Panipat, February 21
It was yet another day of disappointment for aggrieved relatives of victims of the Samjhauta Express blasts. Neither the railway authorities, nor the administration could provide them a list of the dead, even as 44 bodies lay at the civil hospital.

Twentythree bodies have been identified so far and 18 handed over to the relatives. Seven bodies were sent to Wagah and 11 taken for burial by kin of victims in India.

The agony of Safdar Ali and Samiur Rehman, hailing from Aligarh, is not over. The bodies of their father-in-law and his brother are yet to be identified. The two have been here since Monday.

"Since the authorities have not given names of the deceased, we are not sure about the fate of our relatives. Our hopes now are on DNA test reports", said Safdar Ali.

Similar is the story of Liaqat Ali from Deoband in UP who lost his sister and her 22-year-old grandson. Two brothers from Roorkie, Sharafat and Fyaz, are searching for their brother Masroor (22).

The Pakistan embassy had set up a visa counter headed by Mr Mukhtar Hussain for on-the-spot visas to relatives of the victims who want to take the bodies to Pakistan for burial.

The nine Pakistani nationals, who reached here early this morning, left for Delhi after they could not identify the bodies. Meanwhile, the railway authorities have announced an ex-gratia grant of Rs 1 lakh for all victims. Deputy chief commercial manager of the railways MS Chalia said Rs 15,000 had been paid to the next of kin of the victims. The rest of the amount was being given at the time of handing over of the bodies. The Pakistani relatives would be issued the amount through the Pakistan embassy.

The twentythree bodies identified so far are those of Shakina Begam from Delhi, ASI Kashmir Singh, Yasmine Akhtar from Srinagar, constable Rajinder Pal, Taslim Khan, Nafisa Begam, Mehreen, Rool Amin, Mohammad Sazid(all from Hyderabad), Sayyed Iftkar Ali, Shafik Ahmad, Rajia Sultan, Mahak, Asruf Jahan, Hassan, Izzhar Husain, Mohamad Haroon, Azam Khan, Zarina, Farzana from Karachi, and Mohamad Rafik and Yanus from Multan.

Panipat, February 21
A visit to Mohammed Javed of Gaya in Bihar proved unfortunate for his relatives from Pakistan. Javed was today searching for his 11 relatives at the Civil Hospital here, who had left for Pakistan by the Delhi-Attari Express on Sunday.

“My brother came to meet us after 16 years with his family and in-laws from Karachi but did not return,” said the visibly upset Javed after looking through the list of passengers put on notice board at the hospital here this morning.

My elder brother Shabir Ahmed had settled in Pakistan and was here with his wife Samina and four children to meet us, said Javed. Accompanying them were parents and a brother of Samina and two children. Now they were all missing, added Javed. He feared they were dead.

However, four relatives of Qamruddin, an injured Pakistani passenger admitted to the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi, were fortunate as they decided to stay in India for a few more days while three others boarded the train on Sunday for Multan in Pakistan. Itwari, a resident of Delhi, who reached here in search of his relatives from Multan, said all seven persons -- Qamruddin, Rana Mohammed Younus, Umroodin, Hukamdin, his wife Khatun and brother Bashir along with his child -- were scheduled to return to Multan on Sunday. While the body of Ran Mohammed Younus had been identified, Umroodin was still being reported missing after the incident, rued Itwari. 

Panipat, February 21
The intelligence agencies today set the Pak national free after two days here.

Usman was found by the agencies in a coach of Samjhauta Express in suspicious circumstances when the passengers were being shifted to other coaches for onward journey to Attari.

The 50-year-old well-dressed Usman is an educated business man. He was found in an inebriated condition, said the police. However, nothing objectionable was found on him. He was released on an assurance that he would appear before the Indian police whenever asked to do so, said the police.

According to the police, in a statement given by Usman he was drunk and could not get down from the coach on his own. Still he managed to inform the police about another suspected suitcase lying in his compartment after throwing one out of the coach, stated Usman in his statement recorded before a magistrate.

Ambala, February 21
Innovator Prem Singh Saini has come out with a method for stopping a train in case of a fire.

