Gurpurab Greetings
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www.punjabadvanceonline.com Gurpurab Greetings Sri Guru Nanak Dev's 550th birth anniversary (Nov 23) 2 Punjab Advance August 2016 Editorial The Boy Who Cried Wolf is one of my favourite Aesop's Fables, I don’t know why but it appears to fit into the current Delhi smog tale. For the third year running Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal repeated his ‘stubble burning’ cries. His hat-trick of alarm calls remind me of the shepherd boy who cried wolf, with no wolf around. Initially the people came to his aid, but when he repeated the cries no one turned up and ultimately he fell vic - tim to his own follies. The Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has been quick in ridi - culing the nonsensical claim of his Delhi counterpart asking him to stop in - dulging in political theatrics and to check the facts before shooting from the mouth. He has trashed as yet another attempt by the Delhi Chief Min - ister to divert public attention for his own government’s abysmal failure on all counts. As per data provided by private and government agencies stubble burn - ing accounts for a bare 4 per cent of the total smog enveloping the National Capital Region. More than 80 per cent of the deadly cocktail of soot, smoke, metals, nitratres, sulphates is the result of the local activities like vehicu - lar traffic, industrial pollution, construction activity, garbage burning etc. Vehicular pollution alone contributes 40 per cent of the total pollution level. According to the latest data released by the Ministry of Earth Sciences and the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) crop burning, which lasts for about 15-20 days during this period, contributes just 4 per cent of the total pollution in Delhi-NCR on an average. The ball is now in the Delhi CM’s court. In another development the people’s Chief Minister of Punjab initially put off his Israel tour in the wake of the train tragedy near Amritsar on Dasehra. He visited the injured in hospitals and announced cash compensation and set up a high-powered probe committee. Under pressure from his Cabinet colleagues, the reluctant CM left the shores. But he is back with a package for farmers. Yes Israel has agreed to cooperate in recycling wastewater for irrigation purposes. The farming community could not have asked for more considering the fast depleting water table of the state. November- 2018 Punjab Advance 3 Contents Punjab Advance www.punjabadvanceonline.com Recycling sewage for LNOVEMBER › 2018 irrigation LVOL›5 L ISSUE›11 C.E.O. N Anindita Mitra (IAS) Editor N Donald Banerjee Designer N Arun Kumar Sharma Publisher N Information & Public Relations Department, Punjab 06 Contact address N Prompt payment, PUNJAB ADVANCE, Room No. 1, 5th Floor, continuous vigil Punjab Civil Secretariat, Chandigarh-160001 Ph. : 0172-2740668 [email protected] Disclaimer: The views expressed by the authors in the articles published in PUNJAB ADVANCE are their own. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Punjab Government or the organization they work for. Editor reserves the right to edit, abridge or expand the articles submitted. In case of any dispute, legal 14 jurisdiction will lie in Chandigarh based courts. Published and Edited by Ms. Anindita Mitra (IAS) on behalf of the Information and Public A tribute to Rajinder Singh Relations Department, Punjab at Room No. Bedi on his death 1, 5th Floor, Civil Sectt., Chandigarh. anniversary Page-40 4 Punjab Advance November- 2018 Curbs on illegal Fumigation is best way to treat seeds mining 32 18 Stage set for Military Litfest Patiala Raiders win polo match A master in straw management 42 Keeping fit in old age 28 44 November- 2018 Punjab Advance 5 Cover Recycling sewage for irrigation lIsrael shows the way in water management lPunjab to adopt pattern in five cities Donald Banerjee he dwindling water table of the state and for three decades, has been going deeper and the nightmarish dry wasteland staring in deeper to pull out water for irrigation. But how T the face of the farmer was high on the long will this depleting water table last, this was agenda of the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder the biggest question for which the people’s Chief Singh, when he undertook a tour of Israel. The Minister found an answer in Israel’s water man - tour was on the brink of being called off because agement system, which converted a desert into an of the train tragedy near Amritsar on Dasehra. But agricultural nation. on the persuasion of his Cabinet colleagues, a hes - We know that Israel has some of the answers to itant Chief Minister left the shores with the mis - better manage water and wastewater. sion of solving the water woes of the farmers. Yes, Israel is over 60 per cent desert and the re - Punjab, which has remained the ‘Annadata’ of maining land is arid, so Punjab coming