IEP Chandigarh, September 23:

Punjab Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua, on Friday, directed all the deputy commissioners to complete the district survey reports of potential mining sites at the earliest.

During the video conferencing with all the Deputy Commissioners, the Chief Secretary informed that 858 potential mining sites have been identified in the state and all these sites are to be visited by the Sub-Divisional Appraisal Committees. He said that as of now, 542 sites have been assessed, while 316 sites are yet to be visited. Therefore, the concerned Deputy Commissioner should ensure assessment of all these remaining sites at the earliest, and after preparing the post-monsoon data, send a complete report to the Mining Department as this data has to be made available in the public domain for more transparency.

Reviewing the action taken in illegal mining cases, Mr. Janjua asked all the Deputy Commissioners to add sections of the theft and Mining Act in the cases of illegal mining and to take these cases to the courts to ensure logical conclusion. He said that since April 15, a total 447 FIRs have been filed in illegal mining, while 421 persons have been arrested and 515 vehicles impounded.

The Chief Secretary said that the vehicles and other material seized during raids on illegal mining should be auctioned and receipts of the auction should be deposited in the state exchequer. He said that the delay in demarcation in cases of illegal mining resulting in delay in recovery proceedings, thus ensure timely demarcation. The penalty should be imposed on seized vehicles as per the guidelines of the NGT, he added.

He instructed the Deputy Commissioner to take action regarding the recovery of land revenue arrears during district level meetings and said that around Rs.111 crore recoveries are still pending in such cases.

Similarly, during the review of the water conservation projects in the districts, the Chief Secretary directed all the Deputy Commissioners to accord sanctions for the water conservation projects at the earliest, especially to the ground water recharge schemes. He also asked to furnish project-specific reports in drainage projects, saying that only after these reports, payment shall be made to the concerned contractor. The Chief Secretary also strictly instructed to ensure stoppage of pollutant in rivers and canals of the state. “Sources of pollution in rivers and canals such as domestic waste, municipal sewer, dairy waste, STP waste water, industrial waste etc. should not be allowed to enter rivers and canals at any cost”, he categorically added.

During the review of canal water theft cases, the Chief Secretary directed to register FIRs and take further action in such cases.

IEP Chandigarh September 23

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) has unearthed another scam regarding fraud in labour cartage, transport tenders and works in grain markets by the contractors in conniving with concerned officers/employees in Shaheed Bhagat Singh (SBS) Nagar. In this regard a case has been registered against three contractors besides government officers/employees on Friday at the VB Police Station Jalandhar, for committing fraud and embezzlement causing huge loss to the State exchequer. The role of other tenderers and government officials/employees of the district will be probed during the investigation of the case as alleged in the complaint in this regard.

Disclosing this here today, the spokesperson of the VB said the bureau after investigating this fraud case in labour and transportation tenders and works in the grain markets of SBB Nagar, has registered a case no: 18 on 22-09-2022 against the accused contractors Telu Ram, Yashpal and Ajaypal (All from village Udhanwal, Tehsil Balachore) under section 420, 409, 467, 468, 471, 120-B and section 7, 8, 12, 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act at Police Station VB, Jalandhar.

During the probe It was also come to light that Telu Ram, Yashpal and Ajaypal, the accused in the above case, have purchased many properties in the name of themselves and their families by committing such scams, which would be thoroughly investigated during the investigation. It is also worth mentioning that the above accused contractor Telu Ram is already in jail due to his arrest in a similar case registered by VB Ludhiana. The Bureau is conducting raids by forming teams to arrest the remaining two accused, Yashpal and Ajaypal, who would be arrested soon and many more important clues are likely to be found after their arrest.

Giving more information in this regard, the spokesperson said during the tenders for labour cartage and transport in the grain markets for wheat/paddy/stock articles in the year 2020-2021, Honey Kumar, proprietor of RS Co-operative labour and construction Society had submitted tenders for Nawanshahr  and Rahon clusters and P.G. Gadown firm had filed tenders for Nawanshahr only at basic tender rates but both were rejected without any basis and the tenders were awarded to contractor Telu Ram for Nawanshahr cluster at 71 percent higher rate and Rahon cluster at 72 percent higher rate.

Later, the tenders called for the year 2022-23, Honey Kumar again submitted tenders at basic rate for labour works in Rahon and Nawanshahr clusters through his above said societies, but the district tender allocation committee rejected his bid and allotted labour tenders to contractor Ajaypal at 73 percent more for the works in Nawanshahr cluster and 72 percent more in the Rahon cluster, he added.

