Rohtak, January 2
The Haryana government has sanctioned Rs 54.21 crore for the augmentation of drinking water supply in the district, Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda said here today.

Talking to newspersons after inaugurating a boosting station inside the sugar mill premises he said come summer and barring a few colonies no area would face drinking water shortage.

Mr Hooda inaugurated another boosting station near HAFED complex which together with the sugar mill station would boost water supply in more than 24 colonies in the town.

The two stations have cost Rs 2.5 crore.

He said the stations had been built keeping in view the future requirements for water in the area. Each of them could cover a population of 40000. None of the colonies served by these stations had been getting regular water supply for the past several years.

Mr Hooda said three more boosting stations were under construction and on their completion the supply position would improve further.

Work, he said, was also in progress on a Rs 59 crore water works which was expected to be commissioned shortly. This would solve the entire problem of paucity of water in the town.

Work was also in progress on water supply projects in more than 100 villages which he had got sanctioned during his 18 months in Parliament. He said when projects were completed availability of water would go up from 40 to 70 litres per person per day. 

Sonepat, January 2
As many as 67 children of Government Primary School Kalupur on the outskirts of town were admitted to two hospitals here today due to suspected food poisoning following the eating of rice cooked under mid-day meal scheme.

Two of them were reported to be serious but out of danger. According to information, the students went to school in the morning and were served cooked rice for lunch. After some time, they started vomiting and were sent home by headmistress Shakuntala.

Fearing it a case of food poisoning, parents of children got them admitted to two local private hospitals. Mr Amarjeet Singh Maan SDM an inquiry into the incident. The headmistress pleaded the children had eaten seeds of some plant. It was the effect of those seeds.

Rewari, January 2
With simultaneous distribution of nutritional supplements among children, lactating and pregnant women as well as adolescent girls at anganwaris at Mundi village, 10 km from here, by Deputy Commissioner Chander Prakash at Bolni village of Bawal block by Additional Deputy Commissioner Nitin Kumar Yadav, at Berli Kalan village of Jatusana block by Mr G.L. Yadav SDM, Rewari, at Kosli village of Nahar block by Mr Rajiv Ahlawat, SDM Kosli, and at Sharanwas village, near here, by Minister Ajay Singh Yadav’s mother Mrs Shanti Devi, new supplementary nutrition programme (SNP) of the state was launched yesterday in the district.

The Deputy Commissioner said while food items were prepared by women’s self-help groups, the nutrition rates had been raised from Rs 2.50 to Rs 5 daily for women and from Rs 2 to Rs 3 daily for children.

He also said now onwards the menu would be decided by the village-level committees based on the preferences of beneficiary mothers and children and ingredients and nutritional norms of the new scheme.

Chandigarh, January 2
The Haryana Congress working president, Dr Ram Prakash, today ridiculed the Indian National Lok Dal(INLD) for announcing support to the Akali-BJP combine in the Punjab Assembly elections.

The President of the INLD, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, had recently announced that he would campaign for the SAD led by Mr Parkash Singh Badal in Punjab and where the Akalis would not field any candidate, he would seek support for the BJP nominees.

Talking to newsmen here Dr Ram Prakash said the INLD must clarify whether its alliance with the BJP was still intact and in what capacity Mr Chautala would campaign for the BJP nominees in Punjab. "Will he go there as an uninvited leader because the Haryana BJP considers him to be untouchable? Or has he entered into a secret understanding with the Punjab BJP?" Posing these questions, Dr Ram Prakash said Mr Chautala's support to the BJP in Punjab was difficult to understand.

Dr Ram Prakash said since both the SAD and the INLD had been accorded the status of regional parties and both differed on the SYL canal issue, Mr Chautala should also clarify in which capacity he would campaign for the Akalis and would he clarify his stand on the SYL canal when he campaigned for the Akalis in Punjab.

He said Mr Chautala owed this clarification to the people of Haryana because the INLD in its earlier incarnation of the Lok Dal had obstructed the construction of the SYL canal by opposing the Rajiv-Longowal accord.

The Congress leader tried to justify the same contradictions within the Haryana and Punjab units of his party by saying that state units of a national party could have regional differences.

He also asserted that when the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, had visited Amritsar, he had categorically stated that his state would never compromise on its share in the river waters.

Dr Ram Prakash said Mr Chautala should also clarify his party's stand on the issue while campaigning in Punjab.

Answering a question, he said the Congress government in Haryana was committed to the formation of a separate Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee for the state as promised in its manifesto.

The party, he said, would organise a rally in Sirsa on February 25 on the completion of two years of the Hooda government. 

Hisar, January 2
The Police Department has planned to minimise road accidents by setting up traffic police stations providing advanced technology to check violation of traffic rules and creating awareness on traffic rules.

Inspector-General of Police (Hisar Range) Yashpal Singal and district police chief Arshinder Singh Chawla said here today the Transport Department had handed over the responsibility of highway patrolling to the Police Department.

Mr Singal today handed over the keys of an interceptor van equipped with video-recording facility to the SSP.

The van will monitor speed and movement of approaching vehicles.

Those found violating traffic rules and speed limit would be challaned at the police check-posts down the road.

Apart from the interceptor van, the police has got three ambulances, two Gypsies and three motor cycles.

The establishment of traffic police stations in Hisar, Sirsa and Fatehabad districts of the Hisar Range is also on the cards.

In view of increasing mishaps, the police of the Hisar Range will organise a road safety week from January 1.

Drivers of vehicles are being educated about traffic rules.

Awareness programmes are also being organised in educational institutions to make students aware of traffic rules.

The IGP said after the road safety week, the police would get tough with violators of traffic rules.

He disclosed it had been planned that violators of traffic rules would be sent challans through post.

Chandigarh, January 2
A folk dance drama ‘Hiramal Jamal’ was presented on the fourth day of the ongoing ‘Swang Utsav’ organised by the Department of Public Relations and Cultural Affairs, Haryana, and NZCC at Tagore Theatre today.

The mega weeklong musical event is a veritable treat to the receptive lovers of Haryanvi folklore as evidenced by the record audience. All dance dramas are based on folktales and structured in pastoral idiom to bring out a didactic moral message of socio-cultural relevance besides the abundant entertainment.

The script and dialogues are weaved into lucid dialects and in the presented in a vibrant theatre form where the performers could engage their audience in direct conversation and debate issues of mutual concern. As no woman participates as per the tradition male actors have to make instantaneous shifts to multiple roles on the stage .

‘Hiramal Jamal’, a drama with a mythological touch, illustrated the thematic essence of Hindu Muslim unity in a convincing manner. Dharmvir, Sonu and Madanand Narain played the lead roles. Be it the opening musical dance drama ‘Pingla Bharthari’ directed by Shaeonath Tyagi or ‘Seth Tara Chand’ directed by Pawan Gaud and the romance-filled ‘Chander Kiran’ directed by Mahavir Swami boldly dealt with the social issues like perfidy, hypocrisy , polygamy, dowry and patriotism.

A dance drama ‘Maya Devi’ will be staged under the direction of Suraj Bedi tomorrow.