Jalandhar, July 30
The northern power grid failure this morning not only left the city without power but also led to a delay in the supply of water by the municipal corporation (MC), causing inconvenience to the residents.

Power supply was snapped in seven states of North India, including Punjab, since 2.30 am and the water supply was restored only after the power resumed at around 9 am. The water supply timings of the MC begin at 6 am and continue till 10 am.

However, the delay left city residents, especially housewives, working class and students with no option but to wait for water supply to start their household chores. The working class was the worst affected, as most of them got late for office due to no supply of water. “It was completely dark. Firstly there was no power and secondly no water too. Leave other works, we could not even take bath and got late for work,” said Arundeep an employee.

Students maintained that following the delay in the water supply, they had to miss their lectures. “Owing to no water supply, most of my friends reached college late. We missed our first lecture and reached college at 11 am,” said a group of students from the local Lyallpur Khalsa College.

“Since there was no water supply, we could not begin any household chore till 10 am. Even the water stored in the overhead water tank was also consumed, leaving us with no option but to wait till the fresh supply began,” said Lata Sharma a housewife.

Most of the residents were not even aware of the problem and mistook it as a routine power cut. “We learnt about the northern power grid failure and the delay in the water supply later in the day. Until we called up at one of the local power stations, we did not know about the cause behind such a long power disruption. The biggest relief was when water supply was restored, as that had almost brought everything to a halt,” said an elderly couple.

Jalandhar, July 30
Passengers at the city railway station were left stranded for around four to five hours this morning after the northern grid power failure at 2.30 am brought all trains passing or starting from here to a halt. This led to delay in the departure and the arrival of all trains.

As the passengers were caught unawares, the railway station was heavily crowded, with no space to sit and stand anywhere. Almost all trains moving to the city railway station were immediately cancelled because of the grid failure.

Not only the railway station, even the outer areas of the station, starting from the entrance towards the parking lot, also witnessed a big rush. City residents who had come to receive their relatives/friends were also seen waiting outside, as the railway authorities had announced the delay in the arrival and the departure of the trains.

Almost all trains ran late by around 4 to 5 hours, causing huge inconvenience to the passengers. However, the respite for the passengers was the heavy rain in the morning, which made their wait a little easy.

The Delhi-bound Shatabdi Express, which moves at 6 am daily, was late by around 1hour 30 minutes and left the city railway station at 7.21 am, and that too after a diesel engine was attached to it. Even the Jalandhar-bound Shatabdi, which was to depart from Delhi, reached the city late by around 1 hour 45 minutes.

An elderly couple, who was to go to Delhi via Shatabdi, reached the railway station at 5.40 am, but ended up waiting for around two hours. “Our son came along to drop us at the station, but following the announcement of the delay, stayed with us at the station. The entire station was badly crowded and there was no space to sit and stand. Even when the train arrived, it was difficult to make way to board the coach due to the rush”, said Rajinder Singh.

Similarly, Shan-e-Punjab, which was scheduled to reach the city railway station at 12.57 pm, was late by 1 hour 15 minutes. Katiyar Express was late by five hours. It usually reaches here by 10.15 am. Dadar Express, which was scheduled to reach at 3 pm, was also late by 5 hours.

Akal Takth was late by 2 hours and was scheduled to reach the city railway station at 3.20 pm. Jan Sewa Express was late by 5 hours, Saryu Yamuna Express was also late by 40 minutes, while Amritsar Ambala Express was cancelled.

A family which was waiting for its daughter-in-law, who was coming from Mumbai by Dadar Express along with a two year old kid, said, “We were informed by our daughter-in-law that their train halted at an isolated place in the wee hours. They did not come to know of the reason until some fellow passengers informed about the power grid failure. We are still waiting for her arrival,” they said. 

Jalandhar, July 30
The recovery of a woman’s body from the Kali Bein (rivulet) in Nakodar yesterday spread panic in the area. The police has been suspecting foul play in her death.

Two kids (aged below three) were, meanwhile, found crying near the body and their faces were also having some injury marks. Though the children have not been identified, wounds on their faces have alarmed the police.

Harpreet Singh, station house officer (SHO), Sadar police station said the body was recovered from slush alongside the Bein and froth was oozing out from the victim’s mouth. Scores of people residing near the rivulet were questioned, but to no avail, he added.

Though the children couldn’t speak a single word about the incident, fresh injury marks on their faces had clearly linked them with the incident, Singh said, adding that the body might be of the mother of these children, but this couldn’t be ascertained yet.

“We have been investigating the case from various angles. It could be rape, murder or suicide. Even the body is without any external injury marks, which has further mystified the story behind her death,” a police official said. The postmortem report would bring out the exact reason without her death.

The children have been sent to a juvenile home, the police added.

Jalandhar, July 30
After a shocking power tariff hike, people of Punjab are in for another jolt. They will have to shell out Rs 2 more for a litre of dairy milk from Tuesday.

