M A I N   N E W S

Canal water is not for bathing
From Jatinder Sharma

ROHTAK, Aug 31 — Invoking provisions of Section 144, Cr. PC, the District Magistrate, Mr Rajesh Khullar, today banned bathing in the JLN canal with immediate effect.

The unprecedented action had to be taken as many persons had been drowned in the canal which ran close to the campus of Maharshi Dayanand University, Mr Khullar told TNS.

Aggrieved at the death of their colleagues, the students of Mastnath Engineering College today again blocked traffic at NH-10 to demanding divers at the canal. The two students — Sandeep Arora and Rajat Raj — were drowned in the canal waters on August 29 and their bodies fished out after 24 hours.

They had blocked traffic on the day of the incidence and only dispersed after being assured by the authorities that serious efforts were being made to recover the bodies.

The District Magistrate has banned entrance into the canal area without the written permission of the Executive Engineer, Irrigation.

According to official sources, 100 lives have been lost in JLN canal since the day it became operational in 1986. Most victims were adolescents.

The 112-km-long canal starts from Khoobroo in Panipat district and terminates near Narnaul in Ahirwal region. Besides assisting the farmers in irrigating their fields, the canal provides drinking water to Rohtak, Charkhi Dadri, Mahendragarh and Narnaul in addition to scores of villages.

The deaths of Sandeep Arora, son of Mr Bachna Ram Arora, a practising lawyer at the local Bar and Rajat Raj have sent shockwaves in the town and adjoining villages. Prominent citizens have decided to provide fencing on both sides of the canal.

Mr Laxmi Chand Gupta, president of Haryana Beopar Mandal, told The Tribune that some leading citizens like Mr Sunder Lal Sethi, a former municipal committee chief and Mr Mahadev Prasad Goel and a few others had yesterday decided to raise funds for the project.

The District Magistrate has also urged the Irrigation authorities to amend the Canal Act so as to provide punishment to those who cross the canal banks.