Governance
POLICE BRUTALITY YET AGAIN
Sunit Dhawan
Tribune News Service

The clash could have been avoided if the Chief Minister or his MP son Deepender had met representatives of the guest teachers and accepted the memorandum 
  • Earlier, a number of former state industrial security force personnel trying to meet the CM were lathicharged by the police personnel
  • Similarly, D.Ed holders had also been cane-charged by policemen to prevent them from going to Hooda's local residence
  • Recently, protesting medicos going to meet the CM were stopped on the way and lathicharged

Rohtak, September 8
Yesterday's violent clash between the police and protesting guest teachers has yet again exposed the inhuman face of the state police force. In this incident, the protesting guest teachers, including a considerable number of women teachers, were mercilessly thrashed by police personnel. Even the passersby were not spared.

The policemen also fired several rounds to control the crowd. While the district police authorities claim that the shots had been fired in the air, eyewitness accounts belie this. A woman guest teacher was killed and scores of persons were injured, several of them critically.

The atrocities of the policemen did not end there. Attendants of injured teachers were also beaten up at the local PGIMS. The thrashing game allegedly continued till late in the night.

True, the protesters had pelted the police personnel with stones. Some anti-social elements among the crowd also reportedly fired at police and administrative officials. It is also true that the senior police officials present there exercised restraint as long as possible.

However, once the policemen got the green signal from their superiors to charge, they pounced upon the protesters and brutally cane-charged even the women teachers.

This is not for the first time that such an incident has taken place in Rohtak, the hometown of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Protesters demand to see the CM or MP to submit their memorandum, are prevented from reaching the CM's local residence, and a violent clash follows. The same pattern is repeated every given time.

Soon after Hooda regime came to power, a number of former state industrial security force personnel trying to meet the Chief Minister were lathicharged by the police personnel. More recently, medicos protesting against irregularities in the MD/MS entrance examination going to meet the Chief Minister were stopped on the way and lathicharged. Similarly, D.Ed holders had also been cane-charged by policemen to prevent them from going to Hooda's local residence.

Call it administrative/intelligence failure, leaders' callousness or communication gap, the authorities have failed to learn any lesson from the repeated incidents on the similar pattern. Even the yesterday's clash could have been avoided if the chief minister or his MP son Deepender had accepted the memorandum from the protesting guest teachers.

Back

 

BJP mulls alliance; INLD frontrunner
Geetanjali Gayatri
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 8
Politics defies all logic and makes strange bedfellows, even those divorced and condemned. The state unit of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), which cried itself hoarse proclaiming to go it alone in the Lok Sabha elections slated for the next year, has now started searching for a “partner”.

If the feelings of the majority in the state unit are any consideration, Indian National Lok Dal supremo Om Prakash Chautala can sit back and smile. The BJP is likely to fall in his lap if all goes well though Kuldeep Bishnoi-led Haryana Janhit Congress is also very much in the race.

In the recent parliamentary board meeting of the BJP and the core committee of the state, insiders said, all BJP candidates for the last Lok Sabha elections except the party’s only sitting MP Kishen Singh Sanghwan, stamped Chautala as their “favorite” alliance partner.

Interestingly, some members of Haryana, including anti-Chautala campaigner Kishan Pal Gujjar too staunchly backed a pact with him.

The state leadership of the BJP now has backtracked from its earlier stand of fighting the elections alone in the state. While the party is mum about this claim, the hunt for an “ideal partner” has begun. A decision for a pact could be taken at the BJP’s national committee meeting in Bangalore, scheduled from September 12-14.

Sources said most of last year’s candidates were of the opinion that only an alliance with the INLD would be able to lift the party’s fortunes and they found support from Sushma Swaraj.

Willing to forget and forgive the humiliation thrust upon it by Chautala during the INLD rule from 2000-2005 despite the alliance, the BJP leaders opined that he was “best suited” in the larger interest of ousting the Congress given the fact that the BJP and INLD complement each other.

The political equation weighs in favour of the INLD because of its rural-urban vote bank combination. While the BJP has an essentially urban vote bank, the INLD’s clout is greater in the rural belt of the state. However, the once-bitten-twice-shy theory is holding back the re-forging of this arrangement and it was also suggested that Chautala be warned against “repeating his mistakes”.

