Karnal, March 7
Alarmed by colossal wastage of scarce water resources in rural areas, the Haryana Government is mulling metered water supply in villages. Lakhs of litres of water go waste every day in the state as water taps keep running unchecked and villagers care little to conserve water as a flat rate of Rs 10 per connection is being charged from Scheduled Caste families while the general category consumers are paying Rs 20 per connection.

The metered supply will ensure billing of consumers on the basis of actual consumption and that will ensure that there was no wastage of water, said an official. The consumption of water for drinking, irrigation and animal use is increasing with each passing day and stress on agriculture, focus on increasing the yield and production has resulted in a steep fall in the ground water table in recent years.

Water and sanitation committees, headed by the village Sarpanch, will be constituted in every village to check wastage of water and keep the surroundings clean.

Post Green Revolution, the pressure on ground water is increasing and it is going down by 80 cm to 1 meter per year and the situation was worse in areas like Mahendergarh and some other parts of south Haryana as the rainfall is deficient and replenishment of ground water resource is negligible.

In Karnal, Kurukshetra and the surrounding areas, falling in the rice belt, the consumption of water is more and in spite of a ban on the cultivation of high-water consuming ‘sathi’, the ground water table is going down.

During 1975-76 to 2000-01, the area under rice increased by more than 200 per cent, wheat by about 190 per cent and cotton by 170 per cent while the area under pearl millet and chickpea decreased by about 95 per cent and the consumption of water increased proportionately.

Principal Scientist at Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI) RK Yadav said the water table was decreasing by about 100 cm every year and the central Haryana comprising Hisar, Fatehbad, Hansi, Rohtak and parts of Jhajjar and Bhadurgarh with saline ground water is in the high water table zone due to internal seepage from north and south Haryana.

Due to lack of a proper canal supply, water level is low in south Haryana but in north Haryana, though the irrigation system is fine, the farmers are taking to double rice cultivation.

Chandigarh, March 7
Haryana Finance Minister Harmohinder Singh Chattha today maintained that the Budget presented by him for 2012-13 was “growth-oriented and people-friendly” in which no new tax had been imposed.

Replying to the debate on the Budget proposals in the Haryana Assembly here, Chattha said the Opposition, which had been alleging that the debt burden of the state was rising was perhaps not aware of the factual position. The minister said there was nothing wrong in taking loans, provided the funds were properly utilised for the development of the state. Asserting that the state was marching ahead speedily on the path of development, he said the planned expenditure had increased by six times from Rs 2,108 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 12, 300 crore now. Similarly, an increase of 129 per cent had been registered in capital expenditure during the tenure of the present government. The revenue receipts had increased with better fiscal management.

The House was devoid of the Opposition, members of which had been named earlier by the Speaker or they had walked out of the House in protest against yesterday’s police firing on the agitating Jat reservationists, when Chattha replied to the debate. Hence, no one interrupted him. He said the face of Haryana had changed under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Haryana was now identified as a leading state in terms of development in the entire country. Chattha once again highlighted various schemes launched by the government and mentioned in his budget speech.

Later, the House passed by voice votes all demands for grants moved by Chattha. Earlier, replying to a call attention motion moved by Sampat Singh (Congress) and Ashok Arora (INLD), Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal said the state had taken several steps to correct the regional imbalances, improve gender parity in education and raise learning levels. She said the gross enrolment ratio in schools had improved to more than 99 per cent at primary level and 98 per cent at upper primary level. Dropout rate had declined and transition rate from primary to middle had improved from 92.5 per cent to 94.2 per cent. Similar trends are there in secondary and senior secondary levels. Gender Parity Index also increased at both primary and upper primary levels from 0.83 to 0.84.

Chandigarh, March 7
The disqualification proceedings against five former HJC MLAs and seven Independent MLAs filed before Haryana Speaker Kuldeep Sharma will continue. This ruling was given by the Speaker here.

INLD MLA Sher Singh Badshami had filed disqualification petitions against Om Prakash Jain, Independent MLA from Panipat (Rural), and six other Independent MLAs on the ground that they had joined the Congress government led by Hooda.

The Independent MLAs had sought quashing of the petitions against them on the ground that these had not been verified by the petitioner according to the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure.

