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Fund crunch hits functioning of varsities in state
Medical varsity in poor health
GND varsity’s expansion plan hit
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Pbi varsity struggles to pay salaries
Rains force early dismantling of pontoon bridge in Kapurthala
Bundhs in Fazilka being strengthened
Auction of mines fails to lower sand prices
40% booths in Sangrur sensitive
Sikh jatha leaves for Pak
Pollution-hit Kanakwal to boycott panchayat poll
Vigilance officials told to speed up probe in graft cases
Forum demands stay on execution of Bhullar
War widows not getting revised pensions in Patiala
Patients suffer as doctors at Sangrur TB clinic shifted
On protest path for a regular job, pharmacist ends life
Facing flak, Badal cuts short UK visit, meets pilgrims at bus stand
High Court for speedy trial in cases of crime against women and corruption
Panchayat poll aspirant shot dead
Back from Uttarakhand, pilgrims tell horror tales 19-year-old
rescuer now his grandpa's hero
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Fund crunch hits functioning of varsities in state
Ludhiana, June 21 While there are varied and numerous reasons for the financial troubles that these institutes may be experiencing, the continuous reduction — over the years — in the state government’s share in their budgets is a common factor. Even as the state is plunging into an agrarian crisis, Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana, the only agricultural university in the state is struggling to carry out research and development due to a paucity of funds. Though the grant to Punjab Agricultural University has doubled in the past few years, the grant to the university by the state this fiscal year, including the Punjab Rural Development Fund, amounts to just Rs 300 crore. The grant was only Rs 270 crore in 2012-13. This leaves the university far short of funds to spearhead research to galvanise and usher in agricultural innovation and revolution. As much as 88.76 per cent of the grants and university income goes into paying salaries and allowances — amounting to Rs 453 crore from a total budget of Rs 510 crore, including grant-in aid, ICAR, Central schemes, self-financing and other schemes. Not only has the research part suffered, but the number of teaching and non-teaching employees has also come down drastically in the past decade or so. The number of teachers has come down to about 800 from 1,600 in 2000. Similar is the case with the non-teaching staff as vacancies are not being filled due to budget constraints. The university undoubtedly needs more grant for further research, development and to improve its infrastructure, says the university staff. This university is unlike other universities in the state that introduce more courses and manage with fee from students. PAU exists to drive research and innovation in agriculture. Even while the increase in grants has given some elbow room to finances, research needs more funding, an official said. "The grant has increased no doubt. We have requested the government to give more liberal grants so that there is no paucity of funds for research in the state as Punjab is an agriculture-dependent province," said Dr HS Kingra, president, PAU Teachers Association and Punjab Federation of University and Colleges Teacher Organisation (PFUCTO). "Although the government is giving grants and an additional Rs 198 crore is being given by the Centre, more funds are constantly required as research is very cost-intensive. Research is now all the more important as we are competing with multinational companies," said Dr SS Gosal, Director of Research, PAU.
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Medical varsity in poor health
Faridkot, June 21 Having over 1,000 employees on its rolls after Guru Gobind Singh Government Medical College and Hospital in Faridkot came under the functional command of the BFUHS, the university has annual salary budget of about Rs 60 crore. The university, at present, has a total deposit of about Rs 30 crore. But with a monthly salary expenditure of Rs 5 crore, fear over the university's poor financial liquidity has gripped university employees. The BFUHS is the fifth-of-its-kind medical university in India and the first in North India. For financial year 2013-14, the planning board of the university has passed a budget of Rs 61 crore for its developmental works. Though many of the developmental works of the university are already under way, the university has not received the Punjab Government's share (25 per cent equalling Rs 15.25 crore) for these works. The flow of funds from University Grants Commission (UGC) to this medical university is also very sluggish. The university has only got just about Rs 25 lakh from the UGC for research work. "We have sent a proposal of Rs 100 crore to UGC for clearance for plan-based development of the university. We are hopeful that these allocations will be cleared in the coming days," said DS Sidhu, Registrar, BFUHS. Sources at the university said that Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital, a state government medical institution, has been putting a huge financial burden on BFUHS after its merger with the university. As this 50-year-old government medical college provides many medical facilities free of cost to its patients, BFUHS faces an annual financial burden of Rs 8-9 crore to run the college.
