Rewari, July 16
Local villagers, who had been protesting against the acquisition of their land and demolition of houses in front of the district secretariat for about a week, today vandalised the secretariat, damaging government property and vehicles parked there.

The protesters were then lathi-charged by the police, injuring at least 12 of them. Some persons threw stones at the agitating villagers from the roof of the secretariat. The protesters alleged that they were pelted with stones at the behest of the police authorities, an allegation refuted by the latter.

The district secretariat houses the offices of the Deputy Commissioner (DC), Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), Superintendent of Police (SP), District Revenue Officer, vehicle registration and licensing officer, among others .

Following the lathi charge, the protesters locked the main gate of the secretariat and raised anti-government slogans. Local leaders owing allegiance to the BJP and the INLD also reached the spot and assured support to the protesters.

However, the protesters left the venue after fiery speeches, slogan-raising and keeping the secretariat locked for about five hours. A heavy police force was deployed at the site as a precautionary measure.

Before leaving, the protesters called for a bandh in the Rewari and Bawal areas on July 18. The District Bar Association also extended its support to the protesters and decided to strike work tomorrow.

The protesters refused to talk to the DC, maintaining that he had not appeared before them within the time limit fixed by them. The injured persons, including district BKU president Ram Krishan Mehlawat and local community leader, Col Ganpat Ram Chokan (retd), have been hospitalised.

Rameshwari Devi, who was critically injured, was referred to Delhi. Another seriously injured protester was later referred to the PGIMS, Rohtak.

CG Rajinikanthan, Deputy Commissioner, Rewari , told The Tribune that residents of 16 villages had been opposing the move to acquire their land for about a month.

“They wanted that the process to acquire their land be stalled till the enactment of a central law on land acquisition. We told them that we had forwarded their demand to the state authorities, but they were adamant on a definite assurance from the district administration which we were not competent to give,” he maintained.

The DC rubbished the allegation that no district officer, including himself, had met the protesters by 12 noon today, as demanded by them. “There was no such ultimatum. They are now cooking up stories,” he said, adding that in any case, nobody could be allowed to take the law into their own hands.

Abhishek Garg, SP, Rewari, said the protesters would be booked for damaging public property. The SP said some policemen had been injured in a clash with protesters.

The Deputy Commissioner has promulgated prohibitory orders under Section 144, CrPC, in and around the district secretariat.

The protest began after the state authorities began the process to acquire nearly 3,000 acres of agricultural land in 16 villages of the district for developing industrial sectors and served notices on the land-owners.

Residents of many villages, including Banipur, Putahera, Manglesar and Garhi Aasanwas, in Bawal block of the district have been staging a dharna at the district headquarters for the past seven days.

Fatehabad, July 16
AICC secretary and Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar today asked opposition leaders Kuldeep Bishnoi of the HJC and Om Prakash Chautala and his sons of the INLD to keep politics away from developmental projects like the Gorakhpur nuclear power plant.

Tanwar, along with Fatehabad MLA and chief parliamentary secretary Prahlad Singh Gillankhera today released copies of letters written to the then Prime Ministers by Bishnoi’s father, Bhajan Lal, and Chautala’s father, Devi Lal, when they were at the helm of affairs in Haryana.

Bhajan Lal wrote to Indira Gandhi on July 20, 1984, then to Rajiv Gandhi on October 2, 1985, and then again to PV Narasinmha Rao on July 16, 1993. Devi Lal, on the other hand, wrote to the then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, on November 23, 1987.

“The crux of these letters is that both Bhajan Lal and Devi Lal wanted the Centre to expedite the setting up of a nuclear power plant in Fatehabad,” the Congress MP said.

The project was earlier named after Kumharia village as a big portion of the land offered for this purpose in 1984 fell in that village, near Gorakhpur. However, the site selection committee of NPCIL later selected the present site, which had over 1,300 acres out of the total 1,503 acres from Gorakhpur village.

“When you seek votes in the name of your respective fathers, why can’t you respect the stand those visionary leaders took on this prestigious project?” Ashok Tanwar asked Bishnoi and Chautalas, who have threatened to oppose tomorrow’s public hearing on the project.

