Gurgaon, June 28
In a curious move, the Haryana Government has prohibited the sale of bioproducts, plant-growth promoters, regulators and biozymes etc in the state.

On May 17, AK Yadav, Director-General of Agriculture, shot off a letter to the managements of 18 companies selling such products, asking them to withdraw their products from the market.

The letter points out that the aforesaid products are not covered under any Act/orders/rules of the central or state government and no standards have so far been developed to analyze/verify their efficacy and/or performance. Besides, there is no legal regime in place to prosecute the manufacturers supplying spurious products, it adds.

Copies of the letter have also been sent to all Deputy Directors (Agriculture) in the state for compliance.

Yadav told The Tribune today that certain companies had earlier been granted permission to sell their products in the state for a limited period.

“The companies whose time limit/permission had expired have been told to withdraw their products while the remaining ones have been issued show-cause notices to present their cases within a stipulated time,” he maintained.

On being asked whether this would not be detrimental to the prospects of organic farming or promote the use of chemical fertilisers, Yadav replied in the negative.

“We have been making all-out efforts to minimise the use of chemical fertilisers by encouraging natural farming practices, including sowing dhencha to serve as green manure after being ploughed back into fields and sowing summer moong and kharif moong during the months when farmland is largely lying unutilised,” he said.

The DG (Agriculture) observed that apart from providing financial support to farmers, these varieties of moong also helped in nitrogen fixation due to which no urea is required in the subsequent crop sown in the field.

Yadav said the concept of summer moong had been taken well by farmers as 40,000 hectares had already been dedicated to the crop. Many farmers of the paddy belt, who had been barred from growing sathi variety of paddy (as it requires huge quantities of water), have now found a viable alternative in summer moong.

“We are upbeat at the encouraging response to summer moong and now target to bring 1 lakh hectares under this crop in the next season,” he said, adding that arhar and guar would be the next intermediate crops to be advised to farmers for cultivation.

It may also be pertinent to mention here that the government provides a subsidy of 50 per cent on summer moong and 90 per cent on dhencha.

In response to another query, Yadav asserted that the state authorities, in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), had gone in for fertility-mapping of soil to know the exact level/deficiency of various minerals/micronutrients.

Faridabad, June 28
A long spell of rain today virtually brought this industrialised city to a standstill as several places, including roads, got waterlogged which affected the movement of vehicular traffic.

The showers in the forenoon, which lasted about an hour, exposed the claims of the municipal authorities and the district administration regarding monsoon preparedness.

The authorities have failed to clean nullahs and strengthen the sewer system in the city, which results in accumulation of water on the streets whenever it rains.

What made things worse for the residents was that even five hours after the rain stopped, several roads continued to remain waterlogged.

Although accumulation of storm water was witnessed in several parts of the city, the flooding of several pockets of posh sectors of the Haryana Urban Development Authority drew sharp reactions.

Pools of water could be seen in Sectors 7, 9, 10, 15, 16 and 21. The approach roads connecting the mini-secretariat and the District Courts in Sector 12 witnessed the maximum accumulation of storm water.

Industrial estates, including Sector 23, 24 and 25, were also waterlogged.

The accumulation of water around BK Chowk, adjoining the auditorium of the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad, which is responsible for the cleaniness of the the city, exposed the claims of the municpal body.

Waterlogged roads affected the movement of traffic. Serpentine queues of vehicles could be seen on several roads, including Neelam Chowk to Ajronda Chowk, Neelam Chowk to Bata Chowk, the Sector 9-10 and KL Mehta roads and the Hardware Chowk flyover.

Kurukshetra, June 28
Commuters on the Ambala-Delhi national highway had a harrowing time today as a gas tanker overturned near Ramgarh village, about 12 km from here, blocking the highway for several hours.

The police and district administration had tough time regulating traffic as hundreds of vehicles were stranded the highway.

As most vehicles changed the route to reach destinations, narrow link roads were also choked.

The tanker overturned after its driver lost control, making the vehicle hit the divider on the road, obstructing vehicular movement, officials said.

Panic gripped the area as gas started leaking and the driver fled from the scene.

The police and district officials immediately reached the spot. Fire tenders were also rushed to prevent outbreaking of fire from leaking gas.