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GND varsity’s expansion plan hit
Amritsar, June 21 There are numerous reasons behind this sorry state. Besides making necessary expenditures in the form of hefty salary packages to its staff, conducting academic and sports affairs and the huge maintenance cost of its campus, it is its holistic preamble — the vision with which this university was conceptualised — which could be termed as one of the reasons for its depleting financial position. During financial year 2012-13, the university had spent around Rs 4 crore to help needy and intelligent students. Similarly, Rs 24 lakh was spent on handicapped students in the form of a scholarship package. Apart from these, the free health service for students, staff and dependents is another unavoidable obligation. The only source of revenue generation is the fee charged from students. Officials say that it would be difficult for the university to pay salaries for April-June when no tuition fee or other funds could be charged. With an opening balance of Rs 67.99 crore from the previous session (2012-13), the total budget for 2013-14 is estimated to be Rs 284.77 crore. This implies that the total requirement of funds to meet the expenses is at least Rs 216.77 crore. The total income from fee will amount to Rs 136 crore. The gap of about Rs 80 crore between expenditure and income will be a challenge for the university authorities to run operations smoothly. Dr Inderjit Singh, Registrar, said, "There will be a minimum extra burden of Rs 20 crore per annum in the salary disbursal budget in the shape of dearness allowance that is generally announced twice a year. Around Rs 12.87 crore is spent on conducting examinations. These are compulsory expenditures. We make small-time investments with banks to run the show," he said. "We cater to students hailing from humble and remote/rural backgrounds. We cannot put extra financial burden on them. More sources of finance could be generated by increasing the number of seats in various courses. If we hike fees like private universities, where will poor students go to get higher education?" Vice Chancellor Prof AS Brar said. "Unlike private universities, we have a social obligation to run the courses and departments like psychology, sociology, languages, Punjabi department, physical planning and architecture that rarely generate revenue in the form of fee or funds," he said.
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Pbi varsity struggles to pay salaries
Patiala, June 21 However, in the past few years, the financial situation of the university is worsening each passing year. The university is literally struggling to pay the salaries and pensions of its employees. While the university had delayed the payment of pension and salaries of its employees last month, the university had also not transferred the GPF deductions in the accounts of its working faculty since October 2012. Only recently did it deposit the deductions till March 2013. Though numerous factors have contributed to the problem, the decreasing share of the Punjab Government in the budget as grant and development of infrastructure without any financial backing are mainly responsible for the sinking situation. While the total budget of the university for year 2013-14 is Rs 360 crore, it was Rs 290 crore in 2012-13 and Rs 264 crore in 2011-12. The university had opened eight colleges in remote areas and established various new departments on the university campus, but the Punjab Government has not made any significant contribution to its development. Moreover, while the applications for admissions to most regular and certain professional courses is increasing by leaps and bounds, there are few takers for certain courses for which the university has spent crores in terms of infrastructure development — health fitness trainer diploma course, tourism management, Sikh studies and linguistics course just to name a few. The setting up of constituent colleges is adding to the burden of the university. Speaking to The Tribune, Punjabi University Registrar Dr AS Chawla said that till 15 years ago, the Punjab Government gave 76 per cent of the total budget but now, it was only contributing about 22 per cent. "There are only two sources of income for the university — government grant and tuition fee. Due to hike in DA instalments and annual increments, there was an increase of about Rs 30 crore in salaries last year. It is estimated to increase by Rs 36 crore this year.” A senior authority, on condition of anonymity, said that it was impossible to run the university until the government substantially increases the grant. "The government terms education and health as its top priorities, but there are no visible parameters to prove this. Till the government pools in more money, it is impossible to meet the expenses that are increasing by leaps and bounds," he added. Vice-Chancellor Dr Jaspal Singh said that the UGC grant received by the university was mainly for research work and cannot be used for any other purpose than what it is assigned for. "Therefore, we have to count on our own collection from student fee and Punjab Government grant," he said.
