Punjab Diary: Month-long dharnas over garbage dumps

Jalandhar: Mushrooming of garbage dumps has become one of the major issues in the city. People are feeling helpless as several meetings with the Municipal Corporation and the district administration authorities have not yielded any results. Residents are left with no option, but to take legal route to open the eyes of the authorities concerned. They have decided to fight their own battle. Residents living near Pholariwal sewage treatment plant (STP) have started holding month-long dharnas. They are protesting against garbage dump that has appeared in the STP. “Already the plant is not functioning. Water is not treated. Now, city’s garbage is dumped in the STP. Do we deserve all this,” said Gurdeep Walia, a resident.

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Testing times for SSPs

Gurdaspur: Last week, tension mounted following speculation that some SSPs would be shifted. All eyes were on the incumbent police chiefs of Gurdaspur, Batala and Pathankot. They have been in office for just four months but then nothing matters in front of the whims and fancies of the political class. After all, their predecessors were shifted after remaining in office for just three months. By the evening it became clear that the three had been retained. A bureaucrat remarked, “Life is temporary. So is happiness and sadness. Change is temporary. Constant is also temporary. Time is temporary, speed is temporary. Even temporary is temporarily temporary. The SSP’s post too is temporary. So much so, it is permanently temporary.”

Don’t need celebrity MP: Residents

Pathankot: The recent visit of Kavita Khanna, wife of film icon Vinod Khanna, to her husband’s former constituency triggered a million rumours. Contenders for the BJP ticket said Kavita was ‘intruding into their territory’ as she was eyeing the ticket for the next elections. AAP workers, too, smelt something big. A Barrister-at-Law from the UK university, Kavita is considered to be a celebrity in her own right. Residents, however, say they do not need a celebrity MP. They already contend that Sunny Deol had inflicted much damage. By the time she flew back to Mumbai, yet another rumour started doing the rounds. This time it was that the BJP might field actress Kangana Ranaut as its candidate.

Malout awaits regular SDM

Muktsar: The Malout SDM was considered a prime posting during the SAD-BJP regime in the state. Now, there is no regular SDM for this subdivision in the present AAP government. Notably, Lambi Assembly segment too falls in Malout subdivision. Presently, the additional charge of Malout has been given to the Muktsar SDM. Earlier, the Malout SDM was given the additional charge of the Gidderbaha SDM. A senior official in the district administration said, “It’s surprising that Cabinet Minister Dr Baljit Kaur is a legislator from Malout, but still there is no regular SDM here. This subdivision has a heavy workload. Let’s see what happens in the coming days while keeping our fingers crossed.”

Top Forest Dept official snubbed

Chandigarh: Controversy refuses to leave the Punjab Forest Department. Days after Punjab Vigilance Bureau arrested three forest officials in connection with corruption cases, certain administrative orders issued by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) created a flash point between the top department official and the Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Forests. After giving additional charge to an IFS officer and transferring a superintendent rank official, the PCCF orders were cancelled. The PCCF was reminded by the ACS that the orders were in violation of the government instructions on transfers, issued from time to time. The issue surfaced when the state government was contemplating to hold departmental promotion committee (DPC) meeting to appoint a regular PCCF.

Fake social workers

Sangrur: Many residents strongly feel that there must be some certificate from the government to proclaim oneself as a social worker as fake social workers are in abundance in the district. Interestingly, there are many who have not done any social work in their life, but proudly claim to be an active social worker. After Bhagwant Mann became the CM, the number of such fake workers has multiplied, creating problems for officials. Often, fake workers try to pressurise officials to attend their functions, but when the latter come to know about reality of these fake social workers, they have to make some excuse. “We are planning to share information about these fake social workers on social media so that genuine ones can get recognition in society,” said a resident.

MLAs get say in cops’ postings

Patiala: After a brief period when cops were clueless whom to approach for their postings, local MLAs have finally started getting a say in getting choicest cops as SHOs in their respective constituency. Though officially politicians deny any say, senior cops confirm that they are getting messages from MLAs for postings. A couple of these cops discussing their postings in a local cafeteria spilled the beans when they named two local MLAs of the district and claimed that they had managed to get their blessings.

Contributed by Ravi Dhaliwal, Archit Watts, Rajmeet Singh, Parvesh Sharma, Akansha and Aman Sood