Experts from the disaster management cell of the Panipat refinery were also called to to plug the leakage.

The police diverted traffic from Ambala towards Ismailabad and other link roads through villages while those coming from Delhi were diverted from Karnal via Indri and Ladwa. 

Jhajjar, June 28
Officials of the Irrigation Department will face severe action if they are fail in making full-proof arrangements for draining out rain water during the coming rainy season. Chander Prakash, DC, Jhajjar, has warned the officials would face action if the work of digging and cleaning of drainswas not completed till June 30.

The DC was reviewing the flood-control work being carried out across the district at a meeting here today.

He directed SK Verma, Executive Engineer, Irrigation, to take steps for avoiding a flood-like situation in the district during the monsoon.

Besides de silting drains, irrigation officials have been directed to set up a sufficient number of pumpsets in flood-prone areas to drain out water. Local officials had been asked to clean sewer lines.

Residents of Jhajjar would not have to face the problem of waterlogging in this monsoon as the work of de-silting of most drains was near completion, the DC claimed. 

Fatehabad, June 28
Tension gripped Banawali village in Fatehabad as a Dalit youth committed suicide after some upper caste villagers allegedly terrorised him for “attending” a marriage in their family.

The victim, Hari Singh (25), had gone to attend a marriage in a Jat family in the village on June 26, where he was allegedly thrashed and threatened with dire consequences by some members of upper caste families. The victim’s father, Mohinder Singh, alleged that his son’s tormentors terrorised him after that.

Mohinder Singh said the upper caste villagers did not take kindly to a Dalit coming to their marriage function and had since been humiliating him and threatening him with dire consequences.

He alleged that his son’s “persecutors” came to his house thrice since June 26 and they not only humiliated his son, but also threatened to eliminate him.

Unable to take the insult, Hari Singh hanged himself from a hook this afternoon.

The police has registered a case under Section 306, IPC, against six persons.

Nirmal Singh, SHO of the Bhattu Kalan police station, said during preliminary investigation, it had been found that the accused were angry with the victim, as they suspected that the victim had talked privately to a woman member of their family when he went to attend the marriage.

Dalits have, however, alleged that Hari Singh was tormented due to his caste and have demanded stern action against the accused.

Karnal, June 28
In a major crackdown on criminals, the Karnal police nabbed over 10 persons and recovered 50 motorcycles from them. The police also seized 13 country-made pistols from different places and arrested 15 persons, Rakesh Arya SP, Karnal, said here today.

On a tipoff that Jhony from Barauli in Muzaffarnagar (UP) was trying to sell a stolen motorcycle in Sugar Mill Colony, a CIA team reached the spot and arrested him.

The police seized the stolen motorcycle and recovered more motorbikes on information provided by him, taking the number of vehicles seized to 50.

Jhony was also involved in cases of theft and dacoity registered in Rohtak and Kurukshetra. He was produced in a local court today which sent him to jail.

The police also cracked down on criminals possessing illegal arms and seized 13 country-made pistols and arrested 15 persons in different cases, the SP said.

Rohtak, June 28
Timely intervention by the district authorities saved two minor girls from entering wedlock today. The marriages were to be held at Rithal and Makroli Kalan villages in the district.

The action followed after the office of the district child marriage prevention officer received information that two minor girls were to be married off today.

Officials went to Rithal village today and asked the parents of one of the girls, Reena (17), to postpone her marriage till she attained the age of 18. The girl was to get married this evening. The parents of the girl gave a written assurance to the officials regarding this.

The second case pertains to Makroli Kalan village in the district, where officials threatened to take legal action against the parents of a 16-year-old girl, whose marriage had been fixed for today.

“The bride-to-be Varsha’s parents remained adamant on their decision for over an hour, but later relented and agreed to follow the age guidelines, claimed Karminder Kaur, district protection officer.

Samalkha, June 28
Following a news item regarding official apathy in getting government land worth several crores vacated from encroachers in the local grain market published in these columns on June 25, the state government has ordered the Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board (HSAMB) to get the land vacated at the earliest.

Following the directions, the local authorities today served a three-day notice on shopkeepers to pull down the structures on encroached land or face demolition.

The authorities have also written to the district administration and the police requesting them to provide them security for carrying out a demolition exercise.

