Chandigarh, March 23
A breach in the Gurgaon water channel has rendered the industrial city waterless since yesterday and the regular supply is only likely to resume by March 28. The sinking of a portion of the channel in Bupnia village of Jhajjar district five days after a breach was first detected has led to acute water shortage in more than half of Gurgaon as also the old city.

While repair work of the canal is in full swing, the district administration in tandem with HUDA and the public health department has pressed 400 water tankers into service while ensuring uninterrupted power supply to run the 120-odd tubewells in the district.

Sources said a breach was first detected in Bupnia village on March 19, which was plugged by the irrigation department almost immediately. It took two days for the plugging to set during which Gurgaon was supplied water from the HUDA waterworks, which has a reserve capacity for three days. However, in the wee hours on March 22, a portion of the canal breached and sank, leading to a crisis since the reserve capacity was yet to be replenished.

While the cause of the breach is being investigated, sources in the administration said breaches in the canal passing through Mandothi, another village in Jhajjar, were a regular feature. In an effort to divert water to their fields, villagers often breach the canal in Mandothi that results in a bigger breach down the canal.

An official said one breach a month was reported from this village on an average after which it had also been decided to set up a police picket to discourage the villagers from causing frequent breaches that disrupted water supply to Gurgaon.

Coordinating the working of various departments involved in the exercise, chief secretary Dharamvir said steps had been taken on war footing to provide water to the affected areas by way of water tankers and tubewells. “This is in addition to the water arrangements made by private colonisers to tide over the problem. We are hopeful of restoring regular supply of water to Gurgaon by March 28,” he stated.

The chief secretary added that repair work was already underway and the irrigation department would have the retaining wall of the canal in place by tomorrow evening after which it would require another 12 hours to set, meaning thereby that the work would be complete by the evening of March 27. After this, water would be released from the canal and treated before being supplied to the city. This will take another eight to 10 hours.

The chief administrator, HUDA, said 72 HUDA tubewells and 50 public health tubewells were functional in addition to 400 tankers.

Meanwhile, the Haryana government has formulated a plan to construct an NCR water channel with a capacity of 800 cusecs to meet the ever-increasing demand of Gurgaon city for drinking water.

Disclosing this here today, an official spokesman said the proposed channel was likely to be completed in the next two years. 

Hisar, March 23
Former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal today formally anointed son Kuldeep Bishnoi as his political successor and assured Haryanavis that he would get the SYL Canal completed and provide water to every nook and corner of the state.

Bhajan Lal said as Chief Minister he was instrumental in getting the foundation stone of the canal laid by the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, at Kapuri near Patiala. By June 1986, while he was still Chief Minister, 95 per cent of the canal had been built. He quit as Chief Minister in 1986 when Haryana’s interests were ignored in the Rajiv-Longowal accord.

Later governments, he said, only politicised the issue without doing anything concrete to get the canal completed. The present Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, also continued to play politics on this vital project.

He said the completion of the SYL Canal was his dream project and now his son Kuldeep Bishnoi had taken up the struggle for the people of Haryana and he alone would be able to bring Haryana’s share of river waters for equitable distribution in the state.

The former Chief Minister said for the past two years Kuldeep had been fighting for the common man and he had taken up vital issues like the SYL Canal, farmers’ struggle against SEZs, deteriorating law and order, discrimination against farmers and issues concerning the poor.

He claimed that Kuldeep had been offered a berth in the union cabinet to silence him. However, he refused to give up his struggle and spurned the offer. Kuldeep, he said, had proved that he was an able successor and would carry forward “my political legacy to new heights”.

Bhajan Lal said during his long political career he had always been striving to protect the interests of Haryana. “During my tenure, terrorism could not take roots in Haryana although neighbouring Punjab suffered because of terror groups. My entire family continues to be under threat for this reason. However, we never compromised the state’s interests,” he added.

