 |
|
Blame game on for bridge collapse
Housing Board wooing elite with big houses
Town to be cleared of filth soon
Low price for good yield irks Bt cotton growers
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Bhajan Lal’s statement baseless, says INLD MLA
SP to contest all Assembly seats
Chautala listens to public grievances
Abhey holds Cong responsible for people’s problems
Stolen antique idols recovered
42 officers to face charges
Only 26 colleges invited to Sports Council meeting
11 hurt in clash
VIP ruins students’ Dasehra festivities
(Post) interview letter UNO Day
celebrated Ambala parks to be beautified
One more death reported at Karnal
Punjabi ekta sammelan held
|
|
Blame game on for bridge collapse
Panipat, October 24 While the B&R (National Highway) holds the Irrigation Department responsible, the latter blames the former for not remodelling it as the load of vehicles has increased manifold in the past two years. The SDO (B&R National Highway), Mr Rajpal Singh, told The Tribune that the Irrigation Department had dismantled the brick flooring beneath the bridge during “pucca” construction of the old Delhi branch canal, on which it had been built. Dismantling the brick flooring and releasing of water into the canal on October 11 by the Irrigation Department were the main reasons for its collapse. On the other hand, SE Irrigation (Construction) Gian Singh Choudhury said his men had not touched the area around the bridge during the construction of the canal as they had thought that the National Highway Department would remodel it sooner or later as it had come under its jurisdiction. He further said no flooring beneath the bridge had been noticed during the “pucca” construction of the canal. Blaming the National Highway Department for its collapse, he said it should have remodelled it as per the requirements and specifications of a bridge on the national highway. Mr Choudhury said the Panipat-Rohtak road, on which the bridge had been built, had been declared national highway two years ago when heavy vehicles started passing over it. He said had the highway been remodelled, it would have not come down. Mr Rajpal Singh termed the argument of the SE as a “blatant lie”. He said the Irrigation Department had dismantled the brick flooring and the dismantled material was lying in the canal, which had now become almost dry. The SDO said he himself had instructed Irrigation Department officials on concrete flooring around the piers of the bridge. However, Mr Choudhury denied this and said on official of the National Highway Department had contacted him in this regard. Mr Rajpal Singh further said that the clay around the foundation of piers of the bridge had flowed with the water because brick flooring had been dismantled and 10-ft-deep ditch was found around the pier , which was the main reason for the collapse of the bridge. The construction of “pucca" canal had been started on May 4 last year for taking water to Delhi from Moonak in Karnal. The old Delhi branch remained dry most of the time. Some water was released into the canal in August this year for testing for a couple of weeks, whereas the water was again released on October 11. In the meantime, Panipat ADC Wazir Singh Goyat has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the conditions that led to the collapse. He has deputed SDM Satpal Singh for the inquiry. |
|
Housing Board wooing elite with big houses
Panchkula, October 24 The Board is increasingly going in for housing schemes targeting the upper- middle classes. From bare structures to finished houses with beautiful front elevations, and services like a community centres and creches, the Haryana Housing Board is all set for an image makeover. Officials in the Board say that over the past couple of years, the prices of land have gone up several times over. They say that though the Board still plans 70 per cent of the schemes for the EWS, but now it is going in for housing for upper-middle classes, specially in Gurgaon, Faridabad and Karnal. With the prohibitive cost of land and small plot size available with the Board for group housing schemes, it is uneconomical to construct LIG or EWS houses. Over the past couple of years, the cost of land, especially in the National Capital Region (NCR), has gone up by Rs 2000 per square metres to Rs 6000 per square metres, and constructing EWS housing schemes here is not possible, they reason. These schemes, aimed at the upper-middle class will now be floated in Faridabad (21 three bedroom flats in Sector 46, and 111 flats in Sector 66), Karnal ( 250 two bedroom and three bedroom flats), Gurgaon (218 flats in Sector 10, 306 flats in Sector 51 and 320 flats in Sector 52), and Kurukshetra ( 300 flats in Sector 8). The Housing Board authorities say that in spite of the high reserve price of flats for high income groups floated in Rewari and Sector 43 in Gurgaon, the Board got a stupendous response, and thus it has been decided to float the above mentioned housing schemes. Officials say that Housing Board is going in for EWS housing schemes, only on land allotted by Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) for group housing schemes for the EWS, at subsidized rates. The Housing Board has now decided to provide complete finished structures (other than wood-work) to its allotees, and the latter are now involved at each step in the construction. "Monthly meetings are held at the housing scheme site, and efforts are made to incorporate suggestions made by the allotees in the basic design and plan layout. Laboratories have also been set up at all sites under construction, so that the allotees can get the quality of the building material tested," informs a senior official of the Board. |
