Karnal, September 8
Heavy showers in Karnal areas submerged colonies, roads and fields and brought traffic to a halt. The downpour exposed the administration’s tall claims on “preparedness”.

Almost the entire town was submerged. Dug up roads with potholes made the plight of people worse. Even pedestrians were unable to move across roads.

The situation was at Kunjpura Road, Committee Chowk, Railway Road and Old GT Road was so bad that shopkeepers had to erect makeshift barriers to stop rainwater from entering their shops.

Residents of Valmiki Colony blocked the Hansi road, protesting against the failure of the administration to take preventive steps. Sectors of the HUDA Urban Estate, Shiv Colony, Chand Sarai and Shayam Nagar were flooded. The Nagar Nigam office looked like a swimming pool. The walls of two houses collapsed in Shiv Colony area while a number of houses developed cracks, posing risk to the inmates.

Shiv Colony, located in a low-lying area, is criss-crossed with sewerage lines on one side an open nullah on the other and has always been prone to floods. Colony residents had to shift to safer places.

“We are on the job and efforts are being made to bring life back to normal. Water pumps have been made operational and water is being flushed out,” said an official. A major breach in a nullah in Gharaunda flooded over 60 acres, destroying the paddy crop.

The people were up in arms against the municipal authorities and blamed a company constructing the bridge on GT Road for the breach.

Karnal received 101.6 mm rainfall till this afternoon. The total rainfall during the past eight months was 904.6 mm, which is a record.

Flood threat looms large over hundreds of villages along the Yamuna basin with the discharge into the river going up to 7.80 cusecs, which is close to a maximum of 8.40 lakh cusecs in 1978 that caused the worst-ever floods in the state. SK Sharma, SE, Yamuna Water Services, Karnal, said the discharge was alarmingly high. Deputy Commissioner Neelam Pradeep Kasni said the upkeep of drains and steps to prevent water-logging would be the main tasks ahead.

Panipat: With more than 7.6 lakh cusecs of water released into the Yamuna from the Tajewala barrage in Yamunanagar following heavy rain in the catchment areas, the district administration has been put on a high alert. The carrying capacity of the river was said to be 7 lakh cusecs.

Officials of the irrigation department have put up tents along the river to monitor the situation. — TNS

Sonepat: Deputy Commissioner Ajit Joshi, visited the Yamuna belt to inspect measures taken to protect the river embankments near Bega, Tonki Manoli, Garhi Assadpur, Bhaira Bankipur and Rakash Hera. He said as a precautionary measure, people in Tonki Manoli had been asked to shift to safer places. — OC

Karnal, September 8
Enraged over the death of a 22-year-old woman, reportedly suffering from malaria and typhoid, at least 12 youths went on the rampage and ransacked Shaksham Hospital in the Arjun Gate area late this evening.

Dr Mukesh Taneja, owner of the hospital, said the woman, Kavita, was brought to the hospital by her relatives in the morning and tested positive for malaria and typhoid. She was sent back after being administered medicines.

Around 5 pm some family members of Kavita came to the hospital and told him that her condition had deteriorated. When he reached the house, she was already dead, said Dr Taneja.

The family members allegedly tried to assault Dr Taneja, but he somehow managed to escape. Later in the evening, at least 12 youths descended on the hospital and allegedly went on the rampage and ransacked the hospital.

“My wife and another doctor, who were present in the hospital, were taken aback but could not stop the assailants. The matter was reported to the police. Investigations were on to identify and nab the assailants, the police said.

Gurgaon, September 8
The Gurgaon police today arrested Sunil, a driver of Haryana Minister of State for Home Gopal Kanda’s niece, who has been accused of raping her domestic help.

Gurgaon DCP (East) Vikas Arora confirmed that Sunil, who had been charged with rape , had been arrested.

SHO of the Sector 29 police station Jagdish Singh said the accused was today produced in a local court, which sent him to judicial custody for 14 days.

The 17-year-old domestic help of the minister’s niece had alleged that Sunil had raped her in Gurgaon. The girl, who belongs to West Bengal and was currently staying in New Delhi, had also alleged that later Sunil also sent three youths to New Delhi to threaten her.

