Ballabgarh , November 3
An irate mob today set on fire the office of the Sharda Rathore, Chief Parliamentary Secretary of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha, who is the local Congress MLA, and a police van in protest against the death of two Dalit women in an accident.

The mob threw stones at the police and was lathi-charged.

It later blocked the Mohana-Ballabgarh road for more than three hours and did not allow the bodies of the two accident victims to be taken away for post-mortem. The mob, finally, relented when SDM Inder Kumar Bishnoi intervened and assured monetary compensation to the families of the deceased under Rajiv Gandhi Bima Yojna. The trouble began as news spread that two women, one of them a widow, from Unchha village, going to their workplace in Sector 25 had been run over by a dumper carrying bricks near the office of Rathore.

A large crowd from the village and adjoining Prem Puri Colony assembled at the accident site and set the dumper on fire. Police personnel arrived there in a van, rescued the driver and fled, abandoning their vehicle. This further stoked the anger of the mob which set the police van on fire.

The dumper was also set ablaze. Another dumper that arrived at the scene was also set ablaze. By this time, a mob of 2,000 had gathered there. A crowd of about 50 entered the office of Rathore nearby, ransacked it and set it on fire. The office staff of Rathore alleged that the mob had come with kerosene.

Om Pal Tonga, who had unsuccessfully contested as BSP nominee from Ballabgarh in the last assembly elections, and area councillor Dhirendra Singh also reached the site and were seen arguing with the authorities for granting monetary compensation to the kin of the deceased women.

Rathore’s office staff , a peon and a cook who were present at the time of the incident, alleged that these two leaders had , in fact, instigated the crowd to indulge in arson. 

Fatehabad, November 3
Farmers bringing their paddy to the grain market here allege that they are being fleeced by the procurement agencies in collusion with the authorities.

The farmers say the auction process by the procurement agencies is tardy, leaving them with no other option than to sell their crop at distress rates.

“I brought my 1,121 basmati variety two days back and I’m sitting here since then. However, it may take days before the purchasing parties reach my arhtiya’s shop,” complainerd Heera Singh from Banawali Sottar village .

He alleged that more often than not, the harassed farmers ended up selling their produce at cheaper rates as the procurement agencies took at least a week to visit over 200 shops at the grain market,” he added.

Dr Vinod Batra, a paediatrician with a farm in nearby Khumber village, said he had to sell his 1,121 basmati paddy for little over Rs 1,900, while the prevailing market rate touched Rs 2,100 per quintal.

He said the rates in some neighbouring markets were better than those in Fatehabad because the bidding process was better there. Meanwhile, farmers bringing the parmal variety to the market alleged that they had to shell out a part of their proceeds to the millers.

“Our produce is purchased on the MSP of Rs 1,030 per quintal. However, the traders pay us between Rs 900 - Rs 1000 per quintal on the pretext that the paddy has moisture content,” said another farmer.

A trader, requesting anonymity, said that the traders and millers had reached an “arrangement” to accommodate farmers bringing moist paddy to the market.

Ketan Midha, another trader, said despite several forewarnings, the farmers continued to bring paddy containing moisture more than the specified limit, putting the traders and the millers in a difficult situation. KL Kakar, secretary of the Market Committee, said the authorities had not received a complaint from any farmer regarding fleecing.

He said it was true that purchases were being made without bids , but this was being done with the consent of the farmers.

Yamunanagar, November 3
The plywood industry in Yamunanagar has been hit hard due to the closure of the Yamunanagar-Saharanpur bridge near Paonta Sahib.

There are about 230 plywood manufacturing units in Yamunanagar and about 30 per cent of these have been forced to stop production due to the non-availability of raw material.

According to sources, the bridge has been closed to traffic for more than a month now to undertake repair work. Because to this, the raw material is being supplied from Uttar Pradesh to the Yamunanagar-based units and other parts, including Punjab, Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir, by using an alternative route, which is lengthier by 150 km.

The problem has been highlighted in these columns twice during the past one month, but the pace of the repair work continues to be slow.

The shortage of raw material has hit the production of the plywood industry in the district by over 30 per cent.

The industry had not been getting adequate raw material, mainly poplar and eucalyptus, from Uttar Pradesh, resulting in losses to the manufacturers.

The situation has now been aggravated with the closure of the Yamunanagar-Saharanpur national highway after cracks appeared in the pillars of a bridge. This has led to an increase in the cost of raw material for the industry since it has to be transported via Karnal by covering an additional 150 km.

“At present the only feasible route for heavy vehicles to reach the area is via Karnal, which is too long. If I bring wood from the Karnal route, the cost will exceed my reach. Forget making profits, I will have to bear losses in the market. If this bridge is not opened sometime soon, small units like ours will die,” said Rajinder Parshad, a local industrialist.

The sources say the district has 918 wood-based industrial units and they need 25 lakh tonnes of timber for smooth functioning. The industry purchases timber worth Rs 500 crore from farmers of Haryana, UP and Punjab and produces wood-based products worth Rs 1,500 crore.

“Till the time the bridge is repaired and declared safe, it will not be opened to traffic. We know the industry is facing a big problem, but safety cannot be compromised with,” said an official.

