Bathinda, March 6
The open drains in the old city have made living difficult for the residents of Pujjan Wala Mohalla, Telian Wala Mohalla, Guru Nanakpura, Qila Road, Arya Samaj chowk, Mehna chowk and adjoining streets.

Though sewerage lines have been laid in the most part of the area, the open drains continue to be a bane for the residents as well as commuters.

Workers of the sanitation wing of the Municipal Corporation, Bathinda (MCB), are deputed to clean these drains daily and ensure that none of it overflows.

Besides the problem of overflowing, these drains prove to be a breeding place for various disease-causing insects.

In Telian Wala Mohalla, the drains are around 3-feet deep and are 12-inches wide on either sides of roads.

As the entire old city is situated on a rocky mound, residential and commercial establishments are not located at the same ground level. It is the establishments in lower areas that bear the brunt of a blockade in these drains.

Municipal councillor Rajinder Mittal said many proposals have been made to cover these drains, but it could not materialise for want of agreement between the area residents.

"Some of the people living in 40 to 60 square yard houses are very poor and do not have money to get their waste-water pipes connected to the main sewer line. These people dump their household waste in the open drains," he said.

He added that if covered, it would save a lot of manpower and money spent on cleaning these drains daily. Also, the covering would eliminate the health hazards besides widening the narrow roads in the area.

Municipal councillor Darshan Garg, whose ward is also in the old city area, said he tried to get the drains covered many a times, but not everyone agrees to the idea.

"We have covered a large portion of open drains in my ward. We expect that residents in other areas would cooperate in putting a lid on a number of problems that open drains pose," he said.

Meanwhile, municipal commissioner Uma Shankar Gupta said if there was any provision to cover these drains and if residents of the area agreed, the work would be done.

Bathinda, March 6
Former Congress MLA Harminder Singh Jassi today said that Member of Parliament from Bathinda, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, should speak up against the injustice meted out to women in the state.

Incidents like the one at Tarn Taran and the gang-rape in Bathinda have shown the poor state of law and order in Punjab and the MP should make her stand clear on these issues, Jassi said.

Addressing mediapersons here on today, Jassi said Harsimrat is a front-runner on women related issues and also runs the NGO, Nanhi Chhaan, to save the girl child. Therefore, she should be vocal on crime against women in the state, he said.

The former legislator blamed the Punjab Government for not adequately utilizing the funds given by the Central Government.

“Sixteen departments have been given grants in crores but they have not been utilized properly. The Central Government can just give grants while it is in the hands of the state government to utilise it properly," he said.

The former MLA of the Congress condemned the state government for not releasing the salaries of government employees.

"After the year 1990, this is for the first time that the employees have not been paid their salaries. How does the government expect the people to manage their affairs without any salary," he asked.

Earlier, the Congress workers celebrated the appointment of Partap Singh Bajwa as the new president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC).

Prominent among those present on the occasion were Ashok Kumar, KK Aggarwal, Chiranji Lal Garg, Iqbal Dhillon, Inder Singh Sahni, Lala Jeet Mal, Suresh Bansal, Mohan Lal Jhumba, Nand Lal Singla, Dr Mukesh and Harpal Bajwa, among others.

Bathinda, March 6
The overcrowded vegetable market, located behind Government Rajindra College in the city, is a picture of sheer neglect.

Mismanagement and lack of basic amenities are writ large in the vegetable market that caters to the food needs of a large portion of the city. There is no headcount as far as the number of vendors operating in the market is concerned. They adjust their stock in the crevices between two stalls.

“There are around 62 vendors who have been operating here for the past 25 years. Besides them, we don't have any count of the vendors operating from this mandi,” says the president of the Fari Union, Shankar Kumar Rathore.

With a new structure - Pack House - coming up in the mandi, the place has run out of the space.

The market does not have any provision for parking the vehicles of vendors as well as the customers. The passageway for people remains occupied by the bicycles and scooters parked haphazardly.

