Bathinda, January 6
Dense fog, drizzle and chill paralysed normal life in the city that experienced the worst weather conditions this winter so far. A thick blanket of fog causing low to almost nil visibility throughout the day accompanied by intermittent rain and the plummeting mercury not only threw life out of gear on Friday but also affected train traffic in the region following intensified western disturbances.

The fog which started developing late on Thursday evening was at its peak on Friday morning giving a blind start to the residents. It may be mentioned that for the first time this winter, fog was found developing in the evening.

The dense fog along with the clouds prevented the mercury from sliding in the morning as the city recorded a temperature of 9.2 degree Celsius at 7.30 am, according to the agri-met department of the PAU regional station, Bathinda.

But the worst came in the afternoon when the mercury, in the absence of the sun, nosedived almost touching the day’s minimum temperature to intensify the prevailing cold wave conditions.

The day’s high was 11. 4 degree Celsius, the lowest maximum temperature of this season so far.

The difference between the minimum and maximum temperature today was just 2 degree Celsius.

The daylong precipitation that added to the winter woes was in fact not enough - the rain today could have been around 1.5 mm— as per the weather room sources. It was not the quantity but the timing of the rain that proved to be the culprit, said the residents.

The weather showed some signs of improvement in the evening and even the moon was sighted at some places around 6.30 pm.

Besides affecting life, the fog wreaked havoc on train traffic in the region as most of the trains were found running hour to over five hours behind schedule.

As per the railway sources in Bathinda, the 12137 Punjab Mail reached Bathinda late by 3.20 hours, 14888 Kalka-Jodhpur was 2.10 hours late and the 15609 Awadh-Assam 5.30 hours late. The 12555 AC superfast arrived at Bathinda station 2.05 hours behind schedule and the 19226 Jammu Tawi-Bathinda was 5.20 hours late.

Other trains, including the Janta Express, Ahmedabad-Jammu, also ran late, making the passengers brave the chill on the platforms.

Amid all these, the news emanating from the weather room on Friday also came as a dampener as wet conditions and chill are likely to continue during the weekend.

As per the weathermen, there are chances of light rain with thundershower along with fog in the next 48 hours. The night temperature, however, may increase during the period.

A thick blanket of fog causing low to almost nil visibility throughout the day accompanied by intermittent rain and the plummeting mercury threw life out of gear on Friday but also affected train traffic in the region following intensified western disturbances

• The day’s high was 11. 4 degree Celsius, the lowest maximum temperature of this season so far
• The difference between the minimum and maximum temperature today was just 2 degree Celsius.
• Besides affecting life, the fog wreaked havoc on train traffic in the region as most of the trains were found running hour to over five hours behind schedule.
• Wet conditions and chill are likely to continue during the weekend.
• There are chances of light rain with thundershower along with fog in the next 48 hours. The night temperature, however, may increase during the period.

Bathinda, January 6
The power failure in the region following tripping of four units of the thermal power plants in Bathinda and Lehra Mohabbat left the citizens of Bathinda cold today. The entire city plunged into darkness after the power went off at around 2:45 am. The business remained affected and most of businessmen and shopkeepers had to run generators for the whole day. The drizzle further added to the misery of the traders in the city.

In the morning, people were seen queuing outside the offices of power complaint centres to enquire about the status of power in their areas.

“Even the employees at complaint centres were not aware as to when would the power supply resume. I run a cyber café and power is essential for my business. I waited for the electricity till 10 am and later, switched on the generator to run the computers,” said Tarsem of Ajit Road.

Power supply to some areas was restored by 2 pm while other areas of the city had to wait till 5 pm.

The convener of the joint action committee against pollution emitted by the GNDTP, Bathinda, MM Behl, said the blackout incidence had exposed the poor maintenance of the power plants and lack of expertise in the power department.

“Till evening, many families had to live without power. Even the inverters had exhausted by then. It seems as if we are living in some remote village bereft of basic facility of power,” he rued.

The supply to the hotline connections in the city was also disrupted.

Bathinda, January 6
The first spell of rains during this winter season today proved beneficial for the agriculture sector, but crippled the normal life in the city.

While no major accident was reported due to the inclement weather conditions, more than a dozen minor accidents were reported leading to exchange of heated arguments among the commuters on the Ajit Road, the Mall Road, the Railway Road, near the bus stand and on the Power House Road areas.

A section of farmers in the surrounding areas, while talking to TNS, said the wheat sowing season was almost over and the fresh spell of rains would keep the standing crops in a good health.

“The rain at this stage is beneficial for vegetables and crops. However, if the rain prolongs, it will spoil the growth of plants and can also inflict them with some disease,” said horticulture developmental officer Narinderjit Singh. He added that the rains would prove beneficial to the growth of cauliflower, peas, carrot, brinjal, mustard, carrot, radish, turnip, cabbage, tomato and chilly.