Meanwhile, heavy security will be in place in and around Gorakhpur village in Fatehabad, when the authorities hold a public hearing tomorrow for issuing environmental clearance to Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) for its upcoming atomic power project in the village.

“We have already received 25 companies of the Haryana Police. Some companies of paramilitary forces are expected to reach by the evening,” said Satinder Kumar Gupta, SP.

He said besides the three-tier security - inner ring at the meeting venue, middle ring in the village and the outer ring to man nakas on the outskirts, the police has planned video-filming to identify mischievous elements.

The authorities have also set up close circuit television cameras in the village stadium, the venue for tomorrow’s public hearing.

Moreover, Deputy Commissioner ML Kaushik has promulgated prohibitory orders under Section 144, CrPC, in Gorakhpur village.

Fatehabad, July 16
Several prominent environmental activists and anti-nuclear power activists have castigated tomorrow’s public hearing on green impact of the proposed atomic power project at Gorakhpur in Fatehabad, terming it a farce on democracy.

“We condemn the undemocratic and farcical manner in which the authorities in Haryana are conducting public hearing on the environmental impacts of the proposed Gorakhpur nuclear power plant (GNPP) on July 17 ,” said a statement issued by 14 prominent activists.

Kumar Sunderam of the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace released the statement signed by Vandana Shiva, Medha Patkar, Praful Bidwai, Achin Vanaik, Capt J Rama Rao, V T Padmanabhan, EAS Sarma, Surendra Gadekar, Sanghamitra Gadekar, Sandeep Pandey, Soumya Dutta, Kumar Sundaram, Madhuresh Kumar and Panini Anand here today.

“This public hearing is an important step under the MOEF guidelines to provide an opportunity to the project-affected people to raise their objections. According to the rules, local people should be given the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report a month prior to the public hearing. The EIA report should be translated in the local language and must be distributed freely among the village bodies and individuals concerned of the area,” the activists said.

However, residents of six panchayats in Fatehabad district who will be affected by this project have not received copies of the EIA so far. To some social activists and individuals, soft copies of a 14-page executive summary of the report were provided, that too in English, they alleged.

“We condemn this brazen violation of MoEF rules and basic norms of democracy and transparency. Independent experts have questioned the safety, viability and relevance of nuclear energy at many places across India and the world,” the activists said and demanded that the public hearing must be postponed with immediate effect, and should be conducted in free, fair and fearless atmosphere after providing the entire report to the people one month in advance.

Amritsar, July 16
The All-India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) and victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots have announced that they will resort to an indefinite hunger fast if the Justice TP Garg Commission failed to comply with the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and failed to visit Hondh-Chillar village within 30 days.

Justice TP Garg is heading the one-man commission set up the by the Haryana Government on March 5, 2011, in response to the discovery of the carnage site at Hondh-Chillar village in Rewari district wherein several Sikhs were killed and their properties burnt in 1984.

According to a statement issued here today, the AISSF claimed that till date the Garg Commission had failed to comply with the high court’s April 27 orders and not visited the Hondh-Chillar site where ruins of burnt houses were intact.

Chandigarh, July 16
In a development that would go a long way in checking mishaps and delay in the commissioning of the housing projects, the Electricity Department of the Haryana Government has come out with a new policy on the laying of underground and overhead cables for the upcoming colonies of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) and private developers.

The latest orders of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) will be applicable for the laying of both high tension (HT) and low tension (LT) cables for the new areas being developed by HUDA, private colonisers, Housing Board Haryana (HHB) and the cooperative group housing societies, sources said.

The route for the laying of the cables should involve minimum obstacles such as road crossings and level crossings. The route should be away from parallel running of gas pipes. Besides, efforts should be made to lay the cable along the footpaths, states the new policy.

Cables in the protective areas, including airports, electricity substations, hospitals, educational institutions and military installations are required to be laid in the covered trenches. At the level crossings, road crossings and the water pipleline crossings, the cables should be laid in the high density poly-ethylene (HDPE) pipes having proper inspection chambers at both ends.

The cables should be laid on racks fixed on the wall or supported from the ceilings, the sources said adding that at other places, the cable should be laid directly in the ground under proper protective covers.

