MLA Nawanshahr Angad Singh met Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu and apprised him of the Covid situation in the district. He asked the minister to make a visit to Nawanshahr. The MLA also told the minister that not just in urban areas, the virus has also spread its tentacles in the rural areas and several cases have been reported from the villages. He made an appeal to the minister to conduct proper checking in these areas. He told the minister that at present, there was no shortage of oxygen and necessary medicines in the district, but to avoid any untoward situation in future, there must be proper arrangements too.

Reining in the covidiots

Several cases were registered under Sections 188, 269 and 270 of the IPC and the Disaster Management Act against shopkeepers and salon owners for not opening their shops according to the fixed roster. Notably, a high number of cases are being registered against the violators in Nawanshahr on a daily basis. Challans are also being issued to those opening the liquor vends during the curfew hours. Even when the virus has surged and people are losing their lives, suffering daily, there exist the careless ones who pose a threat to everyone. Recently also, eight cases were registered against the violators for not following the lockdown norms.

New tech: Now, stubble no trouble for farmers

Nawanshahr Agriculture Officer Dr Raj Kumar has invited applications from the farmers to apply for machinery under https://agrimachinerypb.com. Keeping in mind the hazard posed by the stubble burning, a crop residue management scheme was launched three years ago by the Centre. The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare had launched ‘Promotion of Agricultural Mechanisation for In-Situ Management of Crop Residue in the states of Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh and the NCR of Delhi’ for in-situ management of crop residue. Various equipment and machines such as super straw management, system (SMS) attached with existing combine harvester, happy seeder, mulcher, rotary slasher, reversible plough, super seeder, baler and rakes, crop reapers, etc, are developed and are given to farmers under this scheme. TNS