The spokesperson further said the contractors Telu Ram and Yashpal at the time of filling the tenders for the year 2020-21 and contractor Ajaypal during the year 2020-21 and 2022-23 has attached online lists regarding the registration numbers of vehicles for transportation of goods which were verified by the VB from respective district transport authorities. It has come to light that in these lists large number of vehicles such as scooters, motorcycles, cars, pickups, tractor trailers, close body trucks, LPG tankers and harvesters etc. were mentioned whereas the food grains could not be transported on such vehicles, he added.

During the probe it has been established that along with the registration numbers of fake vehicles mentioned in the gate passes by the accused contractors, the details of the quantity of food grains are prima facie a case of fake reporting and embezzlement shown in these gate passes. He said the concerned officials/employees of the department had also paid to the said contractors for the work done without verifying these fake gate passes.

He further revealed that apart from this, on checking the photocopies of Aadhaar cards of the labour provided by the said contractors during the tender process, it was found that many of these Aadhaar cards belong to minor workers, many Aadhaar cards have elders with age above 60 years and many Aadhaar cards are not readable. According to the facts, the district tender committee should have rejected the technical bid of the concerned contractors, which was not done. But the concerned officials/employees  in connivance with each other, have committed this fraud in the labour cartage and transport tenders for the transportation of food grains in the grain markets and on the basis of which this case has been registered against the above mentioned accused.

IEP Chandigarh September 24, 2022

 Haryana Right to Service Commission has imposed a fine of Rs. 30,000 on a mining officer Sh. Omdutt Sharma for dereliction of his assigned duty. Giving information in this regard, an official spokesperson of the Commission said that under the leadership of Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal, various steps are being taken by the State Government to ensure that the benefits of the welfare schemes reaches to the last person standing in the queue. There are 584 services of 43 departments/institutions notified under the Haryana Right to Service Commission Act. He said that regular monitoring is done by the Commission to ensure time bound delivery of these notified services to the general public. The Commission regularly monitors delivery of services through SARAL Report. For the services which are not available on the SARAL Portal, the Commission calls for monthly reports from the concerned departments. Every application mentioned in these reports are perused and scrutinized by the Commission.

The spokesperson said that the Commission perused the reports of the Department of Mines and Geology from September to December, 2021 and found deficiencies in  delivering services through three applications. In relation to these three applications, notice was issued to Panchkula Mining Officer, Sh. Omdutt Sharma. During the hearing, Sh. Omdutt Sharma informed that the three applications were rejected due to lack of documents. When questioned further, he stated generic reasons for delay like heavy workload and staff shortage in the office. The Commission found that Omdutt kept on circulating the files in the department without any reason, due to which there was a delay of about 400 days in disposal of these files. Though the notified timeline for grant of mineral dealer license is 45 days, Sh. Omdutt Sharma delayed the applications in question by taking 10 times more the notified timeline. The Commission has imposed a fine of Rs. 30,000 on Sh. Omdutt Sharma for laxity and negligence in this work. According to the spokesperson, delay in delivering of the notified services is absolutely unacceptable to the Haryana Right to Service Commission.

IEP Chandigarh September 24, 2022

Haryana Forest Minister Kanwarpal Gujjar said that in order to combat the repercussions of climate change, conducting awareness programmes across the country is the need of the hour.

Gujjar said this during the National Conference of Environment and Forest Ministers’ held in Gujarat today.

Gujjar stated that environmental education must be included in school and college curricula in order to increase environmental awareness among them. He said along with this we have to ensure inclusive awareness regarding the environment issue through various communication platforms like TV, radio, social media.

The Forest Minister said that a roadmap is required to be prepared based on which collectively we have to move forward. He added that we should plant more and more trees in order to keep the environment clean and to enhance air quality.

He said that the polythene thrown by the people is posing a huge threat to marine life. Plastic is harming our environment at a fast pace, to deal with this problem, we have to make collective efforts in order to create alternative solutions.

