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Fear of radiation fuels protest
State stares at power crisis
Psychiatrist transferred to Punjab CM’s ancestral village, patients likely to suffer
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Residents suffer as power supply dips
Villagers up in arms against liquor vends
Bathinda rly station sans basic amenities
NGO fills ‘accidental’ potholes in city
City-based couple carve a niche for themselves in motorsport
Rajya Puruskar Testing Camp-2014 concludes
Three held with 4 kg of opium, two revolvers recovered
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mobile tower row Company, however, claims mobile towers are ground-based masts, not ground-based towers Nikhila Pant Dhawan Tribune News Service
Bathinda, July 13 In its statement, the company has argued that these are not ground-based towers (GBTS) but ground-based masts (GBMS). And for these, Reliance Jio has a duly signed lease dead with the Municipal Corporation (MC). The company is strictly complying with the cabinet-approved telecom & infra policy of the Punjab Government. The Municipal Corporation is also charging the fee for GBMs and other towers according to this telecom/infra policy of the Punjab government, it stated. As for fears of radiation, a company spokesperson clarified that the GBMs and other towers are following the limits set by the Department of Telecom, it said. It is pertinent to note here that the residents of various areas have long been protesting against the MCB for choosing residential areas for installation of the towers to increase the mobile and internet connectivity. While the representatives of the company were forced to leave work midway at some places following protests, residents of several other localities had got together and submitted representations to the municipal corporation and the Deputy Commissioner expressing their displeasure with the work. In their correspondence with the departments, the residents argued that installation of the towers in residential areas would cause health hazards to the people. They also argued that the corporation didn't deem it necessary to consult the representatives of the locality before striking a deal with the company for the installation of towers. They pointed out that the parks had been chosen by the corporation and once the towers were installed, the parks would cease to serve the primary purpose they were constructed for to allow the residents some time in the lap of nature. The boundary walls of several parks were also broken to make way for the machines inside the parks to initiate the installation work which further irked the residents. Municpal Commissioner Dalwinderjit Singh stated that the corporation was trying to take into account the company's version and that of the residents. He stated that the corporation will not do anything to rile the residents of the localities and would figure out a solution to the problem.
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State stares at power crisis
Bathinda: July 13 Moreover, two other power plants at Bathinda and Ropar are facing a shortage of coal. Against the required availability of 21 days of coal in all these plants, the GNDTP, Bathinda, has coal for nine days and GGSTP, Lehra Mohabbat, has coal for five days only while the Ropar thermal plant has coal stock sufficient to run it for only 14 days. The non-functional Lehra Mohabbat thermal plant unit would put an extra burden on the exchequer as the state government would be forced to purchase power from outside to meet the demand. The state government is already purchasing Rs 49 crore worth of power daily from outside the state at a cost of Rs 4.5 per unit. According to sources, the coal supply will not reach these thermal plants for the next 20 days, thus halting power production. These state-owned power plants are generating 2300 MW of power daily. The Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant, Bathinda, has a capacity of 460 MW but it is producing 420 MW of electricity daily. The Guru Gobind Singh Thermal Plant, Lehra Mohabbat, is generating 710 MW of power against the capacity of 920 MW and the Ropar thermal plant is producing 1130 MW electricity daily. Jaspal Singh, a farmer, said, “We are not getting eight hours of power supply and there are long power cuts in urban areas. The government has increased the power tariff, putting a burden on the consumers. There is no need to construct more power plants in Punjab, if the government cannot get power at cheaper rates from private plants. The government should run its own power plants so that the consumers could get power at cheaper rates. “Haryana has started three new thermal plants at Yamunanagar (600 MW), Hissar (1,200 MW) and Jhajjar (1,500 MW). Now, it is planning a 660 MW power plant in Yamunanagar and a 660 MW power plant in Panipat apart from a nuclear plant in Fatehabad. The Punjab Government has done nothing in this direction,” said Jagdeep Singh, a resident. Chief Engineer, Operation and Maintenance, SK Puri said, “We are receiving three racks of coal daily for production and we have coal stock for 5.4 days and there is no shortage. Yes, monsoon can hit the coal supply, but if coal stock is for 21 days, it would be much better in the time of crisis.” |
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Psychiatrist transferred to Punjab CM’s ancestral village, patients likely to suffer