He said he was asked to lead the Haryana Congress at a time when the party had touched its nadir. But his leadership resulted in the party winning nine of the 10 Lok Sabha seats with the support of the people of Haryana. Later in the 2005 assembly elections, the Congress scored an unprecedented victory under his leadership. Despite that Hooda “was imposed as Chief Minister undemocratically”, but he accepted the high command’s decision.

“We had to take up the struggle when the Hooda government failed to deliver and worked against the very people who had voted it to power.”

He said Vidhan Sabha Speaker Raghbir Kadiyan was originally a Lok Dal man and he was imposing Lok Dal thinking on the Congress. The expulsion of Rakesh Kamboj and Dharamapal Singh Malik was undemocratic and he expected he would meet the same fate tomorrow. However, he said expulsion from the House would not deter him from protecting the interests of the common man.

Bhajan Lal said Kuldeep had taken up the cudgels and he was sure to succeed in his mission with the support of the people of Haryana. 

Gharaunda (Karnal), March 23
In a bid to pacify the rural population of the Gharaunda assembly segment, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today tried to pacify them on the issue of severe power shortage at the “vikas rally”. Though he assured to improve power generation in the next two years, no immediate solution was declared to handle the crisis. He, however, assured to provide sufficient power supply for irrigation.

Hooda was speaking at the first Congress rally held in Gharaunda after coming to power. The segment is represented by INLD MLA Rekha Rana.

He devoted considerable time of his speech on the worsening electricity scenario in the state and several loan waiver schemes launched in the past by his government. He also appreciated the waiver schemes proposed in the union budget.

Meanwhile, Hooda was gifted yet another silver mace by rally organisers.

Blaming the previous regimes for the ongoing power situation, Hooda said three power generation plants would be commissioned by the end of 2009.

He said the state government had earmarked Rs 65,000 crore exclusively for the benefit of common man in the financial budget.

The Chief Minister said the government would leave no stone unturned for the development of the assembly represented by an opposition party. Going by the charter of demand, he assured to construct two water distributaries in the area. He also promised to develop a bus stand, stadium and urban estates.

Hooda said Rs 182 lakh would be spent on tehsil building. He also announced a grant of Rs 5 lakh for gaushala.

Speaking on the occasion, Rajya Sabha member Dr Ram Prakash appealed to the state leadership and the Congress workers to work in close cooperation.

Karnal MP Arvind Sharma said the youth of Karnal and Panipat districts were neglected in government jobs.

Earlier, the Chief Minister attended an inaugural function at Sanatan Dharam Mahabeer Dal Charitable Hospital in Karnal and announced a grant of Rs 10 lakh to it.

He also dedicated a 25-bed community health centre at Gharaunda to the public. The CHC will provide 24-hour emergency services in the GT Road belt area. It is equipped with ultra-modern facilities.

Fatehabad, March 23
In a bizarre incident, a married woman was beaten up by her parents because she did not subscribe to their demand of deserting her husband and marry in another family, who had in turn promised to marry off their daughter to the woman’s brother.

The woman, Savitri Devi of Mothsaran village, near here, has been happily married to Sanjay Kumar of Dahman village in this district for the past two years.

As finding brides for youths has become a very difficult task in the rural areas of the district due to the skewed sex ratio, Savitiri’s parents were also finding it hard to find one for their son.

Though they had found a suitable match for their son, but the family of the prospective bride stressed that they would marry off their daughter in a family that could marry off their own daughter with their son in exchange.

Savitri Devi, who is recuperating at the community health centre (CHC) at Bhuna town in this district, told the mediapersons that she had come to her parents’ home on March 17 when she received a message that they wanted to meet her.

They allegedly pressurised her to divorce Sanjay to meet the demand of their son’s prospective in-laws. When Savitri opposed their proposal, her parents allegedly beat her up with sticks. A badly bruised Savitri informed her husband, who rushed to Mothsaran along with his parents and took her to the CHC, Bhuna, for treatment.

The police has recorded the statement of the woman and began investigations in the case.

