The opening day of the Monsoon Session of Haryana Assembly began with the House paying tributes to former Goa and Delhi chief ministers Manohar Parrikar and Sheila Dikshit, soldiers and freedom fighters who passed away recently.
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar moved the obituary resolutions and paid tributes to Parrikar, who passed away on March 17, and three-time Delhi chief minister Dikshit, who died on July 20, and other departed personalities.
The session began with the House paying tributes to personalities, soldiers and freedom fighters who passed away between the end of the budget session in February and the beginning of the monsoon session on Friday.
The House paid tributes to former Haryana minister Sharda Rani, who passed away on May 17, and former minister of joint Punjab Legislative Assembly Snehlata, who passed away on March 29.
The House also paid tributes to Flight Lieutenant Ashish Tanwar, who was among the 13 killed in the AN-32 crash in Arunachal Pradesh.
On her and her party''s behalf, Congress Legislature Party leader Kiran Chowdhury paid tributes to Parrikar, Dikshit and others in the House.
INLD''s senior leader Abhay Singh Chautala also paid tributes to the departed souls.
Towards the end, Speaker Kanwar Pal read out the obituary resolutions and paid tributes after which a two-minute silence was observed as a mark of respect to the departed souls.
SEATING ARRANGEMENTS CHANGED
Seating arrangements in the House were also changed. Congress leaders exchanged seats with the INLD as the grand old party is the main opposition in the state now.
The Indian National Lok Dal lost the status of being the main opposition party after its strength dropped to 11 in the 90-member House after six of its party legislators switched over to BJP. One of its MLA Jaswinder Singh Sandhu passed away earlier this year and the party lost the Jind seat in the bypoll, a segment which it earlier held.
While Congress, which has a strength of 17 in the 90-member Assembly, has not named its Leader of Opposition yet, party''s state unit legislature party leader Kiran Chowdhary led her party in the House.
CONG RAISES ILLEGAL MINING, MINISTER REFUTES
Congress raised the issue of alleged illegal mining in a Haryana district, a charge denied by the ruling BJP that said no such activity was found in the area. During the Question Hour, Congress legislative party leader Kiran Choudhry sought to know from Mines and Geology Minister O P Dhankar what action the government had initiated regarding the issue. Choudhry asked whether illegal and unregulated sand mining or stone crushing was being operated in Charkhi Dadri district regularly with the "connivance" of the district officers/officials.
The Tosham MLA sought details about the action taken by the government on the report submitted by a panel set up by the National Green Tribunal -- which consisted of representatives from the Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change, the Central Pollution Control Board and the Haryana State Pollution Control Board.
Replying to the question, Dhankar informed the House that NGT panel inspected the mines and stone crushers at Jhojhu Kalan village and nearby areas on March 19, and found no case of illegal mining in the area. "There was no illegal crusher operating in the area also," he said.
Out of the 36 stone crushers inspected by the committee, 31 had valid consent to operate and five crushers had consent to establish permissions, the minister said. "However, the committee observed lack of effective air pollution control measures in 31 of the stone crushers," he said. On the basis of this observation, 19 stone crushers in the village and also in Ramalwas, have been sealed, Dhankar said in his reply.
Choudhry remained dissatisfied and alleged that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was showing a lackadaisical approach. "This is a serious issue of which NGT has taken cognizance of. The government must inform the House what action has been initiated," she said.
SURVEY FOR RRTS CORRIDOR IN PROGRESS, SAYS CM
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal said that the survey for the Sarai Kalen Khan (Delhi)-Panipat Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS), a semi-high speed rail corridor, is in progress. As the rail corridor would also pass through Sonipat, it would benefit the commuters of this area also. He was speaking during the first day of Monsoon Session of Haryana Vidhan Sabha. He said six rail lines are being laid from Sarai Kalen Khan in Delhi under the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project. While the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for Sarai Kalen Khan-Merrut corridor and Sarai Kalen Khan -Shahjahanpur, Alwar in Rajasthan corridor has been prepared, survey work for the Sarai Kalen Khan-Panipat corridor passing through sonipat is in progress, he added.
THREE SECTORS TO BE DEVELOPED IN GOHANA
The Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran will develop three sectors in Gohana of district Sonipat. The new developed Sectors will include Sector-13 (Residential), Sector-16 (Residential) and Sector-17A (Transport Nagar). The written statement of Chief Minister, Manohar Lal was laid on the table of House.
SPV FOR GANAUR FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKET
Haryana Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, O.P. Dhankar said that Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) has been constituted to develop the proposed international fruit and vegetable market in Ganaur of district Sonipat as the world's most developed market, which was pending from the tenure of previous government. Proposal to connect this mandi directly to the railway line will be raised before the Union Railways Ministry. He was replying to a question during the question hour. He said that the work of drawing and maps has been completed and the construction work is likely to start within a month.
128 HOSPITALS REGISTERED UNDER CLINICAL ESTABLISHMENT ACT
As many as 128 hospitals have so far been provisionally registered under the Clinical Establishment Act, which was implemented in the state in March 2018, Health Minister Anil Vij said in a statement laid on the table of the House.