According to government records, as many as 109 shops of the total 151 in the market have allegedly encroached upon 6,562.65 square yard government land, meant for roads and laying sewer pipes.

The market value of the land in question was calculated to be Rs 24.11 crore two years ago after which no such survey has been conducted.

However, during the course of time, 19 shopkeepers voluntarily brought down their illegal structures on the government land.

Secretary of the Samalkha Market Board Chander Prakash said the board today served a three-day notice (till June 30) on 90 shopkeepers to bring down the illegal structures.

He said in case commission agents failed to comply with the notice, they would launch a demolition drive in the market on July 1. He said the board had also written to district police chief Pankaj Nain to provide them security. Besides, they had also written to Deputy Commissioner JS Ahlawat for appointing a duty magistrate for undertaking the demolition drive.

The matter had been hanging fire for the past several years. The Haryana Lokayukta had asked the government to file recovery suits against retired officials of the HSAMB, who had failed to check these encroachments during their tenure. The Lokayukta has also asked the board to chargesheet seven senior officials for having failed to check the encroachments.

The campaign to get the government land vacated from the encroachers was launched by social activist PP Kapoor, who used the RTI Act to first expose encroachments on government land and later used the same Act to defeat an alleged move of commission agents to get the encroached land registered in their names. 

Rohtak, June 28
The district unit of the Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) held a protest here today against the hike in the prices of kerosene, diesel and LPG by the Congress-led UPA government.

The protesters burnt an effigy of the Union Government and demanded that the hike be withdrawn.

Describing the “so-called exercise” by state governments to reduce tax on petroleum products to absorb the impact of the hike as a mere drama, the protesters said the hike had led to the spiralling of prices of essential commodities. They said the state government’s move to remove VAT on kerosene was a mere eyewash as a majority of the people used LPG these days.

Addressing the protesters, including members of the All-India Mahila Sanskritik Sangthan, who assembled at Chhotu Ram Park before reaching Gohana here in the form of a procession, Anoop Singh, general secretary of SUCI, said the government was suppressing the facts pertaining to huge profits being made by the oil giants, including PSUs.

SIRSA: Activists of the Haryana Janhit Party on Tuesday held a demonstration and burnt an effigy of the Union Government against rising prices in general and the recent hike in the prices of diesel, LPG and kerosene in particular.

The HJC workers assembled at the local Jat Dharamshala and went in procession through various markets of the town, carrying the effigy of the government.

Nihal Singh Matana, a member of the high-powered committee of the HJC, said the UPA government had put a heavy burden on poor people and farmers by increasing the prices of diesel, kerosene and LPG.

He alleged that while the UPA government had hiked the prices of diesel, kerosene and LPG cylinder by Rs 3, Rs 2 and Rs 50, respectively, the Haryana government had “rubbed salt on the injury of people” by waiving of the VAT of 70 paisa per litre on kerosene.

The HJC leaders demanded a rollback of the price hike.

Sirsa, June 28
Ramji Lal (50) was beaten to death at Kharian village of this district last night, allegedly by his brothers and nephews. The victim was beaten up mercilessly by his brothers, Laxmi Narayan and Om Parkash, and nephews Shunti and Parveen over a property dispute.

According to the police, Ramji Lal had 11 acres of ancestral land in his village with a tubewell connection .

The police said though the brothers had got their share in the land, the tubewell was still with the victim.

His brothers wanted their share in the tubewell as well but Ramji Lal was not willing to do so, said the police.

Laxmi Narayan and Om Parkash came to the victim’s house last night to discuss the matter. After an exchange of hot words, they started beating the victim with hockey sticks, rendering him unconscious.

Ramji Lal was taken to the Civil Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

The postmortem report said that Ramji Lal had died due to liver rupture. The accused were at large.

A case of murder has been registered against the victim’s brothers and nephews.

Rewari, June 28
Following an altercation over cultivating disputed land, a violent clash erupted between members of two factions at Asiaki village on Saturday.

While Dharambir and three other members of his faction were seriously injured, some members of the Babu Lal faction too sustained minor injuries in the dispute.

A case of rioting, causing hurt by dangerous weapons and criminal intimidation has been registered against Babu Lal and 20 others. — OC