The Tribune – Riot victims disrupt rail services in state; In Delhi, angry protesters scuffle with police; several SAD leaders injured

Kuldip Bhatia & Ashok Kaura

Ludhiana, May 5. More than 12 trains running on the Amritsar-New Delhi and Jammu-New Delhi sections were delayed by hours owing to the “rail roko” protest by 1984 riots victims here today.

They were protesting against the acquittal of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a riots case.The victims, including a large number of women, squatted on the rail track near the Jagraon bridge in the morning. They raised slogans against the Congress-led UPA Government and the judiciary and brandished swords and sticks.

Owing to heavy police deployment and adroit handling of the situation by senior police and Railway officials, the protesters were prevented from reaching the local railway station.

More than a dozen main route trains, including Shane-Punjab, Shatabdi Express, Jalandhar-New Delhi Intercity, Amritsar-New Delhi Intercity, Amritsar-Chandigarh Intercity, Chhattisgarh Express, Malwa Express, Garib Rath, Sachkhand Express, Pashchim Express and Amritsar-Haridwar Janshatabdi were delayed, some for five hours.

Phagwara: Riot victims and activists of the Sikh students Federation , demanding action against Congress leaders Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar disrupted rail movement at various sections.

Amritsar mail, Andaman express and a goods train were stopped near Ludhiana, New Delhi-bound Shatabdi Express at the Phagwara railway station , Garib Rath Express at the Phillaur railway station, Amritsar-Chandigarh Superfast Express at the Jalandhar railway station, Nanded Sahib-bound Sachkhand Express at the Beas railway station and Ravi Express at the Batala railway station during the protest.

Railway Sources said the trains were stopped by the authorities only at main railway stations to prevent harassment to commuters. Activists of the Janta Jal Sewa Samiti, Phagwara, led by Vipin Khurana and former Nagar Council president Malkiat Singh Ragbotra served sweet water to stranded passengers.

New Delhi: A scuffle broke out between Sikh protesters and the Delhi Police while the former were on their way to the Prime Minister’s residence to submit a memorandum seeking Sajjan Kumar’s speedy trial in the High Court.

Sajjan Kumar was last week acquitted by a Karkardooma court in a 1984 riots case. At least 90 protestors were arrested and seven members of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), including Manjinder Singh Sirsa, SAD’s general secretary, president of Youth Akali Dal, Kuldeep Singh Bhogal, and Onkar Singh Thapar, received minor injuries. At least nine policemen were injured too. While the protesters claimed that the police had
hit them with lathis, the Delhi Police denied the same.

“We wanted to submit a memorandum in support of Nirpreet Kaur and others on fast at Janat Mantar. We proceeded towards the PM’s house but were stopped and hit with lathis even though the march was peaceful. Three of our members suffered injuries and were hospitalised,” said Manjit Singh GK, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president. He said he and his colleague Avtar Singh Hit were
taken into custody.

Deputy Commissioner SBS Tyagi refuted the allegations. “Police barricades were damaged. We had to detain 90 protesters who were later let off. Those injured were admitted to RML Hospital.”

At 2 pm as the protesters, including Aam Aadmi Party and BJP activists, marched from Jantar Mantar towards the PM’s residence, they crossed two barricades at Parliament Street even as the police personnel tried to stop them. The 2,000-strong crowd then tried to break the third barricade but were stopped. “The Delhi Police lathicharged the protesters for demanding justice but they failed to do anything against those responsible for the 1984 massacre,” said the DSGMC chief.

On being released, the protesters resumed their protest at Jantar Mantar.

Rally in Amritsar

Amritsar: The 1984 Sikh Katle-am Pirit Pariwar Sangharsh Committee held a protest rally against the acquittal of senior Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a 1984 riots case. The protesters raised slogans against the UPA Government. Committee president Kashmir Singh Saggu alleged that the Congress and the CBI had colluded to ensure that Sajjan Kumar was acquitted. (TNS)

‘Lathi charge’ flayed

Amritsar: Avtar Singh Makkar, SGPC chief, has flayed the “lathi charge” on DSGMC office-bearers and SAD leaders in New Delhi. He said the UPA Government should deliver justice to the Sikhs by putting all those behind the 1984 riots behind bars. “The government should listen to the voice of the community rather than resorting to oppressive measures,” he added. (TNS)

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The Tribune – Fund delay clogs operation clean up; Not paid, contractor threatens to suspend work on Budha Nullah

Puneet Pal Singh Gill, Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 5. The much-hyped bio-remediation project to clean the Budha Nullah is all set to enter a turbulent phase as the contractor has threatened to stop the ongoing work if his dues were not cleared within a week.