Currently, in the absence of proper guidelines, the cables are being laid in a haphazard manner leading to mishaps. Moreover, the haphazard laying of cables, particularly the HT cables, also led to the delay in the commissioning of a number of housing projects being developed by HUDA and private developers.

As a safety precaution for living and non-living things, the word “power cable” should be marked on the protective coverings of tiles, bricks and slabs, the policy added.

Karnal, July 16
Hundreds of farmers today staged a dharna in front of Mini-Secretariat here under the banner of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) and handed over a memorandum to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda through the Deputy Commissioner, demanding the cancellation of auction of agriculture land of a debt-ridden farmer in Talaheri village by Punjab National Bank on July 20.

The BKU would be forced to take "extreme action" in case the government failed to stop the auction and the onus for its consequences would be on the government, vice- president of BKU Rattan Mann said while addressing the farmers.

Blaming the government for the plight of farmers who were reeling under debt due to steep price rise and diminishing returns from agricultural produce, he said the government was deliberately delaying the implementation of the Swaminathan report of fixation of minimum support price (MSP) for crops and was responsible for suicides by farmers and auction of their lands.

"The Swaminathan report has recommended that the MSP should be cost of production plus 50 per cent profit so that no farmer remains under debt,” Mann claimed.

It was a matter of concern that 12 kanals and one marla cultivable land of Ranbir Singh, a farmer of Talaheri village, was put on the block for recovery of merely Rs 1.75 lakh whereas the market value of land was about Rs 45 lakh, he lamented.

Mann, who was accompanied by kisan leaders from Jialal Dhundhwa, BKU president Ambala, former BKU president and general secretary Sultan Singh and Man Singh, president, Rohtak district, Prem Chand and veteran kisan leaders Babu Ram and Joga Singh, declared that Ranbir Singh's land would not be allowed to be auctioned.

Faridabad, July 16
A seven-month pregnant woman of Malerna village died at a nursing home due to alleged negligence of its owner.

Victim’s husband, Raghuveer Singh, a labourer, has complained to the police that he admitted his wife, Phoolkumari, to Bhatia Nursing Home in Ballabhgarh yesterday. Dr Ashok Bhatia, owner of the nursing home, informed Singh that an immediate surgery was required on his wife and asked him to arrange money for the same.

Immediately, Singh rushed to Malerna village to arrange money. When he returned to the nursing home along with the nephew of his village sarpanch, Dr Bhatia asked him to arrange an ambulance. When he went out to arrange the ambulance, he received a call from the nursing home informing him that his wife has passed away. When he reached the nursing home Dr Bhatia had left the place. The police has booked Dr Bhatia.

The investigating officer said a post-mortem examination was conducted at the PGIMS, Rohtak, today.

He said: “The owner of the nursing home will be arrested only after his guilt of negligence is ascertained.”

However, Dr Bhatia rebutted charges against him and said they were motivated. He alleged that the sarpanch of Malerna village instigated Raghuveer Singh against him. He said the patient had come to his nursing home in a serious condition. She was suffering from “eclampsia” and her blood pressure was abnormal. She also had breathing problem.

Dr Bhatia said Raghuveer Singh had left his wife in the nursing home and did not return for more than five hours. He further said no sooner the patient was brought to the hospital he referred the case to some other hospital due to seriousness of her illness.

Chandigarh, July 16
With no coal to set up new thermal plants and not enough to feed existing ones, no gas to set up gas plants, no water to set up hydro plants and a demand that has shot up by nearly 15 to 20 per cent, Haryana is looking towards the Centre for a bailout.

The state plans to raise issues of more coal linkages, increased power availability from the Centre and better quality coal at the Power Ministers’ Conference being organised by the Planning Commission, slated for tomorrow in Delhi.

Sources said Haryana Power Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav would press for an increase in the quota of coal allocated to the state on grounds that the state had no water to generate power from alternative sources.

While putting forward a case for more coal linkages, he is likely to cite the example of an non-operational unit of the Jhajjar thermal plant because of non-availability of coal despite an agreement for the same. While this unit is lying idle, the Hisar thermal power plant, too, is facing a shortfall.

