Chandigarh, April 18
Land acquisition is becoming a hindrance to the setting up of nuclear power plants. Even as the country has set a target of generating 20,000 MW of nuclear power by 2020, glitches in the acquisition of land could delay the commissioning of some projects.

Officials in the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) say though the technology and resources are available to set up nuclear power plants, resistance to the acquisition of land by original land-holders, and misconceptions in the minds of residents about nuclear radiations are delaying land acquisition at a lot of places. “It is for this reason that we are launching an awareness drive to highlight the benefits of nuclear power, and to clear any doubts about the effects of radiation on soil, water, agriculture and human health. With this, by the end of this year we hope to clear hurdles in land acquisition and start the construction of nuclear power plants,” said KB Dixit, Executive Director, NPCIL.

Allaying fears of nuclear radiation leakage, in the wake of the Fukushima crisis in Japan, he said India would never face such a situation as most of the sites for these plants were located at a considerable distance from known seismic zones in the country. “The government has constituted a high-powered committee to review the safety of nuclear plants in the country. The corporation has also constituted a workforce at its own level. Besides, the International Atomic Energy Agency and WANO were also reviewing the plants,” he said.

At present, 20 nuclear units are operating in the country, generating 4,700 MW of power. Though as of now, the country has nuclear power units of 200 MW each, it has been decided that all new units to be constructed will be of 700 MW each. “This year we propose to start construction on four units in Haryana and two each in Madhya Pradesh, Jaitapur (Maharashtra), Mithivirdi (Gujarat), Kowara (Andhra Pradesh), Kudeikulei (Tamil Nadu) and Haripur (West Bengal). By the end of this year, we are hoping that the nuclear power generation capacity in the country will be 6,700 MW, as seven nuclear power plants are under construction and some of these will be commissioned by December this year,” said Dixit.

He added that two units each were under construction at Kakrapar (Gujarat), Kota (Rajasthan) and Kudankulum, while a fast builder reactor was under construction at Kalepakkam (Tamil Nadu). “With the commissioning of these plants, the nuclear power generation in the country from the reactors in operation and under construction will be 10,700 MW in 2017,” he said. 

Panipat, April 18
With four units at the Panipat thermal power plant stopping generation due to various reasons, the power utilities have been forced to overdraw power from the northern grid even as there was less demand for power yesterday following rains in various parts of the state.

The state, which was till yesterday providing power to the northern grid with 600 MW unit No 1 of the Khedar thermal power plant contributing to the state’s generation, today overdrew power from the northern grid.

Units No. 7 and 8 of 250 MW capacity each at the Panipat thermal power plant tripped yesterday. According to sources, unit 7 had been taken on maintenance, while unit No. 3 was already under annual maintenance.

The maintenance of unit 5 was completed earlier, but it again crashed due to some technical fault. However, officials maintained that it had been shut down as the demand for power had dropped.

Rains had yesterday brought down the demand for power and the state drew less than 100 lakh units than the scheduled target.

Meanwhile, two units at the Yamunanagar thermal power plant ran at near full load capacity today. The total power generation fluctuated between 1,300 and 1,514 MW. 

Sonepat, April 18
Standing wheat and vegetable crops in more than 20 villages in the district got damaged due to hailstorm that lashed the district late in the evening yesterday. Farmers of the affected villages have demanded compensation for the damage.

According to agriculture department officials, crops have been damaged in Kathura, Bhander, Bhawar, Garhwal, Rindhana, Dhanana, Nuran Khera and Issapur Kheri villages in Gohana subdivision and Kakroi, Bhadana, Rohat, Jharonthi, Revli, Garh Shahjahanpur, Garhi Brahmanan and Mehlana 
villages in Sonepat 
subdivision.

Sub-Divisional Agriculture Officer, Sonepat, Sunil Kaushik said the percentage of the damage was being assessed by the field teams of the department and the final report would be submitted to the Deputy Commissioner.

Meanwhile, farmers of Kakroi village led by state vice-president of the All-India Kisan Sabha SN Solanki today handed over a memorandum to DC Pankaj Aggarwal demanding compensation for the damage caused to the wheat and vegetable crops in their village.

The farmers of the affected villages in Gohana subdivision also met the revenue officers in Gohana with the same demand.

SIRSA: Hailstorm that hit some parts of the district on Sunday night led to a 
large-scale damage of the wheat crop.

While it rained in most parts of the district, hailstorm was witnessed in Nathusari, Roopawas, Nirban, Jamal, Jorkian, Gosaiana and some other adjoining villages.

Farmer Budh Ram said the standing wheat crop in his fields had flattened and the grains had fallen out on the ground resulting in heavy losses.

The farmers have demanded relief for the loss. DC Yudhbir Singh Khyalia confirmed that crops got damaged in some villages of the district.

He said a preliminary report on the loss was being sent to the government, though the exact loss could not be quantified at this stage.

Chandigarh, April 18
The state government today ordered a special girdawari in the areas where crops have been damaged due to the recent hailstorm, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said here today. He thanked the Centre for announcing a bonus of Rs 50 per quintal over and above the minimum support price of Rs 1120 per quintal for wheat .

Terming his recent tour to Israel as “very successful”, the Chief Minister said the government had decided to set up 12 more centres of excellence for vegetables and fruits by progressive farmers.

“We will give 15 per cent subsidy, besides 75 per cent given by the Central Government, to set these centres on the pattern of the one established with the cooperation of Israel at Gharounda in Karnal district . With the total subsidy, the farmer would only have to invest 10 per cent of cost of Rs 25 lakh for the project,” he said.

