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Thursday,
July 18, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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State to take SYL issue to SC HPU bending backwards to meet power demand Tributes paid to BKU stir victim Road blocked for 4 hours Delhi doctors visit Ambala hospitals |
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State to take SYL issue to SC Chandigarh, July 17 This was decided at a meeting specially convened by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, here today. Mr Dhirpal Singh, Revenue Minister, Mr M.K. Miglani, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, the Advocate- General, and the Irrigation Secretary also took part in the meeting. Mr Chautala reportedly expressed concern over the Punjab Government’s delay in completing the SYL canal despite the Supreme Court asking the state of Punjab to complete construction of the remaining portion of the canal within a year from the date of the verdict. He asked the Advocate-General to decide the course of legal action to put pressure on the Punjab Government to start work on construction of the canal in its
territory. One of the legal courses being contemplated by the Haryana Government is reportedly to urge the court to ask the Punjab Government to submit a status report on the action taken by it regarding completion of construction of the canal after the court verdict. While no initiative is being taken by the Punjab Government for completion of the SYL canal falling in the state’s territory. Haryana has sprung into action following the Supreme Court order and has started work for repairing the stretch of the canal running through its areas. Official sources said the Haryana Government had already invited tenders for carrying out repair works in the 90 km length of the canal inside Haryana. The part of the canal falling in Haryana was divided into six parts for carrying out repairs and work in three out of the six portions had been already allotted to construction firms. Work for the other three portions, too, would be soon allotted, the sources said, adding that the firms which had bagged the contracts for doing the works in three portions would shortly start work. While the total estimated expenditure on renovation of the canal inside Haryana has been put at Rs 12 crore, repair work, comprising mainly of repairing the lining on the two sides of the canal alone is expected to cost Rs 6 crore. The remaining Rs 6 crore of the estimate would be spent for modernisation and other aspects of renovation of the canal, the sources stated. The speed with which Haryana has started the work of repairing the part of the canal in its side was likely to please the Supreme Court, the sources said and added that earlier also the court took a favourable view of Haryana’s case because of the money already spent by it for construction of the canal. |
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HPU bending backwards to meet power demand Chandigarh, July 17 The HPU is able to supply on an average about 628 lakh units per day against the demand which varies from 650 lakh to 700 lakh units per day. The period when the demand for power is at its peak is yet to come. Knowledgeable sources say the demand for power peaks at the end of August and continues till mid-September. The requirement of the paddy growers is the maximum during this period. No wonder, reports are pouring about undeclared power cuts and protests by the public against the “unsatisfactory power position” in the state. Sources in the HPU maintain the situation in Haryana is much better than that in the neighbouring states like Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. They proudly point out that Haryana is the only state, at least in the northern region, if not the entire country, which is requisitioning surplus power available in the northern grid. States like U.P. are surrendering even their quota as they are unable to pay to Central generation units. Such states, they say, are imposing eight-hour power cuts. The power rendered surplus because of the inability of the certain states to buy, is being fully utilised by Haryana, which supplied 657 lakh units on July 13, the highest supply on any single day since the HPU’s inception. The sources say the increase in the demand is due to certain factors, besides the failure of the monsoon and high temperature. Farmers, who earlier supplemented the tubewells with diesel-operated pumps, virtually discarded the pumps in the recent past because of “exceptionally good power supply”. The running of diesel pumps is costlier than tubewells. Now, the sources say, the farmers are unable to run the pumps because their disuse has rendered them unserviceable. The sources say the demand of the agriculture (rural) sector has gone up by about 100 lakh units. The HPU is supplying 400 lakh units to this sector this year as against about 300 lakh units last year. The demand has also gone up in the urban areas because of the widespread use of air-conditioners in view of the high humidity. The sources say on July 13, the day India-England cricket match was being telecast, the demand for electricity rose by about 52 per cent in Panchkula alone. Though it was a Saturday, the people preferred to stay indoors watching the match on TV rather than going out in the evening. The situation in the other urban