|
Town to be cleared of filth soon
Sirsa, October 24 The Air Force station will be the major
beneficiary as it would reduce the chances of plane accidents due to birds obstructing flights. According to Mr Padam Jain, President of the Municipal Committee, the civic body had finalised a site in Bakrianwali village, about 15 km from here for the project. "Soon the project will be commenced to meet the long-pending demand of the town as we have already submitted a detailed project and obtained the NOC", informed Mr Jain. At present the town has no scientific garbage disposal system as the entire filth is dumped near the Civil Hospital and other low-lying areas. Sources in the administration and the civic body term the situation as alarming. In a report submitted by HUDCO, the premier development agency had looked into the matter and asked for a solid waste management project soon. The local Air Force station faces an acute threat as high-flying birds pose a serious threat to planes. "Since the area falls under a high-security zone, the project should be initiated soon. In the past, the defence authorities had taken up the matter with the local authorities, but to no avail,'' says sources. It took a long time to commission the project as a number of formalities, including clearance from the Air Force
authorities, were needed to select a "safe area'' outside the security zone. Talking to TNS, Mr Jain said the MC had earmarked 15 acres for the state-of-the art project, which would be commissioned within a month. "It will cost Rs 3 crore and prove to be
beneficial for the area. There is a plan to convert the garbage into manure which could be again sold in the market, thus inviting additional revenue for the civic body.'' The town would have garbage
trolleys and bins to make it clean.
|
|
|
Low price for good yield irks Bt cotton growers
Sirsa, October 24 Even though the sowing of Bt cotton seed is banned by the state government, the farmers had taken a bold step by using hybrid quality seed of the narma variety, which shows resistance to the American bollworm. “Due to the apathetic attitude of the cotton-procuring agencies, we have decided to give the entire produce to private mills of the district,” said Navtej Singh of Bajekan village, whose views were echoed by other farmers. They said though initially the prices for the cotton was encouraging at around Rs 2,500 per quintal, but later these went down to Rs 1,950 and Rs 1,850 for narma and desi cotton varieties, respectively. However, a number of farmers are happy with the results of their experiment. “This year I sowed Bt cotton seed on an experiment basis and got tremendous results,’’ said Vikrant Kumar of Khairekan village. He said Bt cotton proved to be better than the available narma variety of cotton as the former gave about four quintals more yield. Sowed at an estimated cost of Rs 2,000 per acre, the yield is about 16 quintals per acre. “This has better resistance against the American bollworm and needs less amount of sprays (Rs 500 per acre),’’ said Vikrant, who is determined to try the crop in the next season too. Arjan Singh, another farmer, however, said, “I gave up cotton cultivation two years ago as I had to sell the produce at the inadequate prices marked by the government agencies.” “There is good crop this season but the reports of a cotton glut in the market are perhaps exaggerated by the traders to get financial benefit,’’ said a senior official in the administration. On the “illegal” Bt trials by farmers, officials said the move of the farmers had backfired with the sudden decrease of prices to as low as about Rs 600 per quintal.
|
|
|
Bhajan Lal’s statement baseless, says INLD MLA Ambala, October 24 While talking to reporters, he said all INLD MLAs were united and had full faith in Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala. In fact, the Congress was facing groupism and infighting. All senior leaders of the Haryana Congress were battling for their political survival, he said. He said Mr Bhajan Lal should revamp his party first instead of worrying about other parties. Referring to Mr Bansi Lal joining the Congress, he said he had no option but to go back to the pavilion. He said the HVP had lost its creditability after the Lok Sabha elections and no alternative was left with it but to join some party. Showing soft corner for the BJP, he said they would welcome if the BJP joined hand with them to prevent the Congress from capturing the power. Criticising local MP Selja, he said she had been spending most of her time in Delhi and Sirsa and she had nothing to do with the problems of the people of Ambala. During floods, she did not offer even a penny to the flood-affected from her MP fund, he alleged. In the coming Assembly elections, people would teach a lesson to the Congress, he said. He claimed that the INLD would again come to power in the state under the leadership of Mr Om Prakash Chautala on the basis of various development projects undertaken in the state.
