Bathinda, October 11
Irate over the hefty bills generated during on-the-spot billing introduced by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), residents of Paras Ram Nagar, Pratap Nagar and nearby areas held a protest here today.

Demonstrators climbed atop the water tank at Paras Ram Nagar, broke tube lights and wore garlands of bulbs to register their protest. A large number of protesters, including women, from different parts of the city participated in the protest. They also burnt copies of the electricity bills received.

"With hefty power bills, we would no more need bulbs and tube lights. Bulbs can either be used as show pieces or be worn as garlands," remarked a former municipal councillor, Vijay Kumar.

He said it was impossible to interpret the on-the-spot power bills wherein octroi, which has been abolished in the state, has been slapped on consumers. Many people showed power bills that mentioned the total charges consisting 90 per cent octroi. The remaining amount is user charges.

At the same time, charges for electricity meters have been imposed even in the cases where people purchased their own meters. Further, miscellaneous expenditure has been imposed which is unaccounted.

Narrating their woes, Rani from Guru Nanak Nagar Street No. 5 of Paras Ram Nagar said a week ago, she had paid a power bill of Rs 2,900 and now again, she has been asked to pay Rs 2800. She said her family has been using power prudently so as to minimise their power bill. "I don't know how I would manage to pay this amount," she said.

Another protester, Rani Kaur from Street No. 20/4 Pratap Nagar said she was a widow and had no source of income. She claimed to have paid Rs 6,000 for the previous bill, but power department's records show Rs 7,588 pending against her.

Another widow Bibbo from Street No. 18/6 Paras Ram Nagar stated that she had already paid a bill of Rs 6,330 and still had Rs 2,977 bill pending. "Now, I will have to mortgage my gold to pay the bill," she said.

A labourer, who lives alone in Paras Ram Nagar, said his earlier bill was Rs 3,200, which he paid a week ago. "Now again, I have been issued a bill of Rs 4000," he added.

As per the PSPCL officials, the government has roped in a private company, the KLG of New Delhi, which has been entrusted with the task of compiling the bills. Most of the staff in the private company is semi-literate and technically untrained.

"The PSPCL employees, who had been working in the billing section for the past 25 years, have now been confined to offices. Their experience is going waste and even government's expenses have increased," the employees said.

They added that the revised tariff rates and fuel surcharge too added to the confusion. For the last two months, no power cut has been imposed in the district. "Earlier, during power cuts, people used to save power for at least five to six hours a day. However, with uninterrupted power supply, the consumption and metering has increased," reasoned a PSPCL official.

The official said a lot of consumers were making rounds of the sub-divisional offices of the PSPCL demanding justification for huge power bills.

Meanwhile, XEN HD Goyal said people were yet to get accustomed to the revised power tariff. "These are teething troubles and things will settle down gradually. Our offices are always open for those seeking clarification," he said.

Bathinda, October 11
Dr Sukhchain Singh Gill (IPS), who has been transferred as Hoshiarpur SSP, looked back fondly at his stint in Bathinda and termed it as eventful and satisfactory.

While talking to TNS, Dr Gill said his tenure in Bathinda lasted two and a half years and had been quite satisfactory.

Terming the district as important politically, Gill said he had learnt a lot from the city and was thankful to the police force and the residents for their cooperation.

Remembering Bathinda as eventful, Gill said he cleared all the pending crime cases in the last leg of his tenure with the recent arrest of snatchers and thieves who created a nuisance in the city and the surrounding rural areas. The case of the unidentified girl's murder, whose body was found from near the Bir Road, however, will have to be tackled by the new SSP now. "I hope the new SSP will handle the area with more zeal," Gill said.

The Kabaddi World Cup and the recent Vidhan Sabha elections coincided with Gill's stint in Bathinda.

During his tenure, major crime incidents that took place here included the kidnapping of a minor boy from Model Town Phase-II and his subsequent recovery with the arrest of the accused kidnappers, burning of the bus carrying kabaddi players on the Barnala road, killing of a gangster Shera, firing on the Ajit road wherein two students, who were passing by, received bullet injuries and various incidents of chain snatchings in the city.