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Rains force early dismantling of pontoon bridge in Kapurthala
Sultanpur Lodhi (Kapurthala), June 21 The bridge is a lifeline of sorts to over 10,000 people in the villages. For the next three months, the villagers will have to rely on boats and rafts to cross the river. The bridge would usually be dismantled by the Building and Roads wing of the Punjab Public Works Department (PWD) before setting in of the rainy season (by June 30) every year. The district administration gave a go-ahead in this connection to the PWD officials at a meeting held at Kapurthala here today. Talking to The Tribune, Varinder Kumar, Executive Engineer, PWD (B & R), said the village residents had already been asked to make appropriate arrangements besides stocking foodgrains and commodities for the next three months. Villages that would be cut off include Baupur, Dhunna, Baupur Kadim, Zadid, Bheni Kadamwala, Sangran, Gaurewal, Kishangarh, Ramapur Gorey and Tangra. The area Sub-divisional Magistrate, KS Chandi, maintained that officials of different departments had been assigned various duties to deal with any emergency. Boats, including motorised ones, have been made available to villagers, he added. Kulbir Singh, a resident of Sardullapur village, claimed essential services like medical care, communication and postal service will be hit in the villages in the absence of a permanent road network connecting them to the district headquarters. The villagers have been demanding construction of a permanent bridge to get rid of this annual problem, for decades.
Bundhs in Fazilka being strengthened
Fazilka, June 21 Two new bundhs have been raised to prevent breaches. A 2,750-feet-long bundh is nearing completion between Kanwawali Pattan and Shamshabad in the border belt at a cost of Rs 95 lakh. Another bundh, 1,500-feet-long, has been constructed at Mauzam Forward, near the international border. An amount of Rs 48 lakh is being spent on it. A bundh from village Noorshah to Mauzam Forward has also been strengthened.
—OC
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Auction of mines fails to lower sand prices
The rates of the basic construction material have soared, a factor that has put in jeopardy not just the construction of houses and high-rise buildings but also major infrastructure projects in the region. Sources in the construction industry said there is negligible availability of sand. At present, sand is available across Punjab at anything between Rs 3,200 and In the past four months, 27 quarries were successfully auctioned by the government. While quarrying at all these sites has already begun, the rates of sand and gravel have not come down. In fact, the rates have risen further. Four months ago, just before the quarries were auctioned, sand was available in the state for Rs 2,700 per 100 cubic feet and aggregate for Rs 3,000 per 100 cubic feet. Strangely, the rates of construction material have gone up even as the supply has reportedly improved. Before the sand quarries were auctioned, mining of sand and aggregate in Punjab was banned by the Punjab and Haryana High Court as none of the mines had the mandatory environmental clearance. Sources in the mining trade have blamed contractors for the rise in the prices. They alleged the contractors enjoyed political clout in the government and, therefore, had monopolised the mining trade. “They do not allow anybody else to excavate sand and aggregate. They have their own fleet of trucks and trailers to transfer the material to the consumers, and thus charge a rate they deem fit. These mining contractors had paid a steep price to get the contract for mining this year, and are not letting mining material from the neighbouring Himachal to be brought to Punjab," said a former mining contractor from Ludhiana. “At some places in Gurdaspur where minor minerals are supplied from Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir, the contractors force these suppliers to pay a "royalty" of Rs 250 to Rs 280 per 100 cubic feet. So, the landing cost of this sand and aggregate too remains high," he said. "Residents planning major construction projects like industrial sheds have shelved these for the time being. Even consumers constructing their houses have been hit hard by the rising cost of the construction material," said a contractor, Dharmendra Kumar, of Mohali. Recently, two contractors who were awarded contracts for four-laning of the Zirakpur-Bathinda highway backed out, citing the lack of availability of construction material and high input cost. Karan Avtar Singh, Principal Secretary, Industries, who also has the charge of the Mining Department, said the government was monitoring the situation. "The prices are zooming due to a huge demand-supply gap. The government is going all out to improve the supply. We will now be auctioning 115 mining sites (across less than five hectares) between July 1 and July 3. We are also awaiting clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests for auctioning 48 quarries (over 50 hectares in area), which would bridge the demand-supply gap," he said
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40% booths in Sangrur sensitive
Sangrur, June 21 The maximum number of 52 sensitive booths is in Sangrur block, followed by Sunam with 51 booths, Lehra 45, Malerkotla-I 42, Malerkotla-II 41, Bhawanigarh 40, Dirba 39, Dhuri and Sherpur 25 each and Andana (Moonak) 20. Sangrur Senior Superintendent of Police Mandip Singh Sandhu said around 3,000 police personnel would be deployed at various places in the district. He said the requisite number of personnel would also be called from the Armed Battalion. As many as 32 police patrolling parties would be deployed on the polling day in the district to ensure peaceful polling, he added. — TNS
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Sikh jatha leaves for Pak
Amritsar, June 21 The jatha will commemorate the occasion on June 29 and will return the next day. Meanwhile, before leaving for Pakistan, SGPC member Gurinder Singh Tharu, who was leading the jatha, said they would pay obeisance at Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, Gurdwara Panja Sahib and other religious places before reaching Gurdwara Dera Sahib on June 29. Tharu said they would pay obeisance at Gurdwara Sacha Sauda, Farooqabad and Gurdwara Nankana Sahib on June 23. The next day, the jatha would reach Gurdwara Panja Sahib. “From there, we will proceed toward Gurdwara Dera Sahib two days later. On June 27, we will reach Lahore for Akhand Path. On June 28, we will pay obeisance at Gurdwara Rodhi Sahib, Aamnabad and Sri Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur and return to Gurdwara Dehra Sahib," he said.
