Chandigarh, December 22
The INLD today urged the Governor to dismiss the Hooda government in the state in view of the High Court judgement of December 20, declaring five former HJC MLAs as “unattached”. After the judgement, the government had been reduced to a minority.

A delegation of the INLD leaders led by its secretary-general Ajay Chautala met Governor Jagannath Pahadia and submitted a memorandum to him, saying that the way two sitting MLAs and one former MLA of the Congress tried to ridicule the judiciary at a press conference today, showed that the Congress had no faith even in the judicial system.

They said in contravention of the High Court order, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was not dismissing the “defector” MLAs from their offices.

The delegation included Ashok Arora, Sher Singh Badshami, Pradeep Choudhary, Ram Pal Majra, Bishan Lal Saini, Krishan Kamboj, Ashok Kashyap and Parminder Dhull, all MLAs.

The delegation gave the details of how political defections started in Haryana to the Governor. Accusing the Congress of encouraging political corruption, the INLD leaders gave instances of the voting on the nuclear Bill in the Lok Sabha and the no-confidence motion against the Rao government in the 1990s.

Sirsa, December 22
The Ghaggar is facing twin attack: the industrial waste from Himachal and Punjab and the sewage drained into it from Sirsa, causing irreparable damage to animals, plants and humans alike.

Samples of water taken from Sirsa and on the upstream at Chandpura in Fatehabad show a grim picture. The biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) level in the Ghaggar in the district is between 25 and 30 mg per litre against the maximum permissible limit of 3 mg per litre. Reason: the town discharges all its municipal waste into the river in the absence of a sewage treatment plant (STP). The sewage is collected at a disposal site built at the Kelania road and is diverted to the Ghaggar through an open channel near Kelania village.

The Public Health Department plans to construct an STP near the old disposal plant. Sources said the department was not sure when the work would be completed. Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) Regional Officer at Hisar D B Batra said industrial waste was dumped into the Ghaggar in Himachal Pradesh (from where it originates) and then in Punjab before the river enters Haryana from Chandpura. Batra said the HSPCB had taken up the matter with the Central Pollution Control Board several times.

Raj Kumar Sharma, an executive engineer in the department, said the sewage did not contaminate the water as much as the industrial effluents did. He said the quality of water improved only after it flowed for a distance due to a natural process through which environmental oxygen purifies the river water.

Sources said the process worked only in those rivers, where water flowed speedily hitting the rocks and pebbles, exposing water to the air in the process. In the case of Ghaggar, which essentially is a seasonal river, the flow is very slow for the most part of the year, making it very difficult for air to mix with water and clean it.

Sirsa Deputy Commissioner Sameer Pal Srow said the problems could be solved if the authorities in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab ensured setting up of effluent treatment plants in all industries and the STPs for all towns along the river.

Sirsa, December 22
Under a special drive, the authorities has raided several shops in Sirsa to check the use of polythene bags. Five teams of officials spread out in different markets of the town and inspected shops selling carrybags.

District Development and Panchayat Officer AC Sihag, Tehsildar OP Bishnoi and chief sanitary inspector of the Municipal Council Devender Bishnoi were among those who led the teams.

The teams found a large quality of polythene bags, which did not correspond to the parameters fixed by the government, at a shop in Subhash Chowk here and imposed a fine on the shopkeeper.

Fines ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000 were imposed on the shopkeepers found selling polythene bags. In a similar exercise, large quantities of polythene bags were seized from four shopkeepers at Subhash Chowk, Rori Bazar and Ghantaghar Chowk on Monday.

Despite the ban, use of polythene bags has been going unabated in Sirsa and surrounding areas of the district. Both polythene bags and a variety of products in non-biodegradable plastic sachets are a common sight in the market.

Non-biodegradable plastic poses a threat, both to the environment and civic infrastructure management. 

