Sirsa/Fatehabad, April 17
The bad weather prevailing in the area for the past two days has hampered the process of its harvesting of wheat crop and its procurement in the grain markets.

There seems to be no immediate respite from the rough weather as the forecast released by Department of Agriculture Meteorology of Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agriculture University, Hisar, today suggested possibility of light rain and thundershowers at isolated places on April 18 and 19 due to the effect of western disturbances.

While the crop brought to the grain markets has been drenched, forcing the procurement agencies to delay the purchase, farmers who had started harvesting their wheat had to shelve their plans for the time being.

Rain and winds have hit the purchase as well as harvesting of the crop at a time when the procurement season had just begun.

“I brought my crop to the market on Tuesday, but I am still sitting here with my crop and now I have been told that there is no scope of procurement of my wheat for the next three days,” said Baldev Singh, a farmer in Fatehabad grain market.

Sanjeev Sachdeva, secretary of Fatehabad Market Committee, said the authorities had told the farmers not to bring their crops to the grain market before April 20 to avoid inconvenience.

Sachdeva said no purchase agency would risk purchasing wheat with moisture content of more than the specified limit of 12 per cent.

Karamjit Singh, another farmer in Sirsa grain market, said he had already started harvesting wheat, but the rain had forced him to put his plans on hold. A part of his crop was lying in the grain market while the rest was standing in the fields at the mercy of rain gods, he added.

“Although the procurement process has been hampered in Sirsa grain market due to bad weather, we have enough sheds where heaps of crops can be placed without the fear of damage. Once the crop is dry, procurement will not be a problem here as all procurement agencies have been purchasing the crop simultaneously. While in many other grain markets of the state procurement agencies have fixed days for their procurement, in Sirsa, we have divided the entire mandi in different zones and assigned the job of procurement in each zone to a separate agency,” said Surender Minchnabadi, president of Grain Market Traders Association of Sirsa.

Ram Avtar Yadav, District Food and Supplies Controller, Sirsa, said it was a tricky situation for the procurement agencies, as the farmers wanted their wheat to be purchased immediately, while the agencies had to comply with norms regarding moisture content.

He, however, said the agencies had already purchased 4,000 Metric Tons of wheat in the district so far.

Meanwhile, traders of Fatehabad grain market, led by their president Rohtash Sahu, met SDM Shalini Chetal today and complained that while procurement of wheat had already started in other districts of Haryana, the agencies were refusing to buy even a grain by taking shelter under the excuse of moisture content.

Hisar, April 17
A large quantity of wheat stored in a private godown at Hansi town of the district for two years has been decaying. The authorities of the Food and Civil Supplies Department have started withdrawing the grain from the godown, which has around 30,000 metric tonne of wheat.

Rotten wheat being segregated at a godown in Hansi

The authorities said the exact amount of the wheat damaged would be known after segregation of rotten and good-quality grain. The wheat would be recovered from officials held responsible. The district Food and Civil Supplies authorities started taking the wheat bags out of the godown yesterday.

The contract of the government with the owner of the godown, situated in the Jaggabara locality of the town, had expired. With several bags filled with rotten grain, it seemed that a large quantity of the grain stored had been rendered unfit for human consumption.

Officials said 60,000 bags, each containing 50 kg of wheat, were stored in the rented godown in 2012. Agencies had procured 6.75 lakh metric tonne of wheat in 2012 and there was a space crunch for storage of grain. The Food and Civil Supplies Department then took the godown on rent for two years. The grain could not be shifted to the Food Corporation of India for supply to the people.

District Food and Supplies Controller Ghanshyan Dass said today that they were in the process of segregating the wheat. "I cannot say how much wheat has rotten. The department will take action against negligent officials and recover the wheat from them," he said.

He admitted that the grain was not fit for human consumption and would be auctioned for cattle consumption. He added that the department made elaborate arrangements for storage this year as new godowns had been set up for storage of around 350 metric tonne of grain in the district.

Karnal, April 17
Unpredictable climatic conditions have created tension among farmers. The crop of many of them is yet to be harvested while many others are waiting in mandis.

Rain lashed the town today, exposing poor wheat storage arrangements. Many heaps of wheat covered with polythene were lying in the open.

Farmers alleged that the administration was not serious and had no plan for protection before purchase.

