Rohtak, August 31
Though the total rainfall in the district is still lower than the average precipitation received during the monsoon season each year, it appears adequate to leave hundreds of hectares of land deluged, thanks to the lack of preparedness on the part of the authorities concerned. Over 10 villages, including several in the Kiloi assembly segment represented by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, were faced with a flood-like situation.

While the district authorities have claimed that pumps and other machinery had been activated to drain out water, residents of Asan, Kiloi, Roorki, Pakasma, Polangi, Mungaan, Bhalaut villages in the Kiloi segment have complained that their fields and the adjoining residential areas were under two to three feet of water.

The flood waters have submerged around 3,000 acres of land in seven villages of this region in the past few days. “This was perhaps due to overflow in the nearby Kiloi drain and the inability of other drains to take excess rainwater received during the past few days,” claimed a farmer of Bhalaut village of the district.

“Had the authorities taken proper measures like cleaning drains and using them to drain out excess water, such a situation could have been avoided’’, claimed Inder Singh of Pakasma village.

Though the officials concerned have claimed that all measures were being taken to drain out water, it is reported that flood waters have also inundated fields in several other villages, including Sundana, Kakrana, Ritoli, Mayna and Karontha.

Though there were eight drains, which were considered the lifeline of the district during the rainy season, lack of cleanliness had resulted in drastic reduction of their water-carrying capacity, claimed sources in the Irrigation Department. The rainwater has also inundated Ch. Ranbir Singh Park and the famous Tilyar Lake complex located on the main Delhi road here.

Chandigarh, August 31
Close on the heels of the 11 Additional Chief Secretaries (ACS), Haryana is set to have seven more posts of Financial Commissioner-cum- Principal Secretary (FCPS) taking their number to 31.

In fact, a meeting of the Departmental Promotion Committee yesterday cleared the promotions of seven officers of the 1987 batch of the IAS. With the addition of seven officers, Jyoti Arora, Devender Singh, TC Gupta, Amit Jha, SN Roy, Avtar Singh and Rajiv Arora, to the rank of FCPS, their number would go up 31, perhaps one of the largest in this part of the country, sources said.

Recently, in an apparent bid to keep senior officers in good humour and end stagnation at the top level, the Hooda government promoted officers up to the 1982 batch of the IAS as the ACS.

A senior government functionary said the promotions had been done with a view to ending stagnation at the senior level. 

New Delhi, August 31
Former Haryana Minister Gopal Goyal Kanda, the prime accused in the Geetika Sharma suicide case, is still undergoing treatment at jail hospital though his condition is reported to have stabilised, said a senior jail official. He is in judicial custody in Rohini jail here for allegedly driving his former employee Geetika to suicide.

“Kanda is still admitted to the hospital, though his overall health has now stabilised. His blood pressure had earlier shot above normal but he is fine now,” said Sunil Gupta, Central Jail Public Relations Officer. He said Kanda had also resumed his appetite.

On the first night of his stay in jail, Kanda reportedly had high blood pressure and was admitted to jail hospital. His appetite had also gone down substantially as he was not taking proper food, said jail officials. The MLA from Sirsa in Haryana, who owns over 10 houses in different cities, was finding it difficult to sleep in jail.

Gupta said Kanda, who is lodged in cell number five of Rohini jail, is maintaining silence most of the time and not speaking about the case. The Rohini court had on Tuesday remanded Kanda to judicial custody till September 11 after the Delhi Police said he was not required for further custodial interrogation.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police is still interrogating MDLR employees and verifying their bank accounts as Kanda is believed to have used them for transactions while purchasing properties. 

Saha (Ambala), August 31
After demolishing the toll tax barrier erected near the Saha Growth Centre here yesterday, residents of nearby villages and industrialists from the centre and the Food Park today damaged the second toll tax barrier, which was being constructed at a distance of about 4-km from here on the Saha-Shahbad Markanda Road.

Local residents had been opposing the move of the state government to set up toll tax barriers on the road, which was being constructed by the Public Works Department (B&R).

Recently, the state government had decided to set up two tax barriers on the road after the project was approved in the state assembly during the recently held monsoon session.

A toll tax barrier was being constructed near the Saha Growth Centre, while another was being constructed at a distance of 4-km from here.

This 17-km stretch connecting Saha and Shahabad had been in a bad condition for the past many years and had recently been repaired at a cost of Rs 14.75 crore. 

Faridabad, August 31
Following the Punjab and Haryana High Court orders, the Deputy Commissioner held a meeting today to stop new constructions in the prohibited zone around the Air Force Station. The high court had categorically said the Deputy Commissioner, Faridabad, would be responsible to stop any new construction in the area.

Apart from maintaining a strict vigil, the authorities decided to meet leaders of associations of residents to ensure that no new construction took place in the prohibited zone. Areas of Dabua Colony, Kapada Colony, Parvatia Colony, Nehru Colony, Oriya Colony are located in the prohibited zone.

Acting on a PIL, the high court had ordered the demolition of structures constructed within the 100-metre prohibited zone around the Air Force Station.

