Karnal, August 24
One person was washed away in gushing waters of Dhanora, huge chunks of agricultural lands in low-lying areas developed cracks and more than 50 black deer were stranded in an island in Balhera village today.

Irate villagers of Chaura blocked the Karnal-Yamunanagar road via Gadi Birbal in protest against the “insensitive” attitude of the government which did little to rescue 20-year old Ankit Kamboj who was carried away by the strong current on his way to the fields.

The villagers were peeved at the fact that they had been demanding a bridge over the rivulet but none in the administration cared to respond.

Although the station in charge of the Kunjpura police station was on the spot, the villagers had not lifted the blockade till the filing of the report.

Wildlife officials are waiting for the waters to recede to rescue a herd of black deer stranded in a small island in Balhera village. Flood threat looms large over 1500 acres of cultivated land in Chagaon, Chandrao, Hansu Majra, Nagli, Japti Chapra, Sayeed Chhapra, Nabibabad and adjacent villages. Crops over 500 acres have been damaged in low-lying areas. The discharge of water was recorded at 96,000 cusecs at Indri and in case the water did not recede within the next two days, the situation could worsen, said the alarmed villagers.

About 10 acres in Aliapura village sank in Gharaunda area and adjoining fields developed cracks because of heavy showers overnight. Sita Ram, whose land has been damaged, blamed indiscriminate mining for massive soil erosion and , hence the misery.

Karnal received 50 mm of rainsfall during the past 24 hours, causing waterlogging at various places and traffic jams near Gharaunda. Deputy Commissioner Neelam Pradeep Kasmi visited the affected Jammu Khala and Kund Kala villages and took stock of the situation.

She assured all possible assistance to the flood-affected families.

Yamunanagar, August 24
There is panic among residents of 40 low-lying villages in the district with the Yamuna continuing to overflow on the third day today.

The water level in the river has gone down since yesterday but the river continues to be in spate. At least 1.06 lakh cusecs were released into the Yamuna from the Hathnikund barrage at 4 pm today.

In view of the threat of fresh floods if rainfall continues in the catchments areas, villagers have been patrolling the banks of the Yamuna. Low-lying areas of Karnal, Panipat, Sonepat and Delhi continue to be vulnerable. The situation is serious in the district with 60 villages in Radaur and Jagadhri subdivisions already inundated after 3.46 lakh cusecs of water was released into the Yamuna two days ago and 2.20 lakh cusecs again released into the Yamuna yesterday.

At least 70 villages of Chhachhrauli, Bilaspur and Jagadhri subdivisions have seen floods since July 25 with seasonal rivulets Som and Pathrala in spate.

Now the threat of outbreak of malaria and diarrhoea prevails in as many as 22 flood-hit villages of Jagadhri and Radaur along the Yamuna where water has accumulated in the fields and residential areas.

It will take two or three days more for the water to recede if there is no fresh rainfall in the district and also the catchments areas.

Deputy Commissioner Ashok Sangwan, after visiting different affected villages, said a team of doctors had been visiting villages and providing medicines. Fogging was also being undertaken in these villages.

“Residents of all 40 low-lying villages have been directed to patrol the banks of the Yamuna till September 15. The government has sanctioned funds for medicines and other facilities for the affected villages,” the DC said. 

Manish Sirhindi
Tribune News Service

Panipat, August 24
Even as the waters in the Yamuna started to recede this morning, special teams monitoring the situation remained on high alert all through the day.

Azad Singh, XEN, Irrigation, said the situation was getting normal each passing hour and there was nothing to be worried about.

He said in the morning the Yamuna was carrying 70,000 cusecs of water, which went up to 1.6 lakh cusecs by the afternoon due to heavy rains in some parts of the region. But the extra water was passing through the district without causing any damage.

Deputy Commissioner JS Ahlawat said they had asked people living in low-lying areas to remain vigilant for the next couple of days. Meanwhile, a small breach that occurred in drain No. 1 passing through the city caused flooding in areas around NH-1.

Sirsa, August 24
Under a clean development project, farmers from eight villages in this district have been helping in environment protection and earning money, planting trees on their barren land affected by shifting sand dunes.

The project involves a 20-year contract with the farmers and payment to them on carbon credits gained for net anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHG) removal.

The project also provides employment opportunities.

“The 369.87 hectare area in eight villages of Neemla, Dhani Sheranwali, Bhrutwala, Umedpura, Poharka, Mallekan, Madhisinghana and Guria Khera has been selected for the project,” said Deputy Commissioner CG Rajini Kaanthan.