At the same meeting, senior leaders of the BJP other than those from the state seemed supportive of an alliance with Bishnoi whose party is still in a nascent stage. The sources said the state unit was particularly wary of Bishnoi’s alliance with the party because it would seal the future of local leaders in the near future as they fear a complete “takeover” by him.

Also, the arguments against the alliance were the common vote bank of the two parties and the inability to design a “formidable” alliance to keep the Congress out of power. The party leader in the state, however, is learnt to have shown his leanings in favour of Bishnoi.

While the meeting sought the opinion of the core committee in the state, the final decision on an alliance partner will, of course, come from the Delhi-based party high command and will be binding on the state. So instead of being confined to a state issue, the alliance could well end up as a fight between the big fish in the BJP.

Back

 

Writing off the tainted past
Manish Sirhindi
Tribune News Service

Karnal, September 8
In an endeavour of its kind, the authorities of the Karnal jail are using music to reform the outlaws. The project, started about two years back, is the brainchild of jail superintendent Jagjeet Singh.

It was started as an experiment, but with the positive outcome of the project, the authorities have decided to make it a regular feature on the jail compound. Moved by behavioural changes that music brought amongst inmates, the authorities converted one of the factories (place where inmates learn new skills) into a music school.

Prisoners spend about 4 to 8 hours daily in learning the art either from fellow prisoners or by professionals who hold workshops here.

“The music school has proved to be a huge hit and it has changed the way hardcore criminals think. Many are now inclined to take up music as a profession after they leave the jail,” said Jagjeet Singh.

The inmates are provided with musical equipments and other aids such as sound system on which they practice music and singing. The prisoners even prepare special dance and music items and present these in front of other prisoners on special days such as the Independence Day or Republic Day.

The superintendent said only those prisoners were allowed to attend the music school who show their interest. There are more than 2,300 inmates in the jail while only about 50 are allowed to attend the music school.

Jagjeet Singh said a number of voluntary organisations had turned up and wanted to hold special dance and music workshops for the prisoners. These workshops had gone a long way in moulding the hardcore criminals, he added.

Recently. about 45 prisoners attended a 10-day dance workshop organised by the National Integrated Forum of Artists and Activists (NIFAA), a socio-cultural organisation of the region. Most of these inmates are undergoing life imprisonment after being convicted for murder or attempt to murder.

These inmates said music had changed their lives and they would prefer to lead a life dedicated to music, once they were free from the jail.

One of the inmates said when he came to the jail he was an illiterate. But today, he had written more than 420 poems and regularly participates in the music classes.

Back

 

Power Crisis
Over to renewable energy
Ruchika M. Khanna
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 8
The high cost of non-renewable sources of power generation and supply constraints for coal, has forced the state government to look at alternative renewable sources of power generation. The state government, through the Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (HAREDA) is now working to produce 714 MW power through renewable energy sources.

HAREDA is encouraging private investors to set up projects in the fields of solar power, biomass, wind energy, small hydro and co-generation biomass power projects. Officials in the agency say they have already issued letters of intent (LoI) for setting up solar power projects, while land acquisition is on for setting up biomass projects.

“We are also assessing the wind velocity at different time during the year, so that wind power can be harnessed in the state. A detailed project report is awaited in this regard next month, following which we can start work on the projects,” says Sumita Misra, director, HAREDA.

She says the agency has already initiated work on the co-generation biomass projects and hydro projects. “We have invited proposals from private companies to harness small hydro power in three phases for generation of over 17 MW of power. In the first phase of the small hydro programme, HAREDA has allotted a 6-MW small hydro project in Yamunanagar district (Dadupur) to Bhoruka Power Corporation of Bangalore. The estimated investment is around Rs 35 crore and the construction is going on at full swing. The project is likely to be commissioned by January 2009”.

The director says two MoUs have been signed in the second phase with Puri Oils Mills, Bahadurgarh, and P&R Gogripur Hydro Project, for setting up of three small hydropower projects. “Puri Oils will be developing two mini-hydel projects to generate 2.8 MW at Musapur and Khukni in Karnal district by investing RS 34 crore. P&R will be setting up a 2-MW small hydro project at Gogripur in Karnal district on NBK link canal at a cost of around Rs 22 crore. Both projects are likely to be commissioned next year”.

