Yamunanagar, September 22
Residents of villages in the vicinity of the Tajewala headworks are concerned at the rising water level in the Yamuna.

The villagers fear that if it continues to rain, more than 25 villages, including Tajewala, Mandewala, Balewala, Bhudkalan and Devdhar, could face floods.

An Army unit has been put on high alert. Ashok Sangwan, Deputy Commissioner, said the embankment downstream of the Tajewala headworks had been damaged. To control the damage, a bundh had been constucted some distance away.

Although the administration has distributed packets of food and kerosene among the affected populace, the relief efforts are far from satisfactory.

Officials said the water level in the Yamuna was recorded at 1.04 lakh cusecs at 4 pm on September 22.

“The flood situation is under control and the water has started receding from residential areas of Yamunanagar and Karnal districts. Water is also receding from the low-lying fields,” Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary (revenue) Naresh Gulati said in Chandigarh.

“The field staff in Karnal, Panipat, Sonepat, Faridabad and Palwal has been alerted. Measures are afoot to protect vulnerable sites," he said. Residents in Indra Nagar, Moblipur and Gurvari in Palwal district had been shifted to relief camps.

The deputy commissioners of Yamunanagar, Karnal, Panipat, Palwal, Mewat, Jhajjar, Rohtak, Bhiwani and Faridabad had been asked to conduct assess the damage to crops. The Tajewala headworks in Yamunanagar had suffered major damage due to the fast currents, Gulati said. "The right side longitudinal downstream embankment (RSLDE) downstream of the Tajewala headworks has been damaged in a length of about 4,000 feet. We are working on its repairs," he added.

SIRSA: It is virtually raining misery for farmers in this region. It has been raining almost continuously since Tuesday morning. The rain is widespread and almost all villages of Sirsa and Fatehabad districts have been affected by it.

“I had planted the sugandha-999 variety of paddy in some of my fields. This downpour will cause heavy damage to the crop,” said Rajiv Batra, a progressive farmer from Ahlisadar village in Fatehabad.

He said even the late varieties of paddy like Pusa-1121 would suffer damage.

He said the rain had already caused him “crop loss of 15 to 20 per cent”. Hari Chand, who has grown vegetables on his fields in a village in Sirsa district, said his crops had suffered immense damage due to the rain.

Cotton crop has suffered the worst damage due to the recent rain. Though the agriculture authorities maintain that the damage was still within limits, they agree that the continuous showers were bad for the crop.

“Picking of cotton had already begun in the early-sown varieties of the crop, but this rain will not only delay the process, but would cause damage to late-sown varieties,” said Ravi Punia, Joint Director (Cotton), Agriculture Department, Haryana. Bajra and sugarcane crops have also been damaged due to the rain. 

Chandigarh, September 22
A 100-member delegation comprising representatives of all communities met Union Minister Kumari Selja at her Delhi residence and apologised for “unnecessarily” dragging her name in the Mirchpur controversy when she was only playing a peacemaker.

At a meeting that lasted for over an hour, the delegation, comprising essentially Jats, sought her help to restore harmony in Mirchpur among the Jats and the Dalits. Speaking to TNS, Meer Singh, president of a khap of 12 villages, said the case against Selja was fabricated. “She was trying to restore peace between the two communities after the unfortunate incident in which two Dalits were killed.

The lawyer of the ‘complainants’ in the case, Ajit and Dalbir, took their signatures on a blank paper to apply for bail. The signed papers were used to drag the minister’s name to rake up a controversy even though the contention had no villager’s support.

“We explained all this to her and apologised for the misunderstanding. Now, the two complainants have submitted affidavits to this effect,” Meer Singh said.

The paternal uncle of the two boys accompanied the delegation. Singing an altogether different tune, another member, Wazir Singh, said the minister was the only one to have met members of both communities during her visit to Mirchpur immediately after the violence. “She was trying to mend bridges by talking to members of both castes. We don’t know how she came to be accused of inciting violence. She has accepted our apology and offered to help us out in restoring cordial ties between the two communities. She has assured us that she will visit the village whenever we need her,” he stated.

Following the death of the two Dalits and mounting tension, Selja was the first prominent leader to visit the village and meet the two communities to work out a compromise.

Meanwhile, in a case filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Selja was made a respondent by the accused, following which the Balmikis rejected the “peace talks” and a peace formula fell flat. Realising that they could not make any headway in winning back the confidence of the Dalits, the Jats called an all-community meeting in the village and decided to meet Selja and apologise to her.

Hisar, September 22
The two-day annual Farm Darshan Mela of Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University concluded here today. Despite inclement weather, thousands of farmers from all over Haryana and adjoining states attended the mela.

Farmers purchased seeds of improved varieties of rabi crops in bulk and were familiarised with the latest technologies for growing rabi and kharif crops.

The Vice-Chancellor, Dr KS Khokhar, said in the coming decade, the existing farming system would witness a drastic change as an increase in the population, urbanisation and industrialisation were reducing agricultural land. In such a situation, he said, it had become imperative for scientists and farmers to increase agricultural production by reducing cost the of cultivation.

He said only 2 per cent of agricultural production in India was exported while 98 per cent was consumed at the domestic level. The Vice-Chancellor said seed replacement was the key to boosting agricultural production as raising crops with improved seed would enhance production by 20 per cent.

He regretted that a majority of the farmers was unaware of this and as a result they kept on sowing their crop with the old seed.

The Vice-Chancellor honoured four progressive farmers by presenting them mementoes.

The awardees are Ranjit Singh, Balwan Singh, Suraj Bhan and Mohinder Singh of Sirsa, Kaithal, Fatehabad and Hisar, respectively.

Director of Extension Education and mela coordinator JS Dhankhar impressed upon the farmers to adopt the “inter-cropping” farming system, since during a number of trials, this cropping system had yielded encouraging results.

He said HAU would shortly establish six more radio stations at its outstations in addition to the present radio station which was providing services to the farmers from the main campus here. 

Chandigarh, September 22
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has found fault with the answer keys of the HCS (Judicial) examination held in July for filling 113 posts. A Division Bench of the high court, comprising Justice MM Kumar and Justice Ritu Bahri has, ordered the deletion of a question and rectification of an answer key. Taking up an appeal filed by the HC through its registrar-general against the HPSC and another respondent, the Bench directed: “It is ad interim directed that in respect of question number 99 of booklet series A, the answer key be rectified and the answer sheets are required to be evaluated accordingly”.

The Bench directed: “Question number 30 of booklet series A be deleted and then the answer sheets be evaluated. After carrying the exercise, the result be declared and put on the website of the high court forthwith”.

The Bench said: “With regard to question No 30 of booklet series A, counsel for the appellant RN Raina submits that the correct answer in the key is c, which states that right to constitutional remedies in India is available to all people for enforcing the fundamental rights conferred on them. “We fail to understand how answer c would embrace all people other than citizens and persons which Raina is trying to project. The chapter on fundamental rights (party III) uses two distinct expressions - citizen and person. Some of the fundamental rights are available to all persons irrespective whether they are citizens or not, whereas some rights like rights under Article 19 are available only to citizens. Apart from the two categories, all people would embrace something more than citizen and person and, therefore, it cannot be considered a correct answer. The best option would be to delete such a question .”

The case will come up for hearing on September 27. 

Rewari, September 22
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda unveiled a statue of former Home Minister of the state Kanhaiya Lal Poswal at Konsiwas Chowk here today.

The Chief Minister said Poswal, who was a seasoned politician and social activist, would remain a source of inspiration for the youth.

Born into a Gujjar family of Rewari in 1921, he rose to superb heights in politics, sports and other fields of life through his diligence, determination and innate resourcefulness.

He was catapulted into the Congress party in 1962, where he adroitly occupied ministerial berths with varied portfolios of Home, Food and Supplies, PWD, Irrigation and Power, Transport, Sports, Civil Aviation and Tourism from 1968 to 1982.

Besides, he also donated his ancestral house here to the Rewari unit of the All-India Women’s Conference (AIWC).

Hooda announced that the Primary Health Centre at Sangwari village here as well as a prestigious educational institution of the region would be named after Poswal.

HPCC chief Phool Chand Mullana, Finance Minister Ajay Singh Yadav and Renu S Nagar Poswal, Daughter of KL Poswal and chairperson of the Haryana State Welfare Board, also spoke on the occasion. 

Chandigarh, September 22
Even six years after a “dead man” walked into a Panipat court, four Panipat residents accused of his abduction and murder are awaiting justice. So far, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has ordered the payment of interim compensation to the four Hari Singh Colony residents, but the police officers involved in the entire matter have not been proceeded against.

As the petition by Omkar, Vinod Kumari, Sunder and Rakesh Kumar came up for hearing this morning before the Division Bench of Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Ajay Tewari, SP Bharti Arora appeared in the court in pursuance to the earlier directions.

She informed the court that she was deputed at the Commonwealth Games and sought time to file a detailed reply in the matter. Taking on record her assertion, the Bench gave her time till November 22.

The Bench wants a report on the water flow in the Gang canal when the “dead man”, Sham Lal, was alleged to have been pushed into it. The prosecution had earlier claimed that the body could not be recovered, as it was carried away by the current. However, Sham Lal had appeared before the trial court in Panipat on August 11, 2004. Taking up the plea for compensation, the Bench had earlier observed: “This is an unfortunate case, which arises in respect of compensation sought by the petitioners, who were prosecuted/jailed for killing Sham Lal, who later was found to be alive”.

Gurgaon, September 22
In a gruesome incident, a retired Army havildar killed himself after shooting his father, mother, wife and younger brother in a fit of rage at his house in Krishna Colony locality here last night.

According to police sources, retired havildar Vijender Singh (40) started firing at his family members over some trivial issue.

Soonafter, he shot himself as well. His two sons, who were asleep when the incident took place, were unharmed.

While Vijender’s mother Kiran Devi and wife Poonam died on the spot, his brother Vikram succumbed to the bullet injuries at a local hospital later.

In the wee hours this morning, Vijender and his father Krishan Pal also died. Vijender had recently taken voluntary retirement from the Army and was working as a personal security officer (PSO) with a local firm.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Gurgaon-West) Maheshwar Dayal said it seemed that Vijender had lost his temper during a family quarrel and opened fire at his family members.

He categorically ruled out any property-related dispute or any other suspicious matter in the case.

The police had registered a case of murder and attempted suicide against Vijender, but was closed as Vijender himself is dead.

His two sons are in a state of shock.

Ambala, September 22
Four persons, including a woman, died when the car they were travelling in rammed onto a parked truck on the Ambala-Hisar road near Ambala City today.

The deceased belonged to Humayupur village.

They have been identified as Bhag Singh (60), Sardara Singh (58), Lajja Ram (56) and his wife Sunhari Devi (53). Driver of the car Amrik Singh escaped miraculously. He sustained a minor injury and was admitted to the local Civil Hospital.

The deceased were on the way to Bathinda to meet a doctor there.

All car occupants died on the spot.

The police and villagers took out the bodies from the car, which was badly damaged.

The police handed over the bodies to their relatives after a postmortem.

A case has been registered against the truck driver. The police has impounded the truck.