They said they had to make temporary arrangements to protect their produce by covering it with polythene. An expert said the recent rain and thunderstorms has affected the wheat crop in many parts of the state.

A total of 2,39,463 metric tonne of wheat was received in the district till last evening. Around 62,886 metric tonne of wheat was yet to be lifted from grain markets in the district.

The Food and Civil Supplies Department had purchased 95,404 metric tonne, Hafed 93,874 metric tonne, Food Corporation of India 17,267 metric tonne, Agro 16,991 metric tonne and Haryana Warehousing Corporation 15,927 metric tonne in 23 grain markets.

Farmers waiting to sell their produce for the last three days exposed the claims of the district administration that procurement agencies had purchased the entire wheat that had arrived.

Said Surinder Kumar, a farmer, "I have been here for three days to sell 50 quintal, but no agency has purchased my produce." He said the administration claimed that the entire wheat had been purchased, but the produce of many farmers was yet to be bought.

Said Joginder Singh, another farmer, "I have been at the grain market for two days, but am still waiting." Nasib Singh, yet another farmer, alleged that there was no storage arrangement for wheat which was yet to be purchased. He said they had made their own arrangements to protect their produce from the rain.

Bhiwani, April 17
The below the poverty line (BPL) families of Palwas village in Bhiwani district have complained that rotten stock of grain was provided to them in the monthly ration by the depot holder of their village.

Villager Om Bir said they had been getting poor quality of wheat for the past three months. “The wheat is not even fit for consumption of cattle as it is infested with pests. We complained to the ration depot holder Kushan Pal but he expressed helplessness, stating that he got the stock from the department”, he added.

Bhiwani District Food and Supply Controller (DFSC) Anil Kumar however denied the reports of rotten grain being supplied, stating that they had checked the grain and it was of good quality. “It could be possible that one sack of rotten grain was supplied to the depot holder mistakenly. The sack has been replaced now”, he said.

Sirsa, April 17
Wheat purchased by government procurement agencies will no longer be stacked in the open plinths.

Under the Private Entrepreneur Godown (PEG) Scheme, the Haryana State Co-operative Supply and Marketing Federation (Hafed) will be adding 30 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of covered warehouse facilities by the end of this financial year.

Chander Shekhar Mehta, a local entrepreneur, today dedicated his newly constructed JBN Warehouse set up on 11 acres with a storage capacity of 30,000 MT to Hafed at Dhaban village in Sirsa.

Hoshiari Lal Sharma, a local Congress leader, had also set up a warehouse with a capacity of 13,000 MT on 5.5 acres.

A big warehouse spread over 42 acres, with the storage capacity of 1.22 lakh MT, was being set by former minister Gopal Kanda in Sirsa.

Ashok Yadav, Managing Director of Hafed, said apart from the warehouses set up under the PEG scheme, Hafed had created its own warehousing for the capacity of over 11 lakh MT.

Given the fact that the total procurement of wheat in Haryana last year was nearly 58 lakh MT, the newly set up warehouses would ensure that a large portion of the government wheat no longer remains stacked in open plinths, where it remained on the mercy of weather during monsoon.

Chandigarh, April 17
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today directed all Deputy Commissioners to visit mandis in their districts to ensure early lifting of wheat and send detailed reports to the Chief Secretary in this regard daily.

Reviewing the arrangements made by procurement agencies here today, Hooda said the deputy commissioners concerned would also depute senior officers (HCS level), District Development and Panchayat Officer (DDPO), District Revenue Officer (DRO) posted in the district and assign them specific mandis to daily monitor the procurement arrangements. He made it clear that if farmers and arhtiyas faced any difficulty, the Deputy Commissioners and officers concerned would be held responsible.

Taking cognizance of certain complaints regarding charging money by some contractors from arhtiyas and farmers for early lifting of their produce from mandis in Kaithal and Kurukshetra districts, Hooda ordered a departmental inquiry and said stern action would be taken against those found indulging in this malpractice.

Hooda was apprised that 13 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of wheat had so far been procured. About three lakh metric tonnes of wheat was being procured daily in the state.

Chandigarh, April 17
The Haryana Government today put on hold the increase in toll till a policy is framed for giving relaxation in the toll rates.

