Yamunanagar, June 18
Despite speculation about the continuation of the BJP-HJC alliance in Haryana, the state leadership today made it clear that the alliance would continue in the run-up to the 2014 parliamentary and Haryana Assembly elections.

"There is not an iota of doubt about the continuation of the BJP-HJC alliance in the state right from the party worker to the national leadership," in charge of the BJP in Haryana Harshvarshan told The Tribune on the sidelines of the state executive meeting here.

Earlier, certain senior party leaders had raised the issue of the alliance with certain leaders alleging that the Kuldip Bishnoi-led HJC was hogging all the limelight and the BJP was a "junior partner" in the alliance.

However, Krishan Pal Gurjar, president of the Haryana unit of the BJP, put all apprehensions about the alliance at rest claiming that the alliance reflected the sentiments of the party workers and was the result of consensus on the issue by the state and the national leadership.

Claiming that there was no question of being a "junior partner" to the HJC, Gurjar claimed that both alliance partners would contest 45 seats each in the 2014 Assembly elections. In fact, in the parliamentary elections, the BJP was in an advantageous position with the party getting eight seats as against two allotted to the HJC.

National secretary of the BJP Capt Abhimanyu claimed that the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre and the Congress government in Haryana were on their way out for their various acts of omission and commission.

The two-day state executive meeting of the BJP came down heavily on the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government for its failure on all fronts.

Fatehabad, June 18
Hectic activities have begun for the proposed Gorakhpur Atomic Power Project, as both district authorities and farmers opposed to the unit have begun meetings to chalk out their future strategies.

Less than a dozen farmers, who attended a meeting called by Deputy Commissioner ML Kaushik to chalk out a roadmap for peaceful possession of land acquired for the project, seemed unwilling to surrender their lands for the price fixed by the authorities, though they maintained they were in favour of the project.

Some farmers emphasised that they had agreed to offer their lands for a minimum price of Rs 50 lakh per acre, and many of them, they feared, may not be willing to settle for lesser amount. The authorities have offered them a price of Rs 20 lakh per acre, which after addition of 30 per cent solatium, 20 per cent no litigation bonus and 12 per cent per annum interest from the date of notification, becomes Rs 34 lakh (approximately) per acre.

The government had issued a notification to acquire 1,503 acres, 4 kanals and 19 marlas of agriculture land for the proposed project - 1,313 acres, 5 kanals, 8 marla from Gorakhpur, 185 acres, 3 kanals, 7 marlas from Badopal and 4 acres, 3 kanals and 14 marlas from Kajal Heri village of this district on July 29, 2010.

Kaushik was at pains to explain to them that the compensation money was enough considering the rates prevalent in the area and said the award money would be distributed within a few days. “Though we are interested to give our lands for the project, but the price offered by the authorities is not acceptable to most of us,” said a pro-nuclear plant farmer after the meeting.

Kaushik, however, maintained that the authorities would not face any hurdles in taking possession of land as most of the farmers, he claimed, were willing to give their lands.

Meanwhile, the farmers opposed to the acquisition, who met in Jat Dharamshala, announced their programmes for the next two months. The farmers, who have been sitting on dharna for the past 678 days, said demonstrations would be held all over Haryana at the district-headquarters level on July 9, the day when their agitation completes its 700 days.

On August 17, when the agitation completes its two years, the farmers have announced to hold a “Maha Rally” at Fatehabad. Hans Raj Siwach, president of the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, said the farmers would constitute anti-nuclear plant teams in every village and oppose every move of the authorities to take possession of their lands.

Hisar, June 18
Hawa Singh Sangwan, president of the Haryana unit of the All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti, today termed the Jat reservation rally held at Kaithal yesterday as “a political stunt aimed at tarnishing the image of Haryana minister Randeep Singh Surjewala and a futile bid to find political ground in the Kaithal assembly segment”.

In a hard-hitting statement issued here, he said Dharampal Chhot, who was the organiser of the rally, was looking to contest from Kaithal constituency from where he had contested as an independent earlier also. The issue of Jat reservation was just an excuse to malign Surjewala.

Sangwan said both Chhot and Yashpal Malik had sought reservation for Jats in Haryana only. This showed their motive behind the rally.

He said the samiti had been demanding that Jats in all states and belonging to any religion should be given the OBC status by the Centre. If that happened, Jats in Haryana would automatically get this status.

The Jat leader said Malik had been thrown out by the samiti because of his anti-Jat activities.

Expressing satisfaction at the progress on the Jat reservation issue, he said the Chief Minister was also trying hard for this and had recently led a deputation of community leaders that met the Union Home Minister.