Sirsa/Fatehabad, December 22
The Sarva Karamchari Sangh (SKS), one of the biggest organisation of government employees, today held demonstrations against the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Bill, 2011, at Sirsa and Fatehabad. Employees of various government departments have mobilised against the Bill.

Prem Sharma, district president of the SKS, led the striking employees at Sirsa, while Begh Ram, district unit president was on the forefront of the agitators at Fatehabad.

The striking employees alleged that the UPA government wanted to snatch their pension. The SKS leaders warned that they would go to any extent to oppose the government move. The government, it may be recalled, had set up an interim Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) in 2003.

Rohtak, December 22
The police has booked a couple for lodging a fake complaint against a policeman. The cop had been deputed to enquire into a case regarding a complaint earlier lodged by the accused against some persons.

“The legal action against the couple identified as Ajay Verma and his wife, Savita, of Ladaut Road, has been initiated after a probe by the DSP (HQ), Sumit Kumar. The DSP was asked to enquire into the case after the couple had approached the SSP here to seek an action against Harender Singh, Head Constable, posted at a police post at Sukhpura, alleging that the cop had
not only misbehaved with them but had also allegedly tried to molest Savita,” said a police official.

According to the probe conducted, it was found that the complaint by the couple against the cop was fake and aimed to mislead the police regarding the misdoings of Ajay, who had allegedly indulged in an act of cheating against the cop. It is claimed by the police officials that after the cop had intervened into the earlier case and had resolved the issue involving the couple and some others, Ajay took away the bike of the cop, claiming that he would return it to him in few minutes. But when he did not return, the cop went to his house and demanded his bike back after three days, the couple then approached the SSP alleging molestation and misbehavior against the policeman. 

Chandigarh,December 22
The state government’s project of affixing high-security registration plates (HSRPs) on over 40 lakh vehicles seems to have run into rough weather.

Almost a month after the issue of the letter of intent (LoI) to Delhi-based JKSDD Associates by the Transport Department, the service provider seems to have second thoughts on the project, sources said here today.

While issuing the LoI,
the department had
given 15 days to the company to deposit the performance security amounting to Rs 4 crore.

However, even after one month the company is yet to deposit it, sources said, adding that the whole process would have to be started again if the firm did not come forward to execute the project in “a few days”.

However, SK Joshi, Transport Commissioner, Haryana , hoped that the company would meet its obligations.

The early implementation of the project is necessary in the backdrop of the fact that the Supreme Court had imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the state government in October for disobeying its direction for the implementation of HSRPs.

Earlier, the state government had worked out a competitive pricing for affixing the new number plates with charges at Rs 119 for two-wheelers and Rs 358 for cars.

The charges for the
new registration plates for three-wheelers and trucks were Rs 159 and Rs 275, respectively.

While the scheme would be implementated from the date of notification for new vehicles, the old ones would be given two years to switch over to the new plates.

Chandigarh, December 22
Power transmission in certain parts of Haryana was affected this morning after transmission lines tripped due to dense fog, an official said here.

“Some transmission lines of 220 KV and 132 KV level of the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam tripped and broke down due to dense fog, affecting power supply in Sirsa, Fatehabad, Bhiwani and Hisar districts,” a spokesman of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) said.

He said power supply to Sirsa district, a major part of Fatehabad and three-fourth of Bhiwani, was affected due to the breakdown.

“The 132 KV transmission line emanating from the 220 KV substation industrial area, Hisar, also broke down due to fog affecting power supply in large area of Hisar,” he added.

He said engineers and technical staff started the work of restoration of supply immediately and power supply was restored to some areas by 11 am.

Meanwhile, Power Minister Ajay Singh Yadav today directed officers of the Power Utilities to ensure timely release of new meter connections to electricity consumers. He was presiding over a review meeting in the consumer complaint cell here today.

The minister also instructed them to organise electricity camps in districts for immediate redressal of consumer grievances. The department should start a campaign to curb electricity theft and cases should be registered against those who would found indulging in theft of electricity.—IANS/TNS