Misra says the incentives offered by Haryana for promoting renewable energy are quite attractive. These incl;ude exemption on electricity duty and local area development tax, no conversion charges on the change of land use, industry status and power purchase agreement for minimum of 20 years depending on the life of a project.

“The Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission has fixed an attractive tariff of Rs 3.67 per unit for mini-hydel power projects for the base year 2007-08 with an escalation of 1.5 per cent up to 2012-13”.

“This is the reason that so many investors are queuing up to set up projects in the state. Recently, we invited proposals from independent power producers for the third phase for three projects. Two small hydropower projects are to be set up at Khajuri in Yamunanagar district for 2 MW on augmentation canal and Ahmadalpur in Yamunanagar for 4.5 to 7.5 MW on main line lower canal. We have received as many as 27 proposals for the same,” she adds.

Back

 

Jind industry faces neglect
Bijendra Ahlawat
Tribune News Service

Jind, September 8
Jind is among those few districts of the state where industry has remained neglected ever since the state came into being. As a result, only a handful of units dared to come here or survived an indifferent and uncooperative regime.

Thus, a small population is dependent on the industry though the government is spending a huge amount on setting up related infrastructure and services.

It is perhaps due to this reason that the district still lags behind in the matter of development and the standard of life is dismal in comparison with many other parts of the state especially those located in the national capital region (NCR) or near the state capital.

A total of about 175 units have been closed in the past five years. The government had set up an industrial zone way back in 1984-85 with a view to promote the growth of manufacturing and industrial units in the district, but this concept seems to have flopped as there are just about 20 units functioning in industrial sector against the availability of plots for 77 units.

Some of the units engaged in the work on rented buildings are involved in recycling of used lead parts of batteries in an illegal manner, causing huge pollution. The office of the Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC), which could have easily gone for expansion by either increasing the number of available plots or carving out new sectors, has perhaps been rendered workless at present in view of industrial activity on a very small scale.

The industrial zone gives a deserted look as many of the units that started work here a few decades back have either closed or shifted to somewhere else due to various problems, claimed a local entrepreneur.

He said land rates in this sector had gone down in comparison with other areas and this presented the sorry state of affairs in the area. Though there was enough non-irrigated agricultural land available for expansion of industrial sector, there was hardly any need for this as a large number of plots or buildings were lying vacant, he added.

This was due to various reasons, including the non-availability of raw material, lack of marketing avenues, its distance from Delhi or the existing zones in the NCR and the lack of transportation facilities.

According to available statistics, the district had 172 major types of industrial units between 1993 and 2003, but its number has shrunk to seven at present.

As many as 37 new industrial units were set up in the district in 1990 for which loan facility of an amount of about Rs 3.5 crore was provided by the Haryana Financial Corporation (HFC).

Another 42 units were set up in 1991-92 for which the HFC gave a loan of about Rs 4.5 crore. The setting up of new units remained in momentum with 32 units coming up in 1992- 93, 16 units in 1993- 94 and 16 in 1994- 95. But thereafter it started to slow down as only 10 units were set up in 1995- 96, nine in 1996- 97, three each in 1997- 98 and 1998- 99 and just two in 2004.

This clearly shows how the industrial development lost steam and virtually came to a halt as no new unit has come up in the past four to five years.

It is reported that the floods of 1995 also came as a major blow as majority of the units suffered huge losses due to stagnant water in several areas of the district.

With no support from the government, entrepreneurs took to shifting or closing down their operations as last alternative. Even the bodies like HFC or other institutions failed to give any rebate or discount to beat the losses.

It is also stated that besides these basic issues, managements of majority of the units had to battle it hard to survive undemocratic and unjustified means of protests taken up by the Left-dominated unions which made the availability of labour and other resources a tough task. This forced he owners to get out of the region as the trade unions were also enjoying political support.

Units like ICL that provided direct and indirect employment to a large number of people had to wind up its operation in the Kila Zafargarh area due to trade union problems, claimed an official.

Back

 

Sampat ridicules CM on free plots
Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service

Fatehabad, September 8
Former state minister Sampat Singh has ridiculed the statement of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda regarding the beginning of allotment of free plots to the poor from October 2 this year.