These directions were issued at a meeting presided over by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda with officers of the Public Works (Building and Roads) Department and the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) here today to deliberate on the issue of providing relaxation in the toll.

Hooda directed the officers to frame a policy to provide relief to people in toll . Hooda said the toll was high and needed to be reduced to make it affordable. Besides relaxing the toll, further relaxation would be given to those residing in areas near toll plazas.

The Chief Minister said the state government was ready to compensate the NHAI for relaxing the toll. He has asked officers of the NHAI to calculate their financial loss and submit a detailed report to the state government by next week.

Satish Chandra, Member(Finance), NHAI, said the Haryana Government had asked them to reduce the toll in the state. He said the Haryana Government was ready to compensate the NHAI for the reduction in toll.

Karnal, April 17
INLD leader Harinder Sangwan was today elected unopposed as chairman of the Zila Parishad. Sixteen of the 22 members present at the meeting voted for Sangwan held with ADC Girish Arora in the chair.

The post of chairman had fallen vacant after the demise of Angrej Singh Dhumsi on September 30, 2013, who belonged to the Congress.

ADC Arora said as all 16 members present in the meeting agreed on the name of Sangwan,he was declared chairman unanimously.

Harinder said: “Overall development of the district is my goal and I will try my best to achieve this goal with the help of other members of the house.”

Newly elected chairman also thanked the house members to elect him.

Rewari, April 17
Under fire from various quarters for its “erroneous” way of functioning, the Rewari Municipal Council (MC) has again invited severe criticism, this time for a newly-constructed road at Jeewali Bazar, located in the heart of the city. The carpeted road was built around a month ago and has got damaged already, allegedly due to sub-standard material used by the contractor.

Taking a serious note of this, traders of the bazaar have cried foul and submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner (DC), seeking investigation of the construction material used for making the road, and demanding stern action against the contractor and officials concerned of the MC.

Acting on the memorandum, DC CJ Rajni Kaanthan asked Amna Tasmeen, executive officer (EO) of the MC, to conduct a probe into the matter. Amna, along with other officials, reached the market and collected samples of the road in presence of the traders who informed her that the road had actually started getting damaged within a week of its construction.

“The road, costing Rs 10 lakh, was constructed by a contractor against whom we had lodged a complaint with the authorities of using inferior quality materials. Despite that, the authorities allotted the work to him,” said the traders, while talking to mediapersons.

“We want strict action against the contractor and the MC officials concerned for their misdeed so that no other can dare to do this in the future,” said the traders.

Meanwhile, EO Amna Tasmeen said action would be taken against the contractor if samples of the road were found sub-standard. She called upon people to inform her if they found any inferior quality material being used in construction of streets and roads.

Jind, April 17
Overdose of pesticides to increase productivity has not only created serious health problems for humans, but has also destroyed the health of the soil. During the past one year, the Jind Soil Testing Lab received 9,400 samples of sand, but all failed as these did not have the much-required nutrients.

Sources said there are total 16 nutrients which help farmers get a bumper crop. Out of these, the crop receives three- carbon, hydrogen and oxygen- from water and air while the remaining 13 come from healthy sand.

Till a few years back, sand in Jind district lacked only two nutrients, nitrogen and phosphorus. But during the past one year, samples received from various parts of the district have shown that level of other nutrients like potash, calcium, magnesium, gypsum, sulfur, zinc and iron etc have also gone down.

“We had received total 9,400 samples of sand from the district during the past one year. Not a single sample had the required 13 nutrients and all had deficiencies. Mainly the use of excess pesticides is responsible the damage,” said Sant Kumar, soil testing officer.

The deterioration of sand is bound to have a bad effect over the health of humans as both have direct connection. A visit to the local civil hospital showed that use of excessive pesticides had increased the number of people suffering from various diseases.

“I and my husband have been facing stomach problems for the past almost two years. Doctors say it is because of unhealthy vegetables. But like many others, we do not have our own land to sow crop. We are forced to use the vegetables with excessive pesticides. The government must take some steps to prevent the excessive use of pesticides,” said 65-year-old Kamala Rani.

Another local, Satbir, said medicines had failed to cure his lever infection as he had to eat vegetables grown with use of pesticides.

