What it will cost the government

If the decision to provide nine subsidised LPG cylinders to all consumers in Haryana is implemented, an additional financial burden of over Rs 500 crore would have to be borne by the state. The benefits accruing from the “populist” decision could outweigh the financial burden on the state in the backdrop the Opposition stepping up its attacks on the Hooda Government for its various acts of omission and commission.

Gurgaon, September 21
The magisterial inquiry into the Maahi case has been completed and the inquiry officer, Gurgaon Additional Deputy Commissioner K.M.Pandurang, has submitted his report to the Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner, PC Meena.

The probe report, which was supposed to be submitted within 15 days, has been filed after three months. It has held six persons responsible for the incident.

On the night of June 20, a girl named Maahi fell into a 68-foot deep borewell in front of her home in Kasan village near Manesar. She could not be saved despite efforts by the district administration, an Army team, police officials and Metro Rail and Fire department staff.

Those held liable include owner of the building Rohtash Tayal, caretaker Surender Singh, Kasan village Sarpanch Bimla Devi, Gram Sachiv Surjeet, panch of the ward concerned and the owner of the boring machine used to drill the borewell.

Meanwhile, the district administration has got Rs 1 lakh deposited in a fixed deposit account in the name of a sibling of Maahi, who will get the interest amount annually.

As per the inquiry report, Rohtash Tayal, the owner of the building in which Maahi and her parents were residing, got the borewell dug illegally without taking prior permission from the competent authority.

"The building owner got three borewells dug illegally, of which one was operational, while two others were left abandoned. Had he got the abandoned borewells filled up properly, this incident would not have happened," the report maintains.

Surender Singh, caretaker of the building who used to collect rent from the tenants on behalf of Rohtash, has also been held responsible as he also runs a shop in the same vicinity. The owner of the borewell-drilling machine has also been held responsible for digging the borewell illegally without prior permission from the competent authority.

In the inquiry report, Sarpanch of Kasan Bimla Devi, gram sachiv Surjeet and panch of the ward in which this incident took place have also been held responsible as according to the inquiry officer, "it could not be believed that when three illegal borewells were dug using heavy machines these village-level functionaries were not aware of it."

Moreover, the sarpanches have given affidavits to the Block Development and Panchayat Officer concerned stating that whenever any illegal borewell is dug in the gram panchayat area, the Sarpanch will inform the district administration, which they did not do in the said case. "Hence, the sarpanch has failed to check the illegal and abandoned borewells in her area," the report states. 

Gurgaon, September 21
Two employees at the Sirhol toll plaza on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway were arrested yesterday for forcibly charging toll despite the court’s order stalling the same.

The police said Sanjay, an employee of Delhi-Gurgaon Superconnectivity Limited (DGSCL), and Jacky, an employee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, were virtually extorting toll from commuters.

"They were charging Rs 21 from the car drivers. They threatened people who refused to pay the fee. We have booked them under section 384, IPC. Some more arrests are in the offing," said investigating officer Arun Kumar.

The case was registered on the complaint of Kamal Verma of Delhi. Kamal, a building contractor, was returning home from a construction site here. He was first asked to pay Rs.21 as toll. But instead of Rs 21, a Rs 500 currency note was taken away from his wallet, making him and other commuters raise a hue and cry.

"We recovered Rs 3,500 from Sanjay and Jacky . We have asked DGSCL to conduct an inquiry at their end,” said Surender Pal, DCP (West).

The accused, however, claimed that the complainant was driving a commercial vehicle. “It was a commercial vehicle which was trying to evade toll in lane No.8. He was stopped and informed about the court’s directive on commercial vehicles. He claimed ignorance and refused to pay. A man, claiming to be a Haryana minister’s relative, came out of his vehicle that was following Kamal’s and called the police. We were just doing our duty,” said an accused.

Rohtak, September 21
There is a problem of waterlogging and stagnation of rainwater in low-lying areas of the region, including Rohtak and Jhajjar districts, despite claims made by officials that the issue is not too serious.

Some schools and other spots, including residential areas and agricultural fields, are awaiting measures for draining out the water.

“Schoolchildren have to cross water levels of up to two and a half feet daily for the past 10 days,” said a schoolteacher.