Talking to mediapersons at Soolikhera village in Fatehabad recently during his village tour in connection with mobilising support for the September 25 Bhiwani rally of the INLD, Sampat said Hooda should first clarify in which of the 6,500 villages of the state, the government had its own land that he planned to allot to the poor.

He said as far as land belonging to the village panchayats was concerned, the right to alienate that land vested with the panchayats only and the government had no right on that.

He said the right of giving 3 marla plots to the poor was already vested with the gram panchayats under the Panchayat Act and the government was trying to take credit for an existing law.

Describing it a political gimmick, Sampat said if the government was serious regarding the welfare of the poor, it should first purchase land from the panchayats on market rates and only then give it to the poor.

This would provide the panchayats much-needed regular source of income in the shape of interest on the amount so received. The government could also purchase private lands where panchayat land was not available, he said.

The INLD leader alleged that the manner in which the government was planning to grab the panchayat land, the gram panchayats which were already starved of funds, would be left with little resources for development works.

The former minister alleged that the Chief Minister was giving contradictory statements on the issue of BPL lists.

Sampat said while reacting to increase in the number of BPL families from 8.72 lakh during the INLD regime to 12.96 lakh now, Hooda had said on Wednesday that it was due to anti-poor policies of the INLD regime, which did not play fair with the poor but on the other hand, he had said as per the planning commission parameters, the number of BPL families in Haryana should be 8.41 lakh only.

He alleged that the government had been concealing a fact from the people that all benefits given by the central government were provided only to those BPL cardholders who complied with the planning commission parameters.

Back

 

Kaithal’s historical buildings to get a facelift
Satish Seth

Kaithal, September 8
The district administration has decided to launch a special campaign to beautify the town and preserve its old historical and religious sites in Kaithal town and its surrounding areas with the help of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage  (INTACH).

Giving this information, deputy commissioner Vikas Gupta told Haryana Plus that a part of the old fort presently housing the city police station and the fort along the banks of Bidhikyar Tank would be repaired and maintained. These buildings would also be illuminated with lights thrown from the roadsides, he added. This district headquarter town would also have a museum where articles related to history and religious heritage would be kept.

The deputy commissioner said he was in constant touch with the ASI and INTACH authorities that had been requested to take up the job of renovation and preservation of the historical and religious sites.

Elaborating further, Gupta said the town had a glorious past and many historical sites connected with erstwhile rulers of the Kaithal state and religious sites connected to the Mahabharata period were in a bad shape. He said the present building complex comprising the residence of the SDM and adjoining buildings that were at present being used by some government offices had a great historical value as this complex was used by Kaithal’s erstwhile rulers as their residence. The building would be preserved by the ASI and would form part of our cultural heritage, he added.

Gupta further said similarly Nav Grah Kund, another cultural heritage of this town, which had links with the Mahabharata period, had been encroached upon. The administration had taken an initiative to identify the exact location and all encroachments would be removed to restore its past glory.  He said steps were under way to identify other historical and religious sites situated in different parts of this district to give them a face lift and preserve them.

Back

 

Need to free women from social taboos, say experts
Arun Sharma
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, September 8
Claims of the multi-dimensional development of the country would remain a myth till women in the country are not set free from the existing medieval social perspective. This was stated by V.N. Rai, ADGP, Haryana Police, at Guru Ravi Das Bhawan here.

Despite achievements registered by the nation in several fields, a majority of women in the country are denied the freedom of speech, opportunities, and even share in the family’s property, he said.

Rai, who was here to participate in a seminar titled, “Women Empowerment: myths, facts and challenges” organised by the Mission India Foundation and Paani Foundation, said the daughters were still not being treated at par with sons.

The fair sex, in fact, was being discriminated in every field, despite the fact they had shown their mettle globally, said speakers on the occasion. And the women themselves were being blamed for their plight. It were all myths that women were their own enemies by being jealous to each other, and the certain types of clothes being worn by the girls increase the chance of eve teasing, said a participant.