Bathinda, July 13 Dr Indiver Kalra was surprised to see his transfer orders on the table of his room. More than 300 patients visit him for treatment daily. There are two psychiatrists in Bathinda who look after the patients at the 25-bed drug de-addiction centre. The Chief Minister had visited the centre in June this year and had promised to do the best for drug addicts besides the opening of more centres. Ghudda village is lucky enough to have a horse riding institute and a veterinary wing of the NCC, sports college, veterinary pharmacist college and a 50-bed hospital. Ghudda is now being transformed into a township with modern infrastructure as the Central University of Punjab (CUP) and several prestigious educational and technical institutions are coming up in its neighborhood. Around 562 acres of land has been acquired for the CUP. The construction of the university college at a cost of Rs 12 crore is in full swing. The sports school will consist of six playgrounds, including two each for basketball and volleyball, football, hockey and a track. The AstroTurf for hockey and a synthetic athletics track worth Rs 10.15 crore and an indoor stadium are also being constructed at a cost of Rs 4.29 crore. The construction of the 5,336-square feet horse stable is also in progress. However, Dr Indiver Kalra has been transferred to the VIP village without taking into account the convenience of patients. In Bathinda, around 10,000 patients visit the Bathinda Civil Hospital. Dr Indiver Kalra said, “I was shocked when I saw my transfer to Ghudda village. My transfer will leave a large number of patients in the lurch. It is upon the Health Department and the government to decide the fate of the patients.” The only psychiatrist left at the Civil Hospital, Dr Nidhi Gupta, said, “The transfer of Dr Kalra is wrong as a large number of patients in Bathinda cannot be treated by me alone. We both were attending to more than 300 patients daily. The patients will now suffer.”
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Residents suffer as power supply dips
Bathinda, July 13 Sources in Powercom said they were falling short of the supply. Even the power grid is unable to bear high load and its trips again and again. The condition of the rural areas of the district is worse. Towns and villages are facing 5-6 hour unscheduled cuts. Even the city, which has been declared as a “no power cut zone”, is facing unscheduled electricity cuts. Bathinda XEN Hardeep Singh Sidhu said the city was declared as a “no power cut zone” in 2009 but now the demand for power had increased while the supply is less. In the last two days, three transformers have tripped due to which the supply of electricity was disrupted. Sukhwinder Singh, a resident of Vishal Nagar, said the people were suffering due to unscheduled power cuts. Neha Singh, a housewife, said the power outages had hit her household work. “Bathinda has been declared as a no power cut zone but unscheduled cuts are being imposed every day. The authorities are just giving lame excuses for the situation,” said Manjit Singh, a resident of Model Town.
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Villagers up in arms against liquor vends
Bathinda, July 13 The villagers added that youngsters were getting hooked to liquor and they were indulging in illegal acts besides harassing women, especially young girls. “The liquor vend is close to the village bus stand and drunkards usually pass inappropriate remarks and harass young girls here,” said village sarpanch Karamjit Singh. They alleged that the number of liquor vends in their village had risen to three without any sanction and they did not want any one of them at the village. “We had asked the authorities to allow only one liquor vend to function, which is close to the police post and to close the two others. They did not liked our idea,” the sarpanch said. Harnek Singh, in-charge of the police post at Killi Nihal Singhwala, said they had seized the liquor and the illegal vend was shut. — TNS
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Bathinda rly station sans basic amenities
Bathinda, July 13 As many as 64 trains, including those starting from Bathinda and those using it as a transit point, leave for different destinations daily. These include 28 mail trains and 36 passenger trains. Bathinda station has been listed in the A category of the Ambala railway division and there is a huge footfall of the armed forces bound from the Bhisiana and Bathinda Army installations to respective places. Goods of various industries are also being transported from this junction. But many issues concerning the passengers are lacking here and the authorities need to take up these issue at the earliest. Security at stake Security seem to be a major concern here due to Hussaniwala border in Ferozepur which is located at a distance of nearly 100 kilometers. During any war or conflict with any nation, railway stations are the first to be targeted for cutting off the supplies and Bathinda junction had already witnessed turbulent times during the war of 1971 with Pakistan when railway lines were damaged to interrupt the supply. During the 1971 war, Bathinda railway junction was targeted to stop the oil, ammunition and other related supplies. But the station does not have any security measures as there is no metal detector at the entry or exit point, no checking of baggage or passengers take place and no security personnel is deployed at the entrance or exit points of the