After hearing both sides, Sharma ruled out that this defect in the petition would not render it inadmissible and, hence, the proceedings against the respondents would continue. Five former HJC MLAs had also pleaded before the Speaker that the petitions filed against them by HJC president Kuldeep Bishnoi should be dismissed because Bishnoi was no longer a member of the Haryana Assembly as he had been elected to the Lok Sabha.

Bishnoi’s counsel Satya Pal Jain contended that it was no ground for dismissing the petitions against the former HJC MLAs. The Speaker concurred with Jain and ordered that the proceedings would continue. 

Hisar, March 7
Violence continued in the area for the second day today with angry Jat protesters torching a police post, setting a rest house of the Power Grid Corporation of India on fire and damaging an ATM in Hisar Cantonment. Earlier, the protesters had torched the car of a district judge at Mirchpur village late last night .

Deputy Commissioner Amit Aggarwal said the Army had been called in to control the situation.

Educational institutions in the district remained closed today on orders of the district administration. These institutions will remain closed till March 9.

All road and rail traffic remained suspended as Jats protesting against the death of a youth in Ramayan village, near here, yesterday blocked rail tracks and major highways. All traffic on the roads leading to Delhi, Sirsa, Bhiwani and Rajgarh in Rajasthan remained suspended due to road blockades by the protesters.

Thousands of Jat protesters occupied the rail track at Ramayan village after a bloody clash with the police last evening. Their numbers swelled today to several thousands.

The Delhi highway has been closed to traffic since last night. Protesters have been squatting on the road at Mayyar and Garhi villages.

A mob of youths turned violent in Hisar Cantonment, a walking distance from Mayyar village to which Sandeep, who was killed yesterday, belonged. The mob damaged the ATM and other property in the State Bank of India branch and minutes later set the police post on fire. The mob returned to Mayyar after the arson.

Another group of about 300 youths set the rest house of the Power Grid Corporation situated on the Delhi Road on fire causing heavy losses. This rest house was the venue for several rounds of talks between the protesters’ leaders and government representatives.

Corporation officials said the loss ran into crores.

Hundreds of paramilitary and police personnel were deployed around the cantonment to prevent further violence. The car of Jind District and Sessions Judge Raminder Jain, who hails from Hisar, was set afire late last night by Jat protesters at Mirchpur village. The judge was on his way to Jind.

The protesters at most of the places were armed with lathis and farm implements.

However, no violence was reported from Ramayan village. Suresh Koth, a senior khap leader, said the protesters at Ramayan simply squatted on the track but did not indulge in any violence. He said there were no police or paramilitary forces in the area.

The roads from Hisar to Bhiwani were blocked at several places, including Nalwa, Paposa, Tosham, Dhanana and Bawani Khera.

The police used force this morning to disperse protesters at Paposa, Bawani Khera and Tosham. However, the protesters regrouped on the roads after some time.

Sandeep’s body was handed over to his family members this evening. It was taken to Ramayan village and placed on the track. Protesters said it would be cremated only after all arrested in connection with this agitation and yesterday’s incidents were released unconditionally. The doctors were reluctant to disclose the cause of Sandeep’s death.

In a late evening development, a group of about 100 youths detained trucks and other vehicles at Garhi village near Hansi and smashed their windscreens around 8.30 pm. The police had removed all checkposts on the road except the one opposite senior secondary school at Hansi.

Fatehabad, March 7
Angry over yesterday’s police action in Hisar and Fatehabad, Jat agitators today blocked the railway track at Mehuwala bringing to halt rail traffic on the Bathinda-Rewari route.

Bus services on the Fatehabad-Hisar route also remained paralysed throughout the day due to blockade of a road near Agroha.

Gajuwala village continues to be tense, where over 30 persons were injured in a clash between the police and villagers yesterday.

Heavy deployment of police has been made both at Mehuwala and Gajuwala and the authorities have promulgated prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC. Incensed over the death of a youth due to police firing at Hisar, the Jat activists today announced they would stop trains coming at Mehuwala in Fatehabad.

Sube Singh Dhaka, vice-president of the Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti, said this morning that they had served an ultimatum to the authorities to stop rail traffic on this route by afternoon or face disruption.

Efforts by Fatehabad SDM Baljit Singh failed to dissuade protesters, who announced that they would remain peaceful, if the authorities agreed to their demand and stopped the rail traffic on their own.

