Bathinda, June 15
A wall of sewer treatment plant (STP) collapsed on the Mansa road today which left eight people, including two children, injured. The injured, who were labourers, were living in a hutment on which the wall fell. They are undergoing treatment at the Civil Hospital, Bathinda.

The injured have been identified as Sushil, Bimla, Shambhu, Ajay Kumar, Paras, Babbar Khan, three-year-old Anchal and eight-month-old Ajay.

Assistant municipal commissioner Kamal Kant Goyal claimed that the construction of the boundary wall was not faulty. “Six-feet-high mud was piled right outside the wall. As the water poured in, the heap of mud pushed away the wall leading to its collapse,” he said. Goyal visited the spot with the SE and XEN of the Sewerage Board. He added that the cracked wall would be dismantled and a new wall would be constructed in its place.

Bathinda, June 15
The bail application of a ward attendant at the Civil Hospital here, who was arrested by the Vigilance Bureau (VB) on May 30, has been adjourned once again.

A special court of Avtar Singh deferred the application till July 2.

The attendant, Nitish Kumar (23), was arrested for allegedly pocketing Rs 5,000 as bribe to favour a party in a medico-legal case by manipulating the medical report.

The VB, however, claimed to have found nothing incriminating against the doctor under whose supervision the attendant was working on the night of May 29.

Nitish's bail application was moved by his family members through advocate Chander Mohan Ruby.

Earlier, the bail application had come up for hearing on June 10.

Interestingly, the VB has not taken any action against the doctor yet even as the complainant, Paramjit Singh, stated in the FIR that it was the doctor who asked him (complainant) to speak to the ward attendant for making their medico-legal case strong.

Paramjit, a farmer from Nasibpura (Kailewander) village, had got his nephew and a village resident admitted to the hospital on May 29 after they sustained injuries in a brawl. He stated that when he asked Dr Ravinder Singla to make his case stronger against the opposite party, the doctor, who was on night duty, asked him to meet his attendant.

The complainant stated that the doctor left the hospital at 8 in the morning and as per his direction, he met the attendant who demanded Rs 25,000 for the job. But the deal was settled at Rs 15,000.

The matter was brought into the notice of the VB and its sleuths nabbed the attendant while accepting the bribe.

Nitish Kumar was booked under Sections 7, 13 (2) and 88 of the Prevention of Corruption Act at the Vigilance police station, Bathinda.

Bathinda, June 15
Saturday ushered in a pleasant weekend for the residents of Bathinda and its adjoining areas as another spell of pre-monsoon showers soaked the city as well as lowered the temperature.

The city registered 63.2 mm of rainfall today raising the measure to 190 mm this month. In 2001, the region had received 130.6 mm of rainfall while it was recorded at 164.4 mm in 2008. Years 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, however, were exceptionally dry in the month as 23.4, 47.4, 9.2 and 11 mm of rainfall, respectively, was recorded.

The city woke up to overcast conditions early morning and the the skies opened up at around 9.30 am. Incessant rains lashed the city till late afternoon bringing down the maximum temperature to 27 degree Celsius and the minimum to 22 degree Celsius. The weather, however, cleared in the evening as the sun shone bright after 5 pm.

Meanwhile, the city residents had more reasons to worry than to rejoice. Proving the claims of the Municipal Corporation, Bathinda (MCB), to be hollow, several low-lying areas in the city were waterlogged 'again'. Residents of areas such as Power House Road, Amrik Singh Road, Parasram Nagar, Balla Ram Nagar, Kamla Nehru Colony, Prajapat Colony, Green Avenue, Nai Basti, Kothe Amarpura, Sirki Bazar, Dhobi Bazar and several other places found it difficult to step out of their homes as the streets were waterlogged.

Gaping lapses were seen not only in the drainage system in the city, but also in its sewerage system. Complaints about regurgitating sewerage also poured in from some parts of the city making it hard for residents to bear the stench emanating from rainwater mixed with sewerage water.

Another reason to worry was a long power outage. A PSPCL official confirmed that power supply to several areas of the city had to be snapped since wind blowing at a high velocity could have resulted in high-tension wires coming in contact with each other and causing short circuit.

According to the Indian Meteorological Department, a similar weather is expected to prevail over the next four days.

To highlight the problem of waterlogging in the city, former municipal councillor Vijay Kumar rowed an airtub in one of the submerged streets of Parasram Nagar.

