Chandigarh, May 20
Gearing up to tackle floods during the forthcoming monsoons, the Haryana Government has approved 84 schemes costing Rs 73.72 crore.

The schemes, which have already been recommended by the Haryana State Technical Advisory Committee to the state government, were okayed during a recent meeting of the Haryana State Flood Control Board (HSFCB) under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

However, the meeting decided that the flood-control scheme for Panipat town should to be re-examined from the techno-economical angle by the urban local bodies and the Irrigation Department under the coordination of the Deputy Commissioner.

Meanwhile, it was felt that since the meeting of the HSFCB was being held late, hardly any time was left for the implementation of the schemes approved at the meeting. The meeting was informed that the advisory committee had already instructed the Deputy Commissioners to hold a post-flood meeting of the District Level Flood Committee by October 31 every year.

Now, the Deputy Commissioners would propose the new schemes by November 30 and the headquarters would prepare an agenda for the HSFCB meeting by December 31 every year. In future, the board would hold the meeting every year so that enough time was left for the implementation of the sanctioned schemes.

Similarly, the meeting okayed a proposal of the Public Health Engineering Department to get the urban drainage schemes approved from the sanitary board for comprehensive planning for the drainage/flood control measures.

Fatehabad, May 20
Under attack for "regional bias" in the matter of development by his detractors within the Congress and in the Opposition in the recent days, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today said such allegations were false and politically motivated.

Hooda, who laid the foundation stones of various development projects worth Rs 200 crore in Fatehabad, was addressing people in an Abhinandan Samaroh, a meeting organised for facilitating him at the Old Sadar Police Station Ground today.

“When I increased old-age pension from Rs 200 per month to Rs 700 per month, did I give this benefit to a particular district alone? Or when I announced scholarships for 19.70 lakh children in Haryana, was this benefit meant for a particular area?” Hooda asked.

Hooda said he took several pro-people decisions after coming to power in 2005. Steps such as scrapping of black laws that allowed banks to put farmers in jails for non-payment of loans were implemented across the state, he said. Castigating his detractors, Hooda claimed that they spoke different things in different districts.

While they are in the rest of Haryana, they alleged that the government was giving more importance to Rohtak, but when they went there, they told people that despite being the CM's district, their area lacked in development, he alleged.

Without directly naming, but in obvious reference to INLD leader Om Prakash Chautala and his sons, Hooda said the problem with these leaders was that though Haryana was witnessing development, their own development had stopped ever since they were voted out of power in 2005.

Giving figures with respect to money spent on Fatehabad, Hooda claimed that Chautalas spent Rs 477.01 crore on development activities in the district during their regime from 1999 to 2005.

In contrast, his government, he said, had already spent Rs 3470.87 crore since he had taken over the reins of power in 2005. Referring to OP Chautala and Ajay Singh Chautala's sentence in the JBT teachers' recruitment scam, Hooda said the INLD leaders did not utter a word when the Supreme Court asked the CBI to probe this matter in 2002. Nor did they said anything when the CBI registered a criminal case against Chautala and his son in 2004, though on both these occasions, he was the CM and the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government supported by him was at the helm at the centre.

Now, when a Delhi court has sentenced them to 10-year imprisonment finding them guilty of the offence, they have started accusing me of implicating them, he said. Had I any intention of sending them to jail, I would not have waited for eight years, he added.

Hooda said he never believed in the politics of retribution and always believed in development.

Hooda today inaugurated a canal water-based waterworks, sewage treatment plant, an additional building of the mini-secretariat and a 33-KV power substation in Fatehabad. He also laid the foundation stone of a car parking and a park to be made on the land of Chilli Lake in Fatehabad town.

Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar, Agriculture Minister Paramvir Singh, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Prahlad Singh Gillankhera, Ratia MLA Jarnail Singh and CM's Political Advisor Prof Virender also addressed people.

Fatehabad, May 20
To give reliable and qualitative electricity supply to all categories of consumers, the Haryana Government plans to strengthen the power distribution system at a cost of Rs 2,000 crore during the next two years.

Besides this, there is a plan to augment the power transmission system. For the purpose, the government would construct 197 new substations of various levels and increase capacity of 163 existing substations at a cost of Rs 3,100 crore. This was revealed by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh while addressing a public meeting after inaugurating a 33-KV substation at Bodiwali village near here. The substation has been commissioned at a cost of Rs 2.50 crore.

Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar said the commissioning of the 33-KV substations at Bodiwali would benefit about 2,000 consumers directly.

The 10 MVA transformer set up at Bodiwali substation would benefit consumers in four surrounding villages through six feeders of domestic and agriculture categories. The transformer would get power from 132-KV substation through a transmission line of 33-KV level.

Paramveer Singh, Agriculture Minister, CPS Prahlad Singh Gillankhera Devender Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, DHBVN&UHBVN, Saket Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, VK Chaudhary, Director DHBVN and senior officers of the DHBVN and the district administration were also present on the occasion.

Chandigarh, May 20
Devender Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam and Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam, has urged the consumers to get their unauthorised extension of load regularised under the voluntary disclosure scheme without paying any penalty. The scheme is operative up to June 30.

He said it was difficult for the authorities to approve schemes of system improvement without availability of load on record of the nigams.