A section of vendors alleged that a handful of vendors enjoyed political patronage and hence, have stormed into the market leading to space crunch. "There is an extreme shortage of space to work in. Many a times, heaps of vegetables get mixed up leading to chaos between neighbouring vendors," said one of the vendors.

Squatting on non-cemented floors, vendors are forced to operate in unhygienic conditions, amidst rotten vegetables and stray animals roaming in the mandi. Situation turns pathetic during rains, as potholes and low-lying areas get flooded with rainwater. The entire area gets covered with slush making it difficult to sell and purchase vegetables and fruits.

Vendors have demanded that they should be provided with covered sheds and pucca floors so as to make the trading convenient in the market.

The area does not have civic amenities for vendors. There is no proper arrangement for drinking water or toilet. "Most of us bring our own water bottles. But the situation worsens in summer and we have to depend on the nearby RO plant to fetch water," said Ramu, a worker with one of the vendors.

Meanwhile, the secretary of the Market Committee, Harpyar Singh, said the problems at the vegetable market were short-lived, as the government had chalked out elaborate plans to construct a new sabzi mandi.

“We will have separate areas and structures marked for wholesale vendors and members of the Fari Union. The project that will begin after six months would cost Rs 40 lakh to Rs 50 lakh,” he said.

Bathinda, March 6
Human rights activist and the chairman of the Association of Physicians of India, Dr Vitull K Gupta, has condemned the act of the Punjab Police at Tarn Taran where the cops beat up a woman and her family members.

Terming the incident as brutal, he said the incident has raised a question mark on the claims of the Punjab government on building police-public relationship and inspiring confidence.

The incident has exposed the increasing brutalization of the police force, especially against the women, that too after the orders of the state government that no woman should be called to the police station for registering a complaint of harassment or assault, he said.

Dr Gupta stated that the police should be more accountable and severe punishment should be given for dereliction of duty.

He said suspending the policemen concerned is not enough and strict action should be taken against them. 

Bathinda, March 6
Punjab Technical University Giani Zail Singh (PTUGZS) campus, Bathinda, celebrated the National Science Day.

The department of applied sciences organized the celebrations held in the honour of noted scientist and Nobel laureate Sir CV Raman. The theme, communicated by the Punjab State Council of Science and Technology (PSTSC), was genetically modified crops and food security.

Abhishek Jain, teaming up with Gaurav Pareek, bagged the first position in the paper presentation competition, while the team of Sahil Bansal and Chandresh Goyal came second.

My Career Expert, a coaching institute, sponsored the quiz contest whose preliminary round was conducted a day earlier. The team of Siddharth and Shiva overtook the team of Saksham and Pankaj Singh Rana in a close competition to win the quiz contest.

Questions passed to the audiences, when answered correctly, were rewarded with a book.

Gurpiyar Singh won the poster-making competition. He was followed by Bharat Kamal. Dr Gursharan Singh was the chairman of the organizing committee while the function was coordinated by Sandeep Kansal.

The chief guest on the occasion was the director of PAU Regional Research Centre, Bathinda, Dr Jaspal Singh Gill. Dr Gill has published more than 200 research papers. He delivered a speech on genetically modified crops and food security, giving an insight into the area.

Associate Professor, PAU Regional Research Centre, Bathinda, Dr Ajit Pal Singh was the guest of honour. Campus director Dr Jasbir S. Hundal, in his welcome speech, emphasized the role of industries and research in the domain of genetically modified crops and brought forth the dilemma over the processed and genetically modified food.

Chief coordinator, Dr Seema Sharma, proposed a vote of thanks. 

Bathinda, March 6
Baba Farid Group of Institutions (BFGI) is holding placement drives for MBA students.

A spokesperson for the college said companies, including Muthoot Finance Group, Jindal Electric and Machinery Corp and CTC Impex, participated in the recruitment drive.

