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BDA to slash flat prices by 20 pc
Power crisis deepens as demand increases in Bathinda city
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Municipal Solid Waste plant
Industrialists allege harassment, demand restoration of power
Bathinda farmers march against Monsanto
Six months on, district admn yet to pay hoteliers
With summer vacation, rush begins in trains
Man commits suicide; wife demands justice
Punjabi girls showing keen interest in joining police force
Police fail to check under-age driving
Body found in Nathana channel
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BDA to slash flat prices by 20 pc
Bathinda, May 24 BDA sources said the cost was being reduced in view of the very few applications received to purchase these flats. Now, the cost to be deposited for the 10-year maintenance and the BDA’s profit will be reduced. The BDA officials said the exact rate list would be released after completing all the formalities, but prices may come down to a great extent to make the flats within the reach of the maximum number of buyers. The scheme, they said, is being re-launched. The foundation stone for these flats, situated in the heart of the city, was laid before the general elections by Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, in February. The 2BHK and 3BHK high-rise flats were earlier proposed to be built on the pattern of luxury flats with servant quarters. Earlier, the government houses were built on the site and the BDA had to vacate them after demolishing the dilapidated old structures. Located centrally in the city, the proposed site is close to the bus stand, civil secretariat, district courts, hospital and the market area. “We proposed to construct ultramodern kitchens have privisions for 10-year maintenance, round-the-clock power backup, security cover and other facilities in the flats housed in 15 storeys in each tower,” said BDA’s Chief Administrator Varinder Sharma. He said the prices would be reduced by nearly 20 per cent to attract more customers for sale of around 778 flats. He said strategies are being chalked out to reduce the price but not at the cost of basic facilities, security and power backup. The 2BHK flats will have an area of 1,200 square feet each and would be housed in 1,200 and 1,800 square feet area. The BDA received merely 200 applications for the purchase of these flats from the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BHUHS) and a private thermal plant. The flats are likely to be equipped with a club with a restaurant, bar, swimming pool, indoor games provision, fitness centres, provision of split and window air-conditioners in all bedrooms, ventilation and other facilities. |
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Power crisis deepens as demand increases in Bathinda city
Bathinda, May 24 Sources in the Powercom claimed that since the demand has increased and supply is less, the power grid is unable to bear high load. So, it trips again and again, due to which power supply remained disrupted in some parts of the city. Four complaint centres have been set up in the city at Gol Diggi, ITI, Cantonment and trans railway line area. But all the centres are in poor condition. In spite of 48 employees working here, many complaints remained unanswered. As most phones at these centres remain switched off or are out of reach, residents have to spend the night without electricity. It is pertinent to mention that Bathinda was declared a power cut-free zone in 2009. But with the unscheduled power cuts increasing day-by-day, the residents have been affected adversely. The inverters installed at the shops and houses also stopped working after almost four hours. Thereafter, people were left with no other option but to sit and wait for the resumption of power
supply. Congress leader and former MLA Harminder Singh Jassi said it is clear that unscheduled cuts are being imposed by the ruling party in the city as they want to take revenge on the voters in the city who voted against the SAD candidate and made her trail by a huge margin of nearly 30,000 votes from the Bathinda urban constituency in the Lok Sabha elections. Sunita Goyal, a housewife, said the unscheduled power cuts had affected their household work. She stated that even at night, the Powercom was imposing cuts which also affected them the next day. Powercom XEN, Bathinda city, Hardeep Singh Sidhu said in 2009, Bathinda city was declared power cut free zone. But now, the demand has increased while the supply is less. So, there are unscheduled power cuts in the city. Raman Watts, president, Bathinda Chambers Of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), said, “There was a power cut throughout the day today in the industrial area. But it did not affect much as Friday was a day off for the industries here. But the condition was even worse in the domestic sector. |
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Complainants eagerly await justice as next date for hearing fixed for July 9
Gurdeep Singh Mann Tribune News Service
Bathinda, May 24 “In the last five to six hearings, the NGT has not been able to deliver its verdict. All the arguments in the case have been heard though,” he said. Two and a half years ago, the State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) had given clearance to the setting of the MSW plant on Mansa Road, where the Bathinda city has been dumping its garbage for the last 40 years. However, since the MSW plant will process garbage of 18 urban local bodies (ULBs) that lie under the Bathinda cluster of the plant, some people from nearby areas, especially Bhai Mati Dass Nagar, moved the NGT demanding that the plant be shifted from the proposed place. Over the passage of time, the Punjab government planned similar five plants at other places in the state opposing which people from different districts moved to the NGT. Around five months ago, the NGT had clubbed all the cases of the state together and asked the state government to file a roadmap for dealing with garbage, the way it will be handled, processed and how refused manufactures will be disposed of. The NGT had held the importance of managing the garbage in a scientific rather than only processing it at the plants. At the May 23 hearing, all the counsels forwarded a joint request to the NGT that the matter be adjourned till July 9. Earlier, during the March 11 hearing, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) had requested for an adjournment of the case following which the NGT had fixed April 3 as the final date for the disposal of the case. Earlier, the Deputy Commissioner, Bathinda, and the Municipal Commissioner too had appeared before the tribunal giving necessary undertakings and answering the queries asked by the NGT. Advocate Guriqbal Singh Chahal said at present, a status quo has been maintained and the company has been directed not to do anything at the site.
