Yamunanagar, August 14
The district administration today sounded a flood alert in low-lying areas of the district after the Yamuna water level today reached 1.40 lakh cusecs and entered villages situated along the river here.

The Yamuna water level was the highest of this season at the Hathni Kund barrage headworks this afternoon. The rise in the water level of the river has been attributed to continuous rain in its catchment areas during the past two days.

Senior officials of the district, including deputy commissioner Mohammad Shayim and additional deputy commissioner Nariender Singh visited villages, including Mandewala, Partappur and Kandewala, which were flooded with the Yamuna waters.

The river waters have also entered the fields in Chhotabansh village.

The flow of water in the Yamuna was 40,000 cusecs in the morning while it increased to 1 lakh cusecs at noon and 1.40 lakh cusecs around 2 pm due to heavy rain in the catchment areas, said irrigation department sources.

Additional deputy commissioner Narender Singh told The Tribune that the alert was sounded after the Yamuna water level reached an alarming stage.

All tehsildars, district development and panchayat officers and block development and panchayat officers have been asked to inform the people of the low-lying areas to remain vigilant and make elaborate arrangements to tackle the situation. However, there was no need to panic, he added.

“To tackle the situation, we have set up control rooms in the office of the DDPO, Radaur, Sadhaura, Bilaspur and also in the tehsil office of Chhachhrauli and the water services division, Jagadhri. Officials have been ordered to monitor the situation round the clock,” he added.

PTI adds from Sonepat: At least 50 villages in Khadar tract of Sonepat subdivision were put on alert on Thursday following reports of increased flow in the Yamuna.

According to official sources, the water level in the Yamuna may increase further after the release of more water into it from the Tajewala Headworks near Yamunanagar. Heavy rain in the catchment areas has contributed to the rise in the water level of the Yamuna.

Deputy commissioner Ajit Balaji Joshi has directed officials of the irrigation department to keep a strict vigil on the situation and patrol the embankments of the Yamuna round the clock for safeguarding the stone studs and the 48-km-long earthen protective bundh between Bega and Dahesra villages near the Haryana-Delhi border.

Meanwhile, Sonepat city and the surrounding areas were lashed by a record rainfall early this morning. The rain threw life out of gear.

Bhiwani, August 14
Heavy showers today shattered the district administration’s hopes of removing the flood waters from the city.

Though it had been drizzling since last night, heavy rain this afternoon flooded several areas of this city. The Loharu road, Shiv Nagar Colony, Dinod Gate, Housing Board Colony, Adarsh Nagar, Dadri Gate and Hanuman Dhani areas were waterlogged.

Shopkeepers on the Loharu road pulled down their shutters when the rain started. However, water entered their establishments. A poor drainage system has adversely affected our business,” lamented Ajay Gautam, a chemist.

In the Housing Board Colony and Adarsh Nagar, a number of families have locked their houses and shifted to safer places. The ground floors of these houses are still inundated.

Meanwhile, waterlogging in the district has damaged standing crops of bajra, cotton and vegetables in about 40 villages.

Ambala, August 14
Sikh leaders demanding a separate SGPC for Haryana have extended their relay fast till August 31.

They have been sitting on relay fast in front of the residence of HPCC chief Phool Chand Mullana at Ambala City for the past 35 days.

Talking to mediapersons, president of the proposed Haryana SGPC Jagdish Singh Jhinda said this decision was taken at a meeting held at Ambala City today. He said Sikh leaders had also decided to intensify their agitation if their demand was not implemented at the earliest.

Jhinda said recently a delegation of Sikh leaders had met agriculture minister Harmohinder Singh Chatha, who is the chairman of a committee constituted by the state government on the separate SGPC issue.

He said he had assured them that a report in this regard would be submitted to the government by next week.

He expressed the hope that the government would introduce a Bill for a separate SGPC in the forthcoming assembly session.

He alleged that Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had been misguiding the Sikh community of Haryana.

He alleged that the SGPC collected around Rs 40 crore from various gurdwaras in the state every year, but not even a single penny was spent for the welfare of the Sikh community of Haryana.

Senior Sikh leaders, including Didar Singh Nalvi, Kanwaljit Singh, Ameer Singh, Awatar Singh Khalsa, Khuspal Singh Batrohan and Harbhajan Singh, were present on the occasion.

Chandigarh, August 14
Property transactions in Haryana are set to be "hassle free". In a "pro-people" decision, the Haryana government has authorised State Bank of India (SBI) branches to issue receipts in lieu of stamp papers valued at more than Rs 10,000 for the registration of sale deeds.

According to sources, the government has already notified the decision and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda will launch the scheme at the NIT branch of the SBI in Faridabad tomorrow.

With a spurt in property transactions in the wake of the real estate boom and general prosperity in the state, property buyers faced a lot of difficulty in getting stamp papers of higher denominations from government treasuries and vendors. At present, stamp vendors sell stamp papers up Rs 10,000 with the treasuries selling such papers of higher denomination.

So far, property buyers were a harassed lot as they had to take a huge amount of cash to the treasuries to get stamp papers valued at more than Rs 10,000."Currently, there is a huge rush at government treasuries, which perform multiple functions, leading to inconvenience to the public,"said Surjit Singh, a Gurgaon resident.

A senior government functionary told The Tribune that the decision to authorise the SBI branches had been taken in the "public interest" as stamp vendors and treasuries were not able to cope with the sudden rush of people going in for land transactions.The SBI had a wide network which would facilitate the issuance of stamp papers, he added.

Gurgaon, August 14
The Municipal Corporation, Gurgaon (MCG), is set to incorporate penal action in its bylaws against the owner or occupier of any place for turning a blind eye to standing or flowing water, which act as a breeding ground for dengue or malaria causing mosquitoes.

The urgency to adopt such a measure was felt in view of the alleged public negligence that is, to a large extent, considered the cause of this recurring menace, particularly dengue that has claimed two lives here in this month.

In both the cases, the victims were residents of posh areas — Sector 15 and Sushant Lok.

So far, 183 suspected dengue cases have been reported officially and 126 of these were found positive.

“We discussed with the MCG authorities the need to have some deterrent measure to check stagnant water on the pattern of the Municipal Corporation, Delhi, where penal action in terms of fine is already in place,” said civil surgeon S.S. Dalal.

The MCG authorities had started the move to incorporate the measure in its bylaws, which was in the process of being framed and it might take 2 or 3 months to give it a final shape after studying the Municipal Corporation Act, Delhi, he added.

“We will include it as a bylaw and if need be, an amendment may also be brought in the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994, for the purpose,” said municipal commissioner Rajeev Sharma.

Chandigarh, August 14
Haryana Dairy Development Cooperative Federation Limited has decided to increase the milk procurement rates in the state by Rs 5 per kg fat with immediate effect.

Disclosing this here today, a spokesman for the federation said the revised milk purchase rates would now be Rs 270 per kg fat and as such the increase in rate would be of 33 paise per kg for average fat of 6.5 per cent.

However, there would be no change in the selling price of pasteurised milk to the consumers, said the spokesman. — PTI

Sonepat, August 14
A major fire broke out at World FA Export Private Ltd located in the Kundli industrial complex today.

It took more than three hours for the fire engines requisitioned from Delhi, Sonepat, Gannaur and Gohana to extinguish the flames. However, no loss of life was reported.

The unit is owned by Dinesh Aggarwal. The cause of the fire could not be ascertained immediately.

Chandigarh, August 14
A meeting of the Haryana cabinet under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda will be held on August 18. This is the third meeting this month.

Sources said the meeting had been called to fix the next assembly session.

The session was likely to be held at the end of August or the first week of September.