Chandigarh, July 9
For once, the day did not dawn hot and sultry. As the monsoon gained form and momentum unleashing strange formations in the sky, the daylights disappeared into nothingness, literally.

While they cowed under pressure from the arriving winds, the sky changed all the colours it possibly could - and all this in a span of 30 minutes! From blue to dull grey and then to sharp mustard and deep red, the transformations up there were as tough to follow as they were to fathom. It took a gusty shower of monsoon rain to clear the confusion that screamed from the sky this morning. The shower finally came, and everyone knew the monsoon was there to stay.

It rained 39.2 mm in the city through the day. As the southwest monsoon advanced to more parts of Haryana and Punjab, as also Delhi and western Uttar Pradesh, it left many parts of the region quenched. Shimla recorded the highest rainfall in the region today - 50.7 mm, followed closely by Karnal which had 47 mm rain and Patiala which had 42 mm. Ambala recorded 41.7 mm.

Back home, today's shower was clearly the best monsoon shower of the season. On June 30 when Chandigarh Met Department declared the arrival of the monsoon, it only had 7.4 mm rainfall to show - a poor match to last year's 103 mm which sounded the arrival of the monsoons on June 27.

The advancement of the monsoon in Chandigarh and the corresponding rainfall this year is as follows - July 3 (9.9 mm), July 4 (0.2 mm), July 5 (7.4 mm), July 8 (1.5 mm) and finally 39 mm rainfall, which was recorded during the day today.

Last year the figures were much more impressive even to start with - 103 m rainfall on June 26, followed by 8.4 mm on June 27 - the day the monsoon was formally declared in Chandigarh.

Explaining the weak progression of monsoon this year, followed by strange weather patterns witnessed in the city today, Director, Met, Chandigarh said, "Today's formations were unusual though not exceptional. They were caused by a combination of two factors — a heavy suspension of dust in the air and a thick cover of low clouds.

These two factors operated in tandem to create the illusion of night in the morning today. Such factors have been noticed in the past, but not often."

The dust, as Director Met Mr Chattar Singh had said yesterday, was caused by strong winds blowing over Rajasthan. With today's heavy shower, the suspended dust was brought down, much to the relief of residents who were finding it hard to breathe in a weather dominated by dust and dampness.

The maximum temperature also fell from 34 to 32.4 degree under the impact of showers today.

Chandigarh, July 9
The inspection of the Chandigarh Railway Station by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways turned out to be a brief affair. Within 45 minutes of their arrival at the station, three members of the committee boarded the evening Shatabdi Express for Delhi.

To welcome the committee, the entire machinery of the Railways had been pressed into service to give the station a new look. The floor was being cleaned with automatic machines and various shortcomings were removed.

After planting saplings, the MPs led by Mr Girdhar Gumang took a round of the reservation facility before going to platform No.1. They were explained the ongoing development projects at the station by the Divisional Railway Manager and the Senior Divisional Commercial Railway Manager of the Ambala Division. The other two MPs were Mr Ajay Kumar and Mr Krisan Lal Diler. The chairman of the committee, Mr Basudeb Acharia, had left for Delhi yesterday.

Talking to the reporters, Mr Gumang said the observations by the committee were confidential and would be tabled before Parliament. He said the purpose of the committee was to see whether the funds sanctioned by the government for development projects were being spent in the right manner.

The committee inquired about the Chandigarh-Morinda, Nangal-Talwara and the proposed Kalka-Parwanoo railway lines. “The suggestions and the observations will be put in the report and cannot be disclosed to the media at the moment,” said Mr Gumang.

When asked about the further upgrading of the station, Mr Gumang said it was required in the coming times.

On the issue of delay in starting the Chandigarh-Morinda railway line, he said it was not part of his preview. Meanwhile, officials of the Railways said there was no information regarding the schedule for starting the new line.

On the issue, Mr Diler, who is a BJP MP, said in lighter vein that the Opposition’s job was to bring the failure of the government before the public.

Earlier, the MPs reached Hotel Mountview last night after visiting the DCW workshop in Patiala. There scheduled visit to the inland container depot at Dappar was cancelled. The MPs was shown the site plan and other details by the Managing Director of the Container Corporation of India at the hotel itself.

Chandigarh, July 9
With the monsoon hitting the city and weather turning “wet”, the danger posed by the naked wires and badly planned electric cables has increased manifold.

The past few days has seen several incidents involving animals and humans alike being subjected to electrocution.

One such place where there is a tragedy waiting to happen is in Sector 50, where outside the Progressive Cooperative House Building Society the scene needs immediate attention.