The society had played a dubious role in the upbringing of girls and their progress. Women carry out 75 per cent of the world’s work; 50 per cent of which did not give them any returns. And they were paid for only 25 per cent of their job and only 10 per cent of total amount of wages was disbursed among women workers as they were not reckoned equal to their male colleagues when it was related with production, said participants from the Madhuban police training centre.

Moreover, there were only one per cent of the daughters who were given a share in the property of family, said a woman constable.

The society remained biased towards the daughters, felt the ADGP. The families consider women weak and were reluctant to make them stronger with monetary support.

In fact, women remain a suppressed lot in majority of the families till now even if the literacy ratio was improving substantially. The girls were not taken into confidence while taking big decisions in the families, the speakers said.

The seminar was attended by more than 275 participants from Panchkula, Chandigarh and nearby villages. Volunteers of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and women police constables also participated in the seminar. A play “Bagan Da Rakha” was staged by Samuel John and Supriya on the theme of child labour. Dr Anju Manocha from KVK Panchkula, Dr Knachan Monga, former registrar, PEC, Chandigarh, and Geeta Pal, APC, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Panchkula, also spoke on the occasion.

Back

 

Trans-Agra canal area residents face eviction
Ex-minister threatens stir

Ravi S. Singh
Tribune News Service

Faridabad, September 8
Residents of more than 12 unauthorised colonies located in the trans-Agra canal area here are facing the threat of eviction as the government plans to acquire the land. The BJP, meanwhile, has stepped into action to fight for their cause.

The government has planned to develop the area as new Faridabad. Apart from the approved areas where private builders are in the process of setting up colonies, the new development plan for the city envisages setting up sectors 75 to 89 of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA).

However, several colonies, including Jeevanagar, Basilva, Budhena, Badoli, Mawai, Khoda, Indira and Padam Nagar, were set up in phases in the area in an unauthorised way.

These unauthorised settlements started more than three decades back and the area is now teeming with infrastructures like schools, cremation grounds etc. These developments took place under familiar pattern with the apparent criminal collusion between land mafia and sections in the officialdom. Residential plots in these colonies range from 50 sq yard to 200 sq yard.

Strangely, although the colonies are illegal, purchase deeds of houses and land still continue.

Former state minister Kishan Pal Gurjar alleges that the government invoked Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, on August 30. This means that the government can now straightaway head for Section 9 regarding the announcing of awards to those whose land has been acquired.

Gurjar says the government waded into acquisition exercise under the emergency Clause of 17. The difference between launching exercise under emergency Clause and in ordinary circumstances is that in the former, the government could do away with the provision of giving a chance of hearing to the aggrieved parties.

What is worrisome for the residents in these colonies is that as the settlements are illegal, they fall on the wrong side of the law on the issue of ownership of the land. The entire area falls under the old Mewla Maharajpur assembly segment and total number of houses under them is about 8,000 with a total population of about 50,000.

Gurjar alleges that the district town and country planner department had misled the government by submitting fudged survey showing only 1,100 houses in the area.

According to reports, the government wants to acquire land in the colonies to set up roads in keeping with larger plan to expand the city.

The BJP leader has cautioned the government not to go ahead with the acquisition plan and looking for alternative alignments for setting up roads. He alleges that the government is under pressure from the builder lobby to acquire the land and dislocate the colonies.

Back

 

Students on warpath
Ayurvedic college suffers govt apathy
Our Correspondent

Kurukshetra, September 8
The protesting students of Shri Krishna Government Ayurvedic College, Kurukshetra, in a letter to the state health minister, have threatened to intensify their agitation till their long pending demands were met.

The students allege that they have been struggling against the deteriorating condition in their college for the past many years. Regarding this, they had met a number of government officers, MPs and even Chief Minister, but in vain.

Detailing the shortcomings, they say there is acute shortage of teaching staff, which is not in accordance with the CCIM norms both in terms of numbers and qualification. Teachers required here are 14 professors, 14 readers and 15 lecturers, but at present there are only one professor, four readers and six lecturers.

The post of demonstrator is still lying vacant while internship stipend is meager as compared to other states. What is worst is the fact that there is no hostel facility for the students, they add.

They say if concrete steps were not initiated, they would be compelled to continue and further intensify their agitation.

