16072025-ATR-01.qxd 7/15/2025 11:07 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 31°C | MIN 27°C YESTERDAY MAX 32°C | MIN 26°C GARBAGE PILES ALONG ROADSIDES POSE HEALTH HAZARDS COUNCILLOR RAISES CONCERNS OVER CHOKED SEWERAGE NOW, MUMBAI TO WITNESS MAGIC OF SCOTT’S MUSIC Garbage piles on roadsides of many areas of the town has become a health hazard for residents. P2 Councillor Virat Devgan conducted a surprise inspection of the Khaparkheri Sewage Treatment Plant . P2 Travis Scott’s highly anticipated Circus Maximus World Tour is creating waves among his fans all over the world. P4 » » » SUNSET WEDNESDAY 7.36 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 5.36 AM WEDNESDAY | 16 JULY 2025 | AMRITSAR ICE drug seizure case: Two more held with pistols, heroin & drone Tribune News Service L&T to face penalty for poor condition of roads in city Amritsar, July 15 Amritsar Municipal Corporation Commissioner Gulpreet Singh Aulakh held an emergency meeting regarding the poor condition of roads in the city following recent rains. The focus of the meeting was infrastructure major L&T (Larsen and Toubro company), responsible for laying pipes under the Amritsar Canal Water Supply project, which has allegedly failed to properly repair roads after completing their work. MC Commissioner Aulakh took a serious note of media reports highlighting how roads, patched unprofessionally after pipeline works, have been damaged during the monsoon, creating potholes and posing a threat to commuters. He directed that all roads dug for laying pipelines must be properly restored to their original level to prevent accidents and waterlogging. Strict instructions were issued to officials of Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company (PMIDC) to halt all pending payments to Larsen and Toubro. A legal notice will be served on the company along with a financial penalty for negligence. Senior engineers and project managers from both L&T and PMIDC attended the meeting. MC Commissioner Aulakh clarified that under the World Bank-assisted project, L&T was entrusted with laying pipelines to supply treated canal water to Amritsar residents. However, as per regulations, the company is responsible not just for pipeline installation but also for restoring any road sections affected by their work. Aulakh said while some roads were poorly repaired, others remain untouched, causing severe inconvenience to commuters. He warned that any delays in road restoration will not be tolerated as public welfare projects must not result in public hardship. — TNS Neha Saini Tribune News Service SSP (Rural) Maninder Singh addresses mediapersons in Amritsar on Tuesday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR Vicky disclosed information about his associates, leading to the arrest of Akashdeep Singh and Amandeep Singh. Police officials suspect the recovered drone was being used for cross-border drug smuggling operations. The forward and backward links of the accused are being thoroughly investigated and any other individuals found involved will also face strict legal action. Besides, the police are veri- fying the properties and assets of the arrested individuals. Any property found to have been purchased through drug money will immediately be frozen. Senior Superintendent of Police Maninder Singh said this success marks another significant achievement in the ongoing fight against drugs in Punjab and assured that operations against drug networks will continue. Amritsar, July 15 Three days after Amritsar Municipal Commissioner Gulpreet Singh Aulakh announced stringent action against government departments, hospitals and private institutions if garbage was found accumulating within their premises instead of being scientifically disposed of, heaps of garbage, including syringes and other medical waste, was found dumped in the open inside the Civil Hospital, Amritsar. The garbage was seen dumped outside a small building area, on the backside of the emergency ward, extremely close to the designated area for disposal of medical and bio-remedial waste. On days like today, when the city saw heavy rainfall, even if for a few hours, such open dumping of garbage could prove to be not just a health hazard, but also an environmental hazard because of waste degradation, one that might linger on for years. While the inside of the hospital’s Heaps of medical and other waste dumped right outside the room constructed for the purpose of waste disposal inside the Civil Hospital in Amritsar on Tuesday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR IMMEDIATE IMPACT ■ Dr Kirandeep Kaur, Civil Surgeon, Amritsar, was informed about the situation as soon as it was reported. Calling it an ‘exception’, she said that garbage picking inside the hospital takes place without a miss. “We have garbage picking trucks cleaning out the biomedical waste as well as other waste every day. The OOAT clinic is nearby and sometimes some out-patients come and throw syringes and other waste without our knowledge in the open. Today might be an exception,” she stated. By evening, the Civil Surgeon said that the authorities concerned were out on job to clean the dumped garbage from the area. ■ Local MLA Dr Ajay Gupta, when contacted regarding the incident, informed that he was away in Chandigarh to attend the special session of Vidhan Sabha and was unaware and could