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Farmers face water shortage
Akali Dal Haryana to back state on SYL
Haryana uses organic manure for saplings INLD, BJP may have tie-up on RS seats Excess of dry fodder kills cattle Tension in village over land dispute Man held for strangling
5-year-old girl |
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Rights panel team
visits Central Jail Exporters send memo
to PM Residents block traffic 3-member panels to select varsity 15 leopard skins seized
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Farmers face water shortage Hathnikund Barrage (Yamunanagar), June 12 Receding snowfall in the Himalayas has reduced the water inflow in the river to less than 50 per cent and the water discharge from the Hathnikund Barrage built on the river here is the lowest in the past two decades, say sources. Irrigation and drinking water is being supplied to the five states of Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan from here. Roughly one-third of the water from here flows down to Uttar Pradesh through the Eastern Yamuna Canal (EYC) and the rest goes to the other four states via the Western Yamuna Canal (WYC). The low discharge has also affected power generation. Several units have been set up along the canals carrying the waters in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. A Hyderabad based institute which supplies satellite imaging has reportedly told authorities in Delhi and various dam managing agencies that ‘foot print of snow’ or area of snowfall is reducing with each passing year. Less glacial melt means less inflow of water in rivers like the Yamuna and the Ganga. Haryana has set up four power generation units (with two power generating unit each) on the
WYC. The units produce 64 MW power which is pooled to the National Power Grid. Because of the low discharge, the generating units are either being used alternatively or partially, said sources in the WYC Hydel Electric Project,
Yamuna-nagar. “Because of less water discharge power generation has been affected”, admitted Mr
G.C. Aggarwal, Chief Engineer, WYC Hydel, Yamuna-nagar. According to sources in the Hydel Department here, water level in the river often falls in May and June but this year the fall is quite significant. Sources in the
Meteorological Department, Chandigarh said there had been a change in weather pattern in the past few years and there was global warming at an average rate of 0.6°C. According to Mr Surinder Pal, Deputy Director, Meteorological Department, Chandigarh, the Yamuna is mainly fed from the snowfall in the upper Himalayas and the snowfall in the past three years has reduced. “Except for the past year, snowfall is on the decline”, said Mr Pal, and added “Deforestation, vehicular pollution and other anthropolgical changes may be the reason behind the receding snowfall in the Himalayas”. |
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Akali Dal Haryana to back state on SYL Ambala, June 12 The president of the party, Mr Kartar Singh Takkar, while releasing the manifesto here said the SYL was the lifeline of the people of Haryana and the Haryana Akali Dal was of the view that the Punjab Government should immediately start the construction of SYL honouring the Supreme Court order. The party in its manifesto promised to make every effort to make arrangements for teaching of Punjabi in schools in the state. The mainfesto said the Haryana Akali Dal would initiate to complete the Meeri Peeri Medical College at Shahbad by getting financial assistance from the SGPC. The party would persuade the SGPC to open technical and other academic institutions in Haryana too on the pattern of Punjab. The manifesto while supporting the demand of constituting of local management committees of gurdwaras said it would provide importance to local people in the
management affairs of various gurdwaras. Later talking to mediapersons Mr Takkar said his party was opposing the move of a separate SGPC for Haryana. He said his party would oppose the move to challenge the supremacy of the SGPC. |
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Haryana uses organic manure for saplings Panchkula, June 12 All 4.50 crore saplings prepared by the State Forest Department for the afforestation drive to be launched later this year, have been prepared using vermicompost. This organic manure left after preparing the saplings will be used for plantation of these saplings all over Haryana. This organic mantra in the Forest Department was introduced by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), Haryana, Mr JPL Srivastava, in October last year. Mr Srivastava had issued orders that no farmyard manure be purchased for preparing saplings in the 400- odd nurseries of the State Forest Department, rather in-house consumption of manure for the saplings be met with vermicompost manure. It was thus that vermicomposting was introduced across 200 Forest Department nurseries. Says Mr Srivastava, “We decided to take the lead in going back to the nature, by introducing organic manure. Since the organic matter was available to us (dried leaves and branches), we introduced vermicomposting. By using vermicomposting we have substituted 5000 tonnes of farmyard manure being used each year with organic manure, which is required in lesser quantity (as compared to 100 gm of farmyard manure used in the polybags along with sand and soil, only 30 gm of vermicompost is used)”. He adds that they are also experimenting if more quantity of vermicompost is required for the different varieties to be planted. Using organic manure will also help save on the expenses as