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People out on streets to protest forced power cuts
Faridkot
sees dry season
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Bathinda residents hold JE hostage as rainwater
enters their dwellings
Sewage woes: Abohar traders observe strike
Army opens computer training centre for border area students
Cops sensitised to juvenile justice
Bikers killed in separate mishaps
Rape accused arrested
Demolition drive deferred in Malout
Colleges get 100 pc results
JRD Tata award for F’pur
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People out on streets to protest forced power cuts
Muktsar, July 25 At some places, people carrying out protest march have even damaged the property of the electricity department, besides blocking the roads and laying siege to the Powercom officials. At Rupana village, people today caused damage to the property belonging to the Powercom and also blocked the road. Earlier, the power grid at Sherewala village was damaged to express resentment. The situation is turning grim day by day, as the power cuts are increasing and forcing the people to spend sleepless nights. Though the PSPCL officials claim that they have announced seven-hour power cut for urban areas and eight-hour cut for rural areas in the district, yet the duration of cuts is too high, which has been causing problems for people. The farmers, industrialists, shopkeepers, students and the housewives are among those worst hit by the power cuts. The major loss is being suffered by the farmers, because this is the time to irrigate the cotton and paddy fields, but these are turning dry in the absence of power. The farmers are getting less than five hours of power supply in most of the areas. Even the PSPCL officials have accepted that due to the power shortage, they have curtailed the minimum supply period to the fields. “Now, the power is being supplied to the fields for six hours a day to run the tubewells,” said a senior executive engineer of the PSPCL. The position of the industrialists and shopkeepers is also similar and they are suffering huge financial losses. The industrialists are unable to give the supply of their products to the buyers on time. The students are also bearing the brunt of power cuts, because during the school hours, the department has fixed two to three hours of cuts. “The refrigerator is just not serving its purpose. Most of the eatables are perishing because of the frequent power cuts,” said a housewife, Rajni Sharma. The reports were almost similar in other parts of the district, including Malout and Gidderbaha sub-divisions. The residents want the PSPCL to inform the public in advance about the curtailment period, so that they could complete their work before that period. Deputy Chief Engineer, PSPCL, Muktsar circle, Dilawar Singh, remained inaccessible throughout the day, as he had gone with the Chief Engineer of the department to Fazilka, where Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has to preside over a public function on July 27. |
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Faridkot
sees dry season
Faridkot, July 25 While ploughing their wilted paddy crops is agonising for the farmers, their pain is compounded by the fact that they will have no other option but to leave the fields fallow and wait for the rabi crops. Facing a drought-like situation, the farmers who are relying solely on poor quality groundwater, may have to plough their paddy crop if the weather does not change favourably in the days ahead, said Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon,vice-chancellor, PAU. The Faridkot district is dry so far, as the monsoon has not yet knocked here. So, while some farmers are using the limited supply of canal water to nourish the water-guzzling paddy crop, others are relying solely on groundwater. As the quality of the groundwater is not good enough to nurture paddy, so the crop is losing its vigour at many places. If the sampling and testing of groundwater in various parts of Faridkot district in the last one year is to be relied upon, the district agriculture department shows that out of the 1836 water samples from April 1, 2011 till date, only 565 water samples were found to be good quality while 667 samples were of moderate quality. All other samples were not good enough to irrigate the paddy crop. As far as rainfall is concerned, the situation in Faridkot is really worrisome. Against the 178 mm rainfall in June last year in Faridkot district, this year, it is just 42 mm for the corresponding period. In May last year, Faridkot received 30.2 mm rainfall but this year, it was nil in the month of May, said Dr Kaur Singh Dhillon, chief agriculture officer, Faridkot. The situation is more or less worrisome all over the state. Having over 1,38,2000 tubewell connections, the farmers are largely dependent on the groundwater, the level of which is already plummeting. Of the 137 blocks, 100 in Punjab have already been listed as dark zones by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) for over exploitation of groundwater. According a report by the CGWB in the Groundwater Year Book 2011-12, out of the total 138 units assessed in 2011 in Punjab, 110 units were reported as over-exploited, three as critical and two as semi-critical. |
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Bathinda residents hold JE hostage as rainwater
enters their dwellings
Bathinda, July 25 The incident took place at around 10 am, when a group of residents reached the pumping station demanding that the rainwater accumulated in streets be pumped out as soon as possible. “Due to inadequate sewer system, stagnant rainwater has accumulated in the area for the last four days. None of the manholes in our area has been de-silted. Had these been de-silted before the monsoon arrived, the water would have receded on its own,” said the former municipal councillor of the area, Vijay Kumar. He added that on Tuesday, residents of the area lodged a complaint, but it was not redressed. They also alleged that the PWSSB officials had switched off their mobile phones to escape calls. Irate over non-redressal of their problem, the residents detained JE Ashwani Kumar inside the pumping station for two hours. It was only after PWSSB SDO, Ashwani Kumar, and some senior officials visited the spot that the residents lifted their dharna and released the JE. By afternoon, the sewer line had been cleared and the water ebbed out of the houses and streets. People said it was lack of preparedness on the part of the sewerage board officials that led to the situation. |
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Sewage woes: Abohar traders observe strike
