Bathinda, July 5
The yet to function cancer short-stay home, inaugurated by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal in February this year, is among the several projects that have failed to serve their purpose. The claims of the Punjab Government to provide better health facilities have also fallen flat. The cancer short-stay home has not been used so far. The projects that have failed to serve their purpose included a cardiac care unit (CCU), four urban health centres, ayurvedic centre, diagnostic centre, cancer diagnostic centre and an ultrasound centre at the OPD block of the Civil Hospital.

Cancer short-stay home yet to start functioning

The cancer short-stay home building has started deteriorating due to water leakage but it has not been started yet. The project has been constructed on four kanals adjoining the Civil Hospital at a cost of Rs 3.15 crore. As many as 24 rooms with attached bathrooms and 15 dormitories have been constructed. The short-stay home is meant for the kin of the cancer patients who visit Max Hospital, the only empanelled hospital in Bathinda under the CM’s Cancer Relief Fund.

Cardiac care unit lies defunct

A cardiac care unit (CCU) at the Bathinda Civil Hospital is lying defunct for the past three years due to the non-availability of cardiologists. The CCU has the latest equipment. The old emergency block of the hospital was renovated for the unit in 2011. The building has six beds, a ventilator, an oxygen cylinder and an ECG machine.

Urban health centres lack staff, funds

The Punjab Government had opened four urban health centres at Lal Singh Basti, Dhobiana Basti, Janta Nagar and Jogi Nagar in the city. All the centres have failed to serve their purpose due to the staff crunch and the lack of infrastructure since their inception in September 2012. Huge double-storey buildings have been constructed after spending lakhs of rupees for the centres but the department has failed to run them. Dispensaries are being run from the buildings as the authorities failed to utilise the buildings.

Plight of ayurvedic hospital

To provide better facilities to the patients, a double-storey building has been upgraded and 50 beds have been provided at the hospital but due to the non-availability of the staff and the lack of funds the project has failed to serve its due purpose. At present, the hospital has a building and beds but patients have failed to get the benefit of them. Two posts of doctor, four nurses, two Class IV employees and a pharmacist have already been sanctioned but the hospital has only two doctors and a pharmacist.

Diagnostic centre fails to come up

The Health Department had prepared a plan to build a diagnostic centre on the premises of the Civil Hospital and many sophisticated machines were to be installed at the centre. However, the project is still to take off. Sources in the department said it would take some time to open the diagnostic centre as the company with which the MoU was signed for the project has left in the middle. The company was to provide sophisticated machines for the centre.

Ultrasound, mammography machines remain unsused

The ultrasound and mammography machines at the Civil Hospital are lying defunct for some time due to the non-availability of a radiologist. This is hitting the patients hard as they have been forced to pay Rs 1,500 to 2,000 for tests.

Cancer diagnostic centre yet to start

The Advanced Cancer Diagnostic, Treatment and Research Centre, near the Central University of Punjab, is yet to start. It was to be completed by September 31, 2013, but in February last year, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had ordered to upgrade it to a 100-bed hospital. It was also decided to build residential quarters for the doctors and researchers on 1.72 acres. Due to the decision, the expenditure on the project has gone up to 100 crore from 60 crore.

DC Basant Garg said he was unaware of it and would look into the matter. Meanwhile, Civil Surgeon Dr Tejwant Singh was not available for comments. 

Bathinda, July 5
After a news report in Bathinda Tribune that the absence of night patrolling is resulting in rise in crime, the police swung into action and deployed Punjab police commandos to protect the city. The police have deployed commandos at crucial points in the city and they are keeping a vigil on the movement of vehicles besides maintaining law and order in the city.

Several commando teams have been deployed at Hanuman Chowk, Fire Bridge Chowk, Bhagu Road, Liberty Chowk, Bibi Wala Chowk, Fauji Chowk and many other points in the city.

The teams were seen patrolling, erecting barricades and checking vehicles today. DSP (City) Gurjit Singh Romana is monitoring the teams closely and issuing instruction to them.

DSP Gurjit Singh Romana said the commandos have been deployed to curb traffic violations and to maintain the law and order situation in the city.

Notably, a few days ago, the residents of Aggarwal Colony had nabbed two robbers. The police reached the spot after an hour.

One or more cases of car or motorcycle theft are being reported in the city everyday but the police have remained unsuccessful in arresting the culprits in most of the cases.

The residents have been expressing concern over the rising crime graph and demanded strict vigil by the police. 

Bathinda, July 5
Bathinda police have booked a girl and six others for immoral trafficking. The girl was arrested from a house on Bhagu Road today. The police reached the house following a by the residents of the area. After getting the complaint, a police party raided the house and found the girl while another five persons who were with the girl managed to flee. The police have also registered a case for immoral trafficking against the woman landlord of the house.

The girl alleged that she was raped when she came to meet one of her friends. Notably, the accused were living in a rented accommodation for a long time. The residents of the area were upset with the daily visit of girls to the house.

When the girl entered the house today, the residents gathered outside the house and informed the police. DSP Palwinder Cheema and SHO Civil Lines police station reached the spot but by that time the youngsters had fled. The police took the girl in custody. — TNS

Bathinda, July 5
Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) general secretary and MLA Ajaib Singh Bhatti has accused the SAD-BJP government of not providing a fair chance to Dalits in the getting common agricultural land meant for them.

He said the state government was discriminating in providing one-third of panchayat (shamlat) land to Dalits through open auctions. “At most of the places, the land is being usurped by influential farmers,” he said .

He said the cane-charging of Dalits at Balad Kalan and the refusal to provide land to them at Baupar were the latest examples of the discrimination faced by the weaker sections of society.

