Fatehabad, November 23
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Saket Kumar today suspended Hamjapur sarpanch Madan Lal for encroachment on the village common land.

The DC has also ordered an inquiry against the sarpanch after framing charges against him under Section 51 (3) of the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, and asked the Ratia SDM to conduct an inquiry.

Interestingly, during demarcation of the panchayat land, the sarpanch maintained that 300 yards of the land was under illegal possession of Ram Swaroop, while the fact was that he himself was the encroacher and was living with his family in a house constructed on that land.

Jarnail Singh, a villager, had alleged in a complaint that Madan Lal, who was custodian of the village common land as a sarpanch, had encroached upon 300 yards of the land and had constructed his house on it.

After an inquiry by the Ratia SDM found him guilty of the Act, the then DC had issued him a show-cause notice on May 31, 2012.

After the sarpanch’s reply to the notice was found unsatisfactory, the then DC had ordered his removal from the post on May 26, 2012.

However, the sarpanch lodged an appeal against his suspension and the Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary of the Panchayat Department reinstated him on March 8, 2013, ordering a fresh demarcation of the panchayat land.

Sirsa, November 23
For farmers watching helplessly their once fertile agricultural land getting ruined due to the twin problems of water-logging and salinity, the government’s recent efforts to reclaim the land have kindled a new hope.

With the intervention of Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar, efforts to reclaim nearly 5,000 acres of land affected by water-logging and salinity in the district have been revived.

DV Deshpande, Chief General Manager of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), visited the water-logged Lohgarh village in Sirsa last evening to have an on-the-spot idea of the problem. He was accompanied by officials of the district administration and the Irrigation Department.

“I have told the authorities to prepare a project and NABARD is ready to fund the project for reclamation of land affected by water-logging and salinity,” Deshpande said, expressing concern at the gravity of the problem in Sirsa villages.

Nearly 5,000 acres of land spread over as many as 15 villages of Sirsa is affected with the twin problems of water-logging and salinity. Makhosarani, Nathusari, Tarkanwali, Rupana Khurd, Darba, Ludesar, Manakdiwan, Lohgarh, Jotawali, Saktakhera and Surtia are some of the worst-affected villages of Sirsa.

Over 4,000 acres of agricultural land in 11 villages of Fatehabad in Tanwar’s Sirsa parliamentary constituency are affected by water-logging and salinity.

Water having salinity contents of more than 2 deci-Siemens per metre (dS/m) is rendered unfit for irrigation and the land affected by salinity in Fatehabad has mean soil salinity up to as much as 11.5 dS/m.

“The water table at some places has come two to five feet high at certain places and water starts oozing out of land during the rainy season,” said Om Prakash, a farmer.

He said farmers like him were trapped in debt as they had not been able to repay loans obtained from banks as well as moneylenders.

“We sow crops in the hope of better luck and spend money on seeds, fertilisers and pesticides, but before we are able to reap the harvest, one rainfall is sufficient to damage our crops,” said another farmer.

He said farmers had to pay revenue, but they were not able to get any produce from their land. “We have been watching our families getting ruined,” villagers alleged.

Sirsa Deputy Commissioner J Ganesan said funds had never been a constraint in reclamation of water-logged land in the district as he had allocated a grant of Rs 2 crore from the Backward Region Grant Funds.

Chandigarh, November 23
The state government has formulated new policies to regularise existing marriage palaces and banquet halls and the construction of new ones in the state.

An official spokesman said here today that for the regularisation of existing marriage palaces, the size of the plot should not be less than 2,000 square metres, besides other prescribed rules.

The width of the approach road should not be less than 12 metres. The application for regularisation should be submitted within 60 days of the date of circulation of this policy.

He said a committee would be constituted for examining the proposals for regularisation of unauthorised marriage palaces, with the Deputy Commissioner as chairperson.

Referring to the policy for new marriage palaces and banquet halls, he said new policy would be applicable to all municipal areas of the state except areas reserved for open spaces or green areas, residential public utilities, public and semi-public spaces and restricted zones around defence establishments.