As highlighted by the accompanying picture, hundreds of connections have been provided from a single transformer, all at the ground level that can easily entangle a passing animal or even a human being during low lighting hours.

Once it rains and water begin to accumulate, the electric current can easily pass into the ground electrocuting any passerby.

Piecemeal measures were taken by the Electricity Department in some cases, especially those highlighted by the various newspapers in the city. But little effort seems to have been done by the department on its own.

The problem is ubiquitous; the posh northern sectors of the city are no better than the southern sectors in this regard.

Besides the exposed naked live wires, poor streetlighting has also turned the city roads into a drivers’ nightmare. Serious accidents have resulted from hitting into obstacles and even stray cattle due to poor lighting.

The problem of “kundi” connections is more acute in colonies and villages on the periphery of the city. City residents cannot forget incidents where precious lives are wasted due to electrocution.

But they always hope that things will improve and lives will not be lost due to someone’s callous attitude.

Chandigarh, July 9
The Chandigarh Police today questioned a former OSD (officer on special duty) of Punjab’s Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, in connection with the murder of notorious gangster, Prabjinder Singh Dimpy, who was gunned down by two unidentified motorcyclists in the high security zone of the city.

Sharing the information, highly placed sources in the police said, Vishvapreet Singh Chhina, a former OSD of Captain Amarinder Singh along with two local residents Bira Brar, who was booked by the local police several cases, and Sanjay Malik, were questioned by the crime branch officials in connection with the Dimpy murder case.

They were called in the Crime Branch in Sector 11 for the purpose and remained there for hours. Besides, around 15 other persons, including those who were parting with Dimpy at the Sukhna Lake club on that fateful day, were question by the crime branch officials throughout the day in an attempt to unravel the mystery behind the incident. The UT, SSP, Mr Gaurav Yadav, was supervising the proceedings of the case in the crime branch.

About the role of Chhina, the sources in the police said, they were cross-examining the statements given by him with the other persons. They added that Bira reportedly had an old feud with Dimpy and his involvement was suspected in the crime. However, nothing substantial has come out against him during the questioning, so far. They added that there was remote possibility of Bira being directly involved in the killing, but he was capable of getting it done from his sources.

The senior functionaries of the Chandigarh Police when asked about the proceedings of the case admitted that no headway has been achieved in the case so far due lack of “strong evidences”.

Talking to the Chandigarh Tribune, the SSP said: “We are investigation the case in a systematic manner and are questioning several people, including those who were partying with Dimpy at the Lake Club. So far we have questioned around 15 persons acquainted with Dimpy today, but nothing substantial has come out of it”.

Mr Yadav said besides quizzing acquaintances of Dimpy, the police officers has also asked staff at the lake club, in the parking lot and several other persons. He further said a police team was dispatched to Muktsar, which would question the arms dealers there to find out from where the assailants had purchased the bullets.

Citing the reason of today being Sunday, Mr Yadav maintained that the work of getting the details of mobile phone call of the persons known to Dimpy could not be completed due to “lack of cooperation” on the part of telecom companies.

About the role of Harneev in the case, the SSP said: “It would be premature to say anything about her involvement in the case. But the fact that Dimpy first called her and she was not aware about his location goes in her favour. We have not contacted her today to record her statement”.

The police sources said the car is being sent to the CFSL to reconstruct the sequence of events and in corporate it with the statement given by Harneev. The police has asked the CFSL to examine whether the window panes were shattered by the bullets or were broken by some other heavy object. The experts would place dummies of victims in the car and reconstruct in the entire scene.

Panchkula, July 9
The police has nabbed two members of an inter-state gang involved in several cases of car theft and other crimes. The alleged culprits were produced before mediapersons today at a press conference.

The SP said based on their confession since their arrest on June 26, five cars had been recovered while police parties had been sent to Punjab and Himachal Pradesh for more recoveries.

The cars had been stolen from Panchkula, Chandigarh and Patiala.

Panchkula, July 9
Even as the entire city sizzles with heat because of the erratic power supply, it is the residents of the Industrial Area who are forced to live in virtual darkness.

Though Haryana power utilities have imposed peak load restrictions on the industrial areas at night, the residents of the Industrial Area said the power was completely shut at night. “There is pitch dark, as streetlights, too, remain off.

While the rest of the township is all lighted up, the Industrial Area has been completely without power for the past four days,” said Mr K.C. Sharma, a local industrialist.

He said this was a perfect opportunity for burglars to strike in factories and some residences located in the area here.