If shortfall in allocation of coal is an issue, sources in the Power Department said the supply being received was of very poor quality with nearly 40 per cent of the coal being wasted. With an ash content of more than 40 per cent with stones and boulders, the minister plans the proposing of coal washeries to enable better supply.

The sources said since the supply of gas for the only gas-based power plant in Faridabad is highly inadequate, the minister would urge the Centre to help in this regard especially since the Central Electricity Authority has already said no additional gas was likely to be available for the next four years or so.

Haryana will also put forth its claim for additional power from the central pool since there are no other sources of power in the state.

Sonepat, July 16
Disposing of a complaint from local resident Yash Pal, Varsha Jain, Civil Judge, has summoned three police officers- SHO Lakhwinder Singh, sub-inspector Ram Phal and ASI Suresh posted at City police station, Gohana, on October 18 and 19, 2008. They have been directed to appear in the court on August 30.

Yash Pal alleged that on October 18, 2008 evening, he along with Vinod were forcibly taken away by these policemen from his house for their alleged involvement in a dacoity. After their beating and torture in the CIA staff office, they were taken to the City police station, Gohana, and lodged in the police lock-up.

Yash Pal was released on October 19, 2008, after receiving a bribe of Rs 30,000 from his father, Hawa Singh. However, a false case under under the Arms Act was registered against Vinod and he was also released on bail the same day. They were threatened by the policemen that if they complained to the higher authorities, they would be done to death.

It was alleged in the complaint that several complaints were made against the policemen to the higher authorities, including the SP, Sonepat; IG, Rohtak police range; and even to the Chief Minister on many occasions but no action was taken. — OC

Kurukshetra July 16
The police has unearthed a spurious liquor manufacturing factory here. As many as 50 bottles, 21 pints, 162 nips of liquor, two drums of chemicals, fake labels and bottle covers have been recovered.

Stating this to mediapersons here today, district police chief Rakesh Kumar Arya said the police got an information that Amarjeet, alias Nikka, a resident of Harigarh Bhorakh, and liquor contractor Harbhajan, had been manufacturing spurious liquor in a rented house in Harigarh Bhorakh and were supplying it to nearby areas for quite some time.

Arya said a police team raided the house in Harigarh Bhorakh and recovered the above mentioned items. The police also recovered fake labels of different brands, including Blender’s Pride, Rum and First Choice. However, the accused managed to escape.

A case under Sections 272, 273, 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120 B of the IPC and the Excise Act has been registered.

Jhajjar, July 16
Four car-borne miscreants reportedly looted Rs 4.5 lakh from two employees of Nirbhey Filling Station near an under-construction bypass on the Jhajjar-Sampla road here today. The miscreants sped away with the booty towards Sonepat after perpetrating the crime.

The police has started investigation after registering a case of loot against four youths on the complaint of the employees in this regard. The incident took place this morning when Dinesh of Bhadani village and Narender of Balambha village were going to Jhajjar on a motorcycle to deposit Rs 4.5 lakh in Punjab National Bank, said Devender Dangi, PRO of the Jhajjar police.

“As they reached near under-construction bypass, their motorcycle was hit by an Accent car from behind. Consequently, the motorcycle overturned along the road. Then four youths got down from the car and started thrashing Dinesh and Narender mercilessly with bamboos. The miscreants sped away from the spot after snatching a bag carrying Rs 4.5 lakh from the duo,” said Dangi adding that all border points of the district were sealed to nab the looters after getting information about the incident but to no avail.

Sirsa, July 16
The Congress today succeeded in wresting control over Kalanwali municipal committee in Sirsa from the INLD. Jagga Singh and Madhu Bala were elected president and vice-president, respectively, of the municipal committee.

Jagga Singh defeated his rival Lakhvir Kaur while Madhu Bala defeated Jagsir Chand.

The Kalanwali municipality has 13 elected members.

Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar and Kalanwali MLA Charanjit Singh of the Shiromani Akali Dal (B) also cast their vote.

Both posts were lying vacant since October 4, 2011, when its president Rajiv Kumar and vice-president Jagsir Chand, both owing allegiance to the INLD, were ousted by a no-trust vote by councillors backed by the Congress.

Hailing the victory, Tanwar said it would pave way for better development of the area.