Gurdaspur Diary: Police bear brunt of road blockades

SSP Harjit Singh is at his wit’s end in trying to find a solution to road blockades. Protesters have made it a habit of blocking the strategically important Amritsar-Pathankot National Highway (NH) at the drop of a hat. Harried cops are peeved at the manner in which protesters are virtually blackmailing them to cave into their demands or face the threat of closure of the NH.

The Pathankot-Amritsar NH running through Dinanagar, Gurdaspur and Batala has come in as a handy tool for protesters. The four-laned road is the cops Achilles Heel as its closure means inconvenience for VIP tourists taking this road to reach J&K and HP. “A traffic snarl, even for a few hours, means disaster for us,” said an officer.

Senior officers agree that they are indeed facing a predicament of a different kind. “We are being virtually arm-twisted into registering FIRs. This should stop somewhere otherwise we will become pawns,” said an officer.

Last month, the family of a minor rape victim blocked the highway for nearly 10 hours. Kilometer long lines of vehicles could be seen on either side of the highway giving the police and administration officials the jitters. The kin were demanding the arrest of leading education provider SS Gill by “virtue of being the proprietor of the school where the crime took place.”

The cops then played out their hand. They knew the blockade would be lifted only if Gill surrendered or was arrested. Smooth talking officers asked him to come to the Sadar police station “for just a couple of hours after which he would be released.”

Finally, he surrendered following which the protesters cleared the NH. However, once in the police station, he was slapped with an FIR. Instead of spending “just a couple of hours”, Gill had to spend 26 days in the central jail before a local court granted him bail. Clearly, the cops wilted under sustained pressure piled on them by the kin. “The protesters used the NH as a tool to corner Gill. From being a law-abiding citizen he was turned into an accused,” admitted a police officer.

Last week, a Dinanagar school boy died after his bike collided with his colleague’s bike. Senior police officers say that it was as clear as daylight that it was an accidental case but the kin of the deceased forced the cops to file an FIR under Section 302 of the IPC on the plea that “the boy was done to death by a rod.” The protesters kept the body of the school boy in the middle of the NH near Paniyar and remained adamant in continuing with the blockade till a murder case was registered. With traffic piling up on both sides of the NH, the nervous cops again found themselves getting arm-twisted into filing a murder case. Scores of shopkeepers who have their establishments near the accident site corroborated that “it was an accident.” SSP Singh dispatched a DSP rank officer to ascertain the facts. The DSP also told the SSP that it was an accident. Nevertheless, the protesters had their way and cleared the NH only after an FIR under Section 302 of the IPC was registered at the Dinanagar police station.

Tourism minister skips Keshopur wetland visit

Locals living near Keshopur Chambh, Asia’s largest wetland, were disappointed when news spread that Tourism Minister Harjot Bains would visit historical and heritage sites of Gurdaspur district but would not be coming to the wetland. Their logic was that had the minister came he would certainly have released funds which would have been utilised for improving infrastructure. In the 50s stretching till the 90s, eco-tourists would come in large numbers. This development acted as a catalyst in boosting the micro-economy of the nearby cluster of villages. They also wanted the minister to have a look at the unfinished Tourism Interpretation Centre (TIC). The TIC has been constructed at a cost of Rs 3.5 crore with funds coming in from the Asian Development Bank. The building is surely in place but it has neither staff nor the requisite infrastructure to function. Eco-tourists have dried up and so has the economy of the villages. The wetland needs a massive chunk of funds if it is to keep itself away from extinction. Manjit Singh Dala of Dala village located adjacent to the wetland said the minister should come out with an elaborate plan to revive the lost glory of the area. Reason enough why locals wanted Bains to have a look at the area.

DC leads the way in direct seeding of paddy

The other day residents of Kot Budda village were taken by surprise when Gurdaspur Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Ishfaq entered the agriculture tract of land of a farmer and started direct seeding of rice while riding atop a tractor. His point was to ensure farmers resort to direct seeding of rice which is also encouraged by the state government. “This process saves both time and labour. You do not need a lot of equipment. Labour costs decrease by about 40 per cent as compared to seeds which are transplanted. It also saves a lot of water. Direct seedings also help in maintaining the right amount of organic elements of soil, thereby improving the quality and yield of the crop. Moreover, the state government will be giving Rs 1,500 per acre to farmers who adopt this method,” said Ishfaq. Well done, DC sahib, said the villagers.

Contributed by Ravi Dhaliwal