He said one such centre for fruits was being set up at Sirsa while another for flowers would come up at Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar. The Israeli technologies would be replicated at these centres, increasing production manifold. Maintaining that Orit Noked, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Israel, would shortly visit Haryana for a meeting, he said the two countries had decided to constitute a working group to study the system of water conservation and use of brackish water for agriculture as was being done in Israel.

Hooda said that Israel had acceded to the state government’s request to send experts to Haryana on a continual basis so that there is no gap in transfer of technologies. “Israel is half of Haryana in terms of area but production per hectare is many times more than ours. Further, in a country where farmers are allotted a quota for water, not a single drop is wasted while arid land has been made productive. It is this technology which is of particular interest to us, especially for south Haryana,” Hooda stated.

Karnal, April 18
The Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti has threatened to lay siege to Delhi from Gandhi Jayanti (October 2) if the demand for reservation to Jats under the OBC category was not accepted by September 30.

“The samiti would revive the agitation on October 2 by blocking all roads leading to the national capital and lay siege to the Delhi stopping supply of milk, vegetables and other commodities,” Col OP Sandhu, president of the sangharsh samiti, said here today.

Thanking the government for constituting the Backward Classes Commission, he said “the move is positive and welcome but the samiti has given six-month deadline to the government to implement reservations, which expires on September 25 ”.

“If our demands are not met by the deadline, the supply of essential commodities would be stopped, whatever be the consequences,” he warned, adding that reservation in jobs and educational institutions were crucial for Jats as it concerned the future of their children.

The Jat Aarakshan Samiti had suspended the three-week-long agitation, which had caused massive disruption of rail traffic on March 26, on an explicit assurance from Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to constitute an OBC Commission to look into the demand and decide the issue within six months.

Karnal, April 18
The police today arrested five farmers, including three women, in connection with yesterday’s clashes over disputed land in Sirsi village even as the Bajida Jatan sarpanch blamed the SHO for escalation of violence.

The sarpanch of Bajida Jatan along with a large number of villagers met the SP and held the Madhuban police station in charge of not acting against the accused villagers of Sirsi, alleging that the police was siding with them. The police had booked over 30 persons in connection with the violence on the complaint of the BDPO. Five of them were arrested for illegally harvesting the crop on panchayat land, which the residents of Sirsi claimed was under their possession for 70 years.

Land measuring 24 acres near Bajida station was vested in the panchayat which got its possession on March 3, but the ‘encroachers’, who had been cultivating the land all these years, refused to vacate it and tried to harvest the crop yesterday, leading to clashes. — TNS

Fatehabad, April 18
Hundreds of villagers today blocked the Fatehabad-Chandigarh highway near Jandli village in protest against the alleged “erratic” construction of a road leading to the accumulation of rainwater around their houses.The villagers stopped all vehicular traffic on the highway for almost an hour in the morning.

Hundreds of vehicles were seen stranded on the road owing to the blockade.Vijender Singh, SHO, Sadar police station, who reached the blockade site, failed to make the villagers relent.The irate villagers alleged that the PWD authorities had reconstructed the road in such a manner that it had raised its level by over 2 feet.

The Villagers alleged rainwater had flooded their streets following last evening’s showers, making it difficult for them to walk.

In some areas, rainwater had even entered houses, they alleged.

The villagers maintained that if this could happen after little showers, their plight during the monsoon ccould be well-imagined.

ADC Ashok Meena, who was on his way to Chandigarh for an official work, finally persuaded the villagers to lift the blockade. He assured the villagers that the level of the road would be rectified soon. 

Bhiwani, April 18
Two women were beaten to death allegedly by a youth in Ranila village under Charkhi Dadri subdivision here last night. The youth placed the bodies inside the house after committing the crime.

The deceased have been identified as Suman Devi and Shakuntala. The accused, Naresh, alias Narsi, of the same village dragged Suman out of her house and beat her to death with a cane. Later, Narsi called his aunt Shakuntala, who tried to run away after seeing the body.

However, Narsi killed her too. Neighbours informed the police, which sent the bodies for postmortem. The police arrested the accused. During interrogation, Naresh confessed to have committed the crime. The bodies were handed over to relatives after postmortem. 

Faridabad, April 18
House owners-cum-shopkeepers, under the banner of the Faridabad Beopar Mandal, today asked the government not to make it mandatory for them to obtain the change of land use (CLU) status for their houses from which they are running commercial activities and threatened to launch an agitation over the issue.

The demand has been made as a sequel to the notices sent to them by the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad (MCF) a few days ago asking them to obtain the CLU status for their residential premises from which they were running commercial activities.

The MCF had identified 44 roads in its jurisdiction alongside which houses were being used for commercial purposes. It also fixed two different sets of fees to obtain the CLU status. According to the president of the Faridabad Beopar Mandal, Jagdish Bhatia, there are more than 30,000 houses along the 44 identified roads by the MCF in Faridabad and Ballabgarh which are fully or partially being used for commercial activities. A large number of owners of such houses have rented out the premises for commercial purposes.

The Beopar Mandal, in a memorandum to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda through the office of the Commissioner, MCF, D Suresh, today demanded that the government should fix 2006 as the cut off year for enforcing the CLU system. Also, the rate to obtain the CLU status should be in accordance with the rate charged on land along the nearby Delhi-Mathura national highway where malls and other commercial establishments have been allowed to come up.

The house owners, while submitting the memorandum, had arguments with the MCF Commissioner and alleged that even though they were paying taxes at commercial rates, the civic body had not provided them proper civic amenities. The Commissioner said the civic body would go ahead with follow-up action on the notices sent to the owners. The house owners have threatened an agitation on the issue.

The Commissioner, however, said he would refer their case to the government.