“Large areas in these villages were without vegetation due to frequent duststorms. However, the conditions have improved since trees have been grown on these lands under the controlled development mechanism project,” he added.

“The scheme has helped farmers grow kinnow and other cash crops on land otherwise lying barren for years. They will reap a double bargain; crops on the land as well as funds against carbon credit earned by them every five years,” said Uggar Sen Godara, working as project coordinator.

Such projects can earn saleable certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one tonne of CO2, which can be counted towards meeting Kyoto targets.

The CDM is the first environmental investment and credit scheme of its kind providing standardised emissions offset instrument.

Chandigarh, August 24
After a contempt petition was filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court alleging non-release of full compensation to Dabwali fire victims by Haryana, the High Court was told today that the remaining amount had been released.

As the petition came up for hearing before Justice Hemant Gupta, the state made it clear that the remaining amount of more than Rs 4.45 crore was being handed over to the victims. Taking on record the assertion, Justice Gupta disposed of the petition.

Counsel for the Dabwali Fire Victims Association Anju Arora and Aditi Girdhar, had earlier contended that the state, while paying the compensation, as ordered by a Division Bench, had deducted ex gratia of Rs 1 lakh each paid in 1995 to the legal representatives of the deceased.

Another Rs 50,000 each paid in injury cases was deducted too.

The compensation was recommended by the Garg Commission, which looked into the claims of victims of the Dabwali fire tragedy that occurred in December 1995.

The fire during the annual function of a school claimed 442 lives.

The state had earlier sanctioned Rs 16.77 crore for disbursement among the victims and families as per the High Court 

Kaithal, August 24
The power supply in Kaithal town and scores of villages falling under the Kaithal division of the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) remained disrupted since yesterday evening as a result of strike by the power board employees.

Eighty per cent of the town area and 65 to 70 per cent of the rural area remained without power till today afternoon when the strike was reportedly withdrawn on the intervention of Shamsher Singh Surjewala, president of the All-India Kisan Khet Majdoor Congress, who assured to take up the demand of striking employees with the authorities.

Most of the localities remained without power the whole night and today morning. Residents had to remain without water and power as there was no staff to attend the complaints.

The employees had gone on strike seeking withdrawal of Section 302 of the IPC from a case registered against a lineman and a junior engineer of the board.

The two had been booked on murder charge following the death of assistant lineman Ram Niwas in an accident in Harsola village on August 10. He was electrocuted while rectifying some defect.

The ALM died when he was allegedly asked by the lineman and the JE to correct the fault and he was assured that they had obtained a permit from the nearest powerhouse to repair the faulty electricity line. However, when the ALM climbed the electricity pole, he got electrocuted.

Villagers of Harsola had resorted to an agitation, following which a case under Section 302 of the IPC was registered against the two officials.

The employees had been opposing application of Section 302 in the case and they had been demanding application of other appropriate section. 

Bhiwani, August 24
The HSEB Workers Union, Bhiwani, and the All-Haryana Power Corporations Workers Union (HO), Hisar, today decided to postpone the call to go on two-day mass leave from tomorrow.

A decision to this effect was taken after the meeting of their representatives with state Finance Minister Capt Ajay Yadav, state Power Minister Mahender Partap Singh, Financial Commissioner, Finance, Ajit M Sharan, Financial Commissioner, Power, Madhusudan Prasad and the managing directors of Haryana Power Utilities.

The ministers to the employee representatives that though in principle decision had been taken to implement the power distribution franchise system in Gurgaon and Panipat, the pros and cons of the proposal would be examined after the receipt of the detailed report from the consultants of the project.

The report would be discussed with the representatives of the unions and the larger interests of the employees and consumers would be taken care of before its implementation.

The managements of the utilities assured that they would consider sympathetically the issue of abolishing Class-III/IV posts in restructuring of the distribution companies, the outsourcing policy, including uniform wages throughout the state, would be reviewed and labour laws would be implemented strictly.

The other demands discussed included revision of shift duty allowance in HVPNL/distribution companies, framing of policy for compensation to contract labour, counting the work-charged service towards pension/ACP, review of the pay scales/designation of the field cadre with respect to head office cadre and recruitment and promotion policy of all employees under Category-III and IV in respect of the HPGCL. It was also decided that the case for pay anomalies in the Sixth Pay Commission would be reviewed and decided within two months.

It was also decided that a meeting of the representatives would be held with the Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Power, on September 20. 

Ambala, August 24
The authorities of the Central Jail, Ambala, made a special provision for women visitors by allowing them to meet the prisoners throughout the day on the occasion of Rakhi today.

