Bathinda, September 25
Construction work on the railway over bridge (ROB) on the Badal-Malout road is likely to jump deadline once again. The work, which is in its last phase, will take another 15 to 20 days. The deadline which was extended many times was set for September 30 last time.

Earlier, the officials of the Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) had announced to make the bridge functional on October 2. The authorities stated that the construction work is now in its last stage and only the carpeting of the road, installation of electric poles and paint work is left. BDA authorities claim that the work on their part of the bridge —600 meters —is almost done but work on the 76 metre stretch of the railways behind the schedule.

The much awaited phase-II ring road is being built by the BDA at an expenditure of Rs 75 crores (approximately) which includes the Rs 42 crore cost of the ROB. The project has been hanging fire ever since its construction began more than two years ago.

The construction work remained affected for over a year following the delay in getting clearances by the railway authorities and the financial crunch.

The bridge will bring respite to the motorists plying between Malout-Bathinda-Dabwali and Mansa areas. Also, residents willing to reach Bir Talab and the Mini Zoo will be able to reduce the time of their journey by using this bridge. At present, light weight four-wheelers could ply under the bridge.

The commuters, from Dabwali or Mansa may divert their route from near PTU Giani Zail Singh Campus on Dabwali road to Ladli Dhee Chowk on Badal Road and can reach Malout road after covering the 6.5 km stretch by crossing the ROB which is situated on the Bathinda-Ganganagar railway line.

The workers at the ROB stated that though the carpeting of the road will be done within the next few days, it takes time for the bitumen to get dry.

Mansa, September 25
Under the ‘Swachh Bharat Campaign’ launched by Prime Minister Narendre Modi today, Prem Mittal, MLA, Mansa and Parveen Kumar Thind, Deputy Commissioner, inaugurated this campaign in Ward 1 of Mansa city.

They participated in the campaign by cleaning the road and asked the people to participate in cleaning the surroundings also. The Mansa MLA said that the motive of the campaign was to give the cities, towns and villages a facelift by cleaning them so as to provide hygienic and clean environment to the people of the district.

Parveen Thind said the Swachh Bharat Campaign has been launched in this district in a planned way. It has been initiated from the houses. Wards, villages and the city would then be cleaned. He appealed to the city dwellers saying the scheme has been started by the state government in collaboration with the JITF Ecopolis.

Under the scheme, only organic waste like kitchen waste, vegetables, edibles, wood and paper is to be disposed of in green dustbin. Inorganic waste like glass, plastic and polythene etc is to disposed of in a blue dustbin. He appealed to the people not to dispose of waste on the roads, streets, parks, drains or in vacant plots. He said the campaign that has started today will go on till October 2.

Thind said that under the campaign, the houses would be cleaned on September 26, animal places on September 27, roads and shops on September 28, government offices on September 29 and ponds on September 30. All these places would be inspected on October 1.

He claimed that a special meeting would be called by the panchayats on October 2 where people who have put in special efforts during the campaign, would be felicitated. For the success of this campaign, EOs and BDPOs would be the nodal officers for cities and villages, respectively. He said sanitation and monitoring committees were formed at the village level, whose head would be the sarpanch of the village concerned.

The DC said the campaign will not stop on October 2 but must go on till October 31 so as to reach all the villages and cities. He appealed to all the non-government organisations, NSS volunteers and youth clubs of the villages to support the district administration in the campaign. Thind appealed to the common people to come forward for the sake of the campaign started by the Prime Minister. He instructed the officials of the Education Department to ensure the cleanliness of private and government schools.

"We can get rid of diseases through cleanliness alone. The district officials should participate in the campaign and to ensure a clean environment in their surroundings. This campaign has also been started in Budhlada and Sardulgarh."

Rakesh Kumar, Sub-divisional Magistrate, Mansa, Narinder Singh Dhaliwal, AC (Grievances), Ranbir Singh, EO, Mansa, officials from various other departments, MCs of the wards and safai karamcharis were present on the occasion.