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Industrialists allege harassment, demand restoration of power
Jalandhar, May 24 Representatives said the polluted water from the industry was transported and disposed of at the CETP in Ludhiana. The association of electroplating units in the city was paying Rs 90 paisa per litre for the said disposal. They said the PPCB was still conducting checks and accusing industries of violations even when they were responsibly disposing of their effluents (water) through this system. Notably, there are about 250 electroplating units of the city under the Jalandhar Effluent Treatment Society (JETS) which has been formed by the industry members. Industrialists said they were paying from their own pockets to dispose effluent water of 80 lakh litres per month.
Gursharan Singh, president of the JETS and Federation of Jalandhar Industry and Commerce alleged, “Inspectors come to the industry randomly and keep threatening the owners. Electric connections of even those owners who are part of this system of polluted water disposal are being disconnected. Applying for consent (a procedure under which an owner establishing new industry has to seek consent from authorities that there is zero pollution or discharge from his industry) has become a tideous process because owners going directly are inconvenienced. Then people prefer approaching through touts.” ”Just a day ago, the electricity meter of a unit owner, who disposes water through JBR process, was cut,” he said. “We have demanded that the connections of industrialists immediately be restored. Garg has assured us that from his side it will be taken care that legitimate industrialists are not bothered,” he said.
Ashwini Kumar, secretary of the JETS said, “There is also a very tiring process involving the passing of maps. The charges for the approval are pretty high. When one acquires requisite permission and gets a map passed form a government approved architect, one believes they have done their bit.”
Garg is a very positive person and we hope he will co-operate with us. For matters involving higher authority like clearing of maps and acquiring other approval, the industrialists are also planning to meet Seema
Jain, Secretary, Department for Science Technology and Environment, in a few days. Superintending Engineer PPCB, SP
Garg, reacting to claim made by industrialists said, “We are not raiding industries at random. Connections of the merely five to seven of the new industrial units which hadn’t completed the due paperwork or were causing pollution, were raided. Establishments of the registered members haven’t been raided. As far as surprise checks are concerned, we can’t stop conducting those. Erring industries will have to be acted against. The surprise element is thus inevitable.” “As far as approvals and paper work is concerned, we have already said that is not our domain and those matters can be cleared with higher authority only,” he said. |
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Bathinda farmers march against Monsanto
Bathinda, May 24 Marching through Power House Road with hoardings against Monsanto, the protestors reached the Mini-Secretariat and handed over the memorandum to the DC. The protest was organised under the leadership of Hartej Singh Mehta of the Kheti Virasat Mission, Sukhdev Singh Bhupal of the Kudrat-Manav Kendrit Lok Lehar, Kaka Singh Kotda of the BKU Sidhupur, Nahar Singh of the BKU Dakunda, Jagjit Singh Joga of the CPI and Jasveer Singh of the Punjab Kisan Sabha. “The protests were held in many cities around the country, including Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata and Coimbatore. A march against Monsanto is a global call for action aimed at informing the public, calling into question the long-term health risks of the GM crops or food and calling for action from decision makers not to allow a risky technology like the GM into our food and agriculture and demanding that multinational corporations like Monsanto quit India,” said Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Dkaunda Nahar Singh. Raman Mann, a member of the Nanak Kheti, said, “Monsanto’s aim is to control the global food and agriculture systems for profiteering. It is the world’s largest seed company, controlling 23 per cent of the proprietary seeds market and in India too, aided actively by conducive policies and lax regulation, it is consolidating its position as a major seed company in different crops. It’s a company that has not hesitated to sue and jail many farmers. Monsanto is being allowed by the governments to recast regulatory frameworks to suit its interests, and is seen to manipulate politicians and officials in the developing world to push its GM (genetic modification) technology, herbicides and proprietary hybrids.” She further added that Monsanto now controls around 93 per cent of the India's cotton seed market after the GM seeds in the form of Bt cotton were allowed into India, actively supported by policy makers. Umendra Dutt, Executive Director of the Kheti Virasat Mission, said: “Genetically modified (GM) crops are not the way forward for the Indian agriculture or food security as they pose a huge risk to human and animal health, environment and livelihoods of farmers, there is increasing scientific evidence to show the same. Today, we