The jail authorities said they relaxed the visiting hours on humanitarian grounds. Women started gathering early in the morning and continued to come till evening. Some of them even tied rakhi to guards and other officials in the jail.

Praveen, who travelled all the way from Rohtak to meet her brother, was in tears when she was allowed to meet him. “I don’t know when I will meet my brother again who has been facing a murder charge. This rakhi shows that I still stand by him.”

Similar sentiments could be seen on the faces of other women as they waited impatiently for their turn to be allowed in.

Meanwhile, heavy rush was witnessed at the Ambala Cantonment bus stand as women travellers were permitted to travel free of cost in Haryana Roadways buses.

Indu Bala, a resident of Hisar, who was here to visit her cousin, said she came to know of this provision last year after rakhi had passed. This year, she had decided to utilise it. 

Hisar, August 24
Government College at Barwala, 30 km from here, has been functioning from a dharamshala since its inception two years ago.

When the government decided to set up the college, it was decided that it would temporarily function from a Punjabi dharamshala and the new building would come up in a year. Initially, admissions were made for BA (I) and BCom (I) classes. However, two more courses were added last year.

The college has at its disposal two halls and two rooms. The rooms are occupied by the principal, non-teaching and the teaching staff. The classes are held in the two halls. The introduction of new courses and classes has necessitated availability of more rooms, which are not available. The college currently has 1,200 students on rolls.

The students have been seeking more accommodation but the authorities have not been able to find any.

The situation came to a head yesterday when the protesting students blocked National Highway no 65 to draw the attention of the government. Long queues of vehicles could be seen on both sides of the highway. The police had to use mild force to disperse the students.

An official spokesperson said 16 acres had been identified for the college building and construction would begin after necessary approvals. 

Yamunanagar, August 24
Dharamvir (46), a farmer of Damla village who innovated a low-cost multi-processing machine, has been put on the board of Hisar Agricultural University by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

This was announced during a function organised by the Horticulture Department at Kurukshetra recently.

“I am grateful to The Tribune for highlighting my story. When I exhibited my machine in front of the Chief Minister, he already knew about me following which he immediately announced my name as a member of the university board,” Dharamvir said. “I also got an offer to make 25 machines for farmers of the region. It helped me financially as one machine costs over Rs 1 lakh.”

The Tribune had earlier carried Dharamvir’s story on March 19 “Rags to riches - this innovator shows the way” after he was selected among 36 innovators from rural India and his machines exhibited at Rashtrapati Bhawan during the National Grassroots Innovation Exhibition. He was also awarded by President Pratibha Patil.

Sirsa, August 24
The process of fresh elections for the block and district units of the Congress in Sirsa and Fatehabad districts begins tomorrow.

Though the election results for these two districts as well as Narwana were announced in July, these were later annulled by the party high command on the intervention of Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar within 10 days of the announcement.

Tanwar was, reportedly unhappy over being sidelined in the elections and on his complaint, AICC general secretary Oscar Fernandes had ordered fresh elections.

As per the schedule announced for the elections to be held on August 29, the nominations for block as well as district president are to begin tomorrow.However, there is no information on appointment of a returning officer from these districts so far. Raju Parmar, in charge of the organisational elections in Haryana, when contacted on the matter, said he was busy at a meeting.

Meanwhile, Tanwar, who called a meeting of his supporters at his Sirsa residence yesterday, left for Delhi this morning.

A local leader, who attended the meeting, said the MP heard their views, but did not give any indication of his own. “I have a meeting with senior leaders of the state and the Centre in Delhi today and efforts will be made to reach a consensus on the candidates,” Tanwar said. Earlier, Jai Singh Bishnoi, returning officer for the two districts, had announced the names of Hoshiari Lal and Randhir Singh as district presidents for Sirsa and Fatehabad, respectively.

Both are occupying the post. Bishnoi had announced the names of Gobind Kanda, former minister Lachhman Dass Arora, former OSD to Chief Minister KV Singh, Jasbir Singh Riar, MP Ashok Tanwar, former minister Jagdish Nehra, Malkiat Singh Khosa, former chairman of the Planning Board Ranjit Singh, former MP Sushil Indora, Bharat Singh Beniwal and Mani Ram Keharwala as delegates for the HPCC from Sirsa.

From Fatehabad district, he had announced the names of Arvind Sharma, Jitender Singh Gillankhera, Jaipal Singh Lali, former MP Atma Singh Gill, Minister Paramvir Singh, Sharad Batra, Kulbir Beniwal, Dura Ram and Baldev Singh.