Talking to Chandigarh Tribune telephonically from Ahmedabad, he said the technique was simple and could be installed in trains without any problem. He said he had suggested the method to Railways officials in 2000.

Prem Singh Saini was recently honoured by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on behalf of the National Innovation Foundation.

He has also won the Asian Innovation Award-2006 of the Wall Street Journal for his innovation “high power line distribution system”. Eight of his innovations have been submitted for patenting, while 20 more technological advancements are likely to be submitted for patenting soon.

Saini said when he submitted the proposal on fire control to the Railways, he was informed that the Railway Safety Board was working on some such projects. “We need to use the resources at our disposal for developing the system which can save lives of the passengers,” he said.

He wondered as to why the railway authorities had not yet effectively implemented the firefighting system although around seven years have elapsed since the start of initial work. “Passenger safety should be accorded the top priority,” he said.

Prem Singh Saini hails from Pasiala village and is currently based at the National Innovation Foundation, Ahmedabad. He said the proposed system would be effective in bringing to halt the train in case of a fire. “It has been noticed that the train driver and the guard come to know about the fire late. This system will warn the driver as soon as a fire breaks out. Moreover, brakes will be automatically applied in case of a fire,” he said.

He said fire sensors could be put in compartments. These would not only give a warning signal to the driver, but could also be used to set off the firefighting measures.

“Pipes having equidistant holes can be installed in the coaches. Water from the overhead water tanks can be released through the pipes. It will help in dousing the flames,” he said.

Saini is credited with developing a device for stopping a car’s engine using a mobile phone. The car owner can switch off the engine of the car using the mobile phone in case the car is stolen.

Another system developed by Saini aims to ensure that no aircraft can collide with a building of strategic importance. In this system, there are two circuits. While one circuit is put on the building, the other is fitted in the aeroplane.

The system detects the aeroplane and it does not allow the plan to lower height when close to the building. This ensures that the plane flies over the building.

Narnaul, February 21
“I am lucky to have struck the right spot”, says a beaming Sirdhari Yadav, Sarpanch of Godh village in Narnaul.

Sirdhari's tone and expression can make one think she probably won a lottery but in reality she is only talking about groundwater-table.

Using a mixture of traditional and western scientific methods, Sirdhari detected the correct spot where she bored her tubewell 525 ft deep and fetched water to irrigate her field.

Getting water only 525 ft below the ground falls firmly in realm of luck in Godh and other villages in the neighbourhood. Even after boring for 1000 ft, water is not found, say farmers.

Shivratan, son of Sarpanch of Baraha village, neighbouring Godh, says nobody for sure knows at what depth water can be found. Due to the uncertainty, farmers have given up efforts to get hold of the elusive underground water.

"For boring a 1000-foot-deep well, one needs to spend more than Rs one lakh. Which farmer can spend so much with doubts in his mind," Shivratan says.

"We count on rain. The mustard crop is good this season because of the recent rain," he says.

The rainfall, a rarity in any case, do little to meet the demand of drinking water. Bicycles with water containers hung on two sides, women carrying water in earthen or metal pots balanced on their heads, camel carts fetching water with the help of metal tanks, water tankers rigged with tractors dot the landscape of the area.

For Dalits living in Baraha, paying Rs 200 for the water contained in a tanker is unthinkable. Even Rs 30, needed for buying the water brought by camel drivers, is considered a high price.

It is the womenfolk, who go up and down up to 4 km daily several times, to fetch water for their families.

Having no land, the male members of these families are continuously on the lookout for work and have no time for any domestic work.

Bimla, a Dalit woman, says they have to go to Nangelia, a village located more than 2 km away from Baraha, at the dead of night to get water.

The supply of water in public tubewells is dependent on the supply of electricity. Frequently, there is no electricity at daytime and therefore no water.

Bishambhar, who lives in Dochana village, says breaking out fights at the water-collection points is a common sight.

The villagers of Dochana get drinking water from Jadupur, 4 km away from the village. An army of boys bicycle down to Jadupur everyday with containers to get water for their families.

As many as 25 villages of the area had boycotted the Assembly elections in 2000 in protest against the shortage of drinking water in the villages.