are here to tell the government and fellow citizens what exactly Monsanto symbolises and why it should be banned.” Dutt added that the regulatory authority at the Centre, the GEAC (Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee) has continued to ignore these risks and has approved field trials for the GM crops for staple crops like rice and wheat with a huge potential to contaminate our food supply. It is very important that the Prime Minister-Designate Narendra Modi takes a precautionary approach to GM crops. The SAD-led government in Punjab should not allow field trials for the GM crops in the state given the widespread opposition from all quarters of society as well as the emerging scientific evidences. The memorandum signed by the Punjab government with Monsanto should be scrapped and the programme of intensive farming of Bt cotton involving high usage of pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilisers should be abandoned. The state government must oppose this risky technology in our food and farming. Punjab’s position as a pioneer in agriculture production in the country and around the world is getting jeopardised with the threat of the GM crops,” said Sukhdev Bhupal, a member of Kudrat-Manav. Farmers and citizens of the Bathinda district demanded their right to safe food and control over what they grow and eat. They demanded that the government continue to promote organic farming as the main approach and realise that GMOs in our food and farming are antithetical to sustainable agriculture.
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Six months on, district admn yet to pay hoteliers
Bathinda, May 24 President of the Bathinda Hotel, Restaurant and Resorts Association, Satish Arora, said there are nine hotels in the city whose Rs 37 lakh bill is pending with the district administration. He stated that during the beginning of the Kabaddi World Cup, the district administration had told them that they had plenty of funds and their bills would be cleared immediately after the conclusion of the event. But six months have passed and there is no sight of the payment. Hotel owners were quite tense as vendors whose money had been blocked due to non-payment of bills by the administration had been putting pressure on the hoteliers, he added. Satish Arora also warned the district administration that if their payment was not cleared in the next 15 days, they may be forced take some step. It is worth mentioning that earlier in the third editions of the World Cup, the government had cleared the dues of the hoteliers after a long time. |
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With summer vacation, rush begins in trains
Bathinda, May 24 Seeing the rush, railway authorities have started a summer special train from Bathinda to Sabarmati in Gujarat. But the situation is such that even special trains are showing no room status. The special train leaves from Bathinda railway station only on Sunday at 8 am. All major trains including the Punjab Mail, Janta Express, Jammu Tawi Express, Udyan Abha Toofan Express, Awadh Assam Express, Barmer-Haridwar Express and others have a long waiting list. Those still waiting to book their tickets will now have to depend on the Tatkal category. There is a huge rush for Tatkal tickets and there is no guarantee that you will get the ticket. In the Tatkal category. Passengers are required to pay more money for the
ticket. A railway official said seeing the rush, a special train has been started between Bathinda and Sabarmati. Mukul Gupta, a local resident, said he was planning to go to Mumbai and Goa for holidays but could not get the train tickets and had to change his plans. It may be mentioned that with the beginning of summer vacation, many schools have opened a summer camp but students stills prefer to go out for holidays. Earlier, spending vacations with grandparents was also the practice but the trend has changed and family vacations are preferred more. |
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Man commits suicide; wife demands justice
Bathinda, May 24 Ranju Bala, wife of the decreased, alleged that she was being denied justice, as even after the registration of the case on May 21, the police was not arresting the accused due to political reasons. As per the statement given to the police by Ranju Bala, she stated that her husband Pawan Rajpal and her husband’s friend Amarinder Singh of Bathinda along with her brother-in-law, Deepak Rajpal, a resident of Gurgaon, started a phase insulation factory in Gurgaon and the power of attorney was in the name of Shivali Verma, Deepak Rajpal’s wife. The factory was started in 2013 and her husband had invested Rs 7.30 lakh in it while Amarinder Singh had invested Rs 11 lakh in the business. Deepak Rajpal was running the business. She accused that after sometime, Deepak committed a fraud by showing that the business was running into losses and when he was asked to show the account, he failed to. Later, when they went with other relatives and talked to Deepak and his wife regarding the fraud, a written compromise was reached in which Deepak admitted to giving Rs 5.30 lakh to her husband. As per the agreement, Deepak was supposed to give Rs 20,000 in April month, he handed over check of Rs 10,000 and told that he would deposit Rs 10,000 in account. Some