Requesting anonymity, he said the problem was more acute in the primary section of the school and the students had to be shifted to another building due to waterlogging. He revealed that water was standing in front of the gate of the senior secondary school building.

The problem was taken up by the village panchayat with the officials concerned, but no pump had been installed to drain out the excess water, he said.

The government school here has a strength of over 310 students and is located on the approach road, about 5 km from National Highway number-71, connecting Rohtak with Jhajjar.

The Primary Health Centre and the Veterinary Hospital located nearby are also under up to two feet of water and have been inaccessible since the last rainfall. The doctors and the staff of the both the centres have been shifted to another building till the problem is solved, it is revealed.

“We have requested the authorities concerned for help and have been told that pumps would be installed tomorrow,” claimed Jagmal Singh, the Sarpanch of the village.

Government Senior Secondary School at Garnavathi village of Rohtak district is also facing a similar situation for the past about a month. “Though the water is still accumulated in the school, it started receding after the officials concerned started dumping dry sand at the waterlogged area yesterday,” claimed S.N. Shastri, Principal of the school.

The school building was old and low lying and the problem emerged after a good rainfall every time, said a teacher of the school. He claimed that stagnation of stormwater resulted in filthy conditions and breeding of mosquitoes, posing a health risk to both the students and the staff.

Hundreds of acres of agricultural land in Rohtak and Jhajjar are still under rainwater and awaiting drainage, it is added. 

Chandigarh, September 21
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today quashed the proceedings for the acquisition of 56 acres in Bhahadurgarh tehsil of Jhajjar district.

The land was being acquired for setting up a grain market.

The order came on a petition alleging that no notice was issued in newspapers regarding the acquisition of land.

It was alleged that notifications under Section 4 and 6 of the Land Acquisition Act were issued for acquiring the land. But the villagers were not even aware of the process as advertisements were not issued in newspapers.

The villagers claimed they came to know about the process only after a politician mentioned in his speech that land was being acquired.

Taking note of the failure of the government to issue advertisements, the court quashed the proceedings. 

Chandigarh, September 21
Against the backdrop of the statewide protests by members of the Haryana Roadways Workers Union, the Transport Department today cancelled the quotation for the privatisation of the transport workshop in Faridabad.

According to a statement issued here today by Sarbat Singh Punia and Dharambir Hooda, president and general secretary, respectively, of the union, Director-General of the Transport Department Arun Kumar announced the decision to cancel the quotation in the presence of protesting employees in Sector 17 here.

The statement claimed that the Director-General also assured the protesting employees that their pending demands, including recruitment of employees on a regular basis and putting the selected conductor on training, would be met soon. — TNS

Hisar, September 21
Theft of power all over Haryana continues unabated. Although the power distribution companies have been trying to curb theft, the revenue losses show no signs of going down.

Recently, the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) launched a campaign against theft of power. Surprise raids were conducted on suspect consumers. A large number of consumers was found stealing power. The maximum number of thefts was detected in the Hisar operation circle of the nigam.

The nigam detected 944 cases of theft of electricity during August and imposed penalty amounting to over Rs 8 crore.

A spokesman of the nigam said here that during the current financial year, the operations and the enforcement wings of the nigam had detected 9,000 cases of theft of power and imposed a penalty amounting to Rs 23.70 crore on the erring consumers. They carried out 39,761 raids during this period and 9,000 consumers were found stealing power. Complaints against the 5,376 erring consumers who did not pay the penalty within the specified time were lodged with the police.

The largest number of theft cases, 2,443 have been detected in the Hisar operation circle followed by Gurgaon 1,920, Bhiwani 1,847, Faridabad 1,768, Sirsa 444, Rewari 305 and Narnaul 275.

The continuing theft of power has forced the nigam to relaunch the Theft Informer Scheme in a bid to involve consumers in curbing theft of power. The informers and the nigam officials who detect a theft will be given financial rewards.

Under the scheme, a person giving information of theft of electricity being committed anywhere in the area of DHBVN, would be given 20 per cent of the amount of the penalty imposed on the consumer. Ten per cent of the realised amount would be distributed among the officials involved in detecting theft and realising the amount of the penalty as incentive.

