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| Monday, April 16, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Samaj: wheat growers
being harassed Grain bags lying in mandis Girdawari eyewash, alleges BKU
2 helicopters to scatter ashes of Devi Lal |
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Water crisis in Faridabad Crops damaged by
overflowing water ‘Govt ruining
economy under
MNCs’ pressure’ 3-yr term for
assault on pregnant woman Minor girl
abducted, released Modern weapons
for police
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Samaj:
wheat growers being harassed Chandigarh, April 15 In a statement issued here today the general secretary of the samaj, Mr Satpal Kaushik, said the farmers were unhappy at the refusal of the procurement agencies to purchase wheat on the pretext of excess moisture content and lack of cleanliness. Ridiculing the Haryana Government’s decision to give Rs 2,000 per acre as compensation to those farmers whose crops had been completely damaged by the recent hailstorms, he said during the 1995 floods the then Congress government in the state had given Rs 3,000 per acre to those farmers who could not sow their crops. Though the prices had gone up tremendously during the past six years, the government had reduced the quantum of compensation from Rs 3,000 per acre to Rs 2,000 per acre. He said while the Centre had reluctantly increased the wheat price by Rs 30 a quintal, the Haryana Seed Development Corporation had decided to reduce the price to be paid to the growers by Rs 30 a quintal. He said the corporation used to pay Rs 130 a quintal in excess of the market rates. But this year it had decided to pay only Rs 100 a quintal in excess of the market rates for seed wheat. |
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Grain bags lying in mandis Ambala, April 15 However, the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mr Mahinder Kumar, said availability of space would not be a problem. “Plinth is already available and some more plinth is under construction. Some stock was cleared through special clearance, so there is not going to be any hiccups in procurement,” he said. Local arhtiyas said grain bags were stocked up in some mandis. “Procurement officials tell us that some mandis are already having stocks of grain from the earlier season. As a matter of fact, maintaining such a large amount of grain is proving to be a major challenge for them,” an arhtiya observed. Commission agents observed that the procurement was about to start and the mandis would soon overflow with grain. “It is a very difficult situation and farmers even have to unload their tractor-trailers outside the market since the complex is already full,” he said. Farmers on their part said they would still prefer to grow these crops since there is a minimum support price. “We ourselves can see that grain markets are already stocked with the old stock and for that the procurement agencies must take steps to clear the stock,” a farmer said. |
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Commission agents hold dharna Kathal, April 15 They were protesting against the refusal of the procurement agency to purchase wheat unloaded by them outside the old mandi. They also demanded opening of the gate which was recently closed on the orders of the senior railway officers. They said the vehicles carrying foodgrains via malgodown road had to face hardships. They had brought the matter to the notice of Mr O.P. Chautala. |
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Girdawari
eyewash, alleges BKU Sonepat, April 15 They alleged that many affected farmers, who failed to grease the palms of patwaris and other officials of the Revenue Department, had been left out. In a statement issued here, they alleged the patwaris and other officials of the Revenue Department indulged in corrupt practices and ignored several farmers whose crops had been damaged on March 28 last. The farmers were asked to give ‘nazrana’ to them if they wanted compensation from the government, they said. They said the girdawari was an eyewash as the grievances of the farmers were not redressed. They also charged the district administration with delaying the girdawari work saying that the officials took 10 days to complete it instead of five days earlier announced by the state government. Leaders of these organisations also urged the state government to order a probe into the complaints of the farmers and punish the officials found guilty of irregularities. Meanwhile, Mr Braham Singh Dahiya, a BKU leader and Mr Azad Singh Nehra, a Youth Congress leader, today urged the state government to announce the quantam of relief for the affected farmers. They warned if the state government failed to provide relief and compensation to the affected farmers, the BKU and the Congress party would launch an agitation. |