The heavy downpour has brought good news for the farmers who have begun transplantation of paddy. Although the agricultural activity began on June 10, the rain gods smiled a couple of days ago. The paddy farmers are happy that they will not have to use underground water to irrigate their fields and ensure standing water to transplant paddy.

Bathinda, June 15
A former Congress MLA Harminder Singh Jassi said the claims of the SAD-BJP government in making Bathinda an ideal city and managing rainwater have fallen flat.

“The city is deluged. Even the wall of the railway under bridge, which was constructed less than a year ago, has collapsed exposing the corruption and inefficiency of the state government,” he said while demanding a probe into the funds spent on the construction of bridge.

The ex-MLA alleged that sub-standard material was used in constructing the walls of the RUB.

Jassi said not the only the bridge, but the entire city submerged in the rainwater. “From markets to residential areas everything stands inundated. No wonder, a thought of downpour scares Bathinda residents,” he said. — TNS

Bathinda, June 15
The polls for electing the sarpanch and members of the gram panchayats will be held on July 3.

In a press statement issued here, Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishore Yadav stated that the notification for the polls will be issued on June 19. The code of conduct will also come into force from the same day onwards. Gram panchayats cannot undertake any new development works and none of the ministers can issue any grant for the gram panchayats.

Nominations for the elections can be filed from June 10 to June 11 from 11 am to 3 pm. The nominations have to be filed with the returning officer at the Block Development and Panchayat office. The papers filed will be scrutinized on June 24.

On June 25, candidates can withdraw their nominations and the final list shall be put up the same day.

On July 3, polling will be held from 8 am to 4 pm and the counting will start at the polling booth itself immediately. The assistant returning officer will conduct the counting.

Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Mohammad Tayyab added that 28 returning officers and 28 assistant returning officers have been deputed for the task. Each will have around 10 to 12 gram panchayats.

For the Bathinda block, executive engineer, PWD (B&R), central work, chief agriculture officer, XEN, PWD (B&R division number 2), XEN Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), XEN, Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board (PWSSB), district manager, industrial centre, have been appointed as assistant returning officers.

For Sangat block, XEN, Punjab Mandi Board, district manager, Markfed, XEN, PWSSB and sanitation division number 2 and XEN PWSSB and sanitation division number 1, have been appointed as assistant returning officers (AROs).

For Nathana block, district manager, Forest Division Development Corporation Limited, district town planner and the divisional land division conservation officer, have been appointed as assistant returning officers (AROs).

For Talwandi Sabo block, XEN, PWSSB and sanitation division number 3, district food and supplies controller, divisional engineer, PSTC division number 7, XEN (civil 1), BDA, and XEN (civil 2), BDA, have been appointed as assistant returning officers (AROs). For Maur block, XEN Bathinda canal, XEN (Public Health), BDA and municipal engineer have been appointed as assistant returning officers (AROs).

For block Rampura, XEN canal lining division, Rampura Phul, deputy director, horticulture and divisional engineer PSTC division number 9, have been appointed as the assistant returning officers (AROs).

For block Phul, XEN vigilance and quality control, XEN, PWSSB and sanitation division number 2, have been appointed as assistant returning officers (AROs).

For block Bhagta Bhai Ka, the district social welfare and security officer and the XEN, PWD construction division number 1, have been appointed as assistant returning officers (AROs).

SDMs and tehsildars will be in-charge of the ROs and AROs. A meeting in this regard has been convened on June 17.

Bathinda, June 15
As many as 20 MBA colleges, from across India, will be coming to Bathinda to attend the city's first ever MBA admission fair. The fair is being organised by the IeXcel group to give MBA aspirants an opportunity to meet the representatives of these colleges.

Sony Goyal, director of the IeXcel group said many students wishing to join MBA colleges are not well-equipped to get the relevant information about the colleges. This is where the fair will help them. He also said that the candidates will have to fill only one form for all these colleges, as opposed to the practice of buying prospectus of every college. — TNS

Bathinda, June 15
Aiming to give 100 per cent placement to the students of Guru Ram Dass Institute of Engineering & Technology (GRDIET), its chairman Prof Harbhajan Singh announced that the institute will organise a job fair on June 19.

The fair will open avenues of opportunities not only for GRDIET students but also for students from other parts of Malwa region.

Director, GRDIET, Prof Daljit Singh, said more than 30 companies from Mohali, Chandigarh, Noida, Gurgaon and Banglore are expected to attend the job fair. Students of BTech, diploma courses, BBA, BCA, MBA, MCA and ITI can take part. — TNS