If they were paying anything between Rs 35 to Rs 38 for a litre of cow milk and between Rs 38 to Rs 40 for the same quantity of buffalo milk during the past one year now, they would have to add another Rs 2 per litre in their dairy milk bill.

Though, the Verka authorities had effected a minor price hike of Rs 1 per litre for its milk nearly two months ago, owners of private dairies had not increased the prices of cow and buffalo milk during the past about one year.

“We had no alternative left with us than to increase the price hike. The prices of inputs like cattle feed, fodder and de-oiled rice bran have almost doubled during in the past two months. Moreover, the labour charges and power tariff has also forced us to increase the milk prices,” said JS Dhillon, president of the Punjab Livestock Farmers’ Association (PLA).

Ashwani Kapoor, general secretary of the Dairy Association of the Jalandhar Dairy Complex, Jamsher, said the prices of “khal binola” had increased from Rs 1,400 to Rs 2,000 per quintal during the past two months and that of de-oiled rice bran from Rs 400 to Rs 900 a quintal. “Similarly, maize prices have shot up from Rs 900 to Rs 1,350 per quintal. Moreover, there is fodder scarcity, which has accentuated the problem,” said Kapoor.

Dairy farmers said they were avoiding hiking prices during the past one year, even as the dairy milk prices usually increased every April, but this time they were left with no other choice than to increase prices.

Jalandhar, July 30
Although a big respite from heat, but the two-hour-long rain in the city and its periphery today left the low-lying areas totally submerged, with knee-deep water accumulating in various localities.

The rain started at around 7 am and continued till 9 am, bringing relief from the sultry weather, but that in turn left the low-lying areas as well as the some of roads completely inundated making it difficult for people to commute.

City residents had a tough time commuting through waterlogged streets and roads in low-lying areas, such as Basti Bawa Khel, Railway Road, Preet Nagar, 120-Feet Road, Chandan Nagar, Sodal Road, Gazigulla, Domoria under-bridge and Ekhari Puli.

Most of the rickshaw-pullers, who commuted through knee-deep water, maintained that the low-lying areas meet the same fate every time it rained in the city. “Although today’s rain came as a major relief, but that in turn left us wading through knee-deep water. To add upon the problem, a majority of the roads are completely broken, which makes commuting through these stretches difficult and dangerous,” said a rickshaw-puller.

Many roads of the old city areas, including Ali Mohalla, Nehru Garden Road, Basti Adda Chowk, Sheikhan Bazaar, Garha Road and Ladowali Road, were completely waterlogged and gave a tough time to commuters.

Shopkeepers at Sheikhan Bazaar said, “Till afternoon all these roads remained waterlogged and we kept on draining out the stagnant water to make way for the commuters to enter our shops. It has been years since we have been facing the same problem of waterlogging, but the Municipal Corporation never came up with any solution for this.”

Jalandhar, July 30
The “Police-public meet”, organised by the Azad Youth Welfare Society last night at Kishanpursa Mohalla witnessed a huge participation of youths, who candidly raised various issues before the police officers.

Assistant Commissioner of Police, North, Balkar Singh, inspector Bimal Kant Sharma, Police Division No. 8 and Balbir Singh, Station House Officer, Police Division No. 1 were present.

The main issue which the public raised before the police was the rising menace of drugs in their areas. Residents urged the police to root out this menace from areas under its jurisdiction. The public was also concerned about the unnecessary involvement of politicians in the police functioning. Residents said the police should understand its duties and responsibilities towards the public and should not let the investigation suffer due to the interference of politicians.

Meanwhile, ACP Balkar Singh assured the residents that their suggestions would be looked into.

Jalandhar, July 30
The city police has booked a woman clerk of the District Transport Office (DTO) for her reported involvement in an alleged scam involving several lakhs.

The accused was identified as Kanta. A case under Section 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant) of the IPC has been registered at the New Baradari police station.

Sewa Singh, investigating officer, said District Transport Officer Roop Lal Jassal had complained at the police station that the woman clerk had been involved in a scam involving several lakhs by not depositing the cash collected from “manual receipts”.

The complainant had alleged that she used to issue manual receipts to the public and as per law, she had to deposit the amount in the treasury. But she didn’t.

The police said investigation into the case had already been initiated and raids were on to nab the accused, adding that the police would also charge her colleagues in the case, if found guilty in the scam.

Jalandhar, July 30
A motorcyclist was crushed to death by a speeding truck on the Jalandhar-Phagwara highway on Sunday late night. One person also sustained severe injuries.

The deceased was identified as Dara (30), a resident of Bilga, while the injured was identified as Money, a resident of the same village.

The accident occurred at 11.30 pm last night when the duo was on their way to their home.

When they reached near Birring village, the speeding truck, coming from the opposite side, rammed into their bike.

After impounding the truck, a case of negligent driving was registered against the truck driver, the police said.