On her complaint, the Delhi police had registered a case of threatening and molestation against the three youths, Amarjeet, Sanju and Gautam, who were reportedly working as bouncers in Gurgaon. A white Hyundai Tucson car, bearing a red beacon and a sticker with photo of the minister, was also seized from their possession.

The minister had denied having any link with the driver and said he had gifted the car to his niece five years ago. However, the red beacon fitted atop the car and the sticker bearing the minister’s photo on its rear windscreen have not been explained.

Gurgaon, September 8
Local residents and commuters had a harrowing time as a trial run for reserving a dedicated lane for the Commonwealth Games (CWG) was conducted during peak office hours here this morning.

A choked road in Gurgaon on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Sayeed Ahmed

Motorists had to wait for hours to wriggle out of the massive traffic jams caused due to getting a whole lane blocked for the trial run. Office-goers were delayed and others gravely inconvenienced due to the forced blocking of a lane by policemen.

Police personnel on duty expressed their helplessness, citing “orders from above”.

Gurgaon Police Commissioner Surjeet Singh Deswal, along with other senior police officers, participated in the trial run, which started from the Delhi-Gurgaon toll plaza at 8 am and went on till Kadarpur via Signature Tower.

A full-bore shooting competition is scheduled to be held at the CRPF shooting range in the Kadarpur area of the district.

Deswal admitted that the trial run carried out today had caused traffic jams. He maintained that to solve this problem of traffic congestion, vehicular traffic would be diverted through alternative routes during the next round of trial on September 11.

He said Haryana police commandos, horse-riders and sniffer dogs would be deployed in the area surrounding the local CWG venue to ensure fool-proof security.

The Police Commissioner and his team also checked the security gadgets installed at the Kadarpur shooting range and held a meeting with members of the organising committee.

Deswal directed officers of the telecom wing to install separate networking for the Kadarpur CRPF shooting range premises, which could be linked with Khelgaon of Delhi, Gurgaon police control room and the Deputy Commissioner’s office.

He disclosed that on the pattern of Delhi, a request for air surveillance had also been sent to the authorities concerned. He was apprised that 74 CCTV cameras had been installed at the range.

Chandigarh, September 8
The brief monsoon session of the Haryana Assembly, held to fulfill a constitutional obligation of having not more than six months between the closing and opening days of the two sessions of the House, was dominated by what has come to be known as the “Kanda issue”.

The ball set rolling by INLD chief and Leader of Opposition Om Prakash Chautala immediately after the Question Hour on the second day of the session when he accused Minister of State for Home Gopal Kanda of being the owner of the car, in which a girl was kidnapped and gang-raped by the minister’s driver.

However, Chautala overplayed his cards when he went on claiming that Kanda himself was driving the car when the crime took place. He wanted Kanda to be out of the Hooda cabinet.

Kanda dared Chautala to prove that he owned the car or he was driving it when the crime took place or quit politics. The INLD men did not take up his challenge that day. They merely walked out of the House.

However, the next day they came well prepared. Chautala showed a bank document to assert that Kanda was one of the directors of a company, which had taken the loan to purchase the car.

The INLD MLAs insisted with their demand for Kanda’s ouster till they themselves were expelled from the Assembly.

The other issue, which dominated the proceedings, was more financial benefits to the MLAs.

The issue was first raised by BJP legislature party leader Anil Vij on the first day itself. His question on placing funds at the disposal of each MLA for development of constituency on the pattern of MPLAD funds was listed much below in the sequence during the Question Hour.

Realising that it would not be taken up during the 60-minute-long Question Hour, the INLD and the BJP had unique floor coordination. Three BJP MLAs and five INLD MLAs absented themselves from the House. Therefore, their questions were passed and Vij’s question was taken up.

While ruling party MLAs had their silent sympathy with the demand, many INLD members openly spoke in favour of what Vij had demanded.

However, the Leader of Opposition remained silent on the issue. Many MLAs feel that if Chautala had supported their cause, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda might have relented.

On the last day, of course, the government showed its generosity towards the legislators when it agreed to increase their perks.

There was hardly any issue discussed by the House, barring house tax, which affected the public at large.

