B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Solid waste
Treatment plant mooted for F’kot
Faridkot, April 29
After the residents of six villages in Arianwala area of Faridkot stopped the Municipal Committee (MC) from dumping solid waste, the state government has now started work to deal with the problem of solid waste in the area.

Panchayat body elections
Muktsar admn uploads poll-related info on its website
Muktsar, April 29
After the Congress legislators Karan Kaur Brar from Muktsar and Amrinder Singh ‘Raja’ Warring from Gidderbaha accused the district administration on Wednesday of providing them with two different lists of villages kept in different zones for conducting the Zila Parishad polls, the district administration has uploaded the election related information on its official website.

Water released in Abohar canals
Abohar, April 29
Water has been released in all the canals that feed Abohar sub-division. The system was closed for annual maintenance on April 8.

Hit by waterlogging, farmers turn to fish farming
Muktsar, April 29
Owing to efforts made by the Fisheries Department, farmers in Muktsar hit by waterlogging are taking to fish farming.

Five booked for threatening police team
Muktsar, April 29
On the complaint of Darbara Singh, the in-charge of the Economic Offences Wing, Muktsar, the Sadar police today booked five persons, including two identified as Darshan Singh and Jagpal Singh, for threatening a police team, which had gone to produce an accused, Lakhwinder Kaur before a local court. Lakhwinder was arrested on April 26 in the Lamba murder case.

Solid waste
Treatment plant mooted for F’kot
Balwant Garg/TNS

Faridkot, April 29
After the residents of six villages in Arianwala area of Faridkot stopped the Municipal Committee (MC) from dumping solid waste, the state government has now started work to deal with the problem of solid waste in the area.

The Local Bodies Department, Municipal Committee and the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) have set the ball rolling for constructing a modern solid waste management plant on 18 acres of land near Bir Chahal village in the district.

The plant will cater to the needs of about a dozen towns of the area including Muktsar, Ferozepur, Jalalabad and Kotkapura.

"With the accelerating rate of urbanisation and the attendant pressure to manage the huge quantity of solid waste being generated, the plant will help in coping with the problem," said Faridkot Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat.

Though the residents of villages adjoining the proposed solid waste management plant apprehend that the plant will pollute the environment, the PPCB authorities who visited the site, said the apprehension is misplaced.

Earlier, the MC was using a four-acre dumping ground, surrounded by fields of Machaki Khurd, Burj Masta, Arianwala, Jhotiwala, Midmaan and Himmatpura villages of Faridkot district for over five years.

But the unscientific disposal of garbage started posing severe health risks to the local residents. Therefore, they started opposing the dumping of solid waste there.

In the absence of a dumping site, many a time, the contractors working with the MC piled up the garbage by the roadside. In the absence of a place for disposal and dumping, the municipal workers too are reluctant to pick waste. As a result, the waste has begun to appear on the streets.

After the plant starts working, sweepers will be paid on the basis of square meter coverage, and the entire road surface will have to be swept. Garbage collection and transport will be compensated on the basis of tonnage delivered to disposal sites, and a maximum of four tonnes per load condition will be imposed to prevent artificial weighing of trucks with brickbats and other heavy items, said the MC officials.

Panchayat body elections
Muktsar admn uploads poll-related info on its website
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Muktsar, April 29
After the Congress legislators Karan Kaur Brar from Muktsar and Amrinder Singh ‘Raja’ Warring from Gidderbaha accused the district administration on Wednesday of providing them with two different lists of villages kept in different zones for conducting the Zila Parishad polls, the district administration has uploaded the election related information on its official website.

The lists of Zila Parishad zones, panchayat samiti zones and reservation for Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections has been uploaded on the website www.muktsar.nic.in

Deputy Commissioner Paramjit Singh today held a meeting in this regard and said the elections would be held in a fair manner and anyone can get the information regarding the polls from the district administration’s website.

He informed that the nominations for Zila Parishad and Block Samiti polls would be filed from May 3 to 7. The scrutiny will be held on May 8 and candidates can take back their nominations on May 9. The election symbols will also be allotted to the candidates on the same day.