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Seatbelts put cops in driving seat Hisar, April 15 Motorists from one state entering any of these neighbouring states are allowed to pass their home-state’s checkpost but are stopped at the next state’s police post and confronted with a challan for not fastening seat belts. Most of them ‘buy’ their way through to avoid the botheration of attending court in the neighbouring state hundreds of kilometres away from their homes. Enquiries reveal that the racket has flourished because of a tacit understanding between policemen posted at the border posts of neighbouring states. The trick the cops have devised is that a vehicle with a Haryana registration number will never be stopped at the Haryana Police checkpost. But it will be stopped a hundred-odd metres ahead immediately upon entering Punjab or Rajasthan by policemen of the state concerned. Likewise, Punjab and Rajasthan policemen do not stop a vehicle crossing their checkpost if it bears the registration number of their state. Such vehicles will be allowed to enter Haryana where the motorists will be at the mercy of Haryanvi policemen. This understanding is based on sound practical logic. Sources say it is hard to find fault with documents of motorists, especially after the one-time road tax payment was introduced a few years ago. They can also not be booked for overspeeding since the border police posts lack the electronic speed measuring guns. But an order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court asking the Punjab and Haryana governments to enforce the law which desires that the driver and the passenger at the front seats fasten seat-belts came as a godsent opportunity for the unscrupulous policemen stationed at the border posts. Initially, when cops started challaning vehicles registered in their own state, they found that motorists dropped names and also managed to find contacts within the police to get their documents back. If at all some of them paid them, they generally complained to the higher authorities. This led to an understanding between the policemen posted at the border checkposts in the neighbouring states under which they began to haul vehicles registered in each other’s state. The sources say there is little chance of a resident of Punjab complaining against the Haryana Police and vice versa. The success of the racket later encouraged the Rajasthan cops, too, to reach a similar understanding with their Punjab and Haryana counterparts. The contagion is now spreading to Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. However, the Delhi Police is not yet involved in it because the borders with Delhi are located on busy national highways where the policemen have other more lucrative ways of making a fast buck. Inquiries reveal that the number of challans for not fastening seat-belts have gone up during the past about a year in Punjab and Haryana. One can imagine the number of those who pay up and escape since the policemen themselves agree that they challan only one out of 10 motorists hauled up as the rest pay up anything between Rs 200 to Rs 500, depending on the size of car and whether it is self-driven or by a chauffeur. |
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2 helicopters to scatter ashes of Devi Lal Chandigarh, April 15 An official spokesman said here today that the urns containing the ashes, which were being taken around the state by his grandson, Abhey, to enable the public to pay tributes, reached Delhi tonight for being scattered over the fields as per his last wishes. The helicopters would fly on two different routes. The first route would cover Delhi, Rai, Sonepat, Gohana, Panipat, Safidon, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, Sadhaura, Naraingarh, Panchkula, Ambala, Pehowa, Kaithal, Narwana, Uchana, Jind, Narnaud, Hansi, Meham, Rohtak, Jhajjar and Bahadurgarh, a total of 40 Assembly constituencies. The helicopter would land at Karnal, Ambala, Narwana and Rohtak. The second route, too, would start from Delhi covering Faridabad, Ballabhgarh, Palwal, Nuh, Rewari, Kanina, Mahendragarh, Dadri, Bhiwani, Tosham, Hisar, Barwala, Tohana, Fatehabad, Dabwali, Chautala, Sirsa, Darba Kalan, Adampur, Bhadra, Siwani, Loharu, Satnali, Narnaul, Bawal, Dharuhera, Pataudi and Sohna, a total of about 50 Assembly constituencies. The helicopter would land at Rewari, Bhiwani, Sirsa and Hisar where people could pay tributes. Meanwhile, a large number of persons from all walks of life called on the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to mourn the death of Devi Lal. They included a number of Punjab Ministers, a former Union Minister, Mr Harmohan Dhawan, a delegation of the Chandigarh Press Club led by its president, Mr Jagtar Singh Sidhu, and various associations of employees. The Haryana College Teachers Union also mourned the death Mr Devi
Lal. |
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Admirers pay
tributes to Tau Faridabad, April 15 The vehicle containing the ashes first reached Dadka village this morning. People raised slogans in the memory of the late leader. Religious songs were played at various places where the vehicle halted. Activists of the INLD, some ministers, MLAs and administrative officials escorted the vehicle. It halted at several places, including Palwal, Hodal, Old Faridabad, Ballabgarh and Ajronda Chowk on the national highway (Mathura Road). Wreaths and flowers were placed before the photograph of Devi Lal by the people. |
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Water crisis in Faridabad Faridabad, April 15 Residents of various colonies and residential areas have started lodging their protest over the