not comment. emergency ward was clean, though crowded with patients and visitors, the open dumping of garbage, without segregation just outside the periphery, is an invitation for diseases. There have been multiple complaints by visitors and patients regarding lack of proper maintenance and hygiene at government hospitals. Manvinder Singh, a visitor, who had brought his younger brother who was injured in a road accident, to the ward, said that this is slowly becoming ‘normal’. “Even if you go to other government hospitals, open dumping of garbage is seen everywhere. Even if you try to question the cleaners or hospital staff about the situation, they respond with silence or excuses.” A few days back, Amritsar Tribune had reported how heaps of plastic and other waste was dumped recklessly in the open opposite the emergency ward of Guru Nanak Dev Hospital. It’s not the first time that such dumping of garbage inside several public hospitals is seen. It has been a longstanding issue, with reports being filed over a span of last few years. The problem is further fuelled by negligent visitors’ attitude, lack of prompt municipal garbage pickup and loose enforcement of law and regulations by the authorities concerned. Ex-SAD leader joins AAP, may MC Commissioner conducts surprise be fielded for Tarn Taran bypoll check at Hall Bazaar, Town Hall streets Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, July 15 Former SAD leader and threetime MLA Harmit Singh Sandhu joining the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has changed the political scenario in Tarn Taran Vidhan Sabha constituency. It has come as a big blow even to those leaders of the ruling AAP who were launching scathing personal, political and allegedly derogatory attacks against him (Sandhu) for the last few days. These AAP leaders were claiming to be the only choice for the party for the Tarn Taran Assembly bypoll, necessitated by the death of Dr Kashmir Singh Sohal, the sitting Tarn Taran MLA. A mature and seasoned leader of the masses, Harmit Singh Sandhu entered active Harmit Singh Sandhu politics during the period 1997-2002 when there was SAD-BJP government in state led by Parkash Singh Badal. But in the 2002 election, he was denied the SAD ticket from Tarn Taran and entered the poll fray as an independent candidate and won the election. Captain Amarinder Singh of the Congress formed the government and he built pressure on Harmit Singh Sandhu to join the Congress party which he rejected in spite of repeated ‘threats’ from the administration. Ignoring the pressure, Harmit Singh Sandhu preferred to join SAD even though Captain Amarinder’s government registered cases against senior SAD leaders. It proved to be a positive point for Harmit Sandhu who came to be in the good books of the Badal family. He won the next two elections in 2007 and 2012. Though he lost the elections in 2017 and 2022, he managed to keep his mass base intact despite all odds. It is because of this that Harmit Singh Sandhu has become the first choice of the AAP leadership with the Tarn Taran byelection expected any time. Amritsar, July 15 Lapses in hygiene, cleanliness and illegal encroachments around and along the Heritage Street, a major tourist hub and commercial area in the walled city, have been a consistent bane for the district administration. Today, MC Commissioner Gulpreet Singh Aulakh conducted surprise inspection at streets from the Hall Bazaar leading to Town Hall in the city. During the visit, the MC Commissioner inspected cleanliness, civil works, street lights and illegal encroachments around roads. He directed the officials concerned, who accompanied him, to take the necessary action at the earliest. As part of his inspection, the MC Commissioner also reviewed the ongoing construction of the Hydraulic MC Commissioner Gulpreet Singh Aulakh during surprise inspection at Hall Bazaar in Amritsar on Tuesday. Parking at Kairon Market under the Amritsar Smart City project. Water ATMs installed for public convenience on the roads were found to be in working condition. Aulakh also conducted a surprise inspection of the Motilal Nehru Library located at Town Hall and issued instructions to officials regarding ongoing civil work there. Talking to shopkeepers at the Hall Bazaar, he asked them to remove the unauthorised structures and encroachments within three days. Aulakh said thousands of pilgrims visit Amritsar daily for religious and historical sightseeing. “Hall Bazaar is one of the city’s key markets and it has also been declared a heritage street. I have observed that many shopkeepers have encroached on footpaths, making it difficult for pedestrians to walk. We have instructed them to clear these encroachments at the earliest. In case of non-compliance, the Estate Department in coordination with traffic police would take appropriate action,” he said. He directed officials to ensure complete cleanliness from Hall Bazaar to Town Hall, repair any manholes or drains and ensure that all street lights are in working condition. During the Motilal Nehru Library visit, he instructed them that the roof of the library should be repaired at the earliest. — TNS Fauja Singh’s death highlights issue of road Lawyers, Gurdaspur police in tussle over action against SHO safety, pedestrians bearing brunt of it Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 15 The