Kalanaur cane institute transferred to PAU

The Kalanaur-based Guru Nanak Sugarcane Research and Development Institute (GNSRDI) had fallen on bad days. Once the AAP government assumed power, there was nobody to look after its interests. Perhaps, one reason may have been that it is the brainchild of ex-Deputy CM Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa. Often politics takes over a good cause. It is a Rs 45 crore project spread over an area of 100 acres. Now, after a year of being in a state of inertia, the government has transferred the institute to the PAU Ludhiana which is the country’s premier research facility. Its founder-director Shivraj Pal Singh Dhaliwal proudly says that it has been modelled on the Pune-based Vasantdada Sugarcane Institute, widely perceived to be one of the best institutes of its kind in Asia. Officials who know a thing or two about cane farming say the project has now come alive. It is only a matter of time when your cane tastes sweeter than it did before!

Flood losses man-made, not act of God

Rain is necessary for human beings because without water, life cannot exist. Rainfall is a natural phenomenon. Some welcome it with joy while others see it as a sign of impending gloom, especially when it takes the shape of a natural disaster. For Gurdaspur, the rain this week poured grief and misery and nothing else. The torrential downpour turned into a flood, which in turn, brought normal life to a grinding halt. The pressure of the water was such that at many places, the decades old sewerage system collapsed. This calls for some introspection. It is high time the administration requisitions funds to replace the old pipes. Let the Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Aggarwal, who has proved on many an occasion that for him the city’s interest is paramount, sit across the table with AAP designated Halqa in-charge Raman Bahl. Bahl is a man who knows how to pull the right strings at the right places. For Gurdaspur residents, his contacts in Chandigarh are worth their weight in gold. Without money, nothing is going to move. Let the duo delve into the past. Sometimes, you have to look back in order to understand the things that lie ahead. Let these dignitaries talk to people who have enough experience and expertise in the matter. Like the rain which begins with a single drop, these dignitaries too need to take their first step. Everything else will then automatically fall in place. Gurdaspur badly needs its archaic drainage and sewerage pipes to be replaced. Floods are acts of God. But flood losses are largely man-made. Nothing is impossible. There are so many things that seem impossible only so long as one does not attempt them.

(Contributed By Ravi Dhaliwal)

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