The polling will be held on May 19 from 8 am to 4 pm and the counting will be held on May 21. The rehearsal for the election staff would be held on May 10, 15 and 18.

As many as 606 polling booths will be set up in the district to conduct the elections.

The DC said in Muktsar district, 12 zones have been earmarked for the Zila Parishad elections. For the Block Samiti polls, 25 zones have been set up in Muktsar and Gidderbaha, while 21 zones have been created in Lambi.

The nominations for the Zila Parishad elections will be filed at the office of the Muktsar SDM.

The nominations for Muktsar Block will be filed at the BDPO office, Muktsar.

For the Gidderbaha Block Samiti polls, the nominations will be filed at the SDM office, Gidderbaha.

The nominations for Malout Block Samiti polls will be filed at the SDM office, Malout, and the nominations for Lambi Block Samiti polls will be filed at the Naib Tehsildar's office in Lambi.

Water released in Abohar canals
Raj Sadosh

Abohar, April 29
Water has been released in all the canals that feed Abohar sub-division. The system was closed for annual maintenance on April 8.

The officials in the Irrigation Department having circle headquarter here hope they will be in a position to make water available in the tail-end villages as lot of silt had been removed.

The Gang (Bikaner) canal had also been closed on April 8 for 40 days to take up cleaning and repairs besides left-out lining work in the Ferozepur-Fazilka-Abohar belt as well as in the neighbouring Sriganganagar district. A meeting has been fixed for May 1 to review the latest position so as to ensure that the work is completed within the stipulated period, officials said.

Efforts to supply water using tankers are being made in the areas that complain of water crisis.

Hit by waterlogging, farmers turn to fish farming
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Muktsar, April 29
Owing to efforts made by the Fisheries Department, farmers in Muktsar hit by waterlogging are taking to fish farming.

So far, 402.5 acres of private land has been converted into fish ponds in the district with at least 200 farmers taking to pisciculture.

Private land under fish farming during 2011-12 was 55 acres. It went up to 75 acres in 2012-13.

Residents of Channu village near Lambi have set an example by converting 26 acres of land into fish ponds. A resident of Chak Sherewala village has set up a private fish seed hatchery.

“It was a difficult decision to make a fish pond on the land I had tilled for decades. But the decision has worked well and I’m earning nearly Rs 40,000 per month from my 3.25 acre fish pond,” said Manvinder Singh of Jhorar village who owns 16 acres of land of which 10 acres is waterlogged.

Another farmer Daljit Singh of Bhullar village, who quit his job as a government teacher after taking to fish farming, said: “Nine years ago, I had made a fish pond on 3.5 acres of waterlogged land. This is now fetching me huge profits.”

He began with 12,000 small-sized fish in 2004.

"Though in the first year, only expenses were covered, the next year I earned a good profit,” he said.

Karan Singh Rathore, Assistant Director, Muktsar, Fisheries, said: “A total of 1,432 acres of land has been brought under the fisheries across the district, of which 402.5 acres is private land.”

He said fish ponds were proving a boon for farmers of waterlogged areas. “It costs nearly Rs 4 lakh to convert one hectare (2.5 acres) into a fish pond. The department gives 20 per cent subsidy on the same,” said Rathore.

Rathore said the farmers at first had apprehensions that the saline water in their fields would not allow the fish to grow.

"The fish are kept in a natural pond. Besides, a mechanism installed in the pond increases the quantity of oxygen,” he added.

Five booked for threatening police team

Muktsar, April 29
On the complaint of Darbara Singh, the in-charge of the Economic Offences Wing, Muktsar, the Sadar police today booked five persons, including two identified as Darshan Singh and Jagpal Singh, for threatening a police team, which had gone to produce an accused, Lakhwinder Kaur before a local court. Lakhwinder was arrested on April 26 in the Lamba murder case.

“The duo, brothers of the accused, accompanied by others, threatened the police party today,” Darbara Singh said.

Yesterday, Darshan had alleged that her sister was arrested without her involvement in the case. “My sister has suffered a fracture in her ankles because of the cops and they are not even allowing me to meet her,” he had told The Tribune. — TNS