Finally, the railway authorities decided to stop trains at Hisar and Sirsa.

“We terminated the 54783 Fazilka-Rewari passenger train at Sirsa, when it reached here at 13.55 pm and sent it back to Bathinda by converting it as the 54782 Rewari-Bathinda passenger train,” said Kirpal Singh, Station Master, Sirsa.

“Similarly, the 54782 Rewari-Bathinda passenger train, which had been originating from Hisar instead of Rewari ever since the Jats blocked the railway track at Ramayan (Hisar) on February 19, was stopped at Hisar at 13.55 pm, its starting time,” he added. Meanwhile, in Gajuwala, after intervention of Khap leader Sube Singh Samain last night, the authorities agreed to release about 10 women rounded up by the police yesterday. The women, however, reached the village this morning.

While jawans of paramilitary forces have been guarding the railway track in Gajuwala, villagers wielding weapons have assembled near the village school, some 500 metres from the railway track.

PALWAL: Members of the Jat community on Wednesday staged a dharna outside the Jat dharmshala here in support of reservation and threatened to intensify the agitation after the Holi festival.

Dharamveer Tewati, president of the Palwal unit of the All-India Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti, threatened that the Jats all across the state would take to the streets after Holi in support of the demand for reservation. 

Kaithal, March 7
The results of the Assembly elections in four states pointed that the UPA Government was heading towards a big political crisis and this government could fall any day and the possibility of a mid-term poll could not be ruled out, said INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala here today. Chautala said the people of the country were fed up with the misrule of the UPA Government and big scams had tarnished its image. 

He said in the present fluid political situation formation of a third front was needed and efforts were on to unite the anti-congress political parties so that people could have an alternative. Lamenting the death of a protester, Chautala criticised the handling of the ongoing Jat agitation by the state government.

Chandigarh, March 7
Yesterday’s crackdown by the police on Jat agitators in Hisar derailed proceedings of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha here today as a free-for-all oral contest ensued between the Treasury and the opposition benches. The ruckus ended after Speaker Kuldeep Sharma named 28 MLAs of the Opposition for slogan-shouting, disrupting the proceedings, trooping into the well of the House and casting aspersions on the chair while Congress MLAs got the message and resumed their seats.

Later, the remaining members of the Opposition, too, staged two walkouts to protest the MLAs’ naming after their reasoning failed to influence Sharma. The proceedings began on an acrimonious note when the INLD and the BJP tried to raise the issue during question hour only to be silenced with the assurance that it would be taken up later.

Immediately after question hour, all hell broke loose as the INLD and the BJP upped the ante against the government for firing and cane-charging the protesters while Parliamentary Affairs Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala attempted to drown their voices in the din by his statement on the matter. Raising slogans of “tanashahi nahi chalegi” and “lathi-goli ki sarkar nahi chalegi”, a united Opposition trooped into the well of the House while Sharma insisted that they returned to their seats. Members of the Treasury Benches joined the melee, shouting slogans against the INLD while Surjewala, on his part, kept rattling out instances of firing, repeatedly mentioning the Kandela and Meham firing episodes during the INLD regime.

As neither side seemed willing to relent, the Speaker named a handful of Opposition MLAs two warnings later. The INLD’s Abhey Chautla and BJP’s Anil Vij, including others, escorted by marshalls, marched out raising slogans.

When proceedings resumed, Surjewala tried to continue with his statement even as Leader of the Opposition Om Prakash Chautala sought to know the fate of his adjournment motion on the crackdown. Sharma told him that he was having it examined.

Surjewala alleged that political groups and workers of a particular party with vested interests were fanning emotions and inciting violence. This again prompted the Opposition to come into the well and the Speaker, With a gap of 10 minutes, named all others present barring INLD’s Chautala, Ajay Chautala, Ashok Arora, Sher Singh Badshami and BJP’s Kavita Jain, who were on their seats.

When Surjewala got up again, Chautala and his MLAs insisted those named be called back before the statement was made. The Speaker sought an apology from him for being threatened by the INLD, adding that nobody could browbeat him. Chautala went into the well of the House, seeking that the Speaker revoke his action before leaving in a huff while the INLD’s remaining MLAs and Jain staged a walkout.