The rain will also help in reducing the fog and improve the dipping temperature.

The official said only 7,200 hectare in Bathinda district was under vegetable cultivation, including potato. He pointed out that farmers were not keen to grow vegetables and opt for cash crops, including wheat and cotton only.

Meanwhile, traffic jams were witnessed on the Mall Road, the Ajit Road, the Power House Road and other busy roads as the traffic lights were rendered nonfunctional due to power failure.

The dense fog in the city and surrounding areas too forced people to remain indoors. Many people also cancelled their visits to distant places.

“I was supposed to visit Chandigarh today to attend a business meeting but could not dare to venture out,” said Bhupinder Singh, a local software engineer.

Officials of the PAU Regional Centre, Bathinda, said the weather would become clear after January 8 and till then light rain and fog would continue.

Bathinda, January 6
The district administration and the police today seized Rs 21 lakh during a checking near Bhai Mati Das Nagar here. This is the third major incidence of money seizure during the past 10 days. The motive behind carrying of such a huge amount by the persons was not clear yet.

The authorities said they immediately seize the money if the amount was more than Rs 2.5 lakh and the person carrying it did not have any relevant documentary proof.

The authorities said it would take some time to investigate the source of money, its real purpose and whether it was meant to lure voters or it was for business purpose.

Local traders and businessmen, however, have already pressed the panic button over the harassment by the police and income tax officials on the ‘pretext’ of checking the flow of black money during Vidhan Sabha elections.

Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav stated that there were two reasons behind the checking, first to check the use of black money by unscrupulous elements and the other to prevent the money from being used to lure voters.

SSP Sukhchain Singh Gill said the Static Surveillance Team seized Rs 21.12 lakh from two persons today. They have been identified as Nitan Singla and Jagdeep Garg. The duo was travelling in a car and the money was recovered at a naka where the police and officials from the district administration were present.

Later, a team of income tax officials was also summoned, who counted the money and enquired about the reason behind carrying the money. The men in question, however, failed to answer the queries of the investigating team.

The matter was under investigation. The money will be released only after going into the depth of the case, the SSP said. He stated that the documents related to the money, including bank statements and income tax proof, would be sought before releasing the money seized by the Income Tax Department.

Bathinda, January 6
No candidate filed nomination papers even on the second day of filing of nomination papers for the current assembly elections in the six constituencies of the district, namely Bathinda (Urban), Bathinda (Rural), Maur, Talwandi Sabo, Rampura Phul and Bhuchho.

The Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer Kamal Kishore Yadav confirmed that no candidate in any of the constituencies of the district filed his/her nomination papers today.

Meanwhile, the helpline phone numbers of District Election Cell’s Control Room are 0164-2240373, 0164-2241373 and 0164-2241473 while the fax number is 0164-2211915. The returning officer of the Bathinda (Urban) Assembly constituency Harjit Singh Kandhola (SDM, Bathinda) can be reached at 84274-22344.

Bathinda, January 6
The district courts are receiving abysmally high number of cases wherein women are seeking divorce and refusing the custody of children. The trend has been on the rise for the past two years with most of the women in divorce cases refusing to keep their children.

The court has been receiving 15 to 20 cases a month wherein women have been demanding divorce and do not want to keep children. Two years ago, the number of such women was merely five.

“Eighty per cent of divorce cases have women seeking divorce or mutual divorce under Section 13 B of the Hindu Marriage Act-1955. It is quite a surprising trend as earlier, women did seek divorce due to marital discord but could not bear to stay away from their children,” observed one of the judiciary officers.

In few cases, even the court has been left astounded by such behaviour. Reminiscing one of the cases, a court employee said few months ago, a woman refused to feed her six-month-old daughter saying that she wanted divorce and that her husband should keep the child.

“All of us in the court were surprised to see the woman handing over her breast-fed baby to her husband,” added another employee. The court of district and sessions judge recently referred a divorce case to the mediation centre. The couple at war had two daughters. The younger one aged three years while the elder one was five year old. Their mother has been insisting on divorce but refused to take the responsibility of children.

“Children cannot be left in lurch. Why should the kids be punished for no fault of theirs? The case has been referred to the centre so that both the factions could be counselled,” added an employee.

Meanwhile, members of the District Legal Services Authority, Raj Gupta, said over the years, young girls were losing their endurance and tolerance towards married life.

“This is disintegration of the family unit. Girl's parents have become more interfering in the lives of the couple sowing seeds of discontentment. Couple should be allowed to solve the problem on its own,” she said.

