Rash driving accidents on rise in Nawanshahr district

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Nawanshahr, December 25

Nawanshahr district remained in the news due to several deaths in road accidents this year. Apart from this, the police recovered huge quantity of drugs from the region.

Notably, accidents due to rash driving are on the rise in Nawanshahr. In a majority of cases, unidentified drivers, who fled after accidents, were booked.

Highs

• Huge quantity of drugs recovered by the police in the district
• A Child Care Institution for children, who are either missing or abandoned and need urgent care and protection, would come up in Nawanshahr

Lows

• An 18-year-old boy was washed away in flash floods triggered by heavy rains at Bholewal village in Nawanshahr. Surjeet Raj, father of the deceased, alleged that illegal mining was going on in the village. His son, who went for grazing sheep, fell into a khud (trench) due to strong flow of water.
• Government Middle School, Dhaingarpur, has three huge classrooms, a room with four computers, a big playground and a projector, but has only two students.
• Road accidents due to rash driving remained high in the district

Three killed in car, tractor-trailer collision

Earlier this month, three members of a family died on the spot when Ertiga car they were travelling in collided with a tractor-trailer in Nawanshahr.

Villagers construct dhussi bundhs

The neighbouring district bore the brunt of floods, but Nawanshahr was saved from the deluge. However, death of an 18-year-old boy was reported at Bholewal village in flash floods. Villagers started the work to strengthen dhussi bundh at Mirzapur and Hussainpur villages and also constructed a ring bundh (protective bundh) after the water level increased in the Sutlej river. Huge trunks of trees were placed alongside the bundh.

Administration keeps a close watch on situation

There was a time when the situation was critical in the area. The Nawanshahr administration kept a close watch to avoid any untoward incident in the district. The administration evacuated people from more than 18 villages.

Three-day ‘Inquilab Festival’ held in city

For the first time, three-day “Inquilab Festival” commenced on the occasion of the 116th birth anniversary of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh. Strangely, the festival that was started to propagate Martyr Bhagat Singh’s ideals witnessed some unusual developments. The stalls of IELTS centres were set up at the festival. Youngsters were seen approaching stalls to seek information about courses offered by centres.

Ironically, the day the festival started in Nawanshahr, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann delivered a speech in which he addressed the issue of youngsters going abroad. The CM said, “I cannot blame students who went abroad. Students are going abroad as they are fed up with the system. The state government will ensure that no one from Punjab goes abroad.”

Three held for smearing Chief Minister’s picture

In March, three members of the Punjab Students Union were arrested for allegedly smearing a picture of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann with black paint at a Mohalla Clinic in Khatkar Kalan. They were protesting against the removal of Martyr’s Bhagat Singh’s pictures from the clinic.