People spend anxious night amid blackout in several Punjab districts
Chandigarh (PTI): People in several districts of Punjab, including the key border areas of Amritsar, Pathankot and Ferozepur, spent an anxious night as authorities enforced a complete blackout amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan.
Blackouts were also enforced in districts such as Jalandhar, Gurdaspur, and Hoshiarpur.
The authorities also snapped power in Chandigarh, the common capital of Punjab and Haryana, for about two hours until midnight.
The move came as India on Thursday night swiftly thwarted Pakistan's fresh attempts to strike military sites with drones and missiles, including in Jammu, Pathankot and Udhampur, after foiling its attempts to target military installations in 15 cities in the northern and western parts of the country using missiles and drones.
According to the defence ministry, the Pakistani military on Thursday night attempted to target Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bathinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai and Bhuj.
The renewed attempts by the Pakistani forces came after the Indian armed forces on Wednesday carried out precise missile strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Pakistan under ‘Operation Sindoor’ in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
In Pathankot, where some locals claimed they heard explosion-like sounds on Thursday night, though there was no official confirmation, calm prevailed on Friday morning.
Air raid warning sirens were activated in the border town where the blackout was enforced around 8:30 pm on Thursday.
Some locals said on Friday that though they were anxious over the developments, they were confident as India's armed forces were swiftly thwarting Pakistan's attempts.
In the key border districts of Amritsar and Ferozepur, too, calm prevailed on Friday morning.
In Chandigarh, Baldev Chand, an elderly man who stuck to his routine morning walk on Friday, said while there were some anxious moments the previous night, there was nothing to worry given the way the Indian armed forces thwarted Pakistan’s attempts.
On Thursday night, the authorities in several Punjab districts appealed to people to switch off the lights and stay at home, insisting that there was no need to panic.
Pathankot Deputy Commissioner Aditya Uppal asked citizens to remain inside their homes and follow the blackout protocols.
The blackout was also enforced in Rupnagar, Fazilka, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, Sangrur, Bathinda, Patiala and Haryana's Panchkula, as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of the citizens.
The Punjab government has ordered the closure of all educational institutions for the next three days in view of the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. In Chandigarh, too, the authorities have shut all schools till Saturday.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