Bathinda, January 6
On account of two grounds, impact of the model code conduct enforced for the current Assembly elections and the people’s dilemma over the formation of the next government in March, (which party would form the government, the SAD-BJP alliance or the Congress), the registration of the sale deeds of the properties has reportedly come down to some extent from the last week of December till now in various parts of the state.

As per the information, due to strict enforcement of the model code of conduct by the Election Commission that no person could carry more than Rs 2.50 lakh (earlier the amount was Rs 1 lakh) without proper documents, having information regarding the source of money and the purpose, people avoid to carry lakhs of rupees for purchasing the property in their vehicles. This has reportedly been keeping a check on the sale and purchase of property these days. Besides, people, particularly property dealers, have also been waiting as to which party would form the next government.

Due to this, they have been avoiding investing money in property business nowadays. According to those involved in the property business, the change of government in the state may bring a boom in the property business.

As per the information, in the Bathinda Tehsil after the enforcement of code of conduct during the last seven working days (December 28 to January 5) only twice more than 30 sale deeds were registered in a day.

On December 28, the number of registration of sale deeds was 23, on December 29, it was 31, on December 30, it was 25 and on January 2, it was 18. On January 3, the number of registration of sale deeds was 41. On December 4, it was 27 while on January 5, it was 23.

Sources said before the implementation of code of conduct and some months ago, the number of registration of sale deeds was higher as compared to now.

Bathinda, January 6
Resentment prevails among the agitating unemployed linemen against the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) authorities for not getting the Special Leave Petition (SPL) amended so far.

The SLP was filed on December 16 in the Supreme Court by the PSPCL to get the stay, granted by the High Court on the recruitment of the unemployed linemen in the PSPCL, vacated.

However, according to the union leaders, the SLP was filed with some ‘defects’,which should be rectified.

State advisor of the union Soma Singh Bharro said that in case the PSPCL does not rectify the ‘defects’, the union would be compelled to chalk out a further agitation programme. He said they have been agitating peacefully so far, the government should not test their patience any more.

Bharro said as many as 5,000 unemployed linemen had to be recruited on a contract basis in the PSPCL but only 1,000 could be recruited so far while the remaining 4,000 could not be recruited due to the stay on the recruitment process.

Meanwhile, the dharna and the chain hunger strike by the unemployed linemen outside the Mini-secretariat here today entered its 33rd day.

Despite the inclement weather (fog and rain) today, the agitating unemployed linemen were seen in high spirits as they were staging dharna and chain hunger strike in a tent by wrapping themselves in quilts. They today also covered their ‘langar site’ with a tarpaulin. Today, over 50 unemployed linemen from Ludhiana district participated in the dharna.

The Bathinda district unit of the union also held a meeting here and decided that if the government does not fulfill its promise regarding the recruitment of linemen, the union would burn effigies of the government at the constituency level.

The meeting also urged the unemployed linemen to mobiles themselves to propagate against the ‘anti-people’ policies of the government.

Bathinda, January 6
The members of the district unit of the Mid-Day Meal Workers Union (CITU), Punjab, today ended their dharna and chain hunger strike outside the Mini-secretariat here. They had been holding a dharna for the last eight days here. The dharna was lifted and chain hunger strike was ended by the mid-day meal workers after an assurance, reportedly given by the administration, regarding acceptance of their demands.

Before lifting the dharna, a deputation of five members, including Sher Singh Pharwahi, Sat Pal Bharti and Jeet Singh Pakho (all leaders of the CITU) and Shinder Kaur Wazidke (a leader of mid-day meal workers) today met Tehsildar Avtar Singh Makkar and talked to him about the demands of the workers.

Pharwahi said, “In their presence, the Tehsildar spoke to the District Education Officer (DEO) over the phone about the demands of the workers.”

He further said after discussing the matter with the DEO, the Tehsildar told them that the identity cards to the workers would be issued. Besides, the wages of the workers would be deposited in their bank accounts in future, he added. Pharwahi also said the Tehsildar said the DEO would also write to the state authorities for the release of wages of the workers for the months of October, November and December.

He said the Tehsildar assured them that with regard to acceptance of their demands, a letter would be issued to them.

He also said that the workers had been holding dharna here since December 30 as the administration had not heard their grievances though a memorandum had been handed over to it on December 27.

Bathinda, January 6
Block and district-level quiz competitions would be held for the students of class VI and VIII under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA).

The block-level quiz would be held on January 10 and its winners would participate in the district-level quiz to be held on January 17.

At the block level, at least three children (one each from VI, VII and VIII) would participate. The district-level quiz competition would be held at the Desraj Memorial Senior Secondary School, Bathinda. For both the competitions, students would be asked questions regarding the English, Social Science, Mathematics and Science subjects.