Jalandhar, July 26
Government officers here seem to be at ease over the habit of using air-conditioners in their offices. The fact came to light when they were seen sitting in their offices with ACs working, despite a ban imposed on their use, which came into effect from today.

Ironically, the Chief Engineer (CE) of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), who is supposed to best know the power situation in the state was also seen using AC in his office. While Mr S.S. Sangha, CE, was busy in a zonal-level dispute settlement committee meeting, the Deputy Chief Engineer, Mr S.S. Gill, gave the plea that the CE was not willing to use the AC but the members of the committee pressed him to use it for a while.

Even the junior staff sitting in their offices in the building were seen using air-conditioners as they enjoyed the luxury of uninterrupted power supply to the administrative block of the city’s power house. Sources in the department revealed that ACs were switched off only when members of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) came to the office.

Officers sitting in the administrative complex of the district were also no exception. Mr Gurwarayam Singh, District Transport Officer, was also seen sitting in his air-conditioned office. When asked, he said: “My office is not well-ventilated and it is impossible for anyone to sit and work without using the air-conditioner in this hot and humid weather. I did not switch the AC on when I came this morning. But I had to ultimately as I was finding it impossible to sit here.”

Interestingly, the RTA, Mr G.S. Ghuman, was found sitting in the DTO’s office leaving the AC on in his room. The officer said: “I did not switch it off before coming here as I came to meet the DTO for a while and was leaving back for my office in five minutes.”

The clerical staff of the District Treasury Office had also kept their ACs on, while an officer sitting next door seemed to strictly abide by the new official guidelines. As soon as the officer was told about the situation, he immediately got the AC switched off in his clerks’ room and later took a round of his building.

ACs remained working in almost all offices of the district administrative complex in Kapurthala as well. Mr Rakesh Kumar Verma, Deputy Commissioner, said it was very difficult to implement such orders and it usually took time to convince officers to follow the instructions.

AMRITSAR: Most commercial establishments defied directions imposed by the PSEB ordering closure at 6 pm, as bazaars around the Golden Temple, Jallianwala Bagh, Nehru shopping complex, Lawrence Road and markets in Basant Avenue, Green Avenue, White Avenue, Kennedy Avenue besides the Rattan Singh Chowk area and Hall Bazaar continued to remain open even after the deadline.

Although some officials tried to effect the closure of shops at Lawrence Road, Hall Bazaar, shopkeepers continued to do business with half-downed shutters after they left.

Interestingly, some streetlights were found working even during the day on the Bhandari bridge, near truckers stand. Wholesale markets, however, remained closed on account of their weekly holiday. Meanwhile, ACs were found working in some government establishments today. Although no lunch break was allowed for the government staff, most of them took off at the lunch time.

Confusion prevails in various markets in the city as a large number of shopkeepers put down their shutters in view of the advertisements about the 6 pm deadline for closing shops. In the prime Hall Bazar area, a majority of the shops were closed around 7.00 pm as there were reports that the PSEB would impose a hefty fine.