Theft of power can be reported on telephone number 01662-221527 or toll-free number 18001801011 during working hours. The informer at the time of reporting a theft will provide a code word to claim the reward. The operator will record this code word in the register and in turn provide him a unique number of the case.

The theft can also be reported by email at hookacrook 4dhbvn@yahoo.co.in or hookacrook4dhbvn @gmail.com. 

Rewari, September 21
An undergraduate girl Asha (23) of Sundroj village, who got married to Deepak on May 6, 2011, has alleged that before their marriage she was informed that Deepak was a postgraduate (MA and B.Ed), but recently she discovered that he is a matriculate only.

Asha further alleged that she was persistently harassed by her in-laws for more dowry and was eventually made to leave Bahala recently. The couple has a 7-month-old daughter also. The police has registered a case against her husband Deepak, father-in-law Sumer Singh, mother-in-law Maya Devi and two others, all residents of Bahala village, near Kosli.

Ambala, September 21
In a suspected case of honour killing, a 21-year-old girl was found hanging from the ceiling of her house at Laha village on the Naraingarh-Panchkula road.

Komal of Bada Siana village in Kaithal district had eloped with a local boy Sanju three days ago as the two wanted to marry each other.

Sanju’s elder brother, Dalbir Singh, said four persons, including Komal’s elder brother Ninder, father and two others, arrived at the farm house and started beating the couple and other family members. However, they managed to flee. When he returned after a few hours, he found Komal hanging with her ‘dupatta’ tied to the window grill and Sanju was missing.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rural) Nazneen Bhasin said from the preliminary investigations the possibility of honour killing could not be ruled out. She said the police had launched a search operation to trace Sanju and efforts were on to nab the girl’s family members.

She said the district police had initiated investigation by pressing into service a team of forensic experts and dog squad. She added that the body had been sent for a post-mortem examination to the Civil Hospital and the medical report was awaited.

Meanwhile, the Naraingarh police has registered a case against four persons, including the victim’s brother and father under Section 302 of the IPC. The DCP said during investigations it had been found that Komal’s feet were touching the floor, which confirmed that she was killed and hanged to manipulate with the evidence. She said the police had also registered a case of Sanju’s kidnapping, whose whereabouts were yet to be traced. 

Gurgaon, September 21
Several trade union leaders as well former members of Team Anna have demanded the reinstatement of sacked Maruti workers and the opening of the local units of Eastern Medikit.

The trade unionists and socialist leaders were addressing a joint rally in support of the Maruti and Eastern Medikit workers here this evening.

National leaders of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, Indian National Trade Union Congress, Hind Mazdoor Sabha and several other workers' associations participated in the protest demonstration staged in front of the mini-secretariat here.

Prominent trade unionists Tapan Sen, Amarjeet Kaur, Satbir Singh, S.D.Tyagi, Suresh Gaur, Surender Singh, Surender Lal, Rajender Singh and Ranbir Singh, besides former Team Anna members Prashant Bhushan and Sanjay Singh also addressed the gathering.

They extended their support to 546 regular and nearly 1,900 contractual workers sacked by the Maruti management following the arson at its Manesar plant. They also demanded an end to the "illegal" lockout at Eastern Medikit’s four plants located in Udyog Vihar here. Nearly 1,200 permanent and 600 casual workers have been protesting for their job and salaries for the past several days. 

Sirsa, September 21
Agitating students of Chaudhary Devi Lal Memorial Government Engineering College at Panniwala Mota in Sirsa have intensified their 10-day-old strike against their Director Principal Devender Singh Mor.

Providing a new momentum to their agitation, the students converted their movement into a hunger strike from today.

Eight students have begun their fast from Thursday midnight and the striking students said they would not eat a grain till Mor was removed from the college. The students who are observing fast are Sombir, Chetan, Deepak, Amit, Vikram, Ronit, Manphool and Vishnu Dutt.

“Although 10 days have passed since we started out agitation against the tyrannical attitude of Mor, neither the district authorities nor the state government had done anything to address our problems,” alleged Ravi, a striking student sitting on a dharna outside the college. He said the students were firm on their demand for Mor’s removal.