IED PLANTED UNDER SI’s CAR CASE: PUNJAB POLICE ARRESTS MAIN PERPETRATOR, HIS TWO AIDES FROM HIMACHAL PRADESH

IEP CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR, September 23

:In a major blow to ISI-backed terror networks amid the ongoing decisive war against anti-social elements launched on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Punjab Police on Friday arrested the main perpetrator and eighth accused, identified as Yuvraj Sabharwal alias Yash, who had retrieved and planted an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) beneath the Sub-Inspector’s car in Amritsar on the directions of Canada-based gangster Lakhbir Singh alias Landa.Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav said that in an intelligence led operation, Yuvraj, a resident of Navi Abadi Faizpura, was arrested from Kullu in Himachal Pradesh. Yuvraj is a history-sheeter and was involved in various heinous crimes including attempt to murder, robbery and dacoity, etc, he added.He said that along with Yuvraj, the Police have also arrested his two aides identified as Pawan Kumar alias Shiva Macchi and Sahil alias Macchi, both residents of Chamrang Road at Amritsar, who have criminal-backgrounds and are wanted by the Amritsar Police in multiple other cases including murder, snatching, robbery, dacoity, etc. Both the accused were arrested in Dacoity case registered at Police Station Majitha Road in Amritsar, while, their role in IED case registered at Police Station Ranjit Avenue in Amritsar is also being examined.The development came four weeks after the Punjab Police had arrested seven persons including Deepak (22) of village Patti in Tarn Taran, who accompanied Yuvraj in retrieving and planting the IED under the SUV Bolero (PB02-CK-0800) of SI Dilbag Singh parked outside his residence in the area of C-Block Ranjit Avenue, Amritsar on August 16, 2022. The mobile phone-triggering IED weighing about 2.79 Kg and carrying about 2.17 Kg high explosive was recovered from the spot by the local police.Six other persons, who were arrested for providing logistic, technical and financial support have been identified as dismissed constable Harpal Singh, and Fatehdeep Singh, both residents of village Sabra in Tarn Taran; Rajinder Kumar alias Bau of Harike in Tarn Taran; Khushalbir Singh alias Chittu, Varinder Singh alias Abu and Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi, trio residents of Bhikhiwind.DGP Gaurav Yadav said that with the arrest of Yuvraj, the Police have successfully managed to arrest all the accused persons involved in the case, while, strenuous efforts are being made to extradite the Canada-based gangster Lakhbir Singh alias Landa, who conspired this entire conspiracy with intention to disturb hard-earned peace and harmony of the border state.”With Chief Minister Punjab Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab Government having adopted zero-tolerance anti-social elements, the Punjab Police is committed to wipe out Gangsters and Drugs from the state,” the DGP reiterated.Commissioner of Police (CP) Amritsar Arun Pal Singh said that Police have procured seven days remand of Yuvraj and further investigations are on.  BOX: WHO IS LANDA?Lakhbir Landa (33), who is native of Tarn Taran and fled to Canada in 2017, had also conspired the Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) terror attack at Punjab Police Intelligence Headquarters in Mohali. He is considered to be the close aide of Pakistan-based wanted gangster Harvinder Singh alias Rinda, who had joined hands with Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).

IEP Ekta Nagar (Gujarat)/Chandigarh, September 23

“For the maintenance and cleanliness of the environment, the Punjab government has imposed a complete ban on plastic carry bags, the rules of this ban must be strictly enforced so that such a ban is uniformly imposed across the country. Therefore, the union government should take the initiative to make such a common policy, because taking care of the environment is a common responsibility of all of us.”

It was stated by Punjab Environment Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer during his address today on the first day of the two-day national conference of State ministers of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Meet Hayer said that on the instructions of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the Environment and Punjab Pollution Control Board is making continuous efforts to maintain the environment. He also said that the state government has once imposed a complete ban on the manufacture, purchase, sale and use of plastic carry bags.

The Environment Minister said that there is a ban on plastic bags by the Punjab government, whether it is 75 micron or 100 micron, but as there is no ban on such bags in other states, the industries of Punjab complain that such a ban is not imposed by other states and the Centre.

Meet Hayer put a demand before the Union government that if there is to be a ban on plastic carry bags, then the complete ban should be consolidated because keeping the environment clean is the joint responsibility of all the states. Like Punjab, the task of imposing a ban in all states is under the jurisdiction of the central government. He also demanded that incentive should be given to such industries to switch from plastic manufacturing.

Meet Hayer further said that Mandi Gobindgarh will be the first city in the northern area where the conventional fuels in all of the industries are to be replaced with cleaner fuel i.e. PNG. About 240 units are likely to switch over to cleaner fuel. Presently, about 140 units have already switched over to the cleaner fuel.

The Minister further said that in terms of the management of contaminated Bio Medical Waste, Punjab is the first state to adopt Bar Code based collection to avoid any pilferage and illegal disposal.

The minister was accompanied by Punjab Pollution Control Board Chairman Prof. Adarsh Pal Vig.