Jhajjar, September 8
Reacting to the recent hike in the salary of MLAs and the pension of former MLAs, INLD supremo and MLA from Uchana Kalan Om Prakash Chautala said today that instead of increasing the salaries of MLAs, the government should have increased the compensation to flood-hit farmers in the state.

He said this while interacting with mediapersons before addressing a public meeting on the premises of the Market Committee here.

Chautala said the farmers’ condition had been deteriorating persistently owing to the anti-farmers policies of the Congress government.

“The government has been giving less compensation to farmers in comparison to the market price for their acquired land,” said the INLD supremo, adding that the farmers had reached the verge of devastation in the Congress regime due to its apathetic attitude towards them.

Describing the land compensation rate as “nominal”, Chautala said compensation for the acquired land must be equal to the market price so that affected farmers could make both ends meet.

Lambasting the government for ignoring the public interest, the INLD supremo said it had failed not only to control the skyrocketing prices of essential commodities, but also to provide ample employment opportunities to the educated youth.

Consequently, the people had been facing hardships to manage two square meals a day. “Law and order situation has deteriorated,” added Chautala.

A notification to this effect has been issued by Chief Secretary Urvashi Gulati. — TNS

The victim’s husband, Punjab Singh, said the victim was taken ill on August 24 and was treated for fever and chest congestion in a local hospital and was later shifted to a charitable hospital in Hisar. — TNS

Karnal, September 8
Enraged over the death of a 22-year-old woman, reportedly suffering from malaria and typhoid, at least 12 youths went on the rampage and ransacked Shaksham Hospital in the Arjun Gate area late this evening. Dr Mukesh Taneja, owner of the hospital, said the woman, Kavita, was brought to the hospital by her relatives in the morning and tested positive for malaria and typhoid. She was sent back after being administered medicines.

Around 5 pm some family members of Kavita came to the hospital and told him that her condition had deteriorated.

When he reached the house, she was already dead, said Dr Taneja.

The family members allegedly tried to assault Dr Taneja, but he somehow managed to escape. Later in the evening, at least 12 youths descended on the hospital and allegedly went on the rampage and ransacked the hospital.

“My wife and another doctor, who were present in the hospital, were taken aback but could not stop the assailants. The matter was reported to the police. Investigations were on to identify and nab the assailants, the police said.

Chandigarh, September 8
Compelled to reintroduce house tax after the Centre linked funding of state projects to its imposition, Haryana is finally ready with its recommendations on user charges. House owners, exempted from house tax over two years ago, will now have to shell out tax to the tune of 0.1 per cent of the collector rate of the locality as user charges.

Sources said the draft was finalised by a minister-level committee headed by Urban Local Bodies Minister Mahender Pratap Chaudhary yesterday. According to the recommendations of the committee, while 0.1 per cent tax will be applicable to houses above the 250 sq yd category, 50 per cent concession in tax liability will be given to self-occupied houses.

According to the unit area method of assessment based on the constructed area rather than plot size, a resident will have to pay Rs 2,500 a year as house tax for a 500 sq yd plot in a locality which has a collector rate of Rs 10,000 per sq yd in a self-occupied house.

Sources said the committee had recommended that a tax of 0.2 per cent be levied on owners with establishments other than residential. Further, residents could further avail themselves of concession of 25 per cent each if the house was old, katcha (that is non-RCC) or fell in the economically weaker section (EWS) category. House owners could take the benefit of all three categories together as well. In case of residential areas, if a house is on rent, the owner will be required to pay 2.5 per cent of the rent or Rs 10,000 computed tax, whichever is higher. For commercial areas, the owner will have to pay 5 per cent of the rent towards house tax.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has already announced during the recent session of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha that owners of houses up to 250 sq yd will only have to pay a token tax of Re 1 per sq yd per year.

Sources added that this provision would take care of almost 80 to 90 per cent of the population in the state. The recommendations of the panel will be put before the Cabinet.

Meanwhile, the government has already clarified that the notices received by residents, issued by some local bodies, will be treated as withdrawn.

The Hooda government had exempted residential areas from house tax in 2007. However, the government was forced to reconsider its decision with the Centre insisting on levying and collection of user charges as one of the preconditions for funding projects and schemes. In fact, the Centre has already stopped release of various grants which envisage collection of user charges, the basic idea being that municipalities and local bodies should become self-dependent.