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Pollution-hit Kanakwal to
boycott panchayat poll
Bathinda, June 21 Situated adjacent to the refinery, the village is worst hit by pollution from it. They have urged the government to relocate them to another place. Though the district administration had short-listed three sites, none of these were approved by the villagers. Nearly 100 acres of land is required for the purpose. The villagers have now decided not to field any candidate for the panchayat elections. They want the elections to the village panchayat to be held at a new place. Bhakar Singh, a representative of the villagers, said it had been two months since Chief Secretary Rakesh Singh visited the village and initiated the process of relocation. But, the government later installed pollution monitoring devices at the village to allegedly avoid relocating them. Refinery officials have all along been claiming that the pollution was within the permissible limits. The villagers have been complaining of breathing problems, pungent smell, skin ailments and noise pollution. Their fears grew when some blast took place inside the refinery and damaged their houses. They fear that a higher intensity blast can cause a major problem for them.
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Vigilance officials told to speed up probe in graft cases
Chandigarh, June 21 A spokesman of the Punjab Government today said the CVOs have been told to identify tainted officers in their respective departments and ensure effective supervision. These CVOs had also been authorised to pass on the information on corrupt officials to Secretary, Vigilance, and take action against them when evidence was available, he said. The spokesman said the Punjab Government had also made changes in the law regarding compulsory retirement in order to remove corrupt officers from services. He said that it was the duty of a CVO to forcibly retire corrupt officers at the age of 55 years. The CVOs have been told to scrutinise the property returns of government servants in their departments to detect corruption or unreasonable accumulation of property on their part. The Vigilance officers have also been directed to assist the Vigilance Department in complicated cases or regarding departmental rules and procedures. They have been told to check and review procedures adopted in the department with the assistance of the Vigilance Department to plug loop holes that facilitate corruption. He said that to speed up the investigation in corruption cases, the CVOs were to act as a liaison officer between their own departments and the Vigilance Department, including the Vigilance Bureau.
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Forum demands stay on execution of Bhullar
Patiala, June 21 Dr DS Bhullar, Senior State Vice President of the forum, said there was no need to re-examine Bhullar once a medical board had declared that he was suffering from severe depression and was mentally unfit. Bhullar said the Delhi government’s decision to have Bhullar re-examined showed that it doubted the integrity and credibility of the medical board which recently examined him. Dr Gurmeet Singh, state president of the forum, said the fact that Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar had been admitted to the Institute of Human Behavior and Allied Sciences for more than two years proved that he was a chronic patient of depression with suicidal tendencies.