Bathinda, September 25
Paddy worth crores has been embezzled by the rice mill owner at Raike Khurd village. As many as 61,896 bags of paddy of the Punjab Agro Food Grains Corporation Limited (PAFGCL) had gone missing from the mill.

Acting on a complaint filed by Vikas Kumar, district manager of the Punjab Agro Grain Corporation Limited, the Bathinda police have booked Des Raj, owner of a rice mill, for allegedly being involved in fraud worth crores. However, no arrest has been made so far.

District police officials said the miller had allegedly embezzled paddy, which was stored in his mill at Raike Khurd village.

Investigating officer Jaswant Singh said the PAFGCL had allotted 61,896 bags of paddy to the rice mill owned by Des Raj of Raike Khurd village for custom milling on behalf of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), but the mill allegedly failed to deposit it after milling.

After completing the departmental inquiry, senior district PAFGCL officials had lodged a complaint with the police alleging that the department had found that a rice mill owned by Des Raj had allegedly failed to account for the total paddy provided for custom milling. After this, investigation was handed over to Superintendent of Police (Detective) Swaran Singh.

The SP (D) in his inquiry has also held Des Raj responsible for embezzling 61,896 paddy bags from his mill. He has even recommended registering of a case. The accused has been booked under Section 406 0of the IPC.

Bathinda, September 25
The three-day regional youth festival concluded at Gian Jyoti Girls College, Gurhthadi, Sangat Mandi, Bathinda, today while the Government Barjindra College clinched the overall trophy.

A skit during the zonal youth festival at Gian Jyoti Girls College, Gurthadi, near Sangat Mandi, in Bathinda on Thursday

Over 59 colleges from the Bathinda zone had participated in the festival while the students from these colleges had performed with vigour and zest on all the three days of the regional youth festival. The second and third overall position went to Baba Farid College, Deon, and Government Rajindra College, Bathinda, respectively.

Various competitions were held on the concluding day. In the bhangra competition, DAV College, Bathinda, clinched the first position while Baba Farid College, Deon, bagged the second position.

In speech competition, Baba Farid College got the first position while Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa remained second. In the plays, University College, Ghudda clinched the top spot, while the DAV College, Bathinda, remained at second position.

Bir Talab (Bathinda), September 25
The Bir Talab mini zoo has successfully bred peacocks in captivity resulting in the birth of a peafowl. The peafowl is two months old now.

It is a rare feat that even the Mahendra Chaudhary Zoological Park at Chhatbir in Mohali could not achieve. The breeding has proved that with nutritional supplements in the form of vitamins and proper care, the national bird can breed well in captivity too.

Divisional Forest Officer Dr Sanjeev Tewari, who is also a veterinarian, said peacocks face the problem of infertility when confined to cages.

"They need certain insects to feed upon while breeding, which provides their bodies the necessary nutrition. We fed them grains mixed with these nutrients," Tewari said.

Having provided the best of nutrition, the Forest Department then provided the breeding pair a nest atop the shed in their cage giving them the much-needed privacy.

"We tried to provide them with an atmosphere akin to their natural surroundings. Earlier, the peahens used to lay eggs, but these were not fertile enough to mature into pea fowls," he said.

The gender of the pea fowl, which is two months old, will be known only after it turns one year old. After the bird turns one year old, it would become possible to identify its gender through its plumage and other distinctive features.

Sources said that a few years ago, the Zoological Park at Chhatbir was provided with an artificial incubator for breeding peacocks, but the park officials could not successfully continue the peacock breeding programme.

Besides captive breeding, the protected forests of Bir Talab and around 200 acres area of the Dyalpura forest too have a number of peacocks in the wilderness.

The success of the programme sounds a congratulatory note for the bird lovers who were alarmed by the dwindling population of the peacock due to various reasons ranging from poaching to ingestion of poison through pesticides and insecticides from the fields.

The zoo authorities said that another pair of peacocks in the zoo's open area had given birth to three peahens around two and half months ago.