to Israel the country keeping the food bowl overflowing for help with a potential water crisis is a great idea. Israel recycles 95 per cent of its sewer water for irrigation purposes. This magic water man - agement system appears to be the answer to Pun - jab’s water problem. Capt Amarinder Singh called on the Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and held extensive talks with Israel’s Minister for Energy and Water Re - sources, Dr Yuval Steinitz, to adopt this water re - cycling model in five cities of Punjab. While the President shared Israel’s experience on judicious management of water to transform a desert into an agricultural nation, the Chief Min - ister spoke about the need to take urgent steps to check the depletion of water levels in Punjab 6 Punjab Advance November- 2018 The Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, with Israeli President Reuvin Rivlin through better water management and conserva - through measures, such as double desalination. tion. The President observed that India’s water The CM invited the minister to visit Punjab to problem had also been raised by Prime Minister strengthen cooperation between the two sides. Narendra Modi during their discussion. He sug - But beyond sewer water management, there gested use of desalination to make water drink - are certain important aspects of Israel’s water suc - able, as was being done extensively by Israel cess: through various innovative technologies. One of the keys to Israel’s success has been agriculture in Israel and said Punjab would like water management. People have been educated, to do the same in urban areas. and we’ve been told just how serious water man - Capt Amarinder Singh apprised the Israeli min - agement is in our country. ister of the problems being faced by the state on Israel requires some billion cubic metres more the water front as a result of its depleting water water annually than natural replenishment pro - table. vides. While Punjab was power surplus, water re - Innovation has led to the ability to conserve sources remained a challenge for the state, which water, and perhaps one of the biggest contribu - was trying to get out of the paddy-wheat cycle to tions to society may be the ability to offer our save this precious resource, he said. blueprint of water conservation success. Steinitz said Israel would be happy to extend Israel benefitted greatly from foresight, know - all possible support, keeping in view the close his - ing that water will remain a dramatic issue for Is - torical, cultural and business ties it has with India. rael. A nationwide water conveyance system was The minister underlined the need for proper developed between 1955 and 1964 that helped water management through assessment of the bring water to the south. total requirement and availability. Wastewater was then used, and is still used, as He pointed out that Israel was having its fifth a means of irrigation for the agricultural sector. year of drought but was managing its water needs But this is just the start. Israel has also created the November- 2018 Punjab Advance 7 Cover Punjabis meet CM A delegation of Israel’s Punjabi community met the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to seek his help in securing permission from local authorities to hold religious functions, as well as for procuring land for building a Gurdwara. The Chief Minister assured the delegation that he would ask India’s Ambassador in Is - rael, Pavan Kapoor, to help them, and advised them to meet the envoy. The Chief Minister told the delegation that he had been informed by the Embassy offi - cials that the local administration had very strict guidelines on these issues. “The em - bassy will see what can be done,” he added. The delegation also raised the issue of illegal agents fleecing Punjabi youth seeking visas for travel to Israel. The Captain told them his government was already cracking down on such agents, with stringent guidelines having been issued to check their prolif - eration in the state. He had directed the concerned officials to take strict action against agents found violating the guidelines. drip irrigation system, and new crop strains have management acknowledges that Punjab has lim - been developed that provide higher yields with ited availability of surface water because of which less water. groundwater has become a major source of irri - Four MoUs signed gation in the state. Currently, nearly 73 per cent of water require - The Punjab government has signed four MoUs ments for irrigation are being met through ground - with Israeli institutions to address issues of farm - water, the MoU noted. ers and depleting groundwater level in the state. “Due to multiple cropping and large-scale cul - The MoUs will help boost cooperation be - tivation of paddy there has been intensive ground - tween Punjab and Israel in areas such as water water extraction in the last five decades.