I-Day celebrated but public interest on the wane

Nikhila Pant Dhawan

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, August 16

Till last morning, students Mani Singh and Husandeep Singh were excited to participate in the Independence Day function at Multipurpose Sports Stadium. However, by the time the function got over and the duo reached the homes, they had unsettling tales to tell.

“Before entering the stadium, we had parked our cycles in the parking lot near Peerkhana. As my cycle was new, I took extra care to park it in the first row, which was followed by another row of cycles and then a row of other two-wheelers. When I came out, I was shocked to see that my cycle was taken away by someone else,” said a teary-eyed Mani.

Stating that he had bought the cycle in January, he also showed the purchase receipt of his bicycle.

His father Kulwant Singh said, “I am a daily wager and after saving money for several months, we had managed to buy a bicycle and now it’s gone. Mani checked with the police and traffic personnel standing guard at the stadium but in vain.”

Husandeep, whose cycle was also stolen from the parking lot said, “I had locked my cycle but it was stolen. My parents got very angry when they got to know about it. Where will I get a cycle from now?” he asked.

On condition of anonymity, traffic police personnel deployed near the stadium said since there was so much rush after the function got over, there was little scope for them to keep individual check on the people riding away with cycles and two-wheelers.

MCB officials irked

Another indicator towards the poor seating arrangement at the function was the fact that the Mayor and senior deputy mayor were not given any proper place to sit.

Miffed over this, while senior deputy mayor Tarsem Goyal left the venue immediately after he arrived, Mayor Balwant Rai Nath managed to grab a seat at the end of one of the rows and left as soon as the chief guest unfurled the flag.

As per sources, councillors were also annoyed as there were no designated seats for them.

“The Mayor has asked all of us to attend the function. Since a large part of the arrangement had been overseen by the MCB, we went to the function but the seating arrangement was not proper. We were left to look for seats for ourselves,” said one of the councillors.

Rows of vacant chairs

After much uproar over the VVIP and VIP invitation cards sent by the Deputy Commissioner’s office, which he said were strictly to facilitate parking, questions were also raised over the sub-standard quality of cards.

Another indicator to the public losing interest in such functions was the fact that several rows of seats meant for public were left vacant as people didn’t show interest in the district level function.

‘Little scope for keeping vigil in rush’

• On the condition of anonymity, traffic police personnel deployed near the stadium said since there was so much rush after the function got over, there was little scope for them to keep individual check on the people riding away with cycles and two-wheelers. 
• Another indicator towards the poor seating arrangement at the function was the fact that the Mayor and Senior Deputy Mayor were not given any proper place to sit.
• Mayor Balwant Rai Nath left as soon as the chief guest unfurled the flag.