B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Dead fish found floating in Rajasthan feeder canal
Faridkot, March 28
Dead fish were found floating in the Rajasthan Feeder Canal today in the evening due to the release of sewage. The dead fish were found floating on a 50 km stretch of the canal, from Harike in Ferozepur to Faridkot.

Govt committed to fight cancer, says FM
Abohar, March 28
Punjab Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa has said that the supply of contaminated water is not the only reason for the high incidence of cancer in the state.

Paper leak
DEO recommends 20 pc grace marks for Muktsar students
Muktsar, March 28
The students of PSEB class X of Muktsar district, who had to face a number of problems while appearing in their English exam on Monday, may get some relief from the Board, as the District Education Officer (DEO) has recommended 20 per cent grace marks for them.

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal along with his wife MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal and kids going to a multiplex in Bathinda on Wednesday. The Deputy Chief Minister flew into the city after participating in the Hola Mohalla celebrations at Anandpur Sahib. Tribune photo: Pawan Sharma

Crackdown on drug peddlers in Moga
Moga, March 28
In an offensive against the drug peddlers, the Moga police recovered 200 grams of heroin, 15 kg of poppy husk and psychotropic drugs from various parts of the district during the last 24 hours.

Woman burnt alive
Abohar, March 28
A woman was burnt alive in village Seetogunno, 31 km from here on the Abohar-Dabwali road, while her son was in a critical condition.

Dead fish found floating in Rajasthan feeder canal
Tribune News Service

Faridkot, March 28
Dead fish were found floating in the Rajasthan Feeder Canal today in the evening due to the release of sewage. The dead fish were found floating on a 50 km stretch of the canal, from Harike in Ferozepur to Faridkot.

The canal carries drinking and irrigation water from the Sutlej in western Punjab southwards to Rajasthan. Known as the lifeline of Rajasthan, the canals supply water to 15 districts of Rajasthan.

While the authorities of the canal department are tightlipped about the flow of sewerage saying the water will be cleaned in the next 24 hours, sources in the Rajasthan Canal Department in Punjab revealed that untreated sewage and industrial effluents were dumped into the Sutlej, resulting into the problem.

A superintendent engineer in the department, said on the condition of anonymity that there was no treatment of water to remove toxic and heavy metals. Moreover, people in 15 districts of Rajasthan's rural areas used water directly from the canal for irrigation and drinking purposes, he said.

As the news spread, many migrants labourers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh lined up along the canal to take out the dead fish. "There were about three to five tonnes of dead fish floating along the canal," said Charanjit Gondhara, a resident.

After the canal department in Rajasthan received complaints about the flow of the highly polluted and toxic water in the Rajasthan Feeder Canal today in the evening, they asked the canal department, Punjab, to take corrective steps.

This is not the first time that dead fish were found floating in the canal. People said it had happened several times earlier. But the authorities have not conducted any study to find out the cause of deaths. Some people even ate the dead fish, while some sold them, local residents said.

Govt committed to fight cancer, says FM
Our Correspondent

Abohar, March 28
Punjab Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa has said that the supply of contaminated water is not the only reason for the high incidence of cancer in the state.

Interacting with people in village Daulatpura today during a personal visit, Dhindsa said thousands of people in other countries suffer from cancer despite the supply of potable water, better medical facilities and high-tech infrastructure.

The Punjab government is determined to fight cancer and extend all possible help to the patients from the next financial year.

The state government has been able to minimise fiscal deficit and further improvement in the situation is expected by the next financial year.

The Finance Minister claimed that all state government employees would be paid salaries before the last working day of the outgoing financial year.

Paper leak
DEO recommends 20 pc grace marks for Muktsar students
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Muktsar, March 28
The students of PSEB class X of Muktsar district, who had to face a number of problems while appearing in their English exam on Monday, may get some relief from the Board, as the District Education Officer (DEO) has recommended 20 per cent grace marks for them.

Speaking to The Tribune, DEO Devinder Kumar Rajouria said, “I was asked by the PSEB officials yesterday to give my opinion on giving grace marks to the students of class X in their English exam. So, I have told them to give at least 20 per cent grace marks to the students.”

He, however, added that a final decision in this regard was yet to be taken.

On March 24, a day before the English exam, it was leaked and the PSEB officials distributed two fresh sets of handwritten question papers among the students, but with a delay of almost three hours. Since then, the students have been fuming over the alleged biased approach of the PSEB, saying when the paper was leaked, why were the authorities not cancelling the paper throughout the state. They also asked why fresh question papers were issued only in Muktsar and Banur.

Crackdown on drug peddlers in Moga
Tribune News Service

Moga, March 28
In an offensive against the drug peddlers, the Moga police recovered 200 grams of heroin, 15 kg of poppy husk and psychotropic drugs from various parts of the district during the last 24 hours.

Giving the details, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gurpreet Singh Toor said 100 grams of heroin was recovered from a woman, identified as Sabir Kaur, a resident of Daulewala village along with currency worth Rs 55, 290, which she earned from smuggling drugs.

In a separate recovery, 100 grams of heroin was recovered from the possession of one Davinder Singh, a resident of the same village.

A sum of Rs 3 lakh was also recovered from his possession, besides a Scorpio jeep and a mobile phone, which were used to smuggle drugs.

The SSP said a team from the Moga City-II police station had arrested two youths, Jagsir Singh, a resident of Aaklian Kalan village (Bathinda) and Saurav Yadav, a resident of Goniana Mandi (Bathinda), from whose possession a huge cache of psychotropic drugs was recovered by the cops.

Similarly, 15 kg of poppy husk was recovered from one Hardev Singh, a resident of Bilaspur village in Moga yesterday.

Toor said separate criminal cases under various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act had been registered against the five smugglers and further investigations were in progress.

Woman burnt alive

Abohar, March 28
A woman was burnt alive in village Seetogunno, 31 km from here on the Abohar-Dabwali road, while her son was in a critical condition.

Eye-witnesses said smoke was seen coming out of the house. Omvati, wife of Bhup Ram Bhat and her son Sheshkaran had been engulfed by flames. An alarm was sounded. Scores of villagers rushed to help but Omvati had been charred to death by then. Her son Sheshkaran was, however, rescued and shifted to the burns ward of the Civil Hospital here where doctors described his condition as critical.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Veer Chand, in-charge of the Balluana segment, along with the other cops, reached the village to investigate the incident. — OC