The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Homeless Dalits protest in Lambi Balwant Garg/TNS Lambi (Muktsar), September 2 A day after Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal ended his Sangat Darshan in his home constituency Lambi, over a 100 poor homeless Dalit families assembled in Singhewala village of his constituency to register their protest over the delay in giving them five marlas of land for the construction of a house. "Before the assembly elections in the state, the leaders promised us well-furnished 5-marla constructed houses if we vote for them. But over six months down the line, we are still seeking shelter in dharmshalas and Panchayat Ghars or pitching tents under the open sky," said the members of many such families who came from Singhewala, Fatuhiwala, Mithri, Ghaghar, Mehna, Killianwali, Kakhawali, Khudi and even Badal village. "Because we have no political patronage, the village panchayats ignore our request to allot us five marla from the village common land. We have approached the senior officials in Muktsar for the allotment of the land so that we could construct our house. But the authorities asked us to take up the matter with the village panchayat," said Bhora Ram, who is living with his eight-member family in a tent in an open space in Singhewala village. Similar is the complaint of Gurjant Singh and Sukha Singh, two daily wagers in Singhewala village, who are living in an abandoned room in a health dispensary of the village. "Only those homeless families who have some political connections and are allied with a political group got the 5-marla plots from the village common land. All the others were ignored," said Laxman Singh, general secretary, Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union (PKMU). Though huge tracts of village common land lie idle in many villages of Lambi assembly constituency but many poor Dalits are forced to leave under the open sky in absence of a home, he said. To support the cause of these homeless poor, the PKMU today organized a protest rally in Singhewala village. The motive of the protest rally was to help these homeless poor understand the reality," said Laxman Singh.
	Fresh demarcation of highway in Moga Kulwinder Sandhu Tribune News Service Moga, September 2 Fresh demarcation of a stretch of 4-km on the national highway in Moga city within the municipal limits is underway to end the confusion over the proprietary rights of surplus land belonging to shopkeepers on both sides of the highway. A flyover has been proposed on this stretch, which is a part of the four-laning of the NH from Ludhiana to Talwandi Bhai for a total length of 78 km. The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has entrusted Pan India Network Ltd, a subsidiary of the Essel Group of Companies, in a consortium with Vahara Infra Limited, to do the job. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 750 crore. As per the details available, the construction agencies have demanded clearing a span of 200 feet of the road, specifying its centre at various places within the municipal limits so that the work on constructing the flyover can be started as soon as possible. Presently, there is an availability of 198 feet to 242 feet span at various places in the city. Earlier, the municipal corporation authorities had recklessly started an anti-encroachment drive on the highway, which created panic and insecurity among the shopkeepers. It forced the district administration to halt the anti-encroachment drive and carry out fresh demarcation, which is being conducted by Naib Tehsildar Madan Mohan along with other officials of the revenue department as per the record. But again, the revenue authorities are not putting the columns on the edges of both sides of the road, which is again not specifying the surplus land in front of each property owned by the shopkeepers. During the demarcation, a startling fact has come to light— that the divider constructed on the NH in the city was not constructed in the middle of the road and in uniformity, which created a lot of confusion. The shopkeepers have demanded columns on both sides of the road so that their proprietary rights over the surplus land could be restored as per the revenue records. A shopkeeper, Rajinder Singh, said if the columns are not set up by the revenue authorities, they would have no alternative but to knock at the doors of the High Court to get justice, which may delay the construction work on the flyover. He argued that if this anomaly is removed, the four-laning work could be done correctly, which would also help in making a correct master plan of the town.
	Fazilka MC officials warned by minister Praful Chander Nagpal Fazilka, September 2 The failure of the Fazilka Municipal Council to maintain cleanliness and the public outcry over this has forced the local MLA and Punjab Minister Surjit Kumar Jyani to intervene. Jyani, accompanied by Additional Deputy Commissioner Charandev Singh Maan, Executive Officer of the local Municipal Council Sukhdev Singh, sanitary inspector Naresh Khera, a representative of the private company entrusted with the task of cleaning the city, visited some areas which have been the worst affected in the absence of proper civic upkeep. "During the visit, it came to notice that at many places, garbage was lying littered. Covers of manhole chambers were missing at many places. Water pipes were unplugged and taps were flowing. I have directed the SDM to take strict action if the town is not cleaned properly," said Jyani, adding that things would be set in order within a fortnight. He also warned the municipal council officials that they would face the music if they did not act promptly. Notably, SDM, Fazilka Charan Dev Singh Mann had issued a notice under section 133 of the CrPC some days back to Municipal Council president Anil Kumar Sethi, executive officer Sukhdev Singh, sanitary inspector Naresh Khera and the company entrusted with the job of maintaining cleanliness for causing public nuisance. The SDM has already summoned the MC president Anil Sethi and other officials to present their viewpoint on September 10. However, the chief of the BJP-lead municipal council Anil Kumar Sethi was conspicuous by his absence during Jyani's tour of the town. According to informed sources, the vacuum cleaner sweeper machine purchased by the MC at a cost of about Rs 30 lakhs is proving to be of no use. Some officials have been deployed to run the machine. However, the machine has seldom cleaned any of the areas as the condition of the roads and lanes is not compatible to run the machine. There are big potholes on almost all the roads and streets. Executive officer of the municipal council Sukhdev Singh, however, maintained that the cleaning of the town had already started and would be completed soon.
	Kin of former BJP district president killed in mishap Sushil Goyal Tribune News Service Barnala, September 2 A local resident, Saroj Bala (47) and her son-in-law Rohit Goyal (27), from Sonepat, were killed today in a road mishap when the vehicle in which they were travelling, reportedly rammed into a truck at Garhi village near Khanauri. The other occupants of the vehicle also sustained injuries in the accident. All of them were returning to Barnala from Delhi along with the body of Rajinder Kumar (49), placed in another vehicle, who had died at a hospital in Delhi of an ailment yesterday. Rajinder Kumar was the elder brother of a former president of Barnala district unit of the BJP, Dheeraj Kumar Dadahoor, and the husband of the deceased Saroj Bala. Rajinder Kumar's son and daughters also sustained injuries in the mishap. One of the injured, Ritu Bala, is serious and is learnt to be under treatment at a hospital in Patiala. Neeraj Kumar, a nephew of the deceased, said the accident had taken place at Garhi village today. He said there were six adults and two children in the car. Of them, two had died while the others sustained injuries. Neeraj Kumar said Rohit Goyal died on the spot while Saroj Bala died at Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, where her post-mortem was conducted today. Rajinder and Saroj Bala were cremated here today. Hundreds of persons from all walks of life attended the cremation.
	Two held for extortion bid Sushil Goyal Tribune News Service Barnala, September 2 The district police today arrested two persons, Harwinder Singh of Dhanaula and Jaswinder Singh of Gharagna in Mansa district, for extortion bid and recovered Rs 10,000 placed in packets of blank papers, a countrymade pistol of .315 bore, a cartridge and a mobile phone from them. SSP Barnala Surjit Singh said these persons had been arrested from the Harigarh canal when they had come to get the extortion money of Rs 5 lakh from one Mithan Lal Garg, a resident of Dhanaula, by threatening over the phone. The SSP said Mithan Lal had told the police that since August 31, he had been receiving phone calls from an anonymous caller who had been threatening and demanding Rs five lakh from him, saying he was notorious gangster Kala Mann's accomplice. The SHO of Dhanaula police station Harwinder Singh Khehra said the arrested persons were daily wagers and were using the name of Kala Mann to extort money.