He said the minimum area requirement for new marriage palaces would be two acres and the maximum five acres. The approach road to the site should be at least 18 metres wide or a 12 metres wide service road should be abutting the sector road.

He said the maximum permissible ground coverage should be 33 per cent, permissible floor area ratio 0.70 for main building and up to 0.05 for ancillary building. The minimum area for parking should not be less than 50 per cent of the site area.

In case of provision of full basement for the purpose of parking, the surface parking could be 33 per cent of the site area. The maximum height of the building, measured from the centre of the road abutting it, should not exceed 21 metres.

The solar water heating system should be installed. The building should conform to provisions of the National Building Code.

The application for sanction of building plans should be accompanied with a certificate issued by a qualified structural engineer. The provision for rooftop rainwater harvesting systems was mandatory.

Fatehabad, November 23
Justice Tejinder Singh Dhindsa of the Punjab and Haryana High Court said today that nearly one lakh cases had been resolved through mutual compromise at various courts of Haryana today at the National Lok Adalat.

Justice Dhindsa visited Fatehabad, Tohana and Ratia today to review the functioning of the lok adalats organised at various courts of the district.

“Lok adalats, a form of the alternative dispute redressal system, is a very well recognised and well accepted means to resolve litigations today. It provides a win-win situation for both the parties and brings an end to disputes through amicable settlement of the issues,” Justice Dhindsa said while talking to The Tribune at Fatehabad.

He said the national lok adalat would help bring down pendency of cases in the lower judiciary.

He said a positive attitude of judges and members of the Bar Association was imperative for the success of lok adalats and he lauded the efforts of District and Sessions Judge SC Goyal and other judges of the court for their litigant friendly outlook.

Goyal said nearly 5,000 cases had been resolved in Fatehabad district today.

Sirsa: District and Sessions Judge Kuldeep Jain said 12,969 cases were taken up by various courts in the district at the National Lok Adalat today.

Out of these, 5,869 were resolved through mutual compromise between the parties.

Besides, 8,047 cases were taken up by various administrative officers.

Lok adalats were also organised at Dabwali and Ellenabad in Sirsa today.

Kaithal: Today's lok adalat, inaugurated by Justice NK Sanghi of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Imrat Pal (70), a farmer of Baata village, whose outstanding debt of Rs 15 lakh, including interest, was settled for Rs 2.25 lakh.

A record number of 4,200 cases of different nature were settled during the lok adalat today.

Gurgaon: Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice SK Kaul today urged the lawyers to never cause inconvenience to litigants.

Addressing lawyers, Justice Kaul, who was here to inspect the proceedings of cases considered by courts in the Lok Adalat, organised by the District (Gurgaon) Legal Services Authority, said quick and quality service to the litigants should be their top priority.

Ambala: More than 8,000 cases were settled at lok adalat in Ambala district today. A campaign to resolve public cases was initiated in the beginning of this month and till yesterday, 4,900 cases were settled. More than 3,100 cases were decided at the lok adalat today of which 55 were of motor vehicle accidents in which Rs 1.15 crore compensation was given to the accident victims.

Karnal: A record number of 2,192 cases were settled through conciliation at the district-level lok adalat held here today. As many as 4,490 cases were taken up and compensation of Rs 50.50 lakh was awarded in 20 cases under the Motor Vehicle Act.

The lok adalat, presided over by District and Session Judge Manjeet Singh, settled 461 cases of mutation, 399 of permanent lok adalat and equal number of challans, 290 pre-litigation, 227 civil and 73 criminal cases.

The lok adalat also decided 13 cases under the Hindu Marriage Act, 130 cases of check bounce, two of arbitration and 91 miscellaneous cases.

Faridabad: Proving a boon for a large number of people, the mega National Lok Adalat programme here helped settle as many as 5,208 cases today. The programme has resulted in resolving a total of 12,472 cases from September 1 and November 23 in the district.