tragic death of 114-year-old Fauja Singh, the world’s oldest marathon runner, in a hit-andrun accident near his village has once again exposed the poor state of road safety, particularly for pedestrians in state. Known globally as a symbol of fitness and endurance, Fauja Singh’s death has drawn attention to the menace of road accidents, with pedestrians often paying the highest price. While crossing a rural road, Fauja Singh was fatally struck by an unidentified vehicle that sped away without stopping. His demise is not an isolated incident but part of a worrying trend. According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, hit-and-run cases account for 18.1 per cent of total road accident deaths in India. Alarmingly, pedestri- PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR Amritsar, July 15 The Amritsar Rural Police have arrested two more accused in a high-profile ICE drug (methamphetamine) case, recovering a large quantity of drugs, weapons and a drone suspected to be used for smuggling activities. The two arrested accused have been identified as Akashdeep Singh, son of Laabh Singh, a resident of village Bhagu Purab, and Amandeep Singh, son of Harjinder Singh, a resident of Lodhi Gujjar village. Both were arrested from Jagdev Khurd village during a special operation carried out under the leadership of Senior Superintendent of Police Maninder Singh and DSP Gurvinder Singh. According to police officials, the latest recovery includes two Glock pistols, one drone and a Hyundai i20 car. The arrests are part of an ongoing investigation that began on July 5 when the Special Cell arrested Ravinder Singh, alias Vicky, from Kakkar village with 1.227 kg of ICE drug and a Glock pistol. During interrogation, Despite civic body order, garbage dumps visible in Civil Hospital Pedestrians cross a busy road by risking their lives near the Ghala Mala chowk on Majitha Road in Amritsar on Tuesday. ans make up 18 per cent of fatalities in urban areas and 13 per cent in rural regions. Local statistics paint an equally grim picture. In Amritsar district alone, 24 cases of accident have been reported in the first half of this year, resulting in 25 deaths and 22 injuries. Last year, 62 people lost their lives in road accidents in the district. Experts blame encroachments on footpaths and lack of dedicated pedestrian infrastructure as key reasons behind the growing fatalities. A joint study by the Punjab government’s traffic advisors, c m y b NGO Rahgeer, and Guru Nanak Dev University’s Guru Ramdas School of Planning in 2019, had revealed that pedestrians are forced to walk on roads due to footpaths being occupied by illegal vendors and parked vehicles. The three-year research shows that pedestrians and twowheeler riders are the main victims, mostly hit by cars. The study also identified several black spots on city roads where most fatal accidents occur. “The death of Fauja Singh exposed our road safety infrastructure. Urgent infrastructural improvements and strict enforcement of laws against footpath encroachments are needed to prevent further tragedies. The pedestrians remain most vulnerable road users and the authorities should make policies keeping them in mind,” said advocate Randhir Sharma. Ravi Dhaliwal Tribune News Service Gurdaspur, July 15 The strike by Gurdaspur District Bar Association (DBA) entered its second day today even as the advocates and local police remained locked in a stalemate over the future of Dinanagar Station House Officer (SHO) Amritpal Singh. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Aditya has already shifted the SHO to Police Lines and has also simultaneously initiated a departmental inquiry against him. The lawyers, however, were not pleased with this action and demanded that the officer be suspended and an FIR registered against him. A few days ago, the SHO, accompanied by several policemen, had arrested Pawan Kumar, a handi- capped ex-Army man from the chamber of lawyer Dilbagh Singh Saini. The SHO had also allegedly used derogatory language against the lawyers following which the latter went on a strike. A delegation of advocates, led by DBA president Raj Paul Singh, today again met the SSP The police chief was . firm on not suspending his officer. He was also disinclined to get an FIR registered against him. A police source disclosed that the police chief will never agree to the demand of registering an FIR because “that would put his career at stake”. Raj Paul Singh said the strike would continue tomorrow. The lawyers also met the District and Sessions Judge Dilbagh Singh Johal. There is a consensus emerging that whatever punishment the SSP had given was enough. However, a section of the advocates was not willing to buy this argument and said the officer should be suspended and a criminal case registered. An disclosed source said that the strike may come to an end tomorrow after the Station House Officer himself appears in the DBA office and asks for forgiveness. “There is no chance that the Senior Superintendent of Police will retract from his position. That is for sure. Hence, the lawyers should find a middle ground. The Station House Officer’s presence in the district courts tomorrow and his apology will be enough to end the strike. After all, it is not only the lawyers’ fraternity which is suffering, the litigants too are being made to suffer,” said an officer.