Abohar, July 25 Those running roadside tea stalls and vegetable/fruit vendors also responded to the call to suspend business activities. Shopkeepers in Patel Nagar market and bazaar number 6 resented that business activities had been paralysed due to choking of sewer lines. During the strike, scores of citizens organised a protest and shouted slogans against the MC as they passed through different streets in the old walled city. They had to pass through roads that remained blocked with accumulated dirty water. Meanwhile, dharna and chain fast being observed by some NGOs continued at the MC office complex here today. The protesters sought dismissal of the council for alleged negligence in carrying out its duties. |
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Army opens computer training centre for border area students
Fazilka, July 25 The centre has been set up on the initiative of Lieutenant-General Sanjeev Anand, GOC, Chetak Corps, and established under the guidance of Brigadier Rakesh Raina. General Anand had promised to the people in the border area that a centre would be set up to provide Information and Technology awareness amongst the youth, particularly the girls, in the remote border area. Major-General Jagbir Singh said the Army would provide certificates to the students getting training from the centre. Besides General Singh, Brigadier Raina and other Army officers, the office-bearers and members of the Shaheedon Ki Samadhi Committee and the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Club laid wreaths at the memorial. The Asafwala War Memorial was raised to commemorate the heroes of the 1971 Indo-Pak war. As many as 222 soldiers of the 4 Jat, the 3 Assam and the 15 Rajput regiments had laid down their lives while defending this town. |
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Cops sensitised to juvenile justice
Ferozepur, July 25 District and Sessions Judge Fatehdeep Singh presided over the programme, which was attended by Karnail Singh, Civil Judge (Senior Division), Barjinder Pal Singh District Judge (Juvenile Justice Board), RK Sharma ADA (Legal Services), DSPs Jagjit Singh and Sukhchain Singh besides SHOs of various police stations. The Sessions Judge said the Act was introduced in 2000, under which every police station should have a child welfare officer to deal with cases related to persons below 18 years of age. The judge further said such culprits should not be handcuffed and cannot be lodged in the police station overnight. He also detailed the participants about other provisions of the Act and instructed the police officials to ensure adherence to the provisions. — OC |
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Farmers clip wings of flying academy at Talwandi Sabo
Bathinda, July 25 Both these academies were the dream projects of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. Although the Ministry of Defence has given its no-objection for the Talwandi Sabo academy, but the roadblock has come due to the resistance of farmers and also due to a high-tension electricity line passing through the area. Sukhbir had chosen nearly 100 acres of land for this purpose about two years ago but the first step of land acquisition notice under Section 4 is held up at the Punjab Secretariat. Sources in the civil aviation department confirmed that the project has so far failed to take off as the land acquisition proceedings are yet to be initiated. The other academy at Faridkot has run into rough weather as the High Court has quashed the acquisition of about 104 acres of land for this purpose. The land that was the aerodrome of the then ruler of Faridkot is now looked after by the Mehrawal Khewaji Trust that had challenged the acquisition process. The Army had also opposed the project as the land was adjacent to the cantonment and also the ammunition depot. However, the antique aircraft of Maharaja Harinder Singh Brar, parked in the spacious hangar, have over the years turned into junk. The tin roof of the hangar sprawling over 6 kanals of land has corroded and rain water trickles over these aircraft. The aircraft acquired by the former ruler include, Gemini M65, Fairchild 23, Percival Proctor and Stinson L-5 Sentinel. The Fairchild was among the 325 listed vintage military and civil aircraft. The aerodrome was constructed over an area of 176.4 acres in 1939 and was abandoned in 1960s. The runway is now covered with wild growth of shrubs and elephant grass. |
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Bikers killed in separate mishaps
Abohar, July 25 One Narinder Sharma of Suratgarh, who worked as an accountant with a brick kiln, was killed after a truck allegedly hit his motorcycle. The police has registered a case against the driver of the truck who fled from the scene leaving the vehicle behind. In a separate case, a three-wheeler allegedly hit a motorcycle near Vishwas Vidya Mandir on the Hanumangarh road leaving its driver Sukhchain Singh “Titu” (18) dead and Allahditta (25), who was riding the pillion, injured. The motorcyclists were on their way to village 34MOD. The driver of the three-wheeler fled from the spot. |
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Rape accused arrested
Ferozepur, July 25 As per the complaint lodged with the police, the girl, a resident of Darida village under Lakho ke Behram police station, was allegedly abducted from her home by two youths belonging to the same village — Harbhej Singh and Channa. They took her to a secluded place in the fields and raped her. According to the police sources, Harbhej Singh has been caught while his accomplice Channa was still at large. |
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Demolition drive deferred in Malout
Malout, July 25 Cops have been sent to Mansa to maintain law and order in Akalia village where two persons were killed during a clash between villagers and the police yesterday. The executive officer of the MC, Jagsir Singh, said, “As soon as we get the support of the police, we will carry out the demolition drive.” Acting upon the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the MC authorities had earlier issued notices to nearly 130 property owners that either they should vacate the encroached land or the illegal units would be demolished. A public announcement was made in the town yesterday that the demolition drive would be carried out on Wednesday. |
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Abohar, July 25 Principal Dr Venita Singh informed that Vishu Setia has topped in the district with 80.45 per cent marks. Meanwhile, all the MA English and MA Economics students of Gopi Chand Arya Mahila College have cleared their final year exam conducted by the university, principal Dr Neelam Arun Mittu informed. — OC |
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Ferozepur, July 25 Giving details here today, DC S Karuna Raju said it was a matter of pride for the district as it was amongst the few districts from all over the country to have been selected for the award. He added that the award would be presented at a function to be held in New Delhi on July 31. — OC |
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Fazilka, July 25
