Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday took a bike rike to Karnal airport in an attempt to support the car free day initiative in the state. Earlier, the chief minister announced that every Tuesday would be a car-free day in Karnal, where all government officials would travel by bicycle only.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, CM Manohar Lal Khattar wrote that be it Car Free Day or the resolve to make Drug-free Haryana, it cannot be accomplished without public cooperation. He expressed that he also made a small cooperation to reduce car traffic today by travelling to Karnal Airport by bike on Car Free Day. He added that he hopes the aware people of the state will take this message forward and inspire people to give up their cars just for a day. 

On September 1, in an effort to check pollution, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar declared that Tuesdays from now will be designated as car-free days in Karnal. Under the aegis of this initiative, all government officials will be required to travel by bicycle on Tuesdays.

Meanwhile on Monday, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar flagged off a cyclothon in Haryana’s Yamunanagar to promote the initiative of drug-free Haryana. The campaign titled Cyclothon for a Drug-Free Haryana witnessed the first cyclothon on September 1 and Monday, September 25.

Speaking about drug-free Haryana, the Chief Minister noted that their goal will not be achieved by mere march against drug addiction. He added that in order to eradicate it from its roots they will have to create public awareness continuously. He underlined that to eliminate drug addiction, they have to break the drug supply chain for which the government is taking action against the drug smugglers with great responsibility. 

The Chief Minister further remarked that during Cyclothon Yatra Closing Ceremony in Karnal, all the people present there took many resolutions to eradicate drug addiction from the society. 

A nine-member delegation of senior Haryana Congress leaders, who were visiting the violence-hit areas in Nuh was stopped by the police on Tuesday near Rewasan village, according to reports. The police cited prohibitions under Section 144 CrPC that are in place and security concerns while stopping the leaders from visiting the violence-hit areas.

The nine-member delegation included Congress MP Deepender Hooda and the party’s state unit chief Udai Bhan, who was leading the team. Speaking to the media, Deepender Hooda said that they wanted to meet victims of the violence and appeal for peace. He added that their delegation wants to visit Nuh City, Nalhar Mandir, and markets. He mentioned that they want to speak to everyone affected in the violence. The Congress MP asserted that there is a lot of police deployment in the area. He remarked that if the police deployment had been done earlier, there would not have been the clashes.

A four-member delegation of Communist Party of India (CPI) was earlier stopped on August 5. The delegation included CPI Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam, CPI general secretary Amarjeet Kaur, party MP Sandosh Kumar P, and party leader Dariyav Singh Kashyap was also stopped by the police who stated the same reasons.

As far as reports are concerned, massive violence erupted in Haryana’s Nuh district on July 31 allegedly over an attempt to avert a Vishva Hindu Parishad procession, in which six people lost their lives. The violence soon spread to Gurugram and other parts of the state. According to the Haryana government, nearly 156 people have been detained and 56 First Information Reports have been lodged as yet in connection with the violence and rioting in Nuh district. On the other hand, Haryana’s District Public Relations Officer (DPRO) on Monday affirmed that normal life has been restored in the violence-hit areas.

Recently, a video of a Gurugram resident pleading authorities to provide security to Muslim migrant workers has gone viral across the social media platforms. The communal clashes that erupted in Nuh, Mewat, on Monday and spilled over in Gurugram has forced the Muslim migrant workers to leave their jobs.

In the viral video, Kiran Kapoor, RWA president of Tulip Orange in Sector 70, complained that the operations of the residential area have been affected as the migrant workers decided to leave the city amid the clashes in the northern state.

She stated that the workers are afraid to work and live in the city. She added that there is no one to clean the towers and the premises. The RWA president added that the basements and common areas have not been cleaned since the past two days.

According to reports, authorities in Nuh bulldozed some 250 shanties allegedly built on the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) land on Thursday morning. An official asserted that the occupants of the shanties were illegal Bangladeshi immigrants who were earlier living in Assam and the shanties.

The decision followed as the violence claimed the lives of at least six people, including two home guards and a cleric. Nuh Deputy Commissioner Prashant Panwar declined that the demolition was associated with the violence and that it was part of a normal process of clearing encroachments.

The violence began after a Vishva Hindu Parishad procession was allegedly attacked on Monday. As the clashes continued to spread, mobs allegedly burned down shops of Muslims in the area. Nearly 141 people have been arrested in connection with the violence.

Hindu organisations took out a protest march against the Nuh violence in Gurugram’s Pataudi area on Friday and summoned for a bandh. Markets of Pataudi, Jatauli and Bhora Kalan remained shut for the violence.