station. RPF assistance booth, CCTV cameras defunct A Railway Police Force (RPF) assistance booth was set up to help passengers, but it has been lying defunct at the railway station. No RPF personnel is present near the booth while thieves and snatchers are having a free run at the railway station. Close circuit television cameras installed for electronic surveillance on the anti-social elements are also out of order. The Railways is facing sanitation problems. The Bathinda railway station was registered as one of the cleanest railway stations in the past, but nowadays, it is stinking due to loads of garbage dumped on the platforms due to expiry of contract with a private firm. The contract with a private firm got over on May 31 and the railways are yet to rope in another firm to find a permanent solution to the problem. Railway officials have hired 10-15 workers on daily wages to clean the station. But that is not enough, as earlier, 57 workers were deployed for the same task. Ticket counters remain closed Four counters have been set up by the authorities for the tickets and reservations so that passengers do not have to face any problem. But despite a huge rush, two counters have been lying defunct and the passengers have to wait in long queues only at two counters. Even three touchscreen machines have been installed near the entrance, which have been lying defunct for the past two years. Sale of poor quality eatbles & overcharging Stall vendors at the railway station appear to be overcharging the passengers who buy eatables from their stalls. People seem to be quite fed up with the overcharging but silently buy the items as they do not have any time to go to the station superintendent to register any complaint. Vendors at the railway station are charging Rs 20 per water bottle instead of Rs 15 as the MRP and cold drinks Rs 30 instead of Rs 25 as its MRP. Even the Amul stall at platform number 7 which is entitled to sell only Amul products, is selling patties, cold drinks and chips in the open without any fear as the railway authorities hardly keep a check on it. Lack of toilets, drinking water for passengers There are seven platforms at the station here, but there is only one public toilet at a platform. Due to this, women passengers remain highly affected and have to face great problems. The issue has been raised many times by various organisations with the railway authorities but no action in this regard has been taken so far. It has also been noted that as the public toilet is only on one platform, the passengers waiting for trains at other platforms had to cover a lot of distance to visit the toilet, due to which sometimes they even miss their train. There is no provision of safe drinking water for the passengers on all platforms at the station. Poor rail connectivity of the Malwa region with the rest of the state is hampering the development of the region. Several proposals forwarded in the past have not been implemented. Bathinda, which has one of the largest railway junctions in the country, is not connected with some major cities such as Ludhiana and Amritsar. Many states have set up separate departments to look after the pace of rail projects but Punjab does not have a separate department for the purpose.
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NGO fills ‘accidental’ potholes in city
Bathinda, July 13 The volunteers today filled the holes using bricks and levelled it using a heavy hammer. The NGO loaded bricks, soil and cement in their two pickup jeeps to fill the potholes amidst the scorching heat and made a round of various city roads to fill the potholes. “A shopkeeper narrated the tale of a touching incident which pricked our conscience and we decided to fill as many potholes as we can,” said NGO president Vijay Goyal. He said on Ajit Road, near street number 24, a newly- wed woman fell into a deep pothole on Ajit Road last week. She was riding the pillion of a mobike with her husband and fell off it. “Apart from seven stitches on her head, her clothes were torn and some onlookers had to drape her in a piece of cloth to rush her to the hospital,” Goyal said. He lamented that the area residents then brought the matter to the notice of the Municipal Corporation Bathinda. But as usual, its officers remained busy in ‘important meetings’ and no lower rung official listened to their grievances. When the incident was brought to the notice of Sahara, its volunteers became active and decided to fill as many potholes as they could. “Today, we filled the pothole in which the newly wed woman fell on Ajit Road and then we filled 27 other pits. We have already issued our helpline number to the public who may contact and inform us at our office in Dhobi Market about any deep pothole which creates nuisance. We will fill it,” Goyal said. He said if they are able to save even one life or avert even one accident, their purpose will be served. The shopkeepers on Ajit Road praised the efforts of the NGO and offered donations for humanitarian work. The corporation authorities said they have already floated a tender of nearly Rs 15 lakh for the purpose of filling the potholes in the roads falling under the municipal limits. City residents said it is a matter of shame for the Punjab government and the officials of the Municipal Corporation that the NGO is taking upon itself the task of filling potholes despite the fact that the government pockets huge sums in the form of taxes from the people.