Gurpreet Singh Kangar said the government was not fulfilling its promises made during the Lok Sabha elections. Congress workers also staged a protest dharna against the state government for atrocities against the Dalit families in Bopar villages and Balad Kalan at Children’s Park in the city. The protest was headed by Ajaib Singh Bhatti 

Bathinda, July 5
As most of the commercial establishments in Bathinda lack fire safety arrangements, the issue has come to the fore following a major fire at a shop in the cloth market on Mall Road on Friday. As many as five major fire incidents have already been reported in the city in the past six months. The fire incident at an Axis Bank branch on Mall Road is one of the most recent ones in the city.

About the fire incident yesterday, fire officer Jaswinder Singh said, “It seems that a spark in an air-conditioner that was left switched on led to the accident. The fire erupted on the top floor first and then spread to other floors.”

“Despite rampant construction activities, the residents are yet to adopt fire safety measures,” he said.

“People usually do not change their electric wires despite heavy load on them, which results in such accidents. There are a few buildings that have water sprinklers and other safety measures in place. Shopkeepers should switch off the main power supply before closing their shops.”

Radhe Shyam, the shopkeeper whose shop was gutted yesterday, blamed the Fire Department’s miscalculation and the lack of basic equipment to tackle a major fire, for the spread of the flames to all the three floors of his shop. “I had called an electrician, engineer and an architect to ascertain the cause of the fire. No major defect was found in the shop,” Radhe Shyam said. He added that the delay in the arrival of fire tenders, the lack of coordination among the authorities led to the incident.

“The Fire Department lacked an adequate number of drivers and well-maintained fire tenders, which led to the delay in controlling the fire,” Radhe Shyam said. 

Bathinda, July 5
A special team of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) today visited the city and inspected the mysterious tunnel found at the sports ground of Government Rajindra College. The team collected information regarding the depth and size of the tunnel. During the inspection, the college management and DSP Gurjit Singh Romana were present.

Seeing the sensitivity of the issue, an ASI team from Chandigarh will also visit and inspect the site.

It is worth mentioning that a few days ago, some old antique items were found from a house in Sirki Bazaar near Qila Mubarak and a special team of the ASI from Chandigarh had visited the city and took all the antique items in their procession. The investigation in the case is still under process.

The head of the Sports Department at the college, Prof Surjit Singh said a few months ago, during an athletics meet, the tunnel was found in the middle of the sports ground and it was quite deep. "At that time, we filled it with sand and gravel, he said.

"But, now, we have found the face of the tunnel in the sports stadium. This time, we informed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the police. After getting the information, SK Sharma of the ASI, along with other officials, visited and inspected the tunnel.

SK Sharma said the tunnel might be an old grave. He said a special team from Chandigarh would soon visit the site for inspection. 

Jalandhar, July 5
Shaheed Bhagat Singh Naujawan Sabha has announced their support to Dihati Mazdoor Sabha’s protest against Badal Kalan village issue, where the police resorted to a lathi charge on Dalits and landless labourers, who had been peacefully opposing the auction of panchayati land.

The president of the sabha, Jaswinder Singh Dhesi, said they would support Dihati Mazdoor Sabha's protest on Wednesday, in which Tehsildar’s office would be gheraoed.

He said they would organise eight conventions in the state with the help of Punjab Student Federation.— TNS 

Bathinda, July 5
The residents are upset over the continuous digging of roads by the Municipal Corporation (MC) at various busy stretches despite the rainy season.

Apart from intensifying the laying of roads, most of which are already in a good condition, the private and public bodies, too, are digging up roads in the city.

“The commuters are not aware of any repair work, digging or construction. Neither any notice nor any information has been provided to the residents. This leads to harassment,” said Hitinder, a local resident.

Pawan Kumar, a resident of Model Town phase-II, said the authorities have begun repair work just outside the office of the Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) without putting up any signs.

“The sudden blockade of roads leads to delay. Unannounced laying of roads damages the vehicles as well. The vehicles continue to move on the hot material laid on the road and the gravel goes up in the air because of the speeding tyres of the vehicles,” Pawan said.

Many recently-laid roads have been dug up and they have not been repaired properly after the digging. Many roads were damaged by the authorities in Model Town Phase-III for laying the underground structure for rain- water harvesting

“We had good roads and parks before the rain water harvesting structure. The contractor, however, did not remove the leftover material from the road or parks,” said Jaswinder Sandhu, a Model Town resident.

He added that the matter has been brought to the notice of the Chief Administrator, BDA, but to no avail. He said there are many other roads in the city which have been damaged either by the private or government authorities and have not been repaired again.

This also leads to blockage of sewage channels and damage to the public property.

Dust continues to fly at such places and instead of any improvement, people keep feeling harassed.

A new road has been dug up to lay sewer pipes at the main road of the Paras Ram Nagar from the railway under-bridge. Similarly, laying of roads is going on near the BSNL exchange near the Gol Diggi market and Amrik Singh Road as well.

Assistant Commissioner, Municipal Corporation Bathinda, Kamal Kant said, “The laying of roads in the city got delayed and the work will be stopped as soon as the rain starts pouring in.”

Bathinda, July 5
Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) general secretary Harminder Singh Jassi has protested the decision of the Powercom to issue electricity bills with penalty for the last four months.

Jassi asked Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to roll back the decision of charging penalty on the bills. He said it was the duty of the department to issue bills on time and the minister concerned should clear his stand on the issue.

If the bills are not distributed on time due to any laxity on the part of the department, then why should thev consumers pay more. He said if the bills were not taken back, the Congress workers would come out on the roads and stage protest.

Jassi also termed the issue of cement bags of Central Jail going to the distillery of SAD MLA Deep Malhotra as a scam. He demanded a high-level probe into the matter.