The Canadian Parvasi-issue 52

The International News Weekly Punjab
June 29, 2018 | Toronto
09
Punjab: Mass movement against drugs launched on
social media, Amarinder under fire for staying mum
Continued from page 01
Gurbhej’s mother said
in the video that his son
was an addict and went to
washroom to inject himself
and died minutes later.At
least nine deaths have been
reported leading to public
anger against Chief Minister
Amarinder Singh whose
pre-poll promise was to
eliminate drugs from Punjab
within ‘four weeks’ after
assuming office.
The mass movement
is already gathering massive
support from youths,
Punjabi singers, actors, advocates,
theatre artistes besides
others across the state
who are planning to launch
it as a mass movement on
the ground as well. Initially,
a map of Punjab in black
colour is being circulated
to protest the deaths and
people have already made it
their display photograph on
Facebook and WhatsApp.
Speaking to The Indian
Express, advocate Hakam
Singh from Chandigarh,
one of the initiators of the
movement said, “We have
launched this non-political
movement after witnessing
the recent spate of
deaths and ground level
situation in Punjab. Nothing
has changed in a year
and youths are dying taking
drugs. We are getting
support of many Punjabi
singers, actors, advocates,
retired IAS and IPS offices,
philanthropists among others.
From July 1-7, there
will be massive protests and
demonstrations on roads
against drugs. We will be
reaching villages where
people will be encouraged to
come out and speak against
drugs. If government is doing
nothing, we cannot sit
and keep mum. If they cannot,
we have to save the
youths of Punjab. People
should wear black turbans,
suits, dupattas, ribbons to
show their protest.”
Questioning why Chief
Minister has not visited a
single drug death family
till now, he said, “Sitting
in Chandigarh is not going
to give him a real picture
of what is happening in villages
here. Why not a single
word of sympathy for such
families from our CM,” he
asked.
Mahinder Pal Loomba,
a government employee
(health supervisor) from
Moga who too has joined
the movement said, “After
seeing the ground reality
in Punjab, I am not afraid
of anything. Even if I lose
my job, I will speak against
drugs and this government.
I have done some ground
work before declaring this
war against drugs. There
are 22 rehabilitation centers
for addicts in the state
and shockingly, there are
not more than 10 inmates
in any of them. The centers
have failed to provide any
skill development to addicts,
thus failing the entire
purpose of their existence.
In Civil Hospital Moga, we
have seen addicts injecting
openly but none is there to
help them. Where is Captain
Amarinder Singh? Is
he so busy that he cannot
see what is happening in
Punjab? Why he cannot
travel and see condition of
these families whose children
have died injecting
drugs?”
Padma Bhushan awardee
Dr Sardara Singh Johl,
a world renowned food
economist, who too has announced
support for the
movement said that he has
failed to find any difference
between Congress and SAD-
BJP government.
“If not 10, then Captain
could have met at least one
or two families where drug
deaths happened. His promise
of eliminating drugs
within four weeks was anyways
untenable. But now
why this insensitivity? He
did not even express two
words of sympathy for families.
Visibly, government
has no plan ahead to tackle
this menace because they
are catching patients with
small quantities of drugs
not main suppliers. Both
Captain and Badals are traditional
politicians. According
to me, entire Punjab
should wear black badges
and ribbons till drugs do not
end because nothing can be
expected from SAD-BJP or
Congress both.”
It was on March 11 that
The Indian Express reported
that government has no
official data on drug deaths
in Punjab.
Health minister Brahm
Mohindra maintains that
due to social stigma, families
hide actual cause of
death and thus there is no
data available.
Punjab Groundwater Severely
Depleted, State Will Have No
Water in 15 Yearas, Says CM
Indo-Asian News Service
Chandigarh: Punjab
may mean the land of five
rivers but the agrarian state
may not have any water left
in the next 15 years, Chief
Minister Amarinder Singh
warned June 26.
"Punjab would have
no water left in the next 15
years unless immediate
steps are taken to control
the situation.
"With the highest rate
of decline in ground water
level, Punjab has the highest
percentage of dark zones
in the country," Amarinder
Singh said, expressing serious
concern over the depleting
water levels.
Mission Director of the
Directorate of Ground Water
Management Arunjit
Singh Miglani said: "Punjab,
which has the highest
rate of groundwater exploitation,
had during 2008-2013
on an average withdrawn
28.2 Million Acre Feet
yearly, with yearly average
replenishment of only 18.9
MAF, thus causing a severe
shortage." The chief minister
underlined the need for
a master water conservation
plan and suggested including
water conservation
in school curriculum to create
awareness among children
about the importance
of saving ground water.
Assessing the critical
situation, Amarinder Singh
appealed to farmers to minimize
the use of tube-wells
and shift to canal-based irrigation.
Miglani, who made a
detailed presentation to the
Cabinet highlighting the
gravity of the problem, said:
"Punjab uses 73 percent of
its groundwater for irrigation,
while only 27 percent
of surface water is utilized
for irrigation purposes.
"The number of tubewells
in the state had gone
up exponentially – from 2
lakh in 1971 to 12.50 lakh in
2015-16 – with 41 percent of
these having the availability
of water at the depth of
beyond 60 meters."
The chief minister also
exhorted farmers to diversify
their crops, instead
of sowing water-guzzling
crops like paddies, which
require 150 cm of water,
though the actual requirement
for plant growth is
only 60 cm, as the remaining
90 cm water is lost due to
evaporation, a spokesman
said here.