|
|
|
SP to contest all Assembly seats
Rewari, October 24 Mr Yadav was addressing a state-level meeting of party activists after inaugurating the newly-established state party office here. Commenting upon the present political scenario in the state, he said while on one hand the electorate was dissatisfied with the performance of the Congress as well as the BJP, on the other hand they had now made up their mind to oust the INLD at the hustling. He criticised the Chautala government for its "anti-farmer" policies. Exuding confidence that the situation in the state was conducive for the party, he assured that the national leadership of the party would extend its cooperation to the state party chief Kanta
Aladia, senior party leader Raghu Yadav and others in gaining ascendancy in the elections. Castigating the Congress for putting hurdles in the on-going electoral process in Mainpuri in UP, he alleged that the Congress, the BJP and the BSP were hell-bent to see that the election commission countermanded the poll in Mainpuri where a resounding victory of the Samajwadi Party was a forgone conclusion. He went on to say that even if the poll in Mainpuri was countermanded, they would again take the matter to the people's court rather than challenging the decision in the apex court. |
|
|
Chautala listens to public grievances
Jhajjar, October 24 In the first programme, Mr Chautala redressed the problems of 56 villages of teh Badli Assembly segment in the local PWD Rest House. He directed the district administration to ensure adequate water and electricity supply in each village and also announced carpeting of potholed and damaged roads, construction of anganwari centres, community centres, upgradation of government schools on completing the required norms and repair of all the government buildings in the villages on priority basis. Later, he presided over the programme in Beri town, and took up complaints of 45 villages. He accepted most of the demands put up by the village panchayats. Mr Dhirpal Singh, Revenue Minister, Mr Nafe Singh Rathee, MLA from Bahadurgarh, Mr Mohinder Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, Mr Mohhamad Akil, SP, Mrs Suprabha Dahiya, ADC, and other district and police officials were also present on the occasion. |
|
Abhey holds Cong responsible for people’s problems
Kaithal, October 24 Mr Abhey Singh was addressing a public meeting at Kailram village in the Kalayat constituency as part of his mass-contact programme.
|
|
|
Stolen antique idols recovered
Jhajjar, October 24 Police sources said a youth of the village spotted the idols of Rama, Lakshmana and Sita in a field outside the village this
morning. On being informed by the villagers, the police seized the idols. Some persons had stolen the idols by breaking open the locks of the temple gate on June 4. The temple had been locked for the past 22 years and no one had had darshan of the idols since then. Though there was no pujari in the temple, its keys were with Dhoop Singh, resident of the village. The police suspected the involvement of a villager, who allegedly abandoned the idols in the field last night. The temple was built around 14 century AD. The three idols, made of Ashtadhatu, weigh around one quintal. Villagers said some golden ornaments were stolen from the temple in 1982. The pujari of the temple turned out to be the thief and the police recovered the ornaments from him. The temple was locked after this incident and the pujari also left the village. |
|
|
42 officers to face charges
Chandigarh, October 24 While stating this here today, a spokesman of the bureau said the bureau also recommended departmental action against 44 officers and employees for committing various irregularities. He said the bureau had found them guilty and submitted its report to the government for necessary action. He said 19 officials were also caught while accepting illegal gratification ranging from Rs 400 to Rs 45,000. He said the bureau also recommended the recovery of over Rs 3.22 crore from the defaulters. Two cases of the leakage of revenue amounting to Rs 16.50 crore were detected and the bureau recommended departmental action against two gazetted officers and an employee. The Excise and Taxation wing of the bureau also detected 26 cases concerning sales tax and Rs 1.12 lakh were recovered and deposited with the government. He said the transport wing of the bureau detected 83 passengers travelling without ticket and fined them 10 times of the fare. As many as 12 buses were confiscated and 15 others were challaned for committing various irregularities. |
|
Only 26 colleges invited to Sports Council meeting