Karnal, March 23
Frustrated with the futile results of chemical sprays to contain the aphid attack on wheat crop, farmers in the district have resorted to spraying country-made liquor on the standing crop.

The farmers in the district may suffer a 10 per cent grain loss due to the aphid attack which is caused by indifferent weather conditions during this season.

Agriculture experts say the disease is caused by “chepa”, an insect, which eats the stem and leaves of the wheat plant.

With chemical sprays not having the desired results, the farmers have taken to spraying of country-made liquor and it has helped in checking the attack to a certain extent. Around four bottles of the liquor, costing just Rs 160, are sprayed on one hectare, says Rajender Kumar, a farmer of Aungad village.

Amarnath, another farmer of Chakda village, says the insect responsible for the attack falls off the plants when liquor is sprayed.

Agriculture scientists, while conceding that the move might expedite the growth of the wheat plant due to the presence of ethanol in the liquor, say that it may not eliminate the insect. Terming the use of liquor as a misconception on the part of the farmers, S.S. Dahiya, deputy director, agriculture, says the spray of 500 gm of endosuiphan per hectare may help in checking aphid. — UNI

Gurgaon, March 23
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda inaugurated a footover bridge at Shri Sheetla Mata Mandir here today. The bridge has been constructed at a cost of Rs 1.50 crore.

The Chief Minister also inaugurated “Chaitra Mela” by performing yajna in the temple.

Hooda congratulated the chief administrator, chief executive officer and members of the Shri Sheetla Mata Shrine Board for completing the construction work of the footover bridge in a record time of 55 days.

The Chief Minister took a round of the bridge and inspected the layout plans of the proposed dharmshala and parking facility opposite the temple.

He also felicitated the contractor of the footover bridge, Bhagirath Ram, and the architect of the proposed multi-storeyed dharamshala and underground parking, Ajay Bhardwaj, by presenting shawls on the occasion.

While appreciating the arrangements made by the district administration for the mela, the Chief Minister said the commissioning of the footover bridge would facilitate the devotees and ensure free flow of traffic on the road.

The devotees would now be able to enter and come out of the temple without causing any hindrance to the traffic on the road, he added.

Deputy commissioner Rakesh Gupta apprised the Chief Minister of the elaborate arrangements made for facilitating the devotees coming to pay obeisance in the temple during the mela. He said the close circuit TV cameras had been installed on the mela premises for ensuring security.

Apart from the Haryana police, the employees of Checkmate Pvt Ltd had also been deputed to assist the police in making the movement of devotees smooth and secure. — UNI

Sonepat, March 23
The district consumer redressal forum has ordered the Oriental Bank of Commerce authorities here to pay Rs 9.50 lakh to a subscriber with 9 per cent interest from the date of deposit of the cheque of this amount. The cheque was reportedly encashed by someone during clearance from Mumbai.

According information, Jitender Fore, a professor in local CRA College, had deposited a cheque of Rs 9.50 lakh in the bank here on October 5, 2006, and the bank authorities sent the cheque for clearance to Mumbai.

However, the cheque reportedly went missing and further inquiries revealed that some one erased the name of Jitender Fore from the cheque and deposited it in some other name in ICICI bank at Film City, Mumbai, for encashment and encashed it from HDFC bank, Mumbai.

Not satisfied with the stand taken by the OBC, Fore lodged a complaint with the Reserve Bank of India, which also closed the investigation with the remarks that it was being investigated by the Mumbai police.

Finally, Fore approached the forum for justice and president of the forum Joginder Singh Nandal, in his judgement, observed that the bank was responsible if any cheque or draft was lost after it was deposited in the bank for clearance. He ordered the bank to pay Rs 9.50 lakh with 9 per cent rate of interest from the date of deposit of the cheque.

Chandigarh, March 23
Continuing its “social engineering experiment” and its efforts to woo Brahmins, the Haryana unit of the BSP has decided to celebrate the “Bhagwan Parshuram Jayanti”, who is highly revered by the Brahmin community, on March 30.

