Gives boost to BJP cadre; route decorated like ‘dulhan’

Yamunanagar :
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar held a roadshow in Yamunanagar city covering a major area of this Assembly constituency.

The roadshow has given a boost to the BJP cadre in this Assembly segment being represented by party MLA Ghanshyam Das Arora.

 The huge turnout witnessed in the roadshow has also created rumbling among opposition parties, which are time and again decrying the state government allegedly for not fulfilling poll promises.

The Chief Minister has come here on a two-day visit. Before starting his roadshow from Radaur Road (near railway station), he offered prayers at a temple.

It passed through Agrasain Chowk, Bhagat Singh Chowk (Fountain Chowk), near Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Azad Nagar, Shastri Colony, near Maharana Pratap Park, Pyara Chowk, Nehru Park, Yamuna Club and Parshuram chowk.

The CM was welcomed by residents, RSS and BJP workers at several places. They raised slogans in favour of the party and the Chief Minister.

The CM was accompanied by Assembly Speaker Kanwar Pal Gurjar, Ambala MP Ratan Lal Kataria, Yamunanagar MLA Ghanshyam Das Arora, Radaur MLA Shyam Singh Rana and Sadhaura MLA Balwant Singh.

While addressing the gathering in Shashtri Colony, Manohar Lal said he had long association with Yamunanagar.

“I spent long time of my life here. I walked on foot, on bicycle and on motorcycle in the streets of Shastri Colony for long,” said Manohar Lal.

He said the people had stamped on development works done by his government in the past four years and this was visible from the gathering. Whenever, all four MLAs of Yamunanagar district came to me for funds for carrying out development works in their segments, I never denied them. In future too, their all demands related to development works of their area will be fulfilled without any delay,” said Manohar Lal.

The route of the roadshow was decorated like a ‘dulhan’.

Karnal :
Several diseases, including sheath blight, leaf folder, brown plant hopper, foot rot, sheath rot have attacked paddy crop in various parts of the district.

The diseases have mostly attacked1509 and PR-14 varieties of paddy.

“I have cultivated 1509 variety of paddy on 5 acres. The crop has been affected by sheath blight and leaf folder diseases,” said Malak Singh, a resident of Pabana Hasanpur village. Dharamvir Satija, another farmer from Chundipur village, said that sheath blight, leaf folder and brown plant hopper had attacked 1509, PR-14 and other varieties in most of his fields, It would reduce the production up to 40 per cent, he said.

“I have to spray pesticides twice or thrice to overcome the problem of these diseases,” said Jitender Kumar, a farmer from Nigdhu.

 “High temperature and high humidity are conductive for the diseases. Water stagnation due to unprecedented rain has also resulted in these diseases,” said Dr Shashipal, assistant plant protection officer, Agriculture Department.

He said that these fungal diseases could cause loss if not treated. He urged the farmers not to let the water stagnate in their fields.

Kurukshetra :
Scores of senior players and sports enthusiasts gathered in Jind on Friday to demand better facilities and opportunities for junior and sub-junior level sportspersons.

Under the aegis of ‘Yuva Jagao, Khel Bachao’, a voluntary association, they urged the state government to provide cash awards to the junior players.

They assembled at Rani Talab area of the city and marched to the DC office to handover their charter of demand.

Participants charged the state government for ignoring the young players.

International wrestler Jagdeep Singh said there was an acute shortfall of coaches for the junior players in the state. He said the state government should restart giving financial assistance to the junior and sub-junior players to improve the sports environ in the state.

Arjuna awardee wrestler Ashok Garg said it was unfortunate that the BJP government was paying no attention to strengthen the infrastructure for the young players. He said supporting the junior players was crucial to promote sports culture in Haryana.

Hisar :
A district court has issued arrest warrant against six persons of Bhatla village, including the husband of the sarpanch, in a case of social boycott of Dalits by upper caste people of the village in June 2017.

The court had summoned the six persons identified as Ram Chander, Ram Singh, Jai Kishan, Leela, Sumer and Punit to appear as accused during the previous hearing in the case on August 3. However, they did not receive the summons. They also failed to appear in court.

The police had registered a case against seven persons under Sections 153A, 504, 505, 506 of the IPC and various Sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against seven persons — Chander Fauji Pandit, Ram Chander, Ram Singh, Jai Kishan, Leela, Sumer and Punit (sarpanch’s husband).

Later, the police filed challan against one of the accused, Chander Fauji Pandit, and gave a clean chit to the others. However, the court summoned the six other accused as well under Section 319 of the CrPC.

Issuing the orders on Friday, Additional Sessions Judge DR Chalia stated that the summons issued to the six persons for appearing in court have been received back un-served. “It has been reported by Raju, chowkidar of the village, that the accused were not found at their houses. This court is of the view that the above-named accused are deliberately not appearing in court despite knowing the passing of the orders. Hence, this court is left with no other option but to issue warrants of arrests against them to be served through SP, Hansi.”

Fixing the next hearing in the case on September 28, the court stated that in case orders are received back unexecuted, the executing officer would personally appear in court and explain the reasons.

Gurugram :
After drawing flak for water-logging, especially on the Delhi-Gurugram expressway and newly constructed underpasses, the Gurugram administration has pulled up the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

In a letter to the NHAI, DC Vinay Pratap Singh highlighted the fact that maintenance of underpasses and the expressway was the sole responsibility of the NHAI.

He claimed that the authority had failed miserably in making any effort to drain water-logged stretches, leading to massive inconvenience and trolling of civic authorities.

“We had written a letter the same day and shot off another on Thursday. The expressway and underpasses are under the NHAI,” said the DC.

“Considering the woes of residents, we did not care about responsibility and jurisdiction. We went ahead trying to drain water. No such effort was made by NHAI officials. The authority failed to rise in time of crisis,” he said.

Gurugram had received 138 mm rain, the highest recorded in the last eight years, which threw life out of gear. There was massive water-logging in the city.

Parts of the expressway like Narsinghpur, Hero Honda Chowk, Iffco Chowk and Signature Chowk and two newly constructed underpasses were the worst hit, coming under between 7 feet and 8 feet of water.

The Gurugram police kept traffic moving, cleared clogged drains and helped stuck motorists. The civic authorities kept things under control in inner parts of the city.

“I will not comment on engineering, but the NHAI should have a squad to deal with such situations on highways and stretches under its ambit as it will be of great help,” said the DC.

Local MP and Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh reviewed work on the Hero Honda Chowk underpass, which could not be drained of water even after 48 hours.

“I will get in touch with the authorities and ensure that those responsible are taken to task. We are looking at a mechanism to to ensure that the city does not face this situation again,” he said.

2,500 cops to be rewarded 

Commissioner of Police KK Rao has recommended appreciation and cash rewards for 2,500 police personnel who braved rain and water-logging, but kept the city going. “They were heroes without capes. They were in water till the chest in many areas, but ensured that nobody was stuck. They repaired vehicles, cleared drain covers and created water outlets,” he said.