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War widows not getting revised pensions in Patiala
Patiala, June 21 The Ex-Soldiers Sailors and Airmen Association that has been fighting for the rights of all soldiers and war widows for years, has highlighted this anomaly. Documents in possession of The Tribune show that Gurmeet Kaur (70), whose husband Havaldar Gopal Singh died in the 1971 war, is being disbursed lesser pension as per the rank, group and length of service of her husband. Her husband was a vehicle mechanic and had more than 20 years of service and thus fell under Group 1. However, she got a basic pay of Rs 10,000 against her entitlement of Rs 11,400 from January 1, 2006 to September 23, 2012 and Rs 11,500 against Rs 15,520 she was entitled to from September 25, 2012 till date. The total pension, including all benefits, that she received on April 30, 2013 was Rs 17,200 against her entitlement of Rs 27,994. Similarly, Balwinder Kaur, whose husband Naik Satnam Singh died in Kargil, is entitled to benefits for Group 2. She is being paid a basic pay of Rs 8,454 which has been revised twice until now. From January 1, 2006 to September 23, 2012, she should have received a basic pay of Rs 9,600 while from September 24, 2012 onwards, she should have got Rs 11, 040. Balwinder received a total pension, including benefits, of Rs 14,540 against her entitlement of Rs 19,812 on May 31. Balwinder rued, “When I brought the matter to the notice of officials at the DPDO, they reprimanded me for taking up the issue with association members. They complained as to why I didn’t inform them earlier that I had been receiving the wrong pension amount.” She said she was not qualified enough to calculate and keep track of revised pensions. She only got to know about the anomaly when she attended the grievance meeting of war widows. Association president Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal said there are many more people in Patiala who weren’t getting their full entitlements. “The DPDO has over 20 war widows and special family pensioners on its rolls in Patiala district,” he said. Rajinder Kumar, who works at the DPDO, admitted there were some anomalies in a few cases and assured that the matter would be sorted out soon.
40 yrs on, promised land not allotted War widow Gurmeet Kaur was allotted 10 acres of land in Dasuwal village by the Punjab Government after her husband had died in the 1971 war but till date she has not got possession of the land. When she was allotted the land, Sukhchain Singh duped her and usurped the property. Though the police had later nabbed the culprit on April 4, 2001 from Patti, she has still not got possession of the land. She is now old and her family is not inclined to pursue the case.
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Patients suffer as doctors at Sangrur TB clinic shifted
Sangrur, June 21 The government has failed to replace the doctors shifted from the clinic. Several TB patients were inconvenienced in these circumstances. Some of them had come from far away villages such as Lehragaga and Dhandiwal (Sherpur). The doctors, who were transferred yesterday, are Dr Parveen Pal Jindal, District TB Officer (DTO) and Dr Kirpal Singh, Medical Officer (in charge TB clinic). On an average, they examined more than 100 patients daily at the OPD. When contacted, Sangrur Civil Surgeon Dr Subodh Gupta said the matter was being taken up with the state government.
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On protest path for a regular job, pharmacist ends life
A resident of Nehianwala village, the deceased was in his late twenties. He is survived by his wife and two children. While the Assistant Sub-Inspector of Singo police station refused to comment on whether a suicide note had been found on the body, other rural veterinary pharmacists carried a “photocopied” suicide note, allegedly written by Jaswinder and posted on a social networking website. In the note (The Tribune has a copy), Jaswinder stated, “I blame no one but the state government for my suicide. I prefer death over working for Rs 7,000… I wish my colleagues succeed in moving the government to agree to their demands.” The protesters have been demanding that the jobs of pharmacists and class IV employees deputed at rural health and medical hospitals should be regularised.
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Facing flak, Badal cuts short UK visit, meets pilgrims at bus stand
Chandigarh, June 21 Badal also received the pilgrims who were rescued from Kedarnath, Badrinath and Govind Dham near Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, upon their arrival at the Chandigarh bus stand this afternoon. “It is a big tragedy and should not be politicised. Instead, our focus should be on the rescue operation,” he said. The Chief Minister assured of all help to those affected by the flood fury in the hill state. He said 150 buses, besides two more officials, had been sent to Rishikesh. Badal along with his son and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal had left for the UK on June 17. While the Chief Minister was supposed to return on June 23, Sukhbir is expected by July 3. Sources said it was because of the sharp criticism received by the state government that Badal had cut short his visit. The Tribune had, in these columns on June 21, carried out a report that the state government’s private helicopter, sent for rescue operations, had been parked idle at the Jolly Grant airport for two days, though the state government continued to claim it was rescuing pilgrims. Narinderjit Singh Bindra, vice-chairman of Sri Hemkund Sahib Management Trust, today again claimed that the Punjab Government helicopter had failed to help in the rescue operations even today. Control room set up A round-the-clock working control room had been set up under the supervision of Senior Superintendent of Police, Mohali, at the ISBT, Sector 43, Chandigarh for assisting the evacuated pilgrims and sending them to their native places. DIG Khubi Ram and Commandant Rakesh Kaushal, who had been camping at Rishikesh for the last three days, were coordinating the evacuation. The IPS and PPS officers of Punjab Police have contributed their one-day salary for the relief operations. The PCS officers have also decided to contribute a day's salary for the relief operations.