“I am a contractual employee of the government. Medicine is very costly and many times I have to borrow money from my relatives to meet my family needs as I have been spending huge amounts on medicines every month,” he said.

Doctors admitted that the overdose of pesticides had created serious health problems in people.

“The number of patients suffering from lung, lever, stomach and hormonal problems is on the rise, only because of the excessive use of pesticides,” said senior medical officer of Pillukhera Dr Rajesh Bhola.

Ambala, April 17
Relatives of ASI Karan Singh, who had committed suicide, today alleged that the police were not serious about arresting three of their personnel.

The ASI, who committed suicide on the premises of the Parov police station on November 28 last, had named inspector Suresh Kumar, his wife constable Sangeeta and ASI Jagmal in his suicide note.

Karan Singh shot himself dead with his service revolver after an FIR of rape was registered against him at the Barara police station.

He had left behind a four-page suicide note in Hindi, in which he accused the three police personnel, two journalists, a history sheeter and the complainant woman of creating circumstances which drove him to suicide.

Deceased ASI's son Amit said the police had not got the three personnel declared proclaimed offenders.

He said this showed that the police were not serious and were going out of the way to give leverage to the police personnel. He said journalists Amit Gupta and Mukesh Luthra were absconding and had not been arrested.

The police personnel had been placed under suspension five days after the registration of a case and had been facing a departmental probe.

In December, a local court had issued arrest warrants against the police personnel and journalists named.

The police had arrested complainant Balwinder Kaur and history sheeter Anil Rana, named in his suicide note recovered from the ASI's room on the Parov police station compound.

On the basis of the suicide note, the district police had registered a case against the seven persons on whose complainant a case was registered against Karan Singh on the evening of November 27.

Karan Singh had written that Balwinder Kaur of Seewan Majra village approached him in June 2010 and filed a complaint of sexual exploitation against Raju of the same village.

He had written that before he could register an FIR, Balwinder Kaur and Raju reached a compromise before the village panchayat and the woman withdrew the complaint.

He had written that he got to know after a few days that Balwinder Kaur filed a complaint with his seniors that he raped her when she came to complain against Raju.

Following this, two inquiries had been marked against Karan Singh, conducted by the ACPs of Barara and Ambala Cantonment.

He was given a clean chit in both inquiry reports. After Balwinder Kaur moved a local court, the police were ordered to register an FIR against Karan Singh.

Chandigarh, April 17
Haryana may continue with the Lokayukta Act in its present form. After Parliament passed the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013, in December, the state government received a letter from the Centre, directing it to set up the office of the Lokayukta in accordance with the new legislation.

Sources said as per directions, the government constituted a committee under Haryana Chief Secretary SC Chaudhary with the Advocate General and the Home Secretary as its members.

While the committee has met once, sources said the state does not need to alter the existing arrangement since the central legislation does not lay down any particular guidelines and provisions.

The sources said the legislation only made it obligatory for the states that did not have a Lokayukta to ensure that they did so within a year of promulgation of the Act. “However, in the case of Haryana, the Lokayukta is already in place and functional. Given this scenario, the state needn’t change any existing system. However, the committee will study the entire legislation in detail and give its recommendations even if it means only stating that Haryana already has a fully-functional Lokayukta,” an official said.

Sources in the government maintained that the earlier draft Bill had “draconian” provisions that gave “reckless powers” to the Lokayukta to investigate and prosecute anybody without the prior approval of any competent authority. However, this did not find favour the MPs.

In 2012, the Bill was referred to a Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha and passed by the members in December 2013 after making certain amendments to the earlier Bill. The Lok Sabha passed it soon after and the Bill which received President Pranab Mukherjee’s assent and came into force from January 2014 only mentioned that it was mandatory for states to have a Lokayukta.

“Had the Bill been passed in its original form, we would have made amendments. However, in its present form, the Lokayukta fulfils the requirement laid down in the central legislation,” an official maintained.

Sirsa, April 17
Denied readmission despite a specific order of a local court, a former student of the law department of Chaudhary Devi Lal University started an indefinite fast in front of the Vice-Chancellor's office here today.

Vikas was a student of the five-year BA-LLB course at the university. He said he fell seriously ill recently. He said the department struck off his name from semester IX of the course due to absence from classes for a few days.

