Karnal, August 7
With no government land available for plantation along highways, the Haryana Government has embarked upon an innovative scheme to plant saplings on farmers’ land along the state’s 9,000-km-long highways to achieve the target of bringing 10 per cent of the total geographical area of the state under forests by year-end and further expand the green cover to 20 per cent by 2020.

After planting saplings of “Triveni” (Peepal, Bargad and Neem) at the 61st state-level Van Mahotsav at Cooperative Sugar Mill Complex here today, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said five crore saplings would be planted during the current year to contain the adverse effects of global warming and climate change, provide shade, reduce pollution and minimise the desiccating affect of hot winds on agriculture crops besides generating income from agro-forestry. Hooda also asked the National Highway Authority of India to acquire land along the NH for plantations.

However, the implementation of the scheme was not likely to be smooth as farmers were apprehensive and want everything to be given in “black and white”. “We are not ready to take any oral assurance and let the government spell out the detailed scheme in writing before any comment is made,” said Rattan Mann, vice-president of the state unit of the Bharatiya Kisan Union.

Hooda called upon the people to plant at least two trees in schools. He also urged them to plant poplar and other fruit trees requiring less water and time instead of eucalyptus.

Finance, Irrigation and Forest Minister Caption Ajay Yadav reiterated the resolve of the forest department to conserve plant species like jaal, jand, sun plant, harah, myrobalan, dhak and the sacred Sita Ashok (Saraca Indica), which were on the verge of extinction.

The department had launched 20 years of integrated project to save the endangered species like chinkara and peafowl and the conservation centres were being established at Jhabua in Rewari, he disclosed.

Chandigarh, August 7
There’s a silver lining to the clouds this monsoon. After floods ravaged large parts of both Punjab and Haryana, for once, the two states have sunk their differences and urged the Centre to declare taming of the Ghaggar a national project. This, Rajya Sabha MP Birender Singh, said was a welcome step.

Speaking at a meet-the-Press organised here today, the MP said that this consensus could be the beginning of a new chapter for both states. “Both states need to rise above politics and put their heads together to work out solutions to ticklish problems. This consensus on taming the Ghaggar is a positive indication,” he said.

On a separate Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee for Haryana’s Sikhs, he said, “The government is taking its time. Nobody can give a definite time frame for such issues otherwise a decision on the Satluj-Yamuna Link canal would not have taken decades, the claim over Chandigarh would not be still a dispute and the issue of handing over of 105 villages to Haryana wouldn’t be unresolved.”

With emphasis, he reiterated that the time to resolve all inter-state disputes of waters and dams and other issues with Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal had come. “Enough is enough,” he said. He, however, added that the same policy could not be applied to issues in eastern states or in Jammu and Kashmir since the Centre cannot take “unilateral decisions”.

Stating that the trend for “paid news” was an aberration, Birender Singh said that the check for this will have to come from the media itself. “It is not the handiwork of journalists but of business houses and owners who run the media. Journalists themselves will give a solution,” he said.

Bhupinder Singh disappointed the Press by abstaining from his tongue-in-cheek one-liners. His replies were devoid of his usual satirical style as he seemed to have metamorphosed into a “seriously reserved” politician since his elevation from state politics to the Centre. “I may cross my limits while speaking to you but you must remember to draw the line when you write,” he said in a lighter vein, promising a little sugar and lots of spice.

Sirsa, August 7
Under the party’s ongoing campaign to “expose” the Food Corporation of India (FCI) for its alleged poor storage of foodgrains, BJP’s national secretary and former MP Dr Kirit Somaiya today visited the Haryana State Warehousing Corporation (HSWC) storehouse at Bani here, where huge quantities of wheat have rotted due to floods.

Accompanied by former Haryana minister Ganeshi Lal and other local leaders of the BJP, Dr Somaiya visited the deluged storehouse in a boat and saw the drenched bags of wheat for himself.

“The wheat is stinking and is badly infested by worms,” said the BJP national secretary after visiting the warehouse. “An official of the HSWC told me that a part of the wheat rotting in Bani will soon be dispatched for supply in the public distribution system chain. However, the wheat is so putrid that even animals will not eat this,” he maintained, demanding that the stock should first be tested in a laboratory before using it, as it could prove detrimental to human health.

He took samples of the wheat and said he would get these tested in a laboratory. Dr Somaiya claimed that 4.47 lakh bags of wheat had rotten due to floods in Bani and all these stocks belonged to the central pool of the FCI.

“As on August 1, 2010, the FCI had a stock of 683 lakh tonnes of foodgrains against an annual requirement of 200 to 300 lakh tonnes. The FCI had left 183 lakh tonnes of foodgrain in the open, out of which over 100 lakh tonnes has rotten due to rains and other vagaries of nature,” the BJP leader maintained.

He alleged that it appeared to be a part of a big conspiracy hatched in collusion with the liquor mafia so that they could get these huge quantities of rotten wheat at throwaway prices for their industries.

“The poor are starving for want of foodgrains due to spiraling prices and the government is allowing the wheat to rot,” Dr Somaiya added.

He said under his party’s programme, he had visited several states to expose the deeds of the FCI. The party had planned to visit over 50 warehouses in the country to expose the racket of letting the wheat rot.

“I visited Uttar Pradesh last week and will go to Maharashtra and Rajasthan next week,” the BJP leader revealed.

The party, he said, had launched a vigorous campaign to expose the CBI, which he referred to as the “Congress Bureau of Investigations” and the FCI, which he alleged was responsible for causing huge losses to the nation due to its poor storage.

Rewari, August 7
In the case of double custodial death of Sita Agarwal and her teenaged daughter Sarika at the Dharuhera police station here on November 20, 2000, Additional Sessions Judge, CBI, Ambala, has sentenced Shri Ram Yadav, the then SHO of Dharuhera, to life imprisonment and Daya Nand Yadav, the then head constable-cum-scribe (clerk), to three-year rigorous imprisonment.

Another main accused, Lekh Ram, then SI, had committed suicide this year. The judge in the absence of any tangible evidence acquitted two women constables - Munia Devi and Sushila Devi.

The verdict was pronounced on August 5 . While Shri Ram Yadav was taken into police custody, the court granted bail to Daya Nand.

The body of Ashok Agarwal was found on November 16, 2000. His wife Sita Agarwal and their daughter Sarika were detained at the police station in connection with his murder and both committed suicide in detention on November 20, 2000. — OC

Kaithal, August 7
A truck driver has been arrested for plotting the looting of his own sugar-laden truck near Deoban village of this district on the night of August 5. The police also and arrested five of his accomplices and recovered 300 bags of sugar, worth around Rs 8 lakh.

SSP Sandeep Khirwar told mediapersons here today that truck driver Balwinder Singh had planned the robbery and wanted to sell the sugar at a reduced price to a Punjab trader and pocket the money. The driver complained to the police that he was transporting 300 bags of sugar from Delhi to Dera Bassi in Punjab when two persons in khaki signaled him to stop. They allegedly asked him to give a lift to one of their acquaintances till Titram crossing.

Balwinder alleged that the acquaintance asked him to stop the truck at a spot where two of his armed accomplices were waiting. All three boarded the vehicle and allegedly looted Rs 16,000 and a mobile phone, put Balwinder in another vehicle and fled with the sugar-laden truck. Later, he said, the “robbers” freed him and his cleaner near Kangthli on the Kaithal-Patiala road.

The arrested have been sent to judicial custody.