Tarn Taran Diary: Political activities pick up for MC polls add more words

With elections for the Municipal Councils and other local bodies institutions in the offing, political activities have gained momentum in the area. The election for the Municipal Council, Tarn Taran was held on February 25, 2015 and thereafter there has been no election. There was SAD-BJP rule in the state then but an understanding between both the parties could not be reached in Tarn Taran and the main contest here was between the SAD and BJP candidates in the MC polls. Of the 23 total wards, SAD won from 16 wards and BJP got victory from the remaining seven wards. The Municipal Council, Tarn Taran, has a rich history. It was established in 1883 and its name then was Small Town Committee which was later changed to Municipal Committee and then to Municipal Council, Tarn Taran. Years back, the Municipal Council had 13 wards which were gradually increased to 23. There is now speculation that the number of wards was going to be increased and the sphere of the town too was to be enlarged. There was a time when the town of Tarn Taran was the only limit of Municipal Council but gradually some of the villages in the surrounding areas were either totally merged within the Municipal Council limit and partially made part of the town. The Nalagarh, Kot Bishan Singh Jadid, Muradpur and Fatehchak villages are areas which have been totally merged in the town while parts of nearby Kajikot Khurd, Kakka Kandiala, Plasaur, Aladinpur and Mallhia villages were made part of the town partially. The population of the town has crossed 1.65 lakh which was mere 4,428 in the census of 1901 and 24,128 in 1971 census. The town was established by the fifth Sikh Guru Sri Arjun Dev ji in 1587 to make the town a centre of business for the Sikh community. The town was given the status of a sub-division (tehsil) in 1846 and a police station was set up here in 1865 followed by a Civil Hospital in 1878. All major political parties have become active for the Municipal Council elections and it is to be seen which way the wind will blow.

Stop farm fires, save environment, youth urged add more words

The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Punjab, has called upon all sections of society to come forward to save the environment as it was the need of the hour. The Agriculture Department led by Harpal Singh Pannu, Chief Agriculture Officer, under its information, education and communication (IEC) programme, organised a seminar at Government Senior Secondary Smart School, Harike, on the theme of saving the environment and imparting technical knowledge about paddy straw management. The seminar was attended by students, teachers, officials of the agriculture and education departments and representatives of different panchayats of the area. Dr Harpal Singh Pannu, CAO, Dr Bhupinder Singh, Agriculture Officer, Ranjit Kaur, principal of the host school, lecture Rakesh Kumar, Iqbal Singh, Sarpanch and others addressed the gathering on the occasion. The speakers took serious note of the environment becoming more and more polluted day by day which was becoming the main reason for different diseases, mainly respiratory ailments. In the seminar, competitions were held in delivering speeches, poem recitation, poster-making and singing songs on the said topic. The students expressed their views in an impressive manner. The speakers laid stress on the need for the youth to come forward to take the responsibility to save environment by not burning crop residue in the fields but make it part of the earth to retain its power. The students from educational competitions who were declared winners were given prizes in the seminar. Iqbal Singh, Sarpanch, said that the youths of the village have already formed a committees to create awareness on the need to avoid farm fires.