H A R Y A N A

Industry may welcome HUDA charges
Chandigarh, April 27
The move by the Haryana Urban Development Authority to relax its policy on collection of External Area Development Charge will be welcomed by the industry, expect official circles here.

A railway station in neglect
Yamunanagar
Rated as an important industrial belt of Haryana, Yamunanagar has a railway station which is in a very poor state. Elevated as district headquarters on November 1, 1989, is contributing to the exchequer.

Special ration cards for poor
Chandigarh, April 27
The Haryana Government has notified the Public Distribution System (Licensing and Control) Order, 2002, to regulate the sale and distribution of essential commodities in the state.

Woman raped, murdered
Ambala, April 27
A woman was allegedly raped and murdered at Subhri village near Barara, late last night. The incident took place at about 10 p.m. when the woman had gone to give tea to her husband Dharam Pal, who was working in the fields, as harvesting was on.

• House tax

Industry may welcome HUDA charges
Shubhadeep Choudhury
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 27
The move by the Haryana Urban Development Authority to relax its policy on collection of External Area Development Charge (EADC) will be welcomed by the industry, expect official circles here.

The move assumes significance in the context of the ongoing tour by the Haryana Chief Minister of Indian states as well as Kathmandu to woo investors to set up industry in Haryana.

Mr Chautala is scheduled to lead an entourage to countries in Europe as well as the USA and Canada in June with the same objective.

Highly placed sources here, however, say unless the internal situation is made conducive for industry, entrepreneurs may not be interested in investing in the state.

The sources claim that one of the government functionaries, who was sent to do the ground work for the Chief Minister’s tour, reportedly admitted on his return to Chandigarh that Haryana has to much image-building to do if it wants to attract any worthwhile investment.

They, however, add that the move by HUDA regarding the EADC is a step in the right direction as far as creating the right environment for industrialisation is concerned. According to sources, HUDA had made a proposal to the Chief Minister regarding certain modifications in its policy on collection of the EADC. The rate of the EADC, which comes to about Rs 10 lakh per acre on an average, is considered exorbitant and regarded a deterrent for setting up new industry in the state.

The EADC is charged from promoters by the state government, primarily for supplying them with drinking water and construction of sewerage and roads after conversion of agricultural land for urban or industrial use.

The existing policy of the government is to obtain the EADC from the promoters right at the time of finalisation of the deal on handing over of the plot to the promoters.

However, instances are galore on government agencies not carrying out development work, despite having collected the EADC from promoters.

The sources say as per the new policy, which is to be approved by the Chief Minister, HUDA will not charge the EADC from promoters in areas where it cannot carry out development works immediately. It will collect the money only when it is in a position to begin work.

Moreover, even when HUDA is in a position to start the work, it will not ask for the entire money in one go, which is the practice now. Instead, the promoters will have to give 25 per cent of the amount and pay the remaining money in four or five installments. Once this policy comes into being, it will benefit entrepreneurs as well as housing societies and real estate agents, the sources state.

A railway station in neglect
Ashwani Dutta

Yamunanagar
Rated as an important industrial belt of Haryana, Yamunanagar has a railway station which is in a very poor state. Elevated as district headquarters on November 1, 1989, is contributing to the exchequer.

An interesting part of the story is that the railway station, situated in Yamunanagar, is named Jagadhri, a town 5 km from the railway station. The station has not been computerised yet, though senior officials of the railways had assured three years back that computer facility would be provided “shortly”. Yamunanagar, which caters to the need of lakhs of people, is without a superfast train during the day.

According to statistics, more than 65,000 commuters travel from this place and the sale of tickets amounts to Rs 1.25 lakh daily. At Jagadhri station, known for metal, timber, sugar and paper, goods worth millions of rupees are booked every day for moving to different parts of the country.

At the railway station there are only two rooms where goods can be deposited. Otherwise they remain under the open sky and when it rains the material gets damaged. During the recent byelection in Yamunanagar, Mr Om Parkash Chautala, Chief Minister, assured the people that the would take up with Mr Nitish Kumar, Union Railway Minister, the demand for super-fast trains halting at Jagadhri during the day. The Barauni Express now stops at Jagadhri station, which has given a lot of relief to people hailing from Bihar and eastern UP.

There are three platforms at Jagadhri railway station, but platform No.1 — the main one — is small which causes inconvenience to passengers. About 80 trains pass through this railway station.

Lack of a platform for the loading of heavy goods results in problems for businessmen as well staff. The people of this area had for long been asking senior railway officials to build a pedestrian overbridge as the station divides the town in two and fatal accidents take place, but no initiative has been taken so far.

This station caters to the need of Yamunanagar, Jagadhri, Buria, Sadhura, Chhachrauli, Paonta Sahib and other towns in the area. Residents have also demanded that there should be railway lines to Kurukshetra and Paonta Sahib but there has been no response so far.

Special ration cards for poor
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 27
The Haryana Government has notified the Public Distribution System (Licensing and Control) Order, 2002, to regulate the sale and distribution of essential commodities in the state.

The Rural Development Department and the Swarn Jayanti Shehari Rozgar Yojna Department would identify families living below the poverty line in rural and urban areas, respectively. The Food and Supplies Department would issue special ration cards to those above the poverty line, below the poverty line and antyodaya families. The department would conduct a periodical review and checking of the ration cards.

The District Food and supplies Controllers would issue licenses to regulate the sale and distribution of essential commodities.

Woman raped, murdered
Tribune News Service

Ambala, April 27
A woman was allegedly raped and murdered at Subhri village near Barara, late last night.

The incident took place at about 10 p.m. when the woman had gone to give tea to her husband Dharam Pal, who was working in the fields, as harvesting was on. Dharam Pal left his 32-year-old wife to keep a watch on the fields since he had to undertake some work in a nearby field.

On returning at about midnight, Dharam Pal could not locate his wife. After searching, he found his wife’s body on a trolley laden with grain. The body was sent to the local Civil Hospital for a post-mortem examination. A case has been registered.

House tax
Tribune News Service

Ambala, April 27
The Executive Officer, Municipal Council Ambala Sadar, Mr K.K. Jain, today said that for the benefit of people, house tax can now be deposited on Saturday also from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. This is in addition to the other weekdays when house tax can be deposited.