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High Court for speedy trial in cases of crime against women and corruption
Chandigarh, June 21 The newly appointed Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, also made it clear that priority was being accorded to corruption matters and cases where proceedings before the lower courts had been stayed. This was in addition to cases relating to senior citizens, and persons with disability. In
fact, the new roster prepared by the Chief Justice states: “The
cases relating to senior citizens, crime against women, persons with
disability, corruption, cases in which proceedings before the lower
courts have been stayed and remand cases from the Supreme Court will
be taken up on priority”. The development is significant as the
Punjab and Haryana High Court, just about six months back, had minced
no words to say crime against women was on the rise in Punjab before
drawing a parallel between the law and order situation prevailing in
Delhi and the state. Instructions were also issued for designating 11 courts in Haryana and eight in Punjab as fast-track courts for speedy trial of heinous crimes against women. The district and sessions judges in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh were also asked to conduct proceedings on a day-to-day basis in such cases. But, specific instructions to fast-track the cases of crime against women pending in the High Court have now been issued. Another
facet of the new roster is importance to pending criminal appeals. The
Division Bench of Justice M Jeyapaul and Justice Anita Chaudhary will
hear criminal appeals up to 2011, where accused are in custody, while
the Bench of Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice Gurmeet Singh
Sandhawalia will take up criminal appeals up to the year 2003.
Besides, seven Single Benches will take up “old writ petitions” in
addition to other regular work. At least four other Benches will take
up writ petitions up to 1991. The roster comes less than 24 hours
after the Chief Justice asserted that the shortage of judges would no
more be a handicap for deciding timely the cases of the aged and the
infirm.
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Panchayat poll aspirant shot dead
Jalandhar, June 21 The family members took Harjit Singh to a hospital where he was declared brought dead. The deceased was scheduled to file nomination papers for the panchayat poll today. The relatives confirmed he had readied his nomination papers last evening and was to submit them today.
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Back from Uttarakhand, pilgrims tell horror tales Chandigarh, June 21 With tears welling up in her eyes, she says it would not be easy for her to forget the shrieks of the pilgrims who lost their loved ones. She along with other villagers was on a pilgrimage to Hemkund Sahib. Rajinder was among the 120 passengers who arrived at the ISBT-43 in Chandigarh on Friday through the buses sent by the Punjab Government for the rescue of pilgrims. Another pilgrim, Mehar Kaur, says: “We saw everything getting destroyed. The taxi drivers who were sleeping in their cars got no chance to escape. They were buried alive and swept away by the torrent.” Gurpreet Singh from Sunam in Sangrur district says it was the Army that rescued them and provided shelter at Joshimath. “We walked down 10 km from Govindghat to Joshimath,” he says.
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19-year-old
rescuer now his grandpa's hero Chandigarh, June 21 After successfully rescuing his family, Gurminder has become a hero for his grandfather Balwant Singh. “We were at Govindghat on June 16 when I saw everyone rushing here and there to save their lives. I had to make a decision and I decided to walk down from Govindghat to Joshimath in the rain. Now, we are back,” he says.
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A sinking feeling seems to be prevailing in four universities — Punjabi University, Patiala; Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar; Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana; and Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot — in the state.
may brag about being the only university in Punjab to clinch the title of University with Potential for Excellence, the highest status awarded by the University Grants Commission (UGC) along with a Rs 50 crore grant, its fiscal health is not as sound as it should be.
Residents of 14 villages located on an island between the Beas and Sutlej here are set to be cut off from neighbouring areas. The district administration has decided to dismantle a pontoon bridge to the area by Monday due to the early arrival of the monsoon.
After boycotting the zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections, the residents of Kanakwal village have unanimously resolved to stay away from the panchayat poll as the state government has failed to fulfill its promise of relocating them.
Chandigarh, June 21
Horrified, with fear of the Uttarakhand devastation still visible on their faces, Punjab pilgrims who returned from the hill state today had heart-rending stories to narrate.“It seemed to be a never-ending night. As the flash floods struck, everybody was trying to climb on to the upper storeys of the building they were staying in. While some were lucky, others were swept away,” says Rajinder Kaur of Morinda. She feels blessed to be among those who survived the tragedy at Govindghat in Uttarakhand.
Chandigarh, June 21
Singo (Talwandi Sabo), June 21