Chandigarh, August 24
The Haryana government has transferred seven HCS officers with immediate effect. Narender Singh, Additional State Transport Controller, (Designate), has been posted as Joint Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Gurgaon, vice Veena Hooda, who goes as Joint Commissioner, MC, NIT, Faridabad, vice GL Yadav.

Jagdish Sharma, City Magistrate, Rohtak, has been posted as Estate Officer, HUDA, Rohtak, and Land Acquisition Officer, Rohtak, vice Ashima Sangwan, who goes as City Magistrate, Rohtak, and Joint Commissioner, MC, Rohtak. Dharamvir Singh, Secretary, RTA, Ambala and Panchkula, has been posted as Secretary, RTA, Yamunanagar, in addition to his present assignment. Surender Singh has been posted as Secretary, RTA, Sonepat and Panipat, vice Bir Singh Kaliramana.

Varsha Khangwal, Joint Director (admn) Sports, has been posted as Joint Director (admn), Information, Public Relations and Cultural Affairs, against a vacant post. 

Chandigarh, August 24
The State of Haryana brought some relief to Ved Pal Mor’s family, agreeing to pay Rs 3 lakh as interim compensation.

After the Punjab and Haryana High Court made it clear it was in favour of granting interim compensation to Mor’s family and asked the state to clarify its stand on the issue of handing over the amount voluntarily, Haryana today agreed to pay Rs 3 lakh. The assertion came just over a year after an unruly mob lynched Ved Pal Mor for “wanting his wife back”. As petitions seeking justice for Mor came up for hearing this morning before the Bench of Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Ajay Tewari, the state said it had agreed to pay the interim compensation.

Taking on record the assertion, the Bench asserted: “We appreciate the State of Haryana in agreeing to pay the interim compensation…. We direct the amount of compensation be released to the parents of the deceased immediately, and preferably not later than a fortnight. 

Karnal, August 24
The birth of cloned buffalo Garima-II at the NDRI yesterday through the “hand-guided cloning technique” is a major step that can lead to faster multiplication of disease-free elite buffalo clones.

The successful cloning by using embryonic stem cell isolated from the eight-day-old blastocyst and cultured up to 29 passages (117 days) was significant in more ways 
than one.

Garima II was in good health and had no complications like the problem of the umbilical chord and overweight faced by Garima-I. The stem cell used for Garima-II had “undifferentiated DNA content” and as such the cloned calf had full genetic potential.

In case of Garima-I, the donor cell was from somatic cells and the weight of the clone buffalo was 42 kg. This time the weight was normal at 32 kg, said scientist MS Chauhan.

“Garima-II was born through a caesarian operation and the effort now would be to produce a cloned buffalo calf through normal delivery,” he said.

Disease-resistant stem cells would be used in future and the buffalo clones produced would be enable safe multiplication of elite clones which would go a long way in bringing about another white revolution.

Chandigarh, August 24
The Haryana government has decided to implement an action plan to effectively fight against the menace of drug trafficking and launch an incentive-based scheme for those whistle blowers, who will provide information about drug trafficking in the state.

Deputy Inspector-General, State Crime Branch, Rajpal Singh has been appointed as nodal officer for the implementation of the scheme and he can be contacted on mobile number - 9991090201 - for providing any information in this regard.

This was revealed in the first meeting of the state coordination committee held here yesterday under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Urvashi Gulati to chalk out the mechanism for prevention of illicit production of drug substances in the state.

The coordination committee has been constituted to strengthen the institutional mechanism to prevent illicit production of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and its leakage from illicit sources in the state.

It was decided in the meeting to prepare an action plan to combat the menace of drug trafficking and involve the civil society and experts working in this field to take corrective measures.

Gulati said intensive awareness campaign throughout the year against the evil effects of drug addiction by state government agencies and through voluntary organisations would be the focus of the action plan.

Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Home, Krishna Mohan said under the action plan for prevention of substance abuse in the state, more awareness would be created through curricula from medical colleges to schools, strict vigil would be maintained on social networking sites.

Chandigarh, August 24
The Election Department has directed the Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer, Gurgaon, to get FIRs registered under the Representation of People's Act and initiate disciplinary action against those officers and officials who did not attend duty at places of publication of the voters lists in the district.

Chief Electoral Officer Sumita Misra said yesterday that a surprise check was made on August 21 and 22 at some of the polling stations in four constituencies in Gurgaon district where some officials were found absent.

She said their absence meant that they had failed to perform their duty during the revision of electoral rolls which was a constitutional responsibility.

On the directions of the Election Commission of India, work on summary revision of voters lists was in progress in Gurgaon district. The draft voter lists had already been published on August 17.