Sonepat, October 24 According to sources, 128 colleges in the state are affiliated with MDU and the principals of only 26 have been invited to the meeting of the Sports Council. An office-bearer of the Sports Council said officiating principals and those whose colleges did not actively participate in sports activities had not been invited. He explained that this meant a college must have participated in at least two sports events in a year. He said 26 principals, 26 heads of departments of the university and 25 teachers of the Physical Education Department would attend the meeting. However, he stressed on the need for bringing about changes in the constitution of the Sports Council. A local college principal said every college had the right to participate in the meeting as every college contributed thousands of rupees to the university |
|
11 hurt in clash
Sonepat, October 24 All the injured persons were rushed to the community health centre at Badh Malik village for treatment wherefrom they were shifted to the Civil Hospital here. The police has registered a case. However, no arrest has been made in this connection. The police has launched a hunt to apprehend them. Two persons, Satbir (55) and Raj Singh (50), were seriously injured when they were assaulted by a group of persons belonging to the rival group at Rathdhanna village, about 5 km from here, today. Both the injured persons were hospitalised. They were stated to be out of danger. |
|
|
VIP ruins students’ Dasehra festivities
Sirsa, October 24 Mr Ajay Singh Chautala, chief guest and Rajya Sabha member, was scheduled to be there on the concluding day of a three-day Youth Festival, but reached the venue at 8.15 pm, about three hours late. “Though we missed the Dasehra festivities with our family, none could dare to think of leaving the venue as the chief guest was from the ruling Chautala clan,” said a member of the organising staff.
|
|
|
(Post) interview letter Ambala, October 24 The candidate, Ms Ruchi, who is at present temporarily employed in Ambala, has written a letter to the Chairman of the HPSC complaining that she got the interview letter in the evening on October 20 while the interview was held in the morning the same day. A few other candidates of Ambala have also alleged that they received their interview letters just a day before the interview date and hence they could not gather required documents that were to be produced before the selection board. It caused them a lot of harassment, they alleged. Ms Ruchi said if she was not allowed an opportunity to appear for the interview, she would have no option but to knock the door of the court.
|
|
|
UNO Day celebrated Ambala, October 24 Addressing the students, Mr Gupta said the UNO had been playing an important role in warding off the third world war that could spell disaster for the world. He said all were aware of the devastation of the First and the Second World War. He said the UNO was the only organisation that could motivate the world toward peace and brotherhood. A declamation contest was also organised on the occasion. Neha Narang emerged winner in the contest, while Rupali Gandhi stood second and Sonal Sehagal got the third position. The District Education Officer, Mr Ajit Singh Dalal, and a lecturer, Mr Satbir Saini, also spoke on the occasion.
|
|
|
Ambala parks to be beautified Ambala, October 24 Chairman of the Trust, Nirmal Vij told that the park located opposite old civil hospital would be developed as it was situated on the main entry of the city. He said that the trust would spend Rs 3.72 lakh on this project. The vacant land in Kotwali Sarai would be converted into a park . The road leading toward cremation ground would also be given a face-lift. Mr Vij said that the Trust would repair the roads up to 5 km falls in Ambala City periphery with the help of state government. He said that a community centre with the cost of around Rs 40 lakh was being constructed in the Vikas Vihar area.
|
|
|
One more death reported at Karnal
KARNAL: One more death suspected of acute viral fever was reported here yesterday. The deceased has been identified as Preeti (6), daughter of Virender, resident of Arjun Gate, here.
She died in the Civil Hospital suffering from high fever suspected of acute viral infection. However, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) here Dr O.P. Mittal in a written statement issued here, today, said that the girl was suffering from severe anemia and died of heart failure.
— TNS
|
|
|
Punjabi ekta sammelan held
Yamunanagar, October 24 These were the views of the various speakers who spoke at the 'Punjabi Ekta Sammelan' organised by the Haryanvi Punjabi Welfare Association here today. The sammelan aims to bring the Haryana Punjabi community on one stage. |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