He said when his requests failed to move the chairperson of the law department, he had moved a local court, which directed the university to readmit him to the ninth semester.

Vikas alleged that despite court orders, the university refused to readmit him. He pointed out that the examinations of semester IX were due from May 2.

Dr JS Jakhar, chairperson of the law department, alleged that Vikas was trying to exert undue pressure on the university by resorting to an indefinite fast.

"I had sought the advice of the legal department of the university as two months of semester IX had elapsed when the court gave its order," he said.

He pointed out that the legal department told him that the university had moved the district court in appeal. He added that Vikas should wait for the outcome of the appeal instead of resorting to pressure tactics.

Sirsa, April 17
Indian National Lok Dal workers from Sirsa district today set out for their duties in the Bathinda and Ferozepur parliamentary constituencies of Punjab, where they would work for SAD candidates.

Dushyant Singh Chautala, who contested April 10 poll from Hisar, addressed the INLD workers here today before they left for Punjab.

The party’s state executive member Jasbir Singh Jassa, senior party leader Veer Bhan Mehta, who recently quit the HJC to join the party, and Radhe Ram Godara have been assigned duties in the Lambi Assembly segment of the Bathinda parliamentary constituency.

Charanjit Singh Rori, who contested from Sirsa, and Zila Parishad chairman Sita Ram have been appointed overall in charge of the Bathinda parliamentary seat.

Similarly, Subhash Goyal, a former minister, has been sent to the Abohar Assembly segment of the Ferozepur LS seat.

Hisar, April 17
The Vigilance Bureau caught a patwari while taking a bribe of Rs 5,000 from a farmer in Bans village of the district today.

Sources said patwari Dilvar Singh had demanded a bribe from the farmer of Dharma Kheri for updating his agriculture land record. A team of the Vigilance Bureau from Hisar accompanied the complainant and nabbed the patwari after he accepted the bribe. The patwari had been booked under the Anti-corruption Act. — TNS

Kaithal, April 17
Raj Bala (35), municipal councillor from ward 20 of this town, was killed in a bizarre incident here late last night.

On her way back on a motorcycle after attending a wedding with her husband, a stone hit her head. The stone came flying from a spot where two groups of youths were throwing brickbats at each other. Raj Bala was rushed to the local General Hospital here where she was declared dead. The incident took place in gali No. 5 of Amargarh Colony. The police have rounded up some youths for interrogation in the case. — OC

Karnal, April 17
The Haryana BJP today demanded compensation for the families of victims who were killed in accidents on National Highway No.1 due to incomplete flyovers and the six-laning project.

Interacting with mediapersons, BJP state secretary Chander Parkash Kathuria said he had filed a PIL in the Supreme Court, seeking compensation for the families of accident victims.

"As many as 373 persons were killed and 657 persons injured in the accidents that occurred on National Highway No.1 in the Karnal area from January 1, 2010, to January 25, 2014,” said Kathuria.

He said delay in the completion of the Panipat-Jalandhar six-laning project on National Highway No.1 was a cause of these accidents.

He said to press for a compensation of Rs 10 lakh, employment for the next of kin of the accident victims and scrapping of toll till the project was completed, BJPs workers had observed a one-day fast last year.

He pointed out that the work on the Panipat-Jalandhar six-laning project, which commenced on May 11, 2009, was to be completed by November 11, 2011, but it was still underway.

“The government is not serious about the development of north Haryana. It has failed in completing projects like Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College, solid waste management plant, flyovers and shifting the dairies out of the city,” he alleged.

They also claimed that the BJP-HJC alliance would win all 10 seats in Haryana.

Kaithal, April 17
Municipal council officials, accompanied by police personnel, demolished over half a dozen houses and other structures near Ambedkar Chowk here on Wednesday.

To express their anger, those affected by the drive raised slogans and blocked traffic on the road near Bahgwan Parsu Ram chowk. However, the police swung into action and using mild force got the road vacated and restored the traffic.

The demolition squad, comprising naib tehsildar Ram Chander, MC XEN Thakur Lal Sharma, Executive officer BN Bharti and other officials, served an ultimatum on the affected persons to vacate the site or be ready to face action.

The affected persons pleaded with the authorities to spare their premises and some of them produced ownership documents, including registered purchase deeds in support of their claims.