Meanwhile, the Forum for Advancement of Computer Engineering Students (FACES) of the department of computer science and engineering organized a workshop on android programming for the students of CSE fourth and sixth semesters. Director, NetMax Technologies, Chandigarh, Jagdeep Singh visited the campus. Jagdeep Singh gave details of Android programming environment and also threw light on the working of the software. He explained the future of the android platform. "This is the generation of open source software and android is playing an important role in it. There are thousands of applications which are available and developed through android technology," he said.

Sunil Nagpal, head of the CSE department, presented a vote of thanks.

Bathinda, March 6
In a step, towards ecological conservation, Guru Kashi University (GKU), Talwandi Sabo, has set up 25 man-made wooden nests for birds. These nests have been hung on the trees on the university campus. For this, the university has also roped in business houses. Only recently, a new concept of protecting birds was started by Amanpreet Singh Sandhu, head of the department of petrochemical engineering, by preparing wooden nests in the shape of a hut for birds.

Vice-chancellor SK Ahluwalia expressed his happiness over the “go green” mantra being adopted by the university.

Bathinda, March 6
Ashish Kumar was declared the best athlete among the boys while Navdeep Kaur was declared the best athlete among the girls at the annual athletic meet of Malwa College held today. Maharaja Ranjit Singh House was declared the best House.

Principal, BKM College, village Muhar in Ferozepur, Dr Surjit Singh Sidhu inaugurated the meet.

He took salute at the march past and addressed the students. He called upon the youngsters to maintain good health by taking to sports.

District president of the athletic association, Gurdev Singh Manshahia, was the chief guest at the prize distribution ceremony. Honorary director of the college, Dr Sardev Singh Gill, laid emphasis on the overall development of youngsters.

Other results

In the 100 metre category for girls, Gurmeet Kaur, Renu and Navjot Kaur secured the first, second and third places. In 200 metre, Karamjit Kaur, Renu and Navdeep Kaur were declared first, second and third. In 400 metre, Navdeep Kaur, Veerpal Kaur and Navjot Kaur secured the first, second and third places.

In the 800 metre race, Sangita Kumari, Veerpal Kaur and Randeep Kaur secured the first, second and third places.

In long jump, Karamjeet, Navdeep Kaur and Gurvinder Kaur secured the first, second and third places. In shot-put, Navdeep Kaur, Sandeep Kaur and Manpreet secured the first, second and third places. In chatti (pot carrying) race, Sarabjit Kaur and Manpreet Kaur secured the first and second place. In potato race, Rani Kaur, Karamjeet Kaur and Amandeep Kaur secured the first, second and third place. A musical chair race was held for the staff members in which maths lecturer Amandeep Kaur was declared the winner.

Results in boys’ category

In the 100 metre race, Jaspal Singh, Balraj Singh and Nanakveer Singh secured the first, second and third places.

In 400 metre, Balraj Singh, Jaspal Singh and Jaspreet Singh secured the first, second and third places. In 800 metre, Gagandeep Singh, Mandeep Singh and Gurpreet Singh secured the first, second and third positions.

In high jump, Ashish, Devinder Singh and Gurpreet Singh secured the first, second and third positions. In long jump, Ashish, Manpreet Sharma and Harpreet secured the first, second and third positions.

In shot-put, Hardeep Singh, Amrik Singh and Gagandeep Singh secured the first, second and third positions, respectively.

In tug-of-war, Maharaja Ranjit Singh House emerged the winner.

In the three-legged race, Gagandeep Singh and Balraj Singh bagged the first place, Bharat Bhushan and Kamal Kant bagged the second place while Rajanpal Singh and Lakshay Singla bagged the third place.

Bathinda, March 6
Jaswant Singh, a student of petrochemical department of the Guru Kashi University (GKU) has bagged the title of "Mr Physique" at a contest organised by Dashmesh Dastar Training Centre. He was among the 12 finalists.

Vice-chancellor of the university SK Ahluwalia said the achievers will be honoured by the varsity. — TNS