days ago, her husband gave a Rs 10,000 cheque for clearance in the State Bank of Patiala which got bounced due to insufficient balance and Deepak had not even deposited Rs 10,000 in the account. After this, her husband called Deepak and Shivali and both of them refused to give the money. She added that later, her husband became tense as he had to pay the tuition and admission fee of their wards. Pawan then called his step- mother Paramjit Kaur, who told him as to why he was disturbing her son Deepak. After this, Pawan consumed poisonous tablets on May 18. Amarinder said he had checked the account statements of Deepak Rajpal, which showed that he was buying expensive gifts of branded companies, but was not ready to pay the money which he had taken from them. Ranju Bala, wife of the decreased, demanded that the police should arrest the accused. |
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Punjabi girls showing keen interest in joining police force
Bathinda, May 24 In the near future, the state government may recruit more women into the police force, as was indicated by Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal while announcing that each police station will have women sub-inspectors, who will investigate the matter in the women related crime. During the police training, the women have to undergo rigorous sessions to enable themselves become tough and efficient. To show that they can take on the criminals, the women constables prove their ability in athletics and judo. Over a period of time, the need for the women police personnel has increased, especially due to a rise in the number of women criminals and victims of the incidents like rape, kidnapping, sexual harassment and dowry deaths. Deputy Superintendent of Police
(DSP) Avneet Kaur Sidhu, while talking to Bathinda Tribune, said that the trend in the society is changing, the mind-set of parents had changed which has led to more girls taking up career as an IPS and PPS officer. She also said that women police officer play a vital role in the crime against women. As the victim feels secure and comfortable, this also benefits in the investigation, she added. |
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Police fail to check under-age driving
Bathinda, May 24 A visit to several city areas brought to light the fact that students in the age group of 14 and 18 years indulge in reckless driving, jump red lights and do not wear helmets. Unfortunately, neither the parents nor the teachers seem to be preventing them from using the vehicles illegally. Parking areas of schools and tuition centres are full of vehicles as a large number of students use two-wheelers. Last year, the Police Department issued letters to 32 schools in the city and had said that the schools will be held responsible if any incident or accident happened while riding two-wheelers, but nothing has happened so far. A senior traffic police official claimed that under-age drivers are intercepted, but let off on humanitarian grounds. He added that not only the police, but parents are also responsible for giving vehicles to their wards. Parents, however, justify it by saying they do it for their children's future. |
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Evolve policy to check power cuts With the mercury soaring with each passing day, scheduled and unscheduled power cuts have made the life of residents miserable. The oft-repeated claims of the Punjab Chief Minister and Deputy CM to make Punjab a power surplus state have turned out to be hollow. Moreover, Bathinda has been declared a cut-free zone. Regardless of that, frequent cuts are being imposed. These cuts have affected water supply in the city. Every year, Powercom officials try to justify the cuts saying with the increase in temperature, the gap between demand and supply has widened. But so have the power cuts. Knowing well that summer is a regular annual feature the authorities should plan properly and take pre-emptive measures. Prof NK Gosain, Bathinda Declare poll results for
the whole constituency
In the present form of declaration of election results, the political parties become aware of the wards where they did not receive the votes or where they got the maximum number of votes. It allows the winning candidates to treat the voters of booths, where they did not get the votes, adversely. The Election Commission must disclose the results of the constituency as a whole. With this, the secrecy of vote will not be compromised and it will also allow the winning/losing candidates to treat the voters as equal. The uniform way of declaring results for the entire constituency would bring about balanced growth and funding. It would also reduce the number of cases fuelled by political vendetta and ill will. Sanjeev K Singla,
Bathinda
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The delay in the decision of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on the issue of Municipal Solid Waste
(MSW) treatment plant has added to the anxiety of the complainants in the case. In its latest orders passed on May 23, the NGT has fixed the next date for hearing on July 9.
Captain (Retd) Mal Singh, a resident of Bhai Mati Dass Nagar, who is the main complainant in the case filed at the
NGT, said people of the area are eagerly waiting for justice.
Bathinda, May 24