A survey conducted by the Faridabad Municipal Corporation identified about 600 houses and other structures that were constructed after 2001. They were marked for demolition as per the direction of the high court, said Ravi Singla, Senior Town Planner, MC.

Meanwhile, owners of the illegal structures procured a stay order from the Supreme Court against the proposed demolition, Singla said. The matter will come up before the apex court for hearing on October 15.

Jhajjar, August 31
As many as eight persons, including four women, were injured in a clash between two groups in Shahpur village here today. All injured have been admitted to the Civil Hospital in Bahadurgarh where the condition of two of them is stated to be critical.

The incident took place this morning, when both groups assaulted each other with bamboo sticks following a dispute over construction of a wall. Gyan Singh, Ram Pyari, Pawan and Kavita from a group whereas Dharmbir, Saroj, Sandeep and Manju of rival group sustained multiple injuries in the fight.

The police has recorded the statements of both groups.

Sirsa, August 31
Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) supremo Om Prakash Chautala today said the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s decision to order a CBI probe into the murder of a sarpanch in which former minister OP Jain and former Chief Parliamentary Secretary Zile Ram Sharma were allegedly involved was yet another example of poor state of affairs in Haryana under Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Chautala said in the past some days, the high court had made adverse comments on functioning of the state government on several occasions, including the quashing of the HCS examination and criticism of acquisition of farmers’ lands.

The Hooda government, he said, had become immune to its criticism by people as well as by courts and refused to mend its ways.

Accusing the Congress in Haryana of throwing all democratic norms to the wind, the former chief minister said the ruling party aided by the Speaker passed a contempt motion against the Opposition. He maintained that in fact, it was the Opposition in Haryana that had been treated shabbily and with contempt by the Speaker and the ruling party.

Reiterating his party’s opposition to the upcoming nuclear power plant at Gorakhpur in Fatehabad, Chautala said the INLD was opposing the project, because it was a threat to the humanity.

Sonepat, August 31
A police team led by SSP Arun Singh raided the barracks of hardcore criminals lodged in the local district jail on Wednesday night and seized a mobile phone from the possession of Praveen, an alleged accused in a murder case.

A police spokesman said the raid was a part of the search campaign in the jails to curb the illegal activities of the criminals lodged in the jails with the help of mobile phones. On the complaint of the Deputy Superintendent of Jail, a case has been registered against him in the city police station.

Sirsa, August 31
The All-India Democratic Women Association (AIDWA) held a demonstration against food insecurity and staged a dharna outside the foodgrain storehouse on the IIT road here.

Balbir Kaur Gandhi, district secretary, said people did not have the right to two square meals a day. “Huge stocks of wheat rot in government storehouses while a large chunk of population goes to sleep without eating,” she alleged.

She demanded that the government improve its public distribution policy to provide subsidised wheat at Rs 2 per kg to all. — TNS

Chandigarh, August 31
The Hooda government is seeking the Centre’s intervention to get at least two domestic airports in the state, besides establishing stakes in the Chandigarh International Airport. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has held several rounds of talks with Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh to allow the state to expand its aviation clubs into domestic airports on the pattern of Ludhiana Airport in Punjab.

The Haryana Aviation Department has been persuading the Chief Minister to get the two out of its three Aviation Training Centres (ATC) at Hisar and Karnal converted into domestic airports as they already have airstrips from where small planes can operate. The third ATC at Pinjore is currently used for glider training and it is not desirable to have an airport there due to proximity to Chandigarh. Haryana has five civil airstrips at Hisar, Bhiwani, Karnal, Narnaul and Pinjore.

Sources close to the Chief Minister said Rohtak MP Deepinder Hooda was batting for a cargo centre and an airport at Meham (Rohtak), where adequate land is available for the purpose. The Chief Minister took up the issue with the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), seeking requisite permissions and also with Union civil aviation minister Ajit Singh on July 27 in Delhi.

Meham, which over a decade ago was known only for political violence, will now become the hub of cargo services that will take and bring goods across borders. Meham has been chosen primarily for its industrial significance and proximity to the industrial hubs of Sonepat, Gurgaon and Faridabad.

Haryana will eventually follow the Punjab Aviation Model that aims at setting up an airport every 60 kilometers.

Though it is important to have airports near cities, the cost of acquiring land close to cities is prohibitive . the state government is hoping to put aside 2,770 acres for the cargo airport. It will attract business from neighbouring states too. 

Rohtak, August 31
Officials of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday sealed a factory and seized tonnes of banned tobacco products. This was the first major seizure after the government imposed a complete ban on tobacco products in the state on August 15.

A team led by Dr GL Singhal, Joint Commissioner, FDA, raided a factory, which was manufacturing Kuber brand of gutka and other tobacco products, at Kundli in Sonepat district last evening and seized 122 tonnes of the banned products from the factory. The team also raided another such unit owned by MJ Enterprises in the Kundli area and seized Anshul brand of products from there.

Singhal said it was the first such raid after the ban came into effect. Cases under the Food Safety and Standards Act had been registered against the accused, he said, adding that more such raids would follow soon to enforce the ban.