inadequate supply of drinking water. Residents of one of the urban sectors complained that they had to go without potable water for almost a week recently. According to local residents, the problem is likely to become more grave in the next few months when summer is at its peak. Work on the ambitious plan of Renniwal water scheme is reported to be going at snail’s pace. This project, conceived and taken up about 13 years ago, is still incomplete. One of the main reasons behind the delay is the non-payment of the share of Rs 20 lakh by the Municipal Corporation. According to experts, as per this project several deep wells are proposed to be dug near the Yamuna canal and supply this water to filtration plants in the city. If this project is completed, it is likely to only solve the water-shortage problem upto a certain extent, especially in eastern belt of the city. But experts, on the other hand, believe that many factors, which had been overlooked had led to such a situation. Among these are the depletion of underground water resources and pollution of this water on a large scale by the industrial units. Faridabad, which was one of rich districts in the matter of water resources till about two decades ago, is facing a severe crisis due to decreasing water table and pollution of underground water to a dangerous level. Various tests of the water here have found the water polluted to an unacceptable level. Various agencies, including Central government bodies engaged in such work, have declared the district a “dark zone” as far as the underground water table is concerned. Warnings have already been issued against further depletion and pollution of underground water in the district. In several villages, farmers have to depend on brackish water for irrigation. Various schemes to improve the supply of irrigation and potable water have had little impact on the crisis. One of the plans taken up about a decade ago has only resulted in wastage of water resources and funds. Although the Yamuna river touches the district for about 100 km, still the district has only 30 per cent of the underground water fit for drinking. The agricultural land could turn barren in the near future if no measures were taken to check the menace, warn experts. |
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Crops damaged by
overflowing water Sonepat, April 15 According to reports reaching here, officials of the Irrigation Department have so far failed to take effective steps to check the overflowing of the canal water and this has caused resentment among the farmers of Bayyanpur, Leharara and Kakroi villages where farmers’ crops have been ruined. Many farmers pointed out that the sarpanch of the Bayyanpur village ordered the opening of two outlets of the minor to fill the village ponds and tanks and closed other outlets near Mehlana and Kakroi villages. This led to increase in the flow of water and overflow from the canal. As soon as canal water started overflowing from the minor, a number of farmers started raising embankments but failed to do the job in time. Thereupon, many of them rushed to the offices and residences of the officials concerned but none of them could be located. They also went to the residence of the Deputy Commissioner to apprise him of the situation but he too was not there. According to farmers, the canal water is still overflowing and causing damage to the wheat crop. The affected farmers today urged the state government and officers of the Irrigation Department to take stern action against the concerned officials who were not available at their headquarters. They also demanded the payment of compensation to them. |
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‘Govt ruining
economy under
MNCs’ pressure’ Ambala, April 15 She said the era of disinvestment had dawned because of the entry of MNCs under the WTO agreement. Ms Kumar was here to address the functionaries of Samata Movement for Equality (SME), a non-political body formed by her a decade back that works for the protection of human rights in the country.
UNI |
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3-yr term for
assault on pregnant woman Hisar, April 15 According to the prosecution, Rameshwar, Rajesh, Ravi Dutt, Naresh, Suresh and Balram came to Kamla’s house in Sulchani village in connection with a land dispute case which was pending in court. As the husband of Kamla, Mange Ram, was not present in the house, they kicked Kamla in the abdomen on October 27, 1999. On the basis of a complaint lodged by Kamla, the Narnaund police registered a case against the six accused under various Sections. However, Rameshwar and Rajesh died during trial.
PTI |
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Minor girl
abducted, released Faridabad, April 15 According to eyewitnesses and kin of the victim, the girl, daughter of a fruit juice seller, residing in A.C Nagar was coming out of Santon Ka Gurdwara, along with her younger brother at about 8 p.m. last night, when two youths on a motor cycle lifted the girl abruptly and took her along. Several persons present at the spot chased the culprits. The girl meanwhile was found
abandoned in the vicinity of a petrol station, near Bata Chowk here. The police also reached later but the girl was by then had been taken to her house by some local residents. |
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Modern weapons
for police Sonepat, April 15 There is a plan to connect all district headquarters with the Internet and facilitate the lodging of FIRs on the system. Police officials are being imparted training in this regard. Similarly, special arrangements are being made to provide complete training to the police officials. |
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