Isha, a resident of the area, claimed that she had recently purchased the house, having an electric meter and water connection.

Gurnam, another aggrieved person, said he had purchased the land and had been living in the house constructed by him about eight years ago.

New Delhi, April 17
The Delhi High Court Thursday issued notice to former Haryana minister Gopal Goyal Kanda, accused of abetting the suicide of former air hostess Geetika Sharma, on a police plea seeking cancellation of his bail. Justice V.P. Vaish sought response from Kanda by May 1.

Earlier, the court sought Kanda's response on plea of Geetika's brother who also moved court for cancellation of Kanda's bail, who was in jail for the past 18 months after being accused of abetting her suicide.

The Delhi Police and Sharma's brother contended that Kanda is an influential person and while on bail, will try to tamper with evidence and influence the witnesses.

Asking the court to cancel the bail, they said that the trial court has not taken into consideration all the aspects while granting him bail. — IANS

Faridabad, April 17
The wait for completion of the ambitious Ranneywell water project for potable water is set to be longer for thousands of residents in this industrial town.

The scheme should have been completed and functional by now, but is likely to take more time to ensure augmented water supply. The town is facing shortage in supply of around 100 million litres of potable water.

The Rs 493-crore scheme was approved in January 2009 under the JNNURM project and was scheduled to be completed by the end of 2011.

The paucity of matching funds to the tune of 30 per cent of total cost and other administrative hurdles kept the project pending and resulted in delay that was continuing till yesterday, claimed sources in the department.

It is reported that the Centre had promised 50 per cent of the total project cost while the state government had to bear 20 per cent and the municipal corporation 30 per cent.

The generation of funds at the local level resulted in a delayed start and continued to affect progress. The process of acquiring approval from various agencies in laying pipelines made the project linger for over two-and-a-half years.

Since pipelines were to be laid across the Agra Canal and National Highway 2, the authorities concerned were required to seek the approval of the Irrigation Department in Uttar Pradesh and the National Highways Authority of India.

The delay in approvals made the project linger for long and the delay in start of water supply, said an official on the condition of anonymity. Problems in acquisition of land in areas where the pipelines were to be laid also caused the delay.

Officials concerned said 10 Ranneywells had been constructed in the Yamuna riverbed in the district, 56-km pipelines had been laid and several water tanks constructed in the town to store and supply water.

With 138 new tubewells in operation, the project would ensure a total supply of 398 million litres of water a day, said a senior official with the municipal corporation. He claimed that the project was likely to be completed by the end of May this year.

Around 40 residential colonies and sectors had been facing a water crisis and had to depend on private tankers or bottled supply for daily needs.

People in some residential areas had lodged complaints regarding shortage of supply and residents of some colonies and sectors had complained of getting brackish water supply from tubewells being operated by the municipal corporation for the past several years.

Rewari, April 17
The Ministry of Defence (Navy), New Delhi, while responding to an RTI application, has revealed that five Indian Navy personnel have sacrificed their lives in 20 years. The ministry has also dispatched a list of these martyrs to the RTI seeker, wherein their full detail with rank, home address and the year of sacrifice have been mentioned.

In reply to another RTI query, the ministry has disclosed that its integrated headquarters did not have any district-wise detail of the navy personnel who sacrificed their lives for the nation.

“I had sought information from the Ministry of Defence under the RTI Act that how many Indian personnel had laid down their lives for the nation in the last 20 years and which did they belong to?” said Deepak Rathi, an RTI activist, adding that religion and caste of these personnel were also sought in the RTI application.

Rathi maintained, “I was astonished after going through the RTI reply, wherein the ministry said just five personnel of the Indian Navy had sacrificed their lives in the last 20 years. It, however, did not furnish the district-wise list of these martyrs stating that such information is not held with its integrated headquarters.”

“I had also demanded the details of those personnel who were part of various operations carried out in the last 20 years but went missing. Besides, I sought the number of those officers who faced court martial and other punishments during the same time span. The ministry did not provide the information, stating that such information was exempted from disclosure as per the act,” said Rathi.

Panchkula, April 17
The fund-starved Haryana Wildlife Department is finding it hard to accommodate more elephants, apart from the existing two, in Ban Santour Elephant Rehabilitation Center (ERC), located in Kalesar Wildlife Sanctuary in Yamunanagar district.