Meanwhile, district (rural) president of the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) Pawan Garg has condemned the government’s indifferent attitude towards the demands, saying that on one hand the government had expressed its faith in Ayurveda by inviting yoga guru Ramdev to the college while on the other it seemed hell-bent on closing this college as no new admission had been made this session.

Supporting the agitating students, Garg said if these demands were not fulfilled, the HJC (BL) students wing – Janhit Students Organisation — would join the agitation.

Back

 

Rohtak’s memory guru pens book
Sunit Dhawan
Tribune News Service

Rohtak, September 8
Impossible is a word found in the dictionary of fools goes a famous saying.

Virender Mehta of Rohtak, who was a below-average student during his school days, has proved these words by transforming himself into a world-record holder memory guru.

The name of this master memoriser has figured in the Limca Book of World Records for his ability to recall randomly selected words from the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary at an average timing of 13 seconds.

Mehta has now penned a book on enhancing memory and brainpower, which is in the final stages of publication.

This young boy of 27 has delivered a number of special lectures in his field of specialisation, besides addressing numerous seminars and training programmes. Management, medical and engineering students and even experienced academicians are astounded at his incredible memory.

Interestingly, until a few years ago, Virender used to be dead afraid of public speaking. He remained a poor student at school with a dismal academic record.

“I lacked confidence and stammered while interacting in English,” he admits.

However, he somehow managed to get selected for a degree course in computer engineering and then came the turning point of his life. While he was pursuing the engineering degree, his college organised a special lecture by Mahavir Jain, a brainpower expert who had memorised the dictionary.

Inspired by the lecture, Virender decided to turn his greatest weakness — English communication — into his strength.

Following this, this laborious youth scanned numerous books and websites on memory enhancement, brainpower and related topics.

His efforts bore fruit and he was able to memorise the entire Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary containing more than 80,000 words.

Virender could now recall any given dictionary word along with page number with amazing accuracy. This feat is termed photographic memory in scientific parlance.

Apart from being included in the Limca Book of World Records, Virender’s name has also figured among 25 outstanding Indians in a special anniversary issue of The Week magazine. He was also invited for television reality show, “Shabbash India.”

On being asked about the secret behind his remarkable achievement, Virender modestly states that yoga and meditation had proved quite effective in enhancing memory and brainpower, while spirituality had acted as a catalyst in the process.

This master wishes to train local students in memory enhancement techniques so that they can bring laurels to the town, region and state.

Back

 

Sirsa police starts filming violations
Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service

Sirsa, September 8
Flouting of traffic rules, encroachments on both sides of the roads and unauthorised parking of vehicles have been the bane of the traffic police here since long.

Infringement of traffic rules is such an offence that not only unscrupulous motorists but also many prominent persons of the society commit these.

The biggest problem the traffic police face is the fact that those who violate the rules often deny having done it. When caught, they have a tendency of showing off their importance in the society and accusing the policemen of partiality.

In an effort to remove such misgivings and to catch the violators red-handed, the district police has taken some steps for bringing about transparency in the system and saving the traffic police from allegations of favouritism and partiality.

As a part of these steps, the traffic police recently got video filming of shops and establishments that have encroached upon parts of the roads or pavements. Those who had parked their vehicles in a haphazard manner on the roads were also caught in the camera.

Shopkeepers were seen removing their possessions in a tizzy once the personnel of the traffic police reached there with a cameraman. But, by the time they could remove their encroachments, most of those had been caught in the camera.

Sirsa SP Amitabh Dhillon said the police would use these video films as evidence in the criminal complaints to be filed in the court of law.

He said as such cases come under the category of petty offences and could be tried summarily; most of the offenders did not contest the police case when they knew they had been caught on the camera.

Besides this, the traffic police has appointed several traffic marshals in the district, who accompany the policemen while they check vehicle owners for the violation of the traffic rules.

These traffic marshals are from various walks of life and are local residents and their presence removes the scope of allegations of partiality on the traffic police.

Since the traffic marshals have been appointed last month, they have been seen standing at prominent places in the town with traffic police officials.

Not only this, the police is also filming the checking of vehicles and the faces of the violators are clearly taken in the camera so that these could be used when needed.

“The steps have brought about much transparency in the working of the traffic police and we have not received complaints of excesses by the traffic police after implementing this.”