The party plans to organise a big rally at Beri in Jhajjar district. After BSP supremo Mayawati at March 2 Karnal rally said on coming to power, her party would make a non-Jat as Chief Minister of Haryana, selection of Beri as the venue of “Parshuram Jayanti” is important. Beri is in the heart of Jat land.

The BSP rally there, which, its general secretary Krishna Dhami says, will be dedicated to former Chief Minister Bhagwat Dyal Sharma and a highly respected freedom fighter Siri Ram Sharma. The two Sharmas are held in high esteem by Brahmins of the state.

Obviously the BSP is going out of way to play on the emotions of the Brahmins, who are considered to be the only answer to the Jat power in rural areas of the state. If the Brahmins decide to stand by the BSP, it would be difficult for the Jats to unduly influence Scheduled Caste voters in rural areas.

Dhami said the rally would be addressed by the all-India general secretary of the party Maan Singh Manhera and president of its Haryana unit Prakash Bharti.

The BSP has also decided to organise a state-level rally in Jind on April 14 to celebrate Ambedkar jayanti. The venue of the BSP rally will be the same where the BJP had organised a state-level rally on March 9.

Interestingly, the BSP, either by design or coincidence, is organising rallies at the same venues where the other parties had earlier held their prestigious rallies. In Karnal, the BSP rally was held at the venue where the much-publicised “Dalit samaan rally” of the Congress was organised late last year. The BSP’s Karnal rally was no less than that of the Congress in terms of turnout. Now, the BSP is repeating the same experiment in Jind. However, so far it has not declared whether it would organise a similar rally at the venue where Kuldeep Bishnoi had announced the formation of his party, Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) in Rohtak on December 2.

Meanwhile, Manhera, Bharti and Dev Raj Diwan, former MLA from Sonepat, have been taking out “dhanyawaad yatra” through out the state to thank BSP supporters for making the Karnal rally a “grand success”.

Reliable sources said the BSP was likely to announce the names of its candidates for all 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state within a couple of months, though the elections were still a year away.

Chandigarh, March 23
The Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam will launch a special permanent disconnection campaign of electricity connections of non-payers in 13 operation subdivisions from April 1 to April 30 in the first phase. Instructions have been issued to field officers to constitute teams consisting of officials of the commercial, finance, vigilance, maintenance and protection and operation wings for the purpose.

Giving details, a spokesman said here today that all material including cable, meter and other wires would be lifted from the premises of non-payers so that tapping the line for unauthorised/illegal drawl of electricity was avoided.

The team members would also check the premises of such disconnected consumers frequently to ensure that none of them was stealing power after the stringent action.

It has been decided to launch the campaign in operation subdivision numbers 1 and 2 in Ambala, Assandh in Karnal, Pehowa in Kurukshetra, Bilaspur in Yamunanagar, City subdivision in Jind, City subdivision and Samalkha in Panipat, operation subdivision numbers 2 and 3 in Rohtak, Gohana in Sonepat, and Beri and City subdivision in Jhajjar.

Jajpur (Orissa), March 23
A week after being kidnapped from Haryana, two minor daughters of a Gurgaon-based businessman were rescued from Naupala village near here, the police said today.

A team of the Haryana police rescued the daughters of Shiv Kumar Pandit from the village under the Binjharpur police station area where the girls, aged 14 and 16 years, had been kept by the kidnapper, officer-in-charge of Binjharpur police station Asit Ranjan Mohanty said.

The accused, identified as Ganesh Jena (25), who was working in a factory in the Khudukidola area in Gurgaon and staying adjacent to Pandit’s house, had allegedly kidnapped the two sisters from their house a week ago, he said.

After the girls' father filed an FIR with Gurgaon police station accusing Ganesh of kidnapping his daughters, a police team from Haryana reached Naupala to rescue them from the clutches of the alleged kidnapper, he said.

Though the sisters, who had been kept in the house of the accused, were rescued, Ganesh managed to flee, he said. — PTI