Zoo authorities said they are taking extra care these days in view of the rising temperature as the mother inadvertently comes out in the scorching heat and the fowl follows her. "We tried to cover the cage using a sheet for shelter from the sunshine but it failed as the high velocity winds tore the sheet apart," said a zoo employee.

Mansa, September 25
Mansa Deputy Commissioner Parveen Kumar Thind has said that a new Anaj Mandi would be constructed as farmers and commission agents face problems due to lack of space at Budhlada Anaj Mandi. Four proposals regarding the new Anaj Mandi were sent by the District Mandi Officer to Deputy Director, Colonisation. Out of these four proposals, two are with the government and two in private hands, said Thind.

After the seven-member committee passed the proposal, the Deputy Director, Colonisation, sent it to the secretary and chairman of the Mandi Board for approval. The Mandi Board is yet to give its approval. He said these proposals were for the 22-acre panchayat land of Chak Bhaike village, 21-acre panchayat...

land of Ahamedpur village, land at the back of Ziri Yard and the 22-acre land on the Budhlada-Jakhal road.

For the upcoming kharif season, the SDM, Budhlada, has sent three sealed proposals for a temporary Anaj Mandi to the secretary, Mandi Board. The Deputy Commissioner said for procurement, the secretary and chairman of the Mandi Board has called a meeting of all the senior officials, where a decision on the new mandi would likely be made next week.

Bathinda, September 25
A constable at the Police Lines has been booked on the charge of theft. Head Constable Parwinder Singh has lodged a complaint against his colleague Amandeep Singh.

In his complaint, he stated that for the last one week, he was coming to the Police lines for duty. On the night of September 22, he was sleeping in barrack V, when at around 2:30 am, he got up and went to the toilet. While he was coming back, he saw the accused searching his bag lying near his bed.

When he reached and checked the bag, he found his items missing. The total worth of the items missing was around Rs 8,000. The Civil Lines police station has registered a case under Section 380 of the IPC against the accused. However, no arrest has been made so far by the police.

Bathinda, September 25
Punjab Beopar Mandal has urged the local member of parliament and Union Cabinet Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal to raise the issue of change in the proposed timings of the bi-weekly Shatabdi Express which is to start shortly.

Ashok Dhunikey, president, Punjab Beopar Mandal, said the proposed timing of the Shatabdi Express has upset the traders in the region. As per the proposed timing, the train would leave from Delhi at 9 am in the morning and reach Bathinda at 1:45 pm. The train would again leave from Bathinda to Delhi at 4:15 pm and reach Delhi at 9 pm.

"This train will prove to be a success only if the traders use it. The proposed timing is such that it doesn't suit the traders. As traders have to reach Delhi in the morning, hey can come back after doing their work by taking this train at around 5 pm in the evening tyhe same day.

Bathinda, September 25
There seems to be no let-up in the trafficking of drugs and use of mobile phones by the inmates on the premises of the Central Jail in Bathinda.

The security arrangements at the Bathinda Central Jail have come under the scanner once again following the recovery of a parcel containing drugs and mobile phone near the fifth boundary wall of the jail.

Official said the parcel was thrown into the jail compound from the residential area towards Bhagu Road.

Jail authorities suspect the role of jail inmates or some insider who was supposed to pick up the parcel. Jail officials on duty found this parcel lying in the open near the last boundary wall. He immediately informed the senior officials of the jail and in their presence, it was opened and a mobile phone, a charger, two cigarettes besides two locks were found in it.

The jail authorities handed over the parcel to the police and a case in this connection has been registered at the Civil Lines police station against unidentified persons. Earlier, also on August 20, around 300 capsules were found from the prisoner during the checking conducted by the jail officials. The inmate from whom the drugs were recovered was identified as Monu Kumar, a resident of Maur Mandi.

A mobile phone was found hidden in the soap dish of a prisoner. The accused has been identified as Kuljit Singh, alias Ruby, a resident of Jalandhar.

Drugs and mobile phones have been recovered from the prisoners in the recent past. A mobile phone battery was recovered from an inmate on May 30. Another mobile phone was recovered from a prisoner on May 10.

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