Out of the five “green bridges” to be constructed on the nullah, only one has been completed so far. If payment is not released soon, the project may hit a roadblock as it would become impossible to construct these bridges once the monsoon arrives, say officials.

A total of five “green bridges” are to be constructed at a distance of 500 metres each on the nullah. Microbes will be released only once in these “V” shaped bridges. When water will pass through these bridges, the microbes will consume all pollutants present in the water. Enclosures have been prepared and the microbes will remain there for a long time.

The contractor, Probir Singh, alleged that ever since work began on the project in December last, he had not been paid even a paisa whereas work worth Rs 2 crore had already been done.

The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) officials, who are monitoring the project, claimed that after clearance from their end, the bills were sent to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for release of payments (on January 17). They claimed the CPCB was responsible for the delay.

Probir Singh stated that he would stop the work if the pending payments were not released within a week. “I cannot bear more expenses. It seems the CPCB is not serious about this project,” he rued.

PPCB officials also claimed the initial bills raised by the contractor had some discrepancies, which led to the delay.

Krunesh Garg, Senior Environmental Engineer, PPCB, said, “The CPCB is to make payments directly to the contractor.

The PPCB chairman has even written a letter to the CPCB for early release of the funds.”

After having stayed on papers for more than 20 months, the Rs 16-crore bio-remediation project to clean the Budha Nullah waters finally started when the first set of microbes were released into the drain near Jainpur village on December 4.

A total of 70 tonnes of microbial culture were released into the nullah. Each tonne of microbes costs around Rs 3 lakh, which means microbes worth around Rs 2 crore were released into the nullah on December 4. Once completed, it is estimated that the pollution level in the nullah would come down by around 50-80 per cent.

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The Tribune – Punjab Budget 2013-2014; A mere Rs 5 crore for Budha Nullah

Sanjeev Singh Bariana, Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 20. An expenditure (as per official figures) of more than Rs 25 crore for cleaning Ludhiana’s Budha nullah notwithstanding, thousands of residents have had no respite from the highly polluted water body. This financial year (2013-2014), only a sum of Rs 5 crore has been allotted for the nullah in the supplementary Plan.

In 2009-2010, an amount of Rs 50 crore was sanctioned for cleaning the nullah and restoration of ecology of the Holy Bein. At least 30 per cent of the grant component worth Rs 15 crore was to be given by the Centre and the remaining Rs 35 crore was to be provided by the Punjab Government.

The GLADA has contributed Rs 5.96 crore and the Punjab Government Rs 8 crore towards a sum of Rs 5.80 crore given by the Centre for a sewage treatment plant (STP) at Macchiwara. Yet no funds have been released to the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board for cleaning the Budha Nullah.

A senior official said the nullah would not require to be cleaned once a treatment plant was set up.

He, however, conceded that the existing muck needed to be cleaned. Sunil Dutt, a businessman from Ludhiana, said: “We have not had any relief. There are compliants against installed plants not working. We should first get a status report on the works carried out”.

A project for prevention of pollution of the Ghaggar, worth Rs 536 crore, which has been submitted to the Centre is yet to be given approval. A token amount of Rs 10,000 has been provided for it in the Budget.

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The Tribune – ‘Cheated’ by husband, woman sets herself on fire

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 31. A 24- year- old woman sets herself on fire after her husband allegedly refused to live with her as she belongs to a lower cast.

The woman who sustained 20 per cent burn injuries is undergoing treatment at the local Civil Hospital.

The police has registered a case against the man, identified as Lovely Kumar of New Company Bagh Colony on the Tibba road, and started investigations.

Victim’s mother said her daughter fell in love with the man and married him after eloping with him. Later, with the consent of both the families, the couple solemnised their marriage in the court.

It was found that Lovely agreed for a court marriage to avoid legal proceeding against him. Victim’s mother said when her daughter told her husband to arrange a formal wedding, he declined and refused to take her from her paternal house.

Lovely said he could not take her home since she belonged to a lower class. Feeling cheated, the woman allegedly set herself on fire at her house last evening after pouring kerosene on her body. Her condition is stated to be out of danger.

She was rushed to the local Civil Hospital. The police has registered a case under Section 417 of the IPC and article 3 of the SC, ST Act against Lovely.

Police Commissioner Ishwar Singh said: “Atrocities on women of any type will not be tolerated and strict action will be taken against those involved in committing such crimes”.

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The Tribune – 50 years of PAU; Experts favour subsidy only for eco farming

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, November 27. An expert at a university in the US, Dr Rattan Lal, has suggested that only those farmers should be given subsidies who practise farming in an eco-friendly manner.

Lal, a professor at Soil Science, Carbon Management and Sequestration Centre in Ohio, said such a mechanism would not only benefit the soil’s health but would also prove to be an economically viable option for farmers in the long run.