In 2003, the then Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, had inaugurated a project at the Hamidpur dam for recharging the waterbed in the area.

The canal linked to the dam poured water on the low-lying area across the dam. But the flow apparently dried up as soon as the Chief Minister left for his next destination.

Bhiwani, February 21
The Haryana government has empowered the panchayats to undertake development works worth Rs 3 lakh, thus allowing them to directly get the funds. This step has been taken for strengthening the panchayats financially and making them to perform more effectively.

Chief parliamentary secretary Dharambir Singh said today that the rural development was on the priority list of the state government. An additional sum of Rs 10 lakh per village has been released for constructing streets in more than 1,300 villages, he added. During the current financial year Rs 40 crore were being spent on the construction of a mini stadium at the block level. This stadium would have 400 meters track besides a ground for village games and seating arrangements for spectators.

He said 52 villages had been chosen for being developed as model villages with concrete streets and drainage lines and separate drinking water ponds for the livestock. Under the sanitation programme Rs 175 crore had been sanctioned to build 5.63 lakh individual toilets, 1,300 women community toilets, 7,000 school toilets and 6,500 toilets in anganwaries, he added.

He said the Haryana state employment guarantee scheme had been launched on the cost-sharing basis between the Centre and the state government. The scheme had been launched on pilot basis in all gram panchayats of Mahendergarh and Sirsa districts. All districts would be covered under this scheme in a phased manner, he added.

He said the government was committed to provide adequate piped and safe drinking water in all villages and towns of the state. About 1,971 villages had been identified where the water allowance was lower than the desired norms of 40 litre per capita day and March 2008 has been fixed as the date for achieving the target.

Yamunanagar, February 21
All 570 wood-based units in the state that were closed following a Supreme Court’s order will reopen shortly. As per a decision of the central empowered committee (CEC) set up by the Supreme Court owners of such units would have to make one time payment ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 9 lakh for granting licenses and reopening the units.

However, no new unit would be allowed to be set up in the state till the survey was carried out to check the availability of the wood in the state. The CEC has also made it clear that in view of the shortage the Khair in the state no katha manufacturing unit that came up after October 30, 2002, would be allowed to continue.

The CEC has fixed Rs 9 lakh for reopening of each hot press (used in plywood manufacturing units) and Rs 3 lakh for each veneer mill. Similarly, one time payment of Rs 1.50 lakh each horizontal band saw and Rs 10,000 for vertical band saw would have to be made to restart the mills.

The Supreme Court had ordered that that units set up after October 30, 2002, should not be allowed to run without a license from the CEC. Following the order, the forest department started closing such units.

The Haryana plywood manufacturers association has welcomed the decision taken by the CEC. President of the association Davinder Chawla said the units that would benefit the most were located in Yamunanagar district. Mr Chawla said the order would also benefit persons who had partially closed their units (expansion cases). Licenses would be issued to only those hot press, saw or veneer mill which were mentioned in the applications filed by the owners before their the district forest officers.

According to the government 36-lakh cubic meter of wood was available in the state. However, the CEC states that only 22.34-lakh cubic meter woods were available. The wood-based units in the state were using only 20-lakh cubic meter wood.

Ambala, February 21
A blood donation camp in collaboration with Rotary Club of Ambala was held at SD College, Ambala Cantt today.

Deputy commissioner Ambala R.P. Bharadwaj inaugurated the camp. Bharadwaj lauded the effort for organising the camp and encouraged students to donate blood.

366 units of blood were donated by the students, teachers and non-teaching members of the college. Those who have donated blood more than 50 times include Dr Desh Bandhu, Prof Ishar Singh, Dr Sushil Kansal and Prof N.K. Sen. Two visually challenged students donated blood.

Panipat, February 21
One person was killed on the spot and 10 others, including a woman and a two-year-old child, were injured when a Qualis vehicle going towards Delhi from Chandigrh rammed into a wall of a marriage palace after hitting a cyclist on the GT Road at Smalkha, near here, today.

Four inured were referred to Delhi hospital, while others were brought to the civil hospital here.

The deceased was identified as Ratan Lal (40), a resident of Chandigarh. — TNS