Khanna SSP Ravcharan Singh Brar (PPS) would take charge as Bathinda SSP tomorrow.

Bathinda, October 11
With a view to instil a sense of security among the general public ahead of festive season, the police today conducted a surprise checking at the Bathinda railway station.

DSP City-I Gurmeet Kingra, Kotwali SHO Jaspal Singh and Canal Colony SHO UC Chawla along with more than 20 policemen reached the railway station and searched passengers' belongings and luggage.

DSP Kingra said checking at public places would be a regular feature in view of the festive season ahead.

"We have roped in a dog squad and gadgets to check the presence of any explosive material on the premises of the railway station. Earlier, we had conducted similar checks at the bus stand and the main markets in the city," the DSP said.

He said such exercises by the police keep unscrupulous elements at bay and instil a sense of security among the people.

While talking to TNS, the in-charge of the dog squad, Krishan Gopal, said a sniffer dog was brought to the railway station after it sniffed explosive rods.

The seven-year-old Labrador 'Julie' is 'expert' in detecting explosives like RDX (Research and Development Explosive).

The police said most of the times, the sniffer dog's services were utilised during VIP visits.

A file photo of the traffic cops installing a reflector on a tractor.

Fact file

• The sarpanches and prominent villagers in the nearby areas have been informed to make them aware about the use of the reflector.
• Installing the reflectors, tail lights, brake lights and indicators on their vehicles especially the tractors and the trolleys, is needed for safety. Reflectors are a must for the trolley if the farmers fail to install the brake lights or tail lights.
• Accidents are reported frequently because of the fast approaching vehicles failing to notice a trolley moving ahead.
• More than 300 challans have been issued for the use of pressure horns, absence of tail-light, indicators, brake light and reflectors on trucks.

Bathinda, October 11
The Punjab Ophthalmic Officers Association, under the aegis of the Indian Optometry Federation, organized a seminar and an awareness walk at the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Technical College, Bathinda, to commemorate the World Sight Day today.

The students of the institute walked through Sirki Bazar to create awareness among the masses.

Earlier, addressing the students, Harjeet Singh from the Ghudda Governmen Hospital, made the audience aware about the prevalence of blindness in developing countries, specifically in India. Harjeet Singh said the problem of visual impairment and refractive error takes place because of lack of education among the rural populace as people don't get their eyes examined on time which gives rise to the problem that can 't be treated at a later stage.

He added that the lazy eye problem was commonly found in children and is treatable in kids up to age of 12 to 15 years. "If a student suffers from lazy eye even after the age of 15 years, then in spite of all the available treatment, the eyesight cannot be restored. Similarly, there are many problems that can be avoided just by educating the people," he said.

Binder Pal, Ophthalmic Officer, Community Health Centre, Maur Mandi, also laid stress upon strengthening the school health eye screening programme so that the defects of the eye can be detected. He told the students that more than 80 per cent of the blindness is avoidable if the available resources are used.

In the second session of the seminar, Harjeet Singh spoke about diabetic retinopathy. He said if the trend continues, India would have the maximum number of diabetic patients in the world in 2020, as the cases of diabetic retinopathy would definitely increase in the coming years. He laid stress upon the need to make professional eyecare available at the grassroot level so that the common people can have easy access to it.

Principal of the college, Ranjan Gupta, appealed to the students and teachers to spread awareness about eyecare.

Bathinda, October 11
Burning crackers around a 500 metre area of the depots of oil companies at Jassi Pau Wali has been banned.

District Magistrate Kamal Kishore Yadav has banned the use of crackers that explode in the air or travel a few meters beyond the place they are stationed at.

The action has been taken like every year to avert the possibility of any mishap at these sensitive places which store inflammable material.

Besides, the District Magistrate has also banned the sale of crackers at places other than the designated ones in the villages and cities.

On the occasion of Dussehra and Diwali, the markets will be bursting with shops selling crackers and other Diwali explosives.

Yadav has also imposed a ban on storing crackers at places where there are no measures for fire-fighting. The orders of the district administration would be in effect till November 30.