Karnal, September 21
Residents of Manglora village today blocked the Karnal-Meerut highway near the Lalu Pura curve, 20 km from here, to protest against the smuggling of animals from Haryana to the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh for slaughter.

The villagers alleged that the animals were being illegally smuggled to UP and in spite of intercepting dozens of trucks and Canters loaded with animals, the illicit animal trade was flourishing due to the alleged connivance of the police with smugglers.

The villagers and some NGOs working for the protection of animals today caught four Canters of animals and handed over the accused to the police. The villagers alleged that about 50 persons from Uttar Pradesh came and freed the vehicles from police custody.

Alleging that this could not have happened without a tacit understanding between police and the animal smuggling mafia, the villagers blocked the road for almost two hours, demanding action against the policemen.

Deputy superintendent of police Joginder Rathi reached the spot and got the blockade lifted after assuring the villagers that the matter would be investigated. 

Sirsa, September 21
Irked over the alleged indifferent attitude of the authorities towards their longstanding problem of choked sewers in their area, residents of Gali Karkhana Wali on the Begu road of Sirsa blocked traffic for over two hours.

The residents alleged that their repeated requests to the authorities to redress their grievance had fallen on deaf ears of officials 
of the Public Health Department.

The residents alleged that a dairy situated in the area had also been provided connection from the sewer line resulting in more pressure on the system.

The police and the Executive Engineer of the Public Health Department, Raj Kumar Dhiman, persuaded the residents to lift the blockade.

“We have a proposal to lay 12 inches sewer line in this area in place of the existing 8 inches line to address the increased pressure. Till the proposal is implemented, the department will continue cleaning the sewer lines at regular intervals,” Dhiman said

Admitting that the problem of the residents was real, he maintained that the department’s workers had already started work on the cleaning of sewer lines.

Hisar, September 21
The post-mortem examination of the body of a villager who committed suicide after his teenaged daughter was gangraped could not be conducted today as well as his kin insisted on the arrest of the accused as a precondition.

The villager committed suicide by consuming pesticide on September 18 after he came to know that his teenaged daughter was gangraped a few days earlier.

Despite registering a case and identifying a few accused, no arrest has been made so far as they have fled to other states.

Meanwhile, the ASI investigating the case has been sent to the Police Lines after allegations of trying to favour the accused were levelled against him.

The police is also investigating charges that a Punjab Police official hailing from Dabra village was threatening the girl’s family.

Meanwhile, a local court has extended the police custody of two policemen arrested in the case of custodial death in Sadar Police Station here.

The post-mortem report of the youth who had died in police custody has revealed death by asphyxiation.

Faridabad, September 21
In an effort to win over the estranged leaders of the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) in the state, its chief Kuldeep Bishnoi today met a local leader, Rishi Pal Chaudhary, whose mother Omvati Chaudhary is a sitting corporator.

The response from Chaudhary, a former president of the youth wing of the HJC who has kept a low profile for the past two years, was positive. He attributed his low profile to engagements in Ward no. 6, represented by his mother.

Bishnoi claimed that a number of leaders in Haryana who were once politically associated with his family but had become inactive, had shown an inclination to rekindle the association. He, however, declined to indentify them.

Responding to media queries on the instability of the alliance between the HJC and the BJP, Bishnoi hit back at the critics, saying they were “kite-flying”. He retored, “The alliance is rock solid. Its opponents are in jitters on account of its gaining popularity.”

He said the HJC and the BJP were jointly holding meetings in villages in the state.

On the issue of FDI in retail, hike in diesel prices, and cap on the number of subsidised LPG cylinders, he said they were red herrings resorted to by the Congress-led UPA to divert public attention from coalgate. He alleged that Congress MP from Kurukshetra Naveen Jindal was a major beneficiary in the alleged bungling in allocation of coal blocks. Bisnoi demanded action against the culprits in coalgate in the way action was taken in 2G-Spectrum and Commonwealth Games cases.

The HJC chief came down heavily on former Chief Minister and INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala with regard to the latter’s concerns against corruption. “Chautala is misleading the public as he and his family are imbroiled in a disproportionate asset case.

He was also critical of the Haryana goverment and said some of its ministers were under the scanner for criminal conduct.