone, from a village’s midwife to a registered medical practitioner (RMPs) to anyone who has little knowledge of the drug and its uses. Women opt for such unsafe methods to abort unwanted pregnancies, at times without even taking their family members into confidence. “We frequently get cases of women bleeding excessively. This happens when the medicines successfully abort the unborn, but the remnants of the baby are left intact in the uterus leading to profuse bleeding,” said Dr Rupinder Romana. She added that most of the times women prefer not to disclose that they have taken the medicine. “They don’t understand that such medicines are to be used under medical supervision only. Since the drug is freely available in the market, women consume them without giving it a second thought,” she said. A gynecologist at the city’s Civil Hospital, preferring not to be named, said women opted for such methods out of sheer ignorance. “Few years ago, we had a case of twin pregnancy. Unaware that she was carrying twins, a woman consumed this drug on the suggestion of a local dai. She remained silent for three days after the bleeding started. On the fourth day, she suddenly collapsed and was brought to the Civil Hospital. It was only after a lot of prodding that she accepted to taking the drug. When we conducted an ultrasound, we found that twins had been aborted, but the babies were not removed from uterus completely,” she added. This drug forayed into Indian markets in 1998. Till early 2000, it was available only on doctor’s prescription. Later, with the entry of global giants in drug manufacturing in India, the drug became easily available in different avatars. Interestingly, even the health department has not conducted any raids to contain the sale of this drug. Drug inspector Lakhwant Singh said the chemist shops were checked regularly, but case of abortion medicine available round the clock has not been detected specifically. “We will look into the matter,” he asserted. Why avoid taking abortion pills without a doc’s advice?
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Demand to extend vacations of senior students too
Bathinda, July 1 “Mercury is soaring high and it would be difficult for the children to come to school in this sweltering hot summer,” he said. Not all schools in the city have power back-up facility and power cuts may worsen the situation, he added. Punjab government has already declared extension of vacation for the primary classes. The students of primary classes will now go to school on July 9, while higher and secondary ones would be attending school on July 2, as per the schedule. Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports of Punjab and Haryana state governments extending the summer vacations for all students kept on pouring in throughout the day. Director General of School
Education (DGSE) K Singh Pannu, however, said he was not aware of any such decision. |
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Ravi Bhagat is city’s DC for 2 months
Bathinda, July 1 For the first six weeks, Yadav will be trained at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussorie and for the last 15 days, he would be leaving for South Africa for advanced training. Meanwhile, Ravi Bhagat would be available in Bathinda on Wednesdays and Fridays. “I’ll also be available whenever the need arises,” he said. This is Ravi Bhagat’s second stint with Bathinda district. Earlier, he has served as the commissioner of the Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB) and chief administrator of the Bathinda Development Authority
(BDA). |
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Upset over wife’s illicit relations, man ends life
Bathinda, July 1 The wife allegedly developed illicit relations with one Daman Singh. The husband committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance. His body was found near Gidderbaha and the body was brought for postmortem at the Bathinda Civil Hospital. A complaint against the wife has been lodged by Chetram, the brother of the deceased. Police said a case under sections 306 and 34 of the IPC has been registered against the woman and her paramour. Motorcycle stolen
A motorcycle was stolen from near a gurudwara in Poohla village. A complaint has been lodged by Kulwinder Singh of Nathana. He said his bike, a Honda Splendour, worth nearly Rs 13,000, was stolen by some unidentified persons on Sunday. He said the policemen investigating the matter have assured him of tracing the bike. Kulwinder Singh said he had been making the rounds of the police station ever since his bike was stolen. A case under section 379 of the IPC has been registered against the accused at the Nathana police station. One killed in hit-and-run incident at Mehraj
A resident of Mehraj village lost his life after an unidentified vehicle hit him. The deceased, Babu Singh, was on way to his agricultural fields when a speeding white colour car, whose registration number or make could not be ascertained, hit him. A complaint has lodged with the police by Gurdeep Singh, the son of the deceased. He said he along with his father were walking beside the agricultural fields when a rashly driven car hit his father. He said that his father died on the spot. A case under sections 279 and 304-A of the IPC has been registered against the driver of the unidentified vehicle at the Rampura city police station. One arrested with drugs
A resident of ward number 2, Goniana, has been arrested by the police for possessing habit-forming drugs. The accused, Dilip Kumar, has been booked under sections 22, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act for further investigations by Nehianwala police station. |
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Short-term course at GZS PTU campus
Bathinda, July 1 Course coordinator and Dean, post-graduate studies, PTUGZS campus, Dr Manjeet Bansal, said the course would run from July 2-13. It will introduce the participants to various causes of environmental degradation and an individual's role in saving the environment. Experts from various universities and colleges will deliver talks during the course. The motive of the short-term course will be to update the participants on various environmental issues and make them aware about a teacher's role in saving the environment. Around 60 candidates from various institutions are expected to participate in the event. |
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Over 800 appear in test for stamp vendors
Bathinda, July 1 District Revenue Officer SS Dhillon said of the 947, 874 took the exam today. St Joseph's Convent School and St Xavier's Senior Secondary School were designated as the centres for the exam that was conducted today. The result for the same would be declared in the next two or three days and successful candidates informed accordingly. |
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Even the 72-hour contraceptive pills are not safe