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City-based couple carve a niche for themselves in motorsport
Bathinda, July 13 His wife Sukhbans got first positions in the all-women’s category of the St John’s Old Boys’ Association (SJOBA) competition twice and the Mughal Rally. She secured the second position in the Raid-de-Himalaya and had participated in the Indian Rally Championship (IRC-2014). With the participation in the rally Garima Avtar in Nashik and Coimbatore, she became a part of the first women’s team that participated in the IRC, making its way to the World Rally Championships (WRC). A corporate lawyer by profession, Gurkirat tried his luck in motorsports when he participated in the SJOBA rally as a navigator six years ago. After that, he never looked back. They have been lucky to have the support of their family that has produced three generations of Army officers. Gurkirat said the biggest achievement in his life was when he met seven times Formula One Michael Schumacher in Delhi. “The interaction left an indelible mark on us and encouraged us to continue our journey,” said Gurkirat, who has won accolades in the Desert Storm, Mughal Rally, SJOBA and the Royal Rajasthan Rally. The couple said motorsports was no more a sports for the rich as youngsters from different sections of society were interested in it.
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Rajya Puruskar Testing Camp-2014 concludes
Bathinda, July 13 As many as 390 scouts and 350 guides were present during the camp which was held from July 7 to July 11 at the school. The closing ceremony was inaugurated in the presence of chief guest Col. Sumit Kapoor, Commanding Officer of 268, Engineering Regiment. C Mani, Divisional Commissioner (S&G) & Deputy Commissioner, KVS (RO) Gurgaon, was the guest of honour at the function. Principal of the school welcomed all the guests and highlighted the activities of the camp. Sanjeev Trivedi elaborated upon the motto of Scouts and Guides and facilities provided by KV No. 4, Bathinda Cantt. A cultural programme was presented which included a Ganesh Vandana presented by the students of KV No. 3, AFS Bhisiana. Students of KV No. 3 welcomed the guests and all the students with their group dance. Girl students of KV No. 1 performed giddha which was followed by a choreography item on a medley of patriotic songs presented by students of KV No. 1, Bathinda. In the end, the guest of honour, C Mani, blessed the participants and the officials saying that it was a successful camp and the participants had beaten the oddities of the weather. Col. Kapoor gave away the mementoes to the officials. At end of the programme, BS Gharoo, principal of KV No. 3, Bhisiana, proposed a vote of thanks. Camp coordinator Ramesh Kumar, ALT, Snehlata and Balpreet Kaur hosted the programme.
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Three held with 4 kg of opium, two revolvers recovered
Bathinda, July 13 Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said Mahesh Saini, SHO, Kotwali police station, had a secret information that the three were carrying weapons and were involved in the smuggling of opium. They were trying to sell opium in the city today when they were held. The police had erected barricades and were checking vehicles at the Sukhpeer road when the accused came there on a motorcycle. The police asked them to stop for checking but they tried to flee. However, they were overpowered by the police. Gurlal Singh was carrying the bag in which 4 kg of opium was found. Four live bullets and two revolvers were also recovered form Prem Kumar. During the interrogation, the accused confessed that they had brought opium worth Rs 85,000 from Bikaner in Rajasthan.
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Upset over the rise in road accidents due to deep pot holes on city roads, the NGO Sahara Jan Sewa today filled as many as 28 potholes on various roads.
The volunteers today filled the holes using bricks and levelled it using a heavy hammer. The NGO loaded bricks, soil and cement in their two pickup jeeps to fill the potholes amidst the scorching heat and made a round of various city roads to fill the potholes.