He said it was strange that while Chhot and Malik had been raising the bogey of reservation, they had not submitted a single memorandum to the Haryana Backward Classes Commission and the National Backward Classes Commission. 

Karnal, June 18
Firmly in the saddle after uprooting the CPM in West Bengal, the All-India Trinamool Congress (AITMC) is making a determined bid to spread its tentacles outside the state and moving northwards to contest all seats in the Assembly elections in Himachal and Haryana.

Announcing the expansion plans of the AITMC, senior party leader and Rajya Sabha MP, KD Singh, who is also in charge of organisational affairs for five northern states, said that TMC was a party of the “common man” which did not believe in regionalism and was committed to protecting the interests of farmers, unemployed youth and poor fight against price rise, crime and corruption.

Castigating the Congress-led government in Haryana for increasing unemployment and crime, Singh said the state was discriminating on the basis of region and caste and vowed to give a tough time to the party in the next elections. Singh lashed out at the government for acquiring precious lands of farmers for opening educational institutions of international standards. But the fact was that the state was lagging behind, he said.

Trying to strike an emotional chord with the people of Karnal, he said he was not an outsider and was married in Karnal in 1988 and would work hard to establish and strengthen the party in Haryana and other northern states. He also indicated that talks were on with political leaders.

The party would contest all 68 assembly seats in Himachal in the elections slated later this year and ensure that it carved out a niche for itself and give a befitting reply to the Congress in the state assembly polls due in 2014.

Singh, who held a “workers meeting” where a felicitation function was organised in his honour, said that membership of the party had already started at the grass-roots level and regular party units would be in place in both Himachal and Haryana in the next six months. The party would emerge as a potential third force in both the states as the people were fed up with both the BJP and the Congress, he claimed.

Sirsa, June 18
With monsoon drawing closer, a report of the District Congress Committee (DCC) on preparedness for the possible threat of floods from the Ghaggar has left the irrigation authorities red-faced in Sirsa.

The DCC has prepared a report after inspecting the entire 30-km stretch of the Ghaggar downstream of Ottu Weir and up to the siphons under Indira Gandhi Canal where the River leaves Haryana to enter Rajasthan.

The report, which the DCC president Malkiat Singh Khosa handed over to the Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on his visit to Sirsa yesterday, said the conditions that led to the devastating floods in the Ghaggar in 2010 still exist.

Khosa said he has also given a copy of the report, prepared after inspections done by village sarpanches and Congress workers, to Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar so that he could take up the issue at appropriate level.

Jagpal Singh, Executive Engineer for Ghaggar Division, said the work is in progress for the past two years and a sum of Rs 5.63 crore has been spent on widening and deepening of the creek under MNREGA.

He admitted that work is not complete, but he failed to quantify the works completed out of the comprehensive plan.

Floods from Ghaggar had inundated over 1.20 lakh acre of agriculture land in Sirsa and Fatehabad that year.

Most of the damage in 2010 was done on the downstream of Ottu, where lands of several villages had come under several feet of water.

After the 2010 floods, the authorities had made a comprehensive plan to save areas downstream of Ghaggar from floods and had claimed that the work would be completed before the onset of monsoon.

The comprehensive plan included widening and deepening of main creek of the Ghaggar downstream of Ottu besides construction of embankments from Nejadela to Musahibwala.

The report prepared by the DCC said that out of the 200 feet wide main creek of the Ghaggar, merely 50 to 60 feet is left, as some farers had encroached on the rest and the authorities have failed to widen and deepen the creek.

The report said even the bandhs of river are too weak and need to be strengthened and there is lot of vegetation that can threaten floods.

The report also suggested setting up of another siphon under the Indira Gandhi Canal to ensure smooth flow of water towards Rajasthan.

A report contrary to the claims of authorities by the district unit of the party in power in Haryana has caused a lot of embarrassment to officials of the irrigation department. 

Karnal, June 18
Shamina Shafi, a member of the National Commission for Women (NCW), arrived here at Nari Niketan and talked to five inmates, brought here from "Apna Ghar", Rohtak.
She spent nearly an hour with them.

She enquired the girls about the alleged exploitation and also took stock of the arrangements made for them at the Nari Niketan. The details of conversation were not disclosed.

Earlier, she met Deputy Commissioner, Karnal, Renu S Phulia before coming to the Nari Niketan. Shafi also stressed upon the Nari Niketan staff to pay special attention to counselling of the girls and also talked to Dr Poonam, entrusted with the task of counselling.