The Chief Wildlife Warden (CWW) has expressed inability to accommodate four more elephants, whom the central zoo authority (CZA) had asked the government to take in possession.

Laxmi and Chanchal, two female eleplants, splash in a water pond at Kalesar Wildlife Sanctury in Yamunanagar. A Tribune photograph

The CZA has asked the CWW Dr Amarinder Kaur to accommodate the four elephants that the Maharashtra Government had rescued from illegal custody.

In a communication to the CZA, Dr Kaur has claimed to have adequate space and infrastructure for the elephants but expressed her inability to take their possession due to shortage of funds.

Spread on 50 acres, the ERC was set up in 2003 under Project Elephant, launched by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) in 1992 for the rescue and rehabilitation of jumbos.

The main objective of the project was to protect elephants, their habitat and corridors, to address issues of man-animal conflict and welfare of domesticated elephants.

Departmental sources said in April 2013, two female elephants (Laxmi and Chanchal) were rescued from Panipat and Kurukshetra, respectively. The keepers were not having certificates of ownership from any competent authorities.

The animals were malnourished and ailing at the time of rescue. During their stay in the ERC, the duo gained 300 kg to 400 kg weight each, disclosed another official of the department.

Since April 2013, (after the arrival of two female elephants), the department has spent nearly Rs 1.5 crore against Rs 1.43 crore funds sanctioned by the MoEF in 2011-12 for 2012-13. The department has also involved SOS, an Agra-based NGO, for technical support and veterinary-care of the elephants.

Ambala, April 17
The All-India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) has shot off a letter to Narendra Modi, suggesting that a high-level committee be constituted to review power sector reforms. It has recommended measures to chalk out a roadmap for “power to all at affordable rates.”

The AIPEF has forwarded to Modi a copy of a resolution adopted in its federal council meeting demanding immediate stoppage of blind privatisation, introduction of franchisee system in power distribution and outsourcing of departmental works.

Copies of the resolution were also sent to the Prime Minister and all CMs.

The main resolution adopted by the AIPEF has demanded that the proposed amendment to the Electricity Act, 2003, which was aimed at privatising the distribution of power, be withdrawn. The amendment would lead to creation of multiple agencies, adding to the cost at every level which ultimately hit the consumer.

V K Gupta, spokesperson for the federation, said the very purpose of changing the Electricity Act in 2003 was to reduce the losses in power sector, improve its financial health and reduce the subsidy burden of the government. Due to faulty policies, the contrary had happened.

The financial health of the power sector had deteriorated and the government was now even subsidising private Discoms. Due to the continued wrong energy policies, the banking sector may collapse under the burden of non-performing assets being generated by the power sector, he added.

Padamjit Singh, chief patron of federation, said the concept of achieving low tariffs through competitive bidding in ultra mega power projects (UMPP) had been completely defeated by the changes made in terms of reference after award of contract by giving various concessions to successful bidders.

Sirsa, April 17
The police have arrested Vishnu of Begu village in Sirsa and his accomplice, a woman from Delhi, in connection with the case of bride purchase.

The police are yet to arrest Vinod of Darba village, who had allegedly purchased a 16-year-old girl Vishnu trafficked from Noida for ~85,000 .

Senior Superintendent of Police Saurabh Singh said the police arrested Vishnu last evening after registering a case of human trafficking on the complaint of the victim's father.

During interrogation, Vishnu reportedly admitted that he used to bring girls from Delhi and sell them to those who wanted to purchase brides.

He reportedly admitted that some women from Delhi were a part of the gang and used to supply girls. Following the interrogation, a police party went to Delhi last night and arrested a woman.

There was no clue of the girl Vishnu reportedly sold in Rajasthan. Sources said the police did not rule out the possibility of the girl and her parents being a part of loot and scoot gangs active in the area.

Members of the gang supplied brides in lieu of money to desperate youths who were past their marriageable age, but were not finding brides due to the skewed sex ratio.

After staying with their husbands for some days, the 'loot and scoot brides' used to run away with cash and jewellery of the husbands' families.

In case they were unable to flee due to surveillance, such brides used to call up their parents to take them through police help. The sources said several such incidents had occurred in the area in recent years.