the cost of using farmyard manure Rs 30 per quintal. The organic manure has been used in the 1.70 crore saplings to be planted by the Forest Department, and the 2.80 crore saplings to be distributed to the farmers and general public (free of cost) or to be made available to the various boards and corporations (at subsidized rates). The left over vermicompost will be used while planting the saplings. It is learnt that so far the Forest Department was not using farmyard manure while planting saplings, because of the high cost of the manure. It was used only in areas where the soil was alkaline in nature, and in some places chemical fertilizers were being used to ensure quick growth of the saplings. “This was one of the reasons why the productivity of the saplings was quite less. For example, the soil fertility in Kalesar forests is high, though the soil fertility in the Shivaliks is low. As vermicompost production in the departments’ nurseries increases, we will be using the organic manure while planting saplings, and thus increasing their productivity, by enriching the soil,” says Mr Srivastava.  |
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INLD, BJP may have tie-up on RS seats Chandigarh, June 12 Elections are to be held for two Rajya Sabha seats from the state. While the INLD is sure to win one seat, it cannot win the second seat without the support of the BJP, which has six members in the Vidhan Sabha, the effective strength of which is 86 following the resignation of four members recently. while three Congress MLAs quit following their election to the Lok Sabha, the fourth, Mr Kartar Singh Bhadana, joined the BJP after quitting the INLD and the House. The source say the two parties are working on a number of compromise formulas to reach an agreement on the second seat. Sources in the INLD say the BJP had suggested the name of former Union Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie. However, INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala, has certain reservations about Mr Shourie, who, the Lok Dal sources say, had “betrayed” the trust reposed in him by the former Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Devi Lal, when the former was a newsman. Mr Shourie taped his conversation with Mr Devi Lal and published in a Delhi daily, he was editing. One formula is that the BJP should suggest the candidate and the INLD would give him the ticket. The INLD sources say this would be the reverse of the 1999 Lok Sabha elections when their party had given its candidate to the BJP from the Sonepat constituency. There is also a possibility of the two parties fielding a mutually acceptable independent candidate. When the INLD MLAs today called upon Mr Chautala to inquire about his health, they urged him to nominate his elder son, Ajay, to the Rajya Sabha. Mr Chautala, who was earlier authorised by the party to select the candidate, assured them that he would keep in mind their sentiments while taking the final decision in this regard. Significantly, he remarked that he would also ensure that the second seat should not go to the Opposition. He did not elaborate his game plan. Meanwhile, a section of the BJP is opposed to a tieup with the INLD on any issue, what to talk of the Rajya Sabha elections. A delegation today called upon the BJP chief, Mr Venkaiah Naidu, in Delhi and urged him not to have any truck with the INLD. The delegation included Mr Kartan Singh Bhadana, Rao Narbir Singh, Dr K.R. Punia, Mr Naresh Malik and Mr Raj Singh Hooda, all of them joined the BJP recently, Capt Abhimanyu, who contested the Rohtak Lok Sabha seat on the party ticket, and Mr Krishan Singh Sangwan, BJP MP from Sonepat. These leaders reportedly told Mr Naidu that the recent Lok Sabha elections saw an appreciable increase in BJP’s vote share because of its
ant-Chautala stand. If the party again tied up with the INLD, it would send a wrong message to the electorate for the next Assembly elections, due within months. The sources say Mr Naidu told the delegation that when Mr Chautala himself had offered a seat to the BJP, what was the harm in accepting the offer. Moreover, the party would need INLD votes to ensure the re-election of Mrs Najma Heptullah as Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. He also told the delegation that there had been a talk between Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Mr Chautala on the issue. |
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Excess of dry fodder kills cattle Fatehabad, June 12 Rameshwar, a farmer of Dharsul Kalan, told this correspondent that the disease had hit the villages a fortnight ago. He said the affected animals stopped eating fodder and drinking water and their milk yield was also reduced. The animals died if treatment was not provided in time. He said at least 15 head of cattle had died in the three villages during the past fortnight. Veterinarians describe the disease as rumen infection. It occurs due to overeating of dry fodder. They explain that when an animal takes large quantities of wheat straw without being mixed with green fodder, the soil in the straw accumulates in the bellies, making the animal seriously ill. The experts suggest feeding clean wheat straw mixed with green fodder. They say the animals infected with this disease can be treated by surgically removing the accumulated straw and soil from the abdomen. Such animals should be taken to Haryana Agriculture University for surgery, they add. |