Meanwhile, Ashok Sangwan, Deputy Commissioner, said the repair work on the bridge, being undertaken by the Bridge Corporation of India, was in progress and efforts were on to throw it open to traffic soon. 

Sirsa, November 3
The Nalvi faction of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (ad hoc) today announced that it would launch a movement to press for its demand for a separate SGPC for the state in the third week of November.

Reacting on the statement of HSGPC president Jagdish Singh Jhinda on softening of his organisation’s stand towards the SGPC, Didar Singh Nalvi, working president of the HSGPC (Nalvi) alleged that Jhinda had let down thousands of Haryana Sikhs, who reposed faith in him for their fight.

Nalvi claimed that he launched the movement for a separate SGPC for the state 11 years ago and the HSGPC (ad hoc) was able to win seven out of 11 seats in the SGPC elections held in July 2004.

He alleged that he and some other members of the committee had to part company with Jhinda, whom they had earlier elected their leader, after his unilateral decisions like forcible possession of Haryana gurdwaras.

Nalvi alleged that Jhinda was now misleading the Sikhs of the state once again on the issue of negotiations with the SGPC, while there was no such invitation.

Nalvi said a separate SGPC was the right of Haryana Sikhs and his faction would continue to fight for it.

He said the SGPC would not give anything to Haryana Sikhs and they would have to exercise their rights through Haryana and the central government so 
that legislation on the issue was passed.

He said during their movement starting in this month, the members of his faction would meet Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Governor Jagannath Pahadia first and if needed they would also meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA president Sonia Gandhi. 

Rewari, November 3
Power Minister Mahender Pratap Singh laid the foundation stone of two substations - one of 66 kV at Baliar Kalan village and the other of 33 kV at Kakodia village, near here, today.

The two substations are expected to benefit over 30,000 consumers in 43 villages in the district by way of improved voltage and consistent power supply.

Stating that the government was committed to bridging the gap between demand and supply, the minister said 5,000 MW would be added by the end of March 2012.

He said the government had a plan to strengthen the transmission system at a cost of Rs 4,700 crore during the next three years.

Besides, the DHBVN, had a plan to set up 100 more substations of 33 kV at a cost of Rs 4,000 crore by March 2015.

Fatehabad, November 3
Cracker dealers in Fatehabad district will not be able to sell crackers to children below the age of 18.

Deputy Commissioner Vijay Singh Dahiya yesterday issued instructions for the safe storage, display and sale of crackers during Divali. Only licensed dealers will be authorised to sell crackers, that too in specified places. The SDMs of Fatehabad, Ratia and Tohana have been empowered to issue licences to cracker dealers in their respective areas.

The district authorities have also earmarked places, where the dealers can put up their stalls for the sale of crackers. Dahiya said only certified and reliable crackers would be allowed for sale during Divali. — TNS

Sirsa, November 3
Timely action by the police and the prohibition officer under the Child Marriage Prevention Act prevented two minors from becoming “balika vadhus” in Sirsa town today.

One girl aged 14 was to be married today, while the other one of the same age was to be married tomorrow to Raju, elder brother of the former girl.

Prohibition Officer Sadhna Mittal appointed under the Act received a tip off that Bimla Devi, a widow from local Guru Teg Bahadur Colony, was marrying her minor daughter today and had planned the marriage of her son Raju with a minor for tomorrow.

Both the marriages were under the barter system as the prospective bride of widow’s son Raju was from the family, where she was marrying her daughter.

Upon information from Sadhna, SP Satinder Kumar Gupta constituted a raiding party that reached the marriage venue, where the baraat was to come in the evening.

“Though Bimla and other members of her family tried to mislead us, we took prominent persons of the locality into confidence and succeeded in preventing the marriages,” Sadhna said. She said parents of both the girls have given an undertaking that they would not perform the marriage of the girls till they attained majority and added that she would also file a case in the court to bind the families legally on their undertakings. 

Sirsa, November 3
At least eight fresh cases of dengue have come to the fore, raising the concern of the health authorities in the district.

Three persons, who were being treated by a local physician, Dr VP Goyal, have tested positive for dengue. Their blood samples were tested in a laboratory in Delhi.

Similarly, five persons have reportedly been tested positive for dengue at Dabwali.

“A doctor from Dabwali town, a woman from the local Court Colony and a person from Shiv Chowk here have tested positive for dengue. Their samples were sent to a lab in Delhi through their local franchise for NS1 antigen test and immunoglobulin antibodies tests,” said Dr Goyal.

Among the five patients suffering from dengue at Dabwali are a sarpanch, who has been admitted to a private hospital in Sirsa, a Haryana Janhit Congress leader, who is admitted in a Chandigarh hospital, and three persons from Aboobshar village. Two patients of Aboobshahr are being treated in Kilianwali town of Punjab, a twin town of Dabwali, and the third is admitted to a private hospital in Hanumangarh.

Sheel Kaushik, Deputy Civil Surgeon (vector-borne disease), said the health authorities were taking steps to check the spread of the disease.

“People living in areas from where dengue patients hail are more prone to attack by the disease,” cautioned Dr VP Goyal.