Speaking at the ‘International Conference on Agricultural Sustainability Food and Livelihood Security’ at Punjab Agricultural University, he said, “Instead of giving subsidies for agriculture, various governments and international bodies like the United Nations should encourage green practices in farming.” The conference was inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee.

Lal said extractive farming practices, including removing crop residue for using it as fodder or household fuel, were the prime cause behind soil degradation. “Soil degradation is also caused by overuse of resources and ignorance and misunderstandings about the functioning of the ecosystem,” he said.

He also raised concern over the excessive use of fertilisers and pesticides, which were the main reason behind the spread of chronic diseases. “Moreover, fertilisers also damage the soil’s health,” he said. Several other farm experts and scientists echoed similar views on subsidy for eco-farming.

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The Tribune – Terror bid foiled in Punjab, four held with arms

Tribune News Service

Patiala, October 25. The police today claimed to have foiled a major terror bid ahead of the festive season by arresting four persons armed with sophisticated weapons and ammunition at Amritsar, Ludhiana and Bathinda railway stations.

While three persons were arrested in Bathinda, one was held in Amritsar. Two of the accused were recently deported from the Philippines and Thailand and are suspected to have entered the country through the Nepal border near Uttar Pradesh.

The police is now trying to find out whether the accused have any links to other terror modules.

Senior Government Railway Police (GRP) officials said during a special operation passengers, who had alighted from the Moori Express, were checked at the Ludhiana Railway Station and two 9 mm pistols and 10 live rounds were seized from the bag of a youth. The youth, however, managed to escape taking advantage of the heavy rush at the exit gate,” they said.

GRP IG, Rohit Choudhary, said preliminary investigations indicate that the escaped youth may have crossed over into India with weapons from the Nepal border adjoining Rudrapur district in Uttarakhand. “Recovery of a booklet pertaining to Nanakmatha gurdwara (in Rudrapur) from the youth’s bag indicates that he had visited the place before coming to Punjab”, he said.

In a similar operation, GRP officials at the Amritsar Railway Station arrested Amardeep Singh alias Bobby of district Bhind in Madhya Pradesh from Dadar Express. “We have seized two 9 mm pistols he had concealed inside his pillow. A driving licence of Manila was also recovered from his possession”, said the IG.

Drawing a link between the two seizures, the officer said all pistols have a made-in-USA mark on them and these appear to be tampered with. “We are interrogating the accused and trying to identify their local links. Some persons are under the scanner and there could be more arrests in the case,” he said.

Three persons were arrested at the Bathinda Railway station with four country-made pistols. They have been identified as Suresh Kumar, Rakesh Kumar and Avadh Naresh.

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The Tribune – Photo exhibition of anti-Sikh riots at Jallianwala Bagh

New Delhi, October 19. Several organisations working for the betterment of the Sikh community in Delhi today said a mobile photo exhibition of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots would be inaugurated at Jallianwala Bagh on November 1. It would reach Sultanpur Lodhi on October 24, Jalandhar on October 25, Ludhiana on October 26, Anandpur Sahib on October 27 and Chandigarh on October 28.

A seminar on “Effective legislation against communal and sectarian violence” would be held on November 4, said senior advocate of the Supreme Court H S Phoolka.

He said the photo exhibition and the seminar were being organised to pressurise the government into punishing the guilty as not one accused in the anti-Sikh riots had been convicted. He said there were only five cases being heard by courts, the rest having been dismissed for want of evidence or witnesses. (TNS)

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The Tribune – Amritsar-Chandigarh Superfast hits the track; to halt at Ludhiana, Jalandhar

Neeraj Bagga, Tribune News Service

Amritsar, September 11. The Amritsar-Chandigarh Superfast Express linking the holy city, Jalandhar and Ludhiana to the state capital chugged out of Amritsar railway station on its maiden journey today — its graffiti-like colours unchanged and boards still pronouncing it as Duranto. In all, 347 passengers travelled from Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana to Chandigarh on Day 1.

The Superfast has replaced the not-so-popular Amritsar-Chandigarh Duronto Express and fulfilled a long-pending demand of commuters and businessmen, who wanted the train to halt at Jalandhar and Ludhiana. Since the Duronto is a non-stop train between originating station and destination, halts were not possible, resulting in poor occupancy on the route.

As per the break-up available with the Ferozepur division of the Northern Zone, 208 passengers undertook the journey from Amritsar to Chandigarh, 34 from Jalandhar to Chandigarh and 15 from Ludhiana to Chandigarh.