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Tension in village over land dispute Sonepat, June 12 According to a report, a strong contingent of the police rushed to the village after receiving information about the incident. The alleged assailants are stated to be residents of Bamla village in Bhiwani district, Tension persists in the village. At least eight assailants are reported to have fled from the village, while four were restricted by the villagers from doing so. A land dispute is stated to be the main cause of the assault. The dispute arose between the families of Mr Jaipal and Mr Jeet Singh. When Jaipal started construction work on this land after a decision of the panchayat, the rival group declined to accept the decision of the panchayat. In the meantime, supporters of the rival group arrived in the village in two vehicles and a clash followed. Satish, who sustained bullet injuries, was taken to the community health centre at Gohana from where he was referred to the PGI Rohtak. The police has registered a case. |
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Man held for strangling
5-year-old girl Kurukshetra, June 12 Claiming this at a press conference held here yesterday the district police chief, Ms Bharati Arora, said Mohan Lal (33), resident of Vashishth Colony, had been arrested under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code for attempting to rape and strangling Preeti to death. She said while admitting his crime, Mohan Lal told the police that on Monday evening, when Preeti was passing through the street in front of his house, he tempted her with pomegranate from a tree grown at his house. When the girl entered his house he took her to a room and tried to rape her. She started crying and he gagged her with his handkerchief and
strangled her to death. After this, he threw the body into the bushes grown in the vacant plot adjacent to his house. She informed that Mohan Lal, who had passed his MA (economics) from Kurukshetra University, was unmarried and unemployed, but was preparing for a competition examination while staying here with his brother, who is working as a lecturer at Karnal. Ms Arora said the police got the clue of murder from a shirt recovered from the incident site. As the shirt’s collar bore a sticker of a tailor of Karnal, where Mohan Lal’s brother was working, the police arrested Mohan Lal and started interrogating him. Besides Preeti’s 20-years-old sister told the police that a day before the crime was committed, Mohan Lal teased her. Ms Arora said the police had recovered a few blood-stained Preeti’s hair, a red shirt and the carpet on which an attempt was made to rape the girl. The postmortem examination report had also indicated that the victim was strangled to death, she added. On the other hand, Mohan Lal, when produced before mediapersons, denied the charges leveled against him. According to a police spokesperson, Mohan Lal was produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate here today and remanded in judicial custody. |
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Rights panel team
visits Central Jail Ambala, June 12 According to the information the commission had received a complaint that some of the prisoners in the jail had not been getting proper medical facilities. The members of the commission met some of the prisoners and enquired about their problems especially related to medical treatment. Sources in jail disclosed that some of the prisoners complained that at times they could not get immediate attention and be shifted to Civil Hospital. It is to be mentioned that two of the prisoners had died in the jail due to their illness in the past two years. The sources said that the members of the commission also went to barracks of the jail to ensure whether the basic facilities were being provided to the jail inmates. They also visited the women’s barrack in the jail. A few months ago the chairman of the Human Right Commission had visited the jail and had asked the jail authorities to take immediate step especially for the children living with their mothers in the jail. |
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Exporters send memo
to PM Ambala, June 12 Dr N.C. Jain, chairman of the association, suggested that the CST should be reduced from 4 per cent to 3 per cent till all the states imposed the VAT. He proposed that the excise limit should be increase for the cottage and SSI sectors up to Rs 5 crore and the interest on such units should not be exceeded to 7 per cent. |
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Residents block traffic Sonepat, June 12 The protesters raised slogans against the Bijli Nigam and Public Health authorities alleging that the village had been badly hit by power supply disruptions for the past one month. The villagers demanded that the village be connected with Sonepat power station. It resulted in stranding of a large number of vehicles coming from and going to Rohtak. |
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3-member panels to select varsity Rohtak, June 12 The panels will comprise the Vice-Chancellor, the seniormost Dean of the university
convened and the Commissioner, Higher Education, Haryana. The commissioner has sought names of teachers and non-teaching officers of universities eligible for appointment as registrars. |
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15 leopard skins seized Sonepat, June 12 The cost of the skins was estimated around Rs 15 lakh in the international market. The officials also recovered some equipment used for catching wild animals in the areas of Hardwar, Dehra Dun and Uttaranchal. |
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Price of bricks fixed Fatehabad, June 12 |
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