Back

 

Kaushalaya barrage triggers development
Arun Sharma
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, September 8
With the construction of Kaushalaya barrage, near Pinjore, residents of both Pinjore and Panchkula can hope for increased availability of drinking water. Besides, the project has also geared up the pace of development in the area.

Development of 32 sectors at the foothills of the Shivaliks by HUDA has also assured rapid development in the area as private players have committed huge investments.

Several real estate houses have started their projects in Pinjore. While Amravati Enclave has already begun the construction of a shopping mall, DLF is set to start work on its 200-acres integrated township.

In fact, with the construction of the barrage the region is set to become a hub of tourism, as the lake emerging after the completion of barrage would boost water sports.

In addition, the advantage of being near to the national highway and the hill state of Himachal Pradesh, it would be easy to tap tourism potential as lakhs of tourists pass through the area every year.

The barrage would also lead to better connectivity, as a four-lane road would be laid over the dam. In fact, the residents would not have to worry about the drinking water in the region at least for next 40 years, as the barrage would provide sufficient water for domestic consumers.

Back

 

Power crisis cripples life in Jhajjar
Ravinder Saini

Jhajjar, September 8
Normal life was thrown out of gear in this district because of long and unscheduled power cuts following a snag that developed in the Panipat and Yamunanagar thermal plant. The drinking water supply, hospital and telephone services were the worst hit.

Local residents alleged that complaint centres of the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) did not respond to their calls. Moreover, those manning the complaint centres were ignorant about the reasons for the cuts, they said.

Because of the ongoing crisis, people have to come out on the streets to protest. An incident of assault on tehsildar Raj Singh by irate residents of Joundhi village in the district was also reported.

The continuous unscheduled power cuts for several hours are adding to the misery of people. Inverters do not work for that long if not recharged in between. Shopkeepers and traders are particularly suffering as this has adversely affected their businesses.

“During the period of power cut, our business comes to a complete halt as we cannot even run generators for long hours because it adds to the operational cost and eat into our profits,” laments Subhash Chander, a trader.

On the other hand, farmers of the nearby villages said they were finding it difficult to run tubewells owing to power shortage. “Even when the supply is resumed we do not get the required load to run the water pumps,” they said.

“Regular power supply has become a dream for the people of the villages. Power plays hide-and-seek with the residents almost every day and this has badly hit the normal life,” said Ramesh Ahlawat, a resident of Dighal village, who demanded that the stat.

R.S. Dahiya, superintending engineer, UHBVN, said power cuts were being imposed for seven to eight hours in the urban, and five to six hours in the rural areas. An average power for 10 hours per day was being supplied in the rural areas before the current crisis. He claimed that the demand here was for 21 lakh units of power per day, while the power availability was 20 lakh units per day. “This has made the cuts imminent although we expect the situation to improve in the near future.”

Back

 

UHBVN to check low lying wires
Tribune News Service

Yamunanagar, September 8
With a view to ensure the safety of people in public parks, the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) has decided to replace all bare high tension (HT) and low tension (LT) wires passing over the parks with aerial bunched cable (ABC).

Field officers of the nigam have been directed to replace HT and LT wires at the nigam’s cost. There is always a threat to the lives of the people visiting the parks especially children.

It is found that many people have stopped going to the parks because of the fear of low-lying wires. It has also been decided that crossing over of the wires over the parks would be avoided in future to ensure safety, an official said.

Besides, instructions have been given to officers to personally contact minimum 50 defaulters every month and strenuous efforts are made to recover the payment.

Back

 

Funds for Bihar flood-hit
Tribune News Service

Sirsa, September 8
Students and teachers of Chaudhary Devi Lal University have decided to launch a 70-day fundraising campaign for flood relief in Bihar.

A resolution to this effect was adopted on the Teachers’ Day ceremony held on the university campus recently. On the occasion, registrar R.K. Sehgal paid tributes to Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan and remembered him as a legendary teacher as well as a great thinker and philosopher.

He called upon the teaching community to dedicate themselves to the ideals and principles preached and practised by Radhakrishanan during his lifetime. Chauhan said the day must be utilised for introspection by both teachers as well as the students.

Back

 





HOME PAGE | Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Opinions |
| Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi |
| Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail |