Rohtak, October 28
The Monsoon retreated well over a month, but its after-effects are still visible in several parts of the district.

The accumulation of flood water has not only resulted in a loss to the standing crop, but also left the farmers worried over the prospects of the rabi crop.

Though the local authorities expect dewatering to be completed within 10 days, gloom has set in some of the villages, including the IIM village Garnawathi, in the district.

“I don’t know if the IIM will come as any help to the villagers. We are worried about the standing water in our fields for the past about six weeks.

“The floodwater has cut off the main passage to our fields,” claimed Nirmala, who had come to cut firewood. The foundation stone of the IIM was laid recently by Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal.

Nirmala said the land acquired by the authorities belonged to the gram panchayat.

“I cannot go to my fields to fetch fodder for my cattle with the water all around,” claimed Bhateri Devi, another resident. She said they would be happy if the proposed institute provided the youth some employment.

“We will be happy to get some compensation or jobs from the upcoming project. But first the government should solve our immediate problem and undertake dewatering operations so that we can sow the next crop,” said Ajit Singh, another villager.

About 230 acres have been acquired for the IIM campus, the ninth in the country. Deputy Commissioner PC Meena claimed that the dewatering process was on and 234 pumps were being used in over a dozen villages in low-lying areas. Claiming that 80 per cent of the floodwater had been removed, the DC said water had yet to be removed from 2,200 acres.

The task would be completed in 10 days. A total of 8,500 acres had come under floodwater during the rainy season, he added.

Chandigarh, October 28
The Haryana Government’s drive against overloaded vehicles, though a welcome step, is still far short of what is required under the Central Motor Vehicle Act (CMVR), 1988, and the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989.

Haryana is not alone in violating the 1988 Act and the 1989 rules. While southern states are strict in implementing the law, most in the North are found lacking in this respect.

About five years ago, the Supreme Court had ordered in the Paramjeet Bhasin versus the Union of India and others case that overloading of vehicles could not be compounded by levying a fine.

The vehicle had to be told to shed the extra cargo before being allowed to proceed to its destination.

Section 114 of the Act requires that a vehicle can be weighed for determining the overload.

A notice should be issued to the vehicle in charge/driver to off- load the excess weight at his own risk and not remove the vehicle or trailer from the place unless laden weight has been reduced to the prescribed weight limit.

The checking authority must endorse the violation on the permit of the vehicle and intimate the offence to the Regional Transport Authority concerned.

The Section says the driver of the overloaded vehicle should be prosecuted/punished under Section 119 of the Act and under Rule 21 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules.

A Delhi-based NGO, the Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training (IFTRT), engaged in research on road transport, claims that none of these provisions of law are being implemented by Haryana or any other state in the national capital region (NCR).

In a letter to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, SP Singh, Senior Fellow and Coordinator, IFTRT, said foundation teams that visited various border points at major national highways, had found that overloaded trucks were entering and leaving Haryana in “gay abundance”.

The enforcement agencies were implementing the provisions of the Act selectively. They permitted overloaded trucks to proceed without offloading the excess cargo.

The NGO regretted that the overloading of trucks had been “institutionalised” in Haryana and the NCR due to an unholy nexus between the enforcement agencies and powerful transporters.

Singh pointed out that many vehicles carrying automobiles and two-wheelers from the manufacturers to the dealers had modified the dimensions of their cargo boxes to accommodate more volume. This modification was in contravention of the Motor Vehicle Act.

Unfortunately, the registering authorities turned a blind eye to such modifications, though it was mandatory to inspect the vehicle physically before registering these and also before issuing the annual fitness certificate for the vehicles. 

Chandigarh, October 28
The state government has approved detailed project reports, totalling Rs 959.20 crore, for providing water and sewerage facilities to 14 towns in the first phase.

Stating this here today, a spokesman of the Public Health Engineering Department said the towns to be covered under the project were Ambala city, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Fatehabad, Hansi, Kalayat, Assandh, Kaithal, Mahendragarh, Narnaul, Sirsa, Ellenabad, Tohana and Uchana.

Land acquisition for construction of new water works and sewage treatment plants was in progress. Some works had already been allotted, whereas the remaining were in the process of finalisation, he added.

He said the state government, under its commitment to provide piped water to each household in rural and urban areas, had provided 1.12 lakh water connections to Scheduled Caste households in rural and urban areas during the past one year. He said drinking water supply had also been augmented in 816 villages during the year.

The spokesman said a project costing Rs 127.04 crore had been approved under NABARD assistance for providing drinking water facilities in 64 villages and 34 dhanis upto 70 litres per capita per day (lpcd) in Mahendragarh.

As a pilot project, a proposal had been approved for installing RO plants in 15 villages of Jhajjar at a cost of Rs 1.95 crore. As many as 110 villages in the Mewat area had been benefited.

He said a drinking water supply project for Sonepat town had been approved by the NCR Planning Board at a cost of Rs 8.51 crore and work had been taken in hand. Sewage treatment plants had been commissioned in Hodel, Rohtak and Narwana towns.

Hisar, October 28
The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam has asked its officials in the field to carry a special patrolling of power distribution lines and maintain equipment, including transformers, to ensure uninterrupted supply of power on Diwali.

An official spokesman said here today that though a special drive for maintenance of the power distribution system was underway, yet in view of Diwali, officials had been asked to identify weak points in the system during patrolling.

Additional transformers had been installed and old transformers replaced with ones of higher capacity at overloaded locations. Tree branches touching conductor lines were being trimmed to prevent short-circuits.

The spokesman said spare transformers had been made available at each operation subdivision to replace a transformer in case of damage due to overloading or some other reason. To restore power supply immediately, in case of damage to a transformer, mobile transformers installed on trolleys had been kept ready.

He said on Diwali, officers of the level of Deputy GN would remain on duty at control rooms and the head office. — TNS

Rohtak, October 28
The traffic movement got disrupted for several hours today after a part of the road near the entrance of the railway overbridge at Kath Mandi here caved in. The authorities have started the repair work. The road and the flyover were constructed about 14 months ago.

The district officials, including the Additional Deputy Commissioner, reached the spot soon after and ordered its repair work. The length of the road that caved in is reported to be 20 feet leading to 10-feet-deep crater, just a few metres away from the entrance of the flyover. No damage has been reported to the overbridge, which was built at a cost of Rs 25 crore.

The overbridge provides a smooth access to the residents over the railway tracks passing from here towards the Kath Mandi and the main part of the city. The damaged part would soon be repaired and opened soon, said a senior official.

Rania, October 28
Angry farmers blocked the Rania-Sirsa state highway after the procurement process was stalled at the grain market here today due to the ongoing spat between truckers and traders.

The farmers asked the market committee officials to start the procurement process this morning. When nothing happened, they came to the highway and blocked traffic.

The roadblock was lifted after three hours of persuasion by the authorities even as the traders remained adamant that they would not start business till the police acted against the truckers.

Later, the police arrested six truckers, including Gurdev Singh, president of the local truck union.

“We have been sitting in the market for four days, but the procurement activity is progressing at a sluggish pace. The traders remained on strike yesterday. We were hoping that procurement would begin today. But the market committee officials told us that this was not possible,” said a farmer Sardul Singh.

Meanwhile, Rajender Dabur, president of the traders’association, lleged that the truckers had been threatening them and drivers of outside trucks hired by them, but the police had remained a mute spectator.

The police was doing nothing to prevent the situation from turning worse, he alleged.

Chandigarh, October 28
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda leads the 31 members of the Haryana Congress, who have been nominated to the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) by the high command, which will elect members of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision-making body of the party, on November 2.

Of course, in all probability, the AICC members will stick to the party tradition and unanimously adopt a one-line resolution authorising Sonia Gandhi to nominate the members of the CWC.

All Lok Sabha members from Haryana, barring Jatinder Malik from Sonepat, have made it to the AICC. Out of the four Rajya Sabha members, only two, Birender Singh and Ram Prakash, have been included in the list. Ishwar Singh and Shadi Lal Batra have been left out.

The party, which advocates 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and Assemblies, has nominated only seven women to the AICC from the state. They are Union Minister Selja, former minister Kiran Choudhry and her MP daughter Shruti Choudhry, Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal, MLA Savitri Jindal, former minister Prasani Devi and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sharda Rathore.

Haryana Congress president and its working president, Phool Chand Mullana and Kuldeep Sharma, respectively, have also been nominated to the AICC.

The others to get this honour are Shamsher Singh Surjewala and his minister son Randeep Singh Surjewala, former minister Venod Sharma, Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh, Irrigation Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, Agriculture Minister Paramvir Singh, Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar, Faridabad MP Avtar Singh Badhana, Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda, MLA Aftab Ahmed, Alimudin Khan, Jai Singh Rana, Karnal MP Arvind Sharma, Kurukshetra MP Naveen Jindal, MLA Rao Dharam Pal, Power Minister Mahendra Pratap Singh, former minister Jagdish Nehra, Prof Rati Ram, a close associate of Birender Singh, and Ajay Sharma, secretary of the Haryana Congress. 

Chandigarh, October 28
Today, the Haryana BJP gained at the cost of the Indian National Lok Dal, when a former MLA of the latter joined the BJP.

Jasbir Malaur, former MLA from Naggal, had quit the INLD a few days ago. Today, he formally joined the BJP in the presence of party chief Krishan Pal Gurjar and other senior leaders, including former president Ratan Lal Kataria.

Welcoming him, Gurjar said with the entry of Malaur in the BJP, a message would go in the public that the BJP was the only alternative to the Congress in Haryana.

Malaur said he quit the INLD because the party had not taken any action against those leaders, who had helped Congress candidate Venod Sharma in the last elections. Rather they had been given posts in the party organisation.

Gurjar denied that there were any differences within the BJP over the constitution of the state executive or the election of 12 district presidents. He said all these appointments were made in consultation with senior leaders of the party.