The train, which departs from Amritsar at 5.20 am, covers the distance to Chandigarh in 4.25 hours. It halts at Ludhiana for five minutes and at Jalandhar for three minutes. Fares have also been considerably reduced as meals will no longer be served to the passengers, as was the case on the Duronto.Various categories of AC buses cover the Amritsar-Chandigarh distance in four hours. One-way fares vary between Rs 300 and Rs 320 per person for AC and around Rs 170 for non-AC bus.

Amritsar resident Dalbir Singh, who frequently travels to Chandigarh for work, gave the Superfast a thumbs-up. “The train reaches Chandigarh at 9.45 am and departs for Amritsar at 6.50 pm. That gives me a nine-hour day in Chandigarh to complete my work in government offices and then return home the same day,” said Dalbir Singh.

Divisional Railway Manager, Ferozepur Division, Naresh Chander Goel said though the Superfast’s first day occupancy rate did not differ much from that of the Amritsar-Chandigarh Duronto, things would improve soon.

“As more and more people come to know of the Superfast’s halts at Jalandhar and Ludhiana, occupancy will look up. The number of Chandigarh-bound passengers from Jalandhar and Ludhiana is likely to rise,” said Goel.

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The Tribune – Delhi team to inspect Ludhiana metro route

Sarbjit Dhaliwal, Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 23. A team of senior officials from New Delhi will arrive in Ludhiana on Monday for a two-day visit to inspect route of the proposed metro rail track. Official sources said the team would be sent by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). The state government has offered to appoint the DMRC as consultant for the project.

The sources said the team would inspect both the metro corridors. At some places, the rail track would be laid underground while at others, it would be over the ground on the pattern of Delhi Metro.

A team of state government officials led by Principal Secretary of the Local Bodies Suresh Kumar held a meeting with officials of the DMRC in New Delhi yesterday. The sources said various aspects of the project were discussed in the meeting.

The feasibility report of the project will be ready by mid-September and it will be submitted for an appropriate action to the Central Government. The Centre will contribute 20 per cent of total cost of the project to be built under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode. An equal share will be contributed by the state government. The project cost is likely to be in the range of Rs 10,000 crore.

The sources said there would be resistance by shopkeepers and others concerned at certain places with regard to acquisition of land to lay the track. The officials concerned would have to work hard to convince the shopkeepers. Expenditure on the land to be acquired would be in the range of Rs 500 crore and the state government would bear this cost.

They said the state government was also exploring the possibility of a similar project for Amritsar.

About the case

Delhi Metro Corporation officials will be on a two-day visit to Ludhiana to inspect metro corridors.

At some places, the rail track will be laid underground while at others, it will be over the ground on the pattern of Delhi Metro Sources say shopkeepers and others concerned may resist acquisition of land to lay the track.

Expenditure on land, which will be in the range of Rs 500 crore, will be borne by the state government.

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The Tribune – Ludhiana man joins Melbourne Police

Puneet Pal Singh Gill, Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 5. A turbaned Sikh man from Ludhiana, Manpinder Singh Gill, will be fighting crime on the streets of Australia. Thirty-four-year-old Manpinder has been appointed Protective Services Officer in the Protective Services Unit (PSU) of the Melbourne Police. Another city resident Amitoj Singh is already serving the Australian police.

Gill, whose family lives in Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar area here, is the fifth turbaned youth and second from Ludhiana to be inducted into the Australian police.

The PSU is Victoria Police’s specialist provider of security services. It was established in 1986 following a security review, but formally commenced operations on May 1, 1988.

Manpinder went to the local GGN Public School and SCD Government College. He later graduated from Gujranwala Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology. He, along with his wife Pawan, migrated to Australia in 2007. He had been doing a business before he applied for PSO.

“My maternal grandfather was in the Army. I also aspired to be an army officer, but could not succeed. And when I saw this advertisement, I thought this was my chance to fulfill my childhood dream. As a PSO I will be able to serve the community,” Manpinder said while speaking to The Tribune over the phone from Melbourne. “After clearing the written test, I joined the Victoria Police Academy, Glen Waverley, Victoria on April 16. After three months of rigorous training, I graduated on July 16,” Manpinder said.

His father Sant Parkash Singh Gill, a former Superintending Engineer of the Punjab Irrigation Department, flew to Australia to attend his son’s graduation ceremony. Manpinder said: “Australians do not discriminate. Here you are treated on a par with other citizens. It does not make any difference to people here that I wear a turban as they know that I am there for their safety”.

The PSO’s are responsible for the security of Melbourne’s Supreme Court, County Court, Children’s Court, Magistrates’ Court, Suburban Magistrates Courts, Victoria Civil and Administrative Tribunal, Department of Premier and Cabinet, Victorian Department of Justice, Parliament House Victoria, The Shrine of Remembrance, Victoria Police Centre and Victoria Police St Kilda Road Complex.

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