Chandigarh : Ashok Lahiri, the officiating Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission,  said the country is proud of the achievements of Haryana, especially in improving fiscal management. 

He lauded the Saksham Yuva Schem’ of Haryana and also on it becoming the first kerosene-free state in the country.

Lahiri was addressing mediapersons after holding meetings with Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu and several senior officers of the state government. He said Haryana is the first state in the country to prepare a vision document of sustainable goals with the UNDP. He said the state government is focused on achieving its targets. 

Several suggestions have been given to prepare district-specific schemes keeping in view requirements of the districts. He said Gurugram district has the highest per capita income in the country, while the per capita income in Nuh district is very low. There is a need to develop Nuh and bring it into the mainstream, he added.
He said Haryana has made exemplary progress in the implementation of GST. Haryana is also progressing well in the field of digitisation.  He said the availability of water in the state is less than the demand. Some areas have been declared dark zones. Hence, there is a need to strengthen the water management system. 
The state government has submitted suggestions to implement the micro-irrigation system on a large scale for judicious use of water and the Finance Commission would definitely consider the suggestion. 

Chandigarh : 
The Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) has termed the recent report of the World Health Organisation describing Faridabad as the second most polluted city in the world as incorrect.

Environment and Climate Change Minister and Faridabad MLA Vipul Goel said the source of the data, on which the report was based, was not clear.

He said the HSPCB had been monitoring the data since 2010 through Continuous Air Ambient Quality Monitoring Station in Faridabad and Gurugram. As per the details available with the Board, the particulate matter PM2.5 level of both the cities was being monitored regularly since 2013.

“These values increase above 170 briefly for few days around Diwali, crop harvesting, during which residue is burnt and peak winter, when the temperature is low and wind velocity is minimum. Therefore, it is not justified to claim that the average PM 2.5 value is above 170 in Faridabad,” claimed the minister.

He said Faridabad was affected mostly due to the pollution in neighbouring Delhi. “Delhi’s pollution level has always remained higher than these two cities as indicated by our reports, hence placing Faridabad above Delhi is not even logical,” he said.

Bhiwani : 

The traffic police challaned 77 school buses and impounded 10 buses for violating traffic rules during a special drive in Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri districts.

This comes in the wake of two road mishaps involving school buses in the two districts. In Charkhi Dadri, four children and a bus conductor died when a school bus collided with a truck on April 30. Another mishap took place on May 2 in Bhiwani. A school bus rammed into an auto-rickshaw, killing two persons.

The state government’s Surakshit School Vahan Policy seems to have fallen flat in view of several violation detected in the two days.

Pawan Kumar, traffic police incharge, Charkhi Dadri, said they challaned 69 buses and impounded 10 buses in two days. “Several bus drivers did not posses driving licence. Some buses did not have required documents to ply. Other violations included not installing speed governors, CCTV cameras and first-aid boxes,” he said.
The Charkhi Dadri administration held a meeting with school owners on Thursday and directed them to conform to safety norms. “It is shocking that school owners who charge hefty fee from students are careless about the safety of their students,” he told.

The guidelines

The Surakshit School Vahan Policy of the state government lays down guidelines for safety of schoolchildren. It says school buses should have CCTV cameras with a storage capacity for 15 days, speed governors, reflective strips and a woman attendant. The contact numbers of drivers and schools should be painted on the buses. And the colour of the bus should be yellow. Besides, the police should ensure that drivers have at least five years’ experience and should not have been challaned more than thrice.

Panipat : The Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) has imposed a fine of Rs 27,500 on 12 farmers of various villages in the district for burning wheat crop residue.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has imposed a ban on stubble burning which causes air pollution and other health problems. Following the NGT orders, the Agriculture Department has directed all the Agriculture Development Officers (ADOs) and the field functionaries to keep a vigil.

Sunil Mann, SDO, Agriculture Department, said a team comprising a patwari and an official from the HSPCB conducted joint inspection.

He said, “In the last season, there were 31 teams, but this time the department has fixed responsibility of the field functionary concerned, including ADOs, to check stubble burning.”

The fine has been imposed on 12 farmers of Parahalad Pur Khalila, Shahpur, Raja Kheri, Seewah, Manana, Dehra and Dhodhpur villages of the district, he said, adding that eight more cases of stubble burning had been detected.

“Twelve cases of stubble burning have been reported so far in the district and Rs 27,500 fine has been imposed on 12 farmers,” said Bhupender Singh Chahl, Regional Officer, Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB). Besides, eight cases of stubble burning were reported by the teams so far and the farmers would be challaned shortly, he said.

Karnal : Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday said the state government would set up “gaushalas” in all prisons of the state.
He laid the foundation stone of the first “gaushala” in the jail of the state in Karnal. It will be constructed for Rs2.67 crores and spread over three acres.
The Police Housing Corporation will construct the building, which will house 300 cows.

“Stray animals will be provided shelters and prisoners will be able to earn ‘punya’ (moral deed) by giving their services in ‘gaushalas’,” the CM said.

He highlighted the importance of the cow and said there was a need to take steps for the conservation and growth of cows.

Jail Minister Krishan Lal Panwar said the government had formulated a policy for setting up “gaushalas” in the state.

Under the policy, the government will provide Rs5 lakh to gram panchayats which would set up “gaushalas” over one acre having a capacity to shelter 100 cows.
Earlier, Khattar inaugurated Swami Dayanand Gaushala and lauded the efforts of the government for the conservation of cows.

Sportspersons to get synthetic track 

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar laid the foundation stone of a synthetic track at Panchayat Bhawan in Karnal on Thursday. It will be constructed for Rs 7.96 crore.  Sportspersons had been demanding a track for long. 
Also laid the foundation stones of a bridge on Western Yamuna Canal and strengthening the banks of canal. He laid the stone for community centres in Sector 16 and Kachwa village, and the Alipur Khalsa-Pundri road.