areas was more or less the same. The sources say the increase in demand has forced HPU to impose a four-hour power cut in the rural areas, though electricity will be supplied to the tubewells, including those used for supplying drinking water, for at least seven hours daily. The sources admitted that in the urban areas, HPU has to impose half hour cuts by rotation during the day since the frequency goes low due to increase in demand. However, a four-hour cut was imposed on the urban areas yesterday. Industries have also been subjected to a two-hour power cut from 2 am to 4 am. The sources say the Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala has given a carte blanche to the HPU to purchase as much power as required from the Northern Regional Load Despatch Centre(NRLDC). But he is asked it to ensure that there is minimum disruption in power supply. The sources say Haryana, besides purchasing the surplus power from NRLDC, is overdrawing about 38 lakh units every day. This creates problems for areas like Rewari, Dadri, Narnaul, Narela, Sonepat and Panipat as the NRLDC disconnects the supply to these areas to prevent Haryana from overdrawing power. |
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Tributes
paid to BKU stir victim Jind, July 17 Mr Jai Parkash, Mr Raghubir Singh Kadiyan, Mr Sher Singh, Mr Jitender Malik, all MLAs, Mr Anand Singh Dangi, former minister, and Mr Karambir Saini, secretary, HPCC, were among others who paid tributes. Mr Ghasi Ram Nain, state President of the BKU, Mr Ram Phal Kandela, state General Secretary of the BKU, Mr Sukhdev Singh, General Secretary, BKU (Ekta), Punjab, and several BKU leaders also paid tributes. Referring to the agreement reached between the representatives of the government and office-bearers of the BKU at Jind regarding the demands of the BKU, Mr Nain said if the government failed to implement the agreement then the BKU would raise the issue at the joint meeting of the BKU and the representatives of the government to be held on August 2. Earlier, Mr Hooda said if the government failed to make payments of sugarcane purchased from farmers till July 24 then the Congress would organise dharnas. |
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Road blocked for 4 hours Yamunanagar, July 17 Villagers of Raduar, near here, assembled in tractor trailers and motorcycles and sat in the middle of the road. The Subdivisional Magistrate (SDM), Mrs Renu Phulia, Mr Ashok Kumar, DSP, Jagadhri, the Superintendent Engineer of the Haryana Vidyut Parsaran Nigam and other officials reached the site and tried to pacify the mob. Raising slogans against the Electricity Department, the mob demanded that the power supply should be regular and uninterrupted because their main crop paddy and sugar cane need regular and sufficient water. Only when the officers assured them that after July 28, the power supply would improve following the commissioning of 220 kv substation at Jorian that they lifted the dharna. |
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Delhi doctors visit Ambala hospitals Ambala, July 17 The team of 26 doctors was led by Dr Ray and Dr Ms Bhagwat. The visiting doctors are working on the European Union project for giving better facilities at government hospitals. The team had undergone training for three months in Delhi and they are visiting civil hospitals in different states to take stock of the situation. Mr Anil Vij, MLA, told the visiting doctors that it must be ensured that the amount spent on the improvement of health services should have long-term benefits for the patients. He suggested that a proper plan should be worked out first before initiating the project. Mr Vij pointed out that the civil hospital, Ambala cantonment, was not properly planned which caused inconvenience to patients. He said that the plan should be prepared in such a manner that the increase in population was taken into consideration. Among others, Dr S.L. Kaushik, Dr. D.P. Saluja, Dr Umesh Lamba, Dr Vinay Gupta and Dr G. Kumar were present.
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Stir against MITC closure on July 26 Hisar, July 17 He alleged that although the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, had promised better facilities to government employees and the creation of jobs before the last Assembly elections, he had now adopted an “anti-employee” attitude. |
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Shankaracharya
to set up school near Gurgaon Chandigarh, July 17 While blessing Mr Chautala, the Swami said he was aware of Mr Chautala’s long association with Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam and invited him to Maha Veda Sammelan - 2002 being held at the Peetam from July 25 to September 2. Mr Chautala had been to the Peetam twice before. |
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1055 in Nigam net Chandigarh, July 17 A spokesman of the Nigam said here today that a penalty of Rs 117.72 lakh was imposed on defaulting consumers. |
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Passport
cell at Bhiwani Bhiwani, July 17 Mr Jowel said the government was firm on providing facilities at the district level and so such branches were being set up at the district headquarters. Earlier, Mr Jowel reviewed the progress of the ongoing development works at a meeting at the Panchayat Bhavan.
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