She sought information about the counselling from Dr Poonam and also called for the register in which records of days and duration of counselling are maintained, sources said.

She left immediately after meeting the inmates without talking to the media. The DC said she had no knowledge about what transpire between Shafi and the girls.

Jind, June 18
Creating a history, the village panchayat of Bibipur village held the first all-women meeting of the gram sabha on female foeticide today.

The sabha resolved to step up its efforts to prevent any incident of female foeticide in the village through various measures. The video recording of the proceedings will be sent to the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj, whose officials had visited the village on May 29 to take stock of the drive launched by the village body in this regard.

Though the first meeting of the gram sabha for women was chaired by the sarpanch, Sunil Jaglan, around 225 women of the village took part in the meeting, which also saw the participation of some women officials of the district administration. The sabha decided to set up a four-member committee each in all 14 wards of the village to keep a track of the programme.

The committee consisting one male member and three women would remain in contact with pregnant women. The sabha whose proceedings were recorded formally in a register of the village panchayat for the first time also decided to get the names of pregnant women registered in the second month of the pregnancy only. Earlier, this registration was mandatory in the fourth month of the pregnancy.

The sabha also decided to report the violations if any to the sarpanch who has been authorised to take legal action against the accused. “All young mothers ought to deposit an amount of Rs 10,000 in the bank in the name of newly born girls instead of paying such an amount for detection of sex and for termination of pregnancy,’’ said an eldery women Birmati. She said it was education and awareness among the women which, was necessary if success was to be achieved on the issue of the child sex ratio.

Another villager, Poonam, said the girls ought to get special treatment right from the birth till their marriage so that they were not considered a burden. Another resident, Seema, said proper implementation of the schemes launched by the government was needed to ensure a change at the ground level.

Neelam Arora, BDPO, said women and youth of the village must come forward to take up the challenge. It may be recalled that a team led by the Additional Secretary of the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj Bodies, Hrusikesh Panda, visited the Bibipur village on May 29 last in connection with the launch of a drive aimed at improving the child sex ratio in the state. The team not only appreciated the work done at the panchayat level but also signalled to showcase the village as a model village at the national level regarding the programme. 

Karnal, June 18
A minor land dispute in Gullarpur village claimed the life of a farmer who was thrown from a roof last night.

The deceased, Sultan Singh, had taken a land on a ‘theka’ (hire) for cultivation from a landowner but the land in question was disputed and the rival party objected to the cultivation of land.

Maya Devi and her two sons, Anil and Sunil, who objected to the cultivation of the land beat up Sultan Singh in his fields. Later, he went to the house of Maya Devi for an amicable settlement but the trio allegedly threw him from the roof of the house, resulting in his instant death.

Sonepat, June 18
Under a World Bank scheme, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has prepared a pilot project to develop a 37-km belt on the GT Road in Sonepat district as a model in the country from the road safety and environmental point of view.

Besides, closing all cuts on the road, the project will include nine flyovers, 12 underpasses, two pedestrian’s underpasses and five-ft overbridges in this stretch of the GT Road.

To move further on this project, a high-level meeting of the officers of the NHAI-project consultant Deepak Kumar, technical manager NK Jain and Executive Engineer LK Ahuja with Sonepat Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Aggarwal, district revenue officer and DSP Randhir Saini was held at the Ethnic India Tourist Complex near Rai yesterday in presence of Rai MLA Jai Tirth.

After hours long deliberations on various issues relating to the project, they all inspected the entire belt to have on the spot assessment of the proposed infrastructure development.

This entire belt is dotted with various kinds of developmental activities, including more than 12 housing commercial complexes of the private builders, universities and other institutions of higher learning, highly developed industrial zones, Rajiv Gandhi Education City and proposed fruit and vegetable market of international standard.

Fatehabad, June 18
Standing crop on several acres of land was submerged under water due to a breach in the Chanderawal Minor on Bhuna - Kulan road in Fatehabad today.

Villagers Shamsher Singh and Rameshwar said they noticed water flowing from the canal towards the fields around midnight. When they went near the Chanderawal Minor, they noticed a 40-feet breach on its bank.

Officials of the Irrigation Department reached in the morning and plugged the breach with the help of villagers after efforts of seven hours. The farmers said their cotton crops on six acres each had been affected, while others said their cotton and vegetable crops have been submerged.

Om Parkash, Executive Engineer of the Tohana Water Services Division, said the breach was plugged within four hours of getting the information. He said the reasons of the breach could be the holes caused by rats or the extreme hot conditions that affect the compactness of the soil.