He said the BJP was the only party in the country, which gave the right to its every member to object and give suggestions to the senior leaders. 

Sonepat, October 28
The INLD today accused Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda of adopting negligent attitude towards Sonepat district, which had given five out of the six Assembly seats to the Congress in the last Assembly elections.

Talking to mediapersons here, state publicity secretary of the party Raj Kumar Ridhau said as many as seven railway overbridges had been completed in Rohtak, whereas there was no move on the decade-old demand for an overbridge at a level crossing in Sonepat town.

Similarly, he said the Hooda government had completed a four-laned bypass around Rohtak, but Sonepat did not have any bypass so far. “Residents of Sonepat continue to suffer from traffic problems for want of these two facilities,” he added.

Contradicting the Hooda government’s allegations that not a single power unit was set up in the state during the five-year rule of Om Prakash Chautala, Ridhau claimed that three units of 710 MW at Panipat were commissioned during the Chautala government.

Besides, 120 MW of power was produced from the Western Yamuna Canal hydel projects and 146 MW was increased as state’s share from Faridabad Gas Power Project, he said.

He also claimed that the excellent performance of Haryana sportspersons in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games was the result of the sports policy introduced by Chautala government. 

Gurgaon, October 28
Now, any person above 18 years of age in the state can apply for the addition, deletion or correction of his/her name in the voters’ list or issuance of electoral photo identity card (EPIC) online on form numbers 6, 7, 8 and 8-A on the website of the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).

A new web-based software on electoral roll management system (ERMS) for the state was launched today at a state-level workshop of election-related functionaries here today.

Election Commissioner of India HS Brahma was the chief guest on the occasion, while the Deputy Election Commissioner, Dr Alok Shukla, was also present. The new software will be made functional during the revision of voters’ lists in November.

CEO of Haryana Sumita Misra said after receiving the online application, the electoral registration officer (ERO) concerned would download the application and give it to the booth-level officer (BLO) for the verification of facts.

The ERO will also issue a public notice (normally of eight days’ duration) and during that time, anybody can raise objections on the application. Following this, the ERO will hear the claims and objections pertaining to the application and decide accordingly.

The decision will be conveyed to the applicant in writing and also online. If not satisfied, the applicant can appeal against the decision.

In future, the Election Commission is planning to convey the decision through SMS on the cell phone of the applicant, if the number is mentioned on the application.

The software, which is already functional in Chhattisgarh, is being implemented in 21 states of the country this year.

Brahma further stated that the Central Election Commission had decided to observe January 25 as National Voters’ Day from 2011 onwards. 

Karnal, October 28
The Karnal police has succeeded in curtailing the long and complicated process of issuing the police clearance certificate (PCC) to just three hours.

Karnal SP Rakesh Arya said: “Just submit your application with complete documents like the residence proof, relevant certificates and identification proof before 12.00 noon in the security branch and collect the PCC after three hours and in case the application is submitted in the afternoon, the PCC will be delivered the next day.”

There was no need to follow the application or the police staff as the police station concerned would complete the verification on phone within shortest possible time and the PCC would be delivered in 180 minutes.

“It will save the people requiring the PCC for passport, job or any other purpose from undue harassment and also eliminate corruption and delays,” he added.

Earlier, procuring PCC was a gruelling and a time-consuming task as applications were sent to the security branch to be referred to the police station concerned and an inquiry officer was deputed to visit the house of the applicant and other concerned to make inquiries that took months. People generally looked for some connection to get the PCC process expedited.

Arya said there were 11 police stations and 17 police posts in Karnal and 400 PCCs had been issued after the new scheme was launched.

The fee for obtaining the PCC had been increased from Rs 100 to Rs 200. 

Jind, October 28
The death of a 19-year-old girl at the nearby Jamni village under strange circumstances has left the police baffled. The post-mortem report “contradicts” the claim of the father of the dead girl that she had been electrocuted.

It says the girl had been suffocated to death.

Though the police has booked a case of murder against the father, no arrest has been made so far.

Neelam, daughter of Tej Singh, was a student of BA-II at Government College here. She was rushed to hospital in a critical condition and declared “brought dead” by the doctors on Monday. The postmortem examination was carried out at the PGIMS, Rohtak.

The police, which had earlier booked a case under Section 174 of the IPC, later turned it into a case of murder and included the name of her father as a suspect on the complaint of the investigating officer. “The police is looking into the matter and is yet to reach a conclusion regarding the cause and manner of the death of the girl,” said SP Ram Singh Bishnoi. No arrest has been made so far though several persons have been interrogated. Meanwhile, in another incident the police has booked four members of a family of Malwi village for setting a young married, Sunita, on fire.

The woman, who sustained burn injuries at her in-laws house, alleged in her complaint that her husband and three members of his family tried to burn her alive after a quarrel on Tuesday night.

The condition of the victim admitted to the PGIMS, Rohtak, is said to be critical.