Yamunanagar, November 23
Following hours of rescue operations carried by forest guards, a panther was set free from the traps today afternoon.

The panther, expected to be three years of age, was trapped by locals in the forest areas. It was presumed it might have got trapped on Friday night.

The panther was first spotted by residents of Salempur Kohi village, who brought the matter to the notice of forest officials

Meanwhile, a large number of villagers also reached the spot and made it difficult for the forest guards to release the panther.

The forest guards took more than four hours to release the animal, who continued to struggle as one of his legs was caught in the snare. 

Rohtak, November 23
Live life to the fullest as you live only once. An open mind and a clear focus are vital to achieve creditable success in life. Never miss an opportunity to learn and try to observe and absorb everything you come across.

Noted television actress Meghna Malik made these observations during an interaction with students of the State Institute of Film and Television on the integrated campus of the Government Technical Institutions Society (GTIS) here today.

“It’s a ruthless world and nobody has time or concern for you. You have to work hard to carve a niche for yourself and make your presence felt. Don’t expect a red-carpet welcome once you step out of your alma mater. But anyway, have confidence in yourself and be presentable,” she maintained.

“You won’t get work sitting at home. You’ll have to fight for it, so be prepared. As far as luck is concerned, I firmly believe that your hard work will open the doors of your destiny,” Meghna asserted.

She noted that it does take all kinds of people to make the world, but finding one’s balance in one’s life and the chosen field was must to attain contentment.

Meghna had climbed the popularity charts with her role as ‘Ammaji’ in TV serial “Na Aana Iss Des Laado”.

“Always keep your hopes alive and have a fighting spirit if you want to achieve your goals in life,” she told the students.

Meghna, who comes from Sonepat town in Haryana, also cautioned the students against joining the profession of acting merely due to getting glamour-struck.

She expressed concern on the skewed gender ratio in Haryana and other states.

Kurukshetra, November 23
The Flag Foundation of India, headed by Kurukshetra MP Naveen Jindal, will organise the Kurukshetra Marathon here tomorrow.

A spokesperson of the MP said in a press note today that the event would have three categories. The first half-marathon of 21 km would start at 6:30 am from Dronacharya Stadium and conclude there.

The 10-km race for women and the six-km Tiranga Run would start from Dronacharya Stadium and conclude there. Runners would have to get themselves registered at any of the 13 registration centres.

Rewari, November 23
The police have arrested 19-year-old Mahesh, a resident of Maheshwari village, near Dharuhera, for allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl for over two weeks along with four other youths.

The youths gang-raped the victim, a student of class VII, at the house of 45-year-old Meena Devi at Maheshwari village. The police have also arrested Meena Devi.

Both Mahesh and Meena Devi were today produced in a local court which sent Meena to 14-day judicial custody while Mahesh was remanded in police custody for a day.

On a complaint filed by the victim yesterday, the police had registered a case under various sections of the IPC against six persons, including the woman.

The girl was medically examined at the civil hospital here yesterday.

In her complaint, the victim had stated that being a classmate of Meena’s daughter, she went to her house where the accused gang-raped her about 20 days ago with Meena’s collusion.

She said they even took photographs of the act to blackmail her. They repeatedly gang-raped her for days together, she added.

Faridabad, November 23
The local police has arrested five Bangladeshi nationals living illegally in different areas of the town. A case under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, 1946, and Section 3 of the Passport Act was registered against them.

Police sources said the accused were identified as Ibrahim, Sohil, Majid, Rasar and Yasin. The accused had migrated to the town a few months back and had been residing here without valid documents, including visa and passport, said a police official.

The accused would be prosecuted as per the law and sent back to their country soon as part of legal proceedings against them. While a large number of migrant labourers reached the district each year, several of them could be Bangladeshis who came here to find employment.

"Many such migrants try to settle down here in unauthorised colonies and 'jhuggis' under fake identities and claim to be residents of Bihar and West Bengal,’’ claimed Rajinder Singh Bisla, former MLA and INLD leader.