A large number of consumers, due to negligence or being not aware of rules, extend the load without intimating the discoms. It attracts penalty like in cases of power theft. The VDS was for all domestic, non-domestic, agriculture and low-tension (LT) industrial consumers in rural as well as urban areas

The domestic, non-domestic and agriculture consumers might declare their extended load by submitting an “application and agreement” (A&A) form along with consumption security. The consumers were not required to submit any fresh test report also, up to 20 KW load. They may submit a self-declaration form. However, for extension of load beyond 20 KW, a fresh test report is required to be submitted by the domestic and non-domestic consumers. Their load shall be regularized without any penalty charges. He said benefit of the scheme shall be permitted to the consumers who are not defaulters or who have made entire payment of their all outstanding dues.

Jind, May 20
Residents of Farain Kalan village of the district staged a demonstration today
outside the main gate of the school and sought a high-level probe into the alleged sexual abuse of a minor student as they suspected involvement of more persons.

They announced not to let the school reopen till their demand was met. The school was locked on May 16 after the villagers laid a siege to the school and beat up the accused teacher.

"The protesters announced this morning that they would neither send their daughters to the school nor let the school function as the authorities had failed to order a probe,’’ claimed Rajbir, a local resident.

Surender, another resident, said though the accused had been arrested, delayed action by the authorities had put a question mark over their approach to the safety of the girl students.

He said while district education officials had informed them of replacing the entire staff, he added that the authorities must order a high-level and independent probe as more persons were suspected to be involved. The school authorities and the police failed to take swift action when the complaint was lodged by the victim’s kin.

The villagers resolved not to open it till the acceptance of their demand, he said the village could also convene a meeting of the Binain Khap soon, if the matter was not resolved.

A student of Class IX of the school was allegedly abused sexually by a teacher for over a month.

Sonepat, May 20
The Bhartiya Kisan Union today shifted its dharna site from Rukhi village to Kathura village on the Gohana-Meham road. It would organise the Kisan Mahapanchayat on May 25 also at Kathura village.

According to Gohana president of the BKU Satyavan Narwal, the government had released the BKU's state president Gurnam Singh who was taken to the PGI, Chandigarh, as well as six other activists, who were taken to the PGIMS Rohtak, late last evening on the health ground.

Narwal said the dharna site at Rukhi was not convenient as it was outside the village and other basic facilities were not available. Moreover, the site was in open without any tree.

Rewari, May 20
While a newly-married woman Sonam Yadav (23) committed suicide by consuming poison at his parental house in the nearby Bhagwanpur village on Saturday night, another young woman Poorma ( 24) has died in Shanti Nagar Colony here.

Following a complaint filed by Shamsher Singh Yadav, the father of deceased Sonam, the Rewari police has registered a case of harassment and dowry death against Sonam's husband Manoj Yadav, father-in-law Chanderhas Yadav, mother-in-law Kamlesh Devi and one other person, all residents of Babda Bankipur village in Gurgaon district.

Shamsher alleged that Sonam, who got married to Manoj on February 8, 2013, was treated cruelly by her in-laws for want of more dowry.

Under such circumstances, Sonam returned to her parental house about four days ago and when they insisted on her return to her in-laws' house, she ended her life by consuming poison, he further alleged.

Sonam's post-mortem examination was conducted at the Civil Hospital here today.

Similarly on a complaint filed by Babu Ram, the father of the deceased Poorma and resident of Agra (UP), the Rewari police has registered a case of dowry death against Poorma's husband Yogesh, father-in-law Jaswant Singh and mother-in-law Sudesh Devi, all residents of Shanti Nagar Colony.

Hisar, May 20
An inmate of the Hisar Central Jail escaped from the General Hospital, Hisar, where he was admitted for treatment of knee pain three days ago.

Makhan Singh (55) of Badalgarh village in Fatehabad was an undertrial prisoner. The policemen on guard duty took him to the X-Ray room of the hospital on a stretcher. As one of the policemen went to the emergency ward of the hospital to pick the prisoner’s hospital slip, Makhan slipped away from the hospital.

The police has booked ESI Balwant Singh and head constables Lalit Kumar and Shankar.

Makhan Singh was arrested on September 16, 2012, for trafficking of narcotics and was sent to the Hisar jail on September 18.

Gharaunda (Karnal), May 20
Commotion was caused at Araipur village, as a Physical Education teacher at Senior Secondary School came to school in an inebriated condition and caused ruckus.

Fuming villagers and parents reached the school when they came to know about the objectionable conduct of the teacher and demanded immediate action against him.

Sensing that the situation is going out of control, principal Sat Pal informed the police and Tehsildar Nirmal Dahia reached the school along with a police team and took the teacher into custody and sent him for a medical examination.

Rewari, May 20
Divya (5), daughter of Monu Balmiki of Birhod village in Bhiwani, was kidnapped by a man from the railway station today.

The incident happened when Monu Balmiki along with her two children was waiting to catch a train for Patauda (Jhajjar). The man came and started chatting with her. After some time, the man took her children to a shop just outside the station from where he bought a samosa for her son. Later, he again took Divya with him to buy her a toffee and kidnapped the girl.— TNS

Kurukshetra, May 20
Two persons were killed in two road accidents last evening.

Raj Kumar of Shadipur, near Ladwa, 20 km from here, was injured when a tractor-trailer hit his motorcycle near his native village. He succumbed to his injuries in hospital.

In another incident, Ramkaran of Gola village in Ambala district was injured seriously when he fell down from a three-wheeler near Shahabad. He succumbed to his injuries in the Community Health Centre, Shahabad.