01012021-LT-01.qxd 1/1/2021 12:40 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana TRIBUNE RESIDENTS HOPE FOR BETTER ROADS, SANITATION IN 2021 PAGE 2 New Year 2021 will usher in various new development projects in Ludhiana and its peripheral towns. FORECAST CLOUDY POOJA BANERJEE IS A FAN OF LUCKNOW’S CHIKANKARI PAGE 3 ACTRESS SONAKSHI SINHA SIGNS WEB PROJECT WITH NETFLIX The actor, who is seen in Kumkum Bhagya, had recently travelled to Lucknow to visit her sister-in-law. MAX 18°C | MIN 4°C | YESTERDAY MAX 17°C | MIN 4°C SUNSET FRIDAY 5:36 PM Sonakshi will be making her digital debut with web series Fallen and will essay the role of a tough cop in it. SUNRISE SATURDAY 7:25 AM FRIDAY | 1 JANUARY 2021 | LUDHIANA 21-yr-old among 2 fatalities; 36 +ve Ringing in New Year in style Tribune News Service Ludhiana, December 31 Two persons, including a 21-year-old youth, lost their lives due to Covid-19 during the past 24 hours. Besides, 36 fresh cases of virus were reported from Ludhiana district. Civil Surgeon Rajesh Bagga said 47 patients, including 36 from Ludhiana and 11 from other districts, tested positive for the virus. In Ludhiana district, 14 patients with influenza like illness visited the Flu Corner, nine visited the OPD and five came in contact with positive patients. Eight others, including, a healthcare worker and a patient with severe acute respiratory illness, tested positive for Covid. Dr Bagga said three patients, including two from Ludhiana and one from Jalandhar district, died of Youngsters welcome the New Year in Ludhiana on Thursday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN Cyber cell: 1,540 plaints disposed of in year gone by Ludhiana, December 31 The cyber crime cell here has received a total of 3,280 complaints in 2020, of which 1,540 complaints were disposed of resulting in registration of 38 FIRs and recovery of around Rs 11 lakh of the public. Besides, in December, an interstate gang of cyber criminals was busted from which Rs 5.45 lakh, 11 mobile phones, eight laptops, a printer, a scanner, three credit cards, 17 SIM cards, six memory cards, 45 PAN cards and 11 ATM cards were recovered. “In the coming year, we are committed to provide timely assistance to residents of the city, for which procurement of new advanced technical tools and training of cyber cell staff will be given priority. Timely disposal of complaints will also be done. Further, a sustained effort will be made towards creating awareness among the public about the new modus operandi adopted by cyber criminals and preventive measures that can be taken by people. It will be done through social media platforms, webinars and seminars,” said ADCP (Crime) Rupinder Bhatti. COVID-19 CONTROL ROOM ■ For Home Isolation: 78147-64759 COVID-19 FIGURES SAMPLES POSITIVE ACTIVE DEATHS 5,37,992 24,773 333 964 ■ For Ambulance Problem: 78143-63850 ■ For Hospital Problem: 62849-12553 ■ For General Problem: 62845-31852 WEBLINK WHERE RESIDENTS CAN CHECK REAL TIME STATUS OF VACANT AND FILLED BEDS IN ALL HOSPITALS: https://ludhiana.nic.in/notice/covid-19-bed-status-in-ludhiana-district the virus. As per information, a 60-year-old man from Khanna and a 21-year-old youth from Basti Jodhewal here lost their lives. Now, the total number of patients related to Ludhiana is 24,773 while 3,698 patients belong to other districts and states. The total number of persons who lost their lives include 964 persons from Ludhiana and 447 from other districts. Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma said at present, there were 333 active patients in the district. He said till date, a total of 5,37,992 samples had been taken, of which reports of 5,36,442 had been received. Of these, 5,07,971 samples were found negative while reports of 1,550 were pending. He said till date, 54,928 persons had been kept under home quarantine in the district and at present, the number of such persons was 1,287. Today, 49 persons were sent for home quarantine. ROB, RUB project irks residents Traffic chaos-free city my New Year No plan, work specifications displayed at construction sites on Pakhowal Road Harshraj Singh Tribune News Service Ludhiana, December 31 Months after starting of the construction work of an ROB and two RUBs on Pakhowal Road, the project plan and work specifications have not been displayed at construction sites. After barricades have been installed to stop the vehicular movement from near Canal Bridge till Hero Bakery Chowk on Pakhowal Road recently, residents and shopkeepers on the stretch are a harried lot. Several persons complained that the way leading to their properties remains blocked due to the ongoing project these days. They demand from Ludhiana Smart City Limited and the MC authorities to resolve the problems being faced by them at the earliest. A resident said they were facing a lot of issues since the road had been dug up. He said: “When the road was dug up, a sewerage pipe started leaking near our property. Now, the work is underway to shift the sewer line. It is difficult for us to reach our residence. I don’t know what Expedite Smart City projects, officials told Officials during a meeting in Ludhiana on Thursday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Ludhiana, December 31 To review Smart City Mission projects, a meeting was convened at the MC’s Zone D office under the chairmanship of MC Commissionercum-CEO of Ludhiana Smart City Limited Pardeep Kumar Sabharwal on Thursday. He said: “Ongoing projects and upcoming projects were discussed in detail and some interdepartmental issues were resolved during the meeting.” He said: “Special focus was laid on sports infrastructure PAGE 4 projects wherein timelines were reviewed and directions were issued to officials to expedite the projects so that these can be delivered in a time-bound manner for the welfare of citizens.” Sabharwal said: “Projects such as development of Sports Park at Jainpur, refurbishment of basketball court, badminton court, refurbishment of athletics track at Guru Nanak Stadium and development of all-weather swimming pool at the Rakh Bagh Sports Complex were taken up in the meeting.” — TNS The work for the ROB and RUBs in progress on Pakhowal Road in Ludhiana. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN ROAD TO HOUSES REMAINS BLOCKED Several persons complained that the way leading to their properties remains blocked due to the ongoing project these days. They demand from Ludhiana Smart City Limited and the MC authorities to resolve the problems being faced by them at the earliest. A resident said they were facing a lot of issues since the road had been dug up. should be carried out with proper planning so that residents and shopkeepers should not suffer. The project details, including map, entire plan, work schedule and its deadline, should be displayed at construction sites for the convenience of people. Space should be left on the stretch for the movement of twowheelers.” A group of shopkeepers complained that their business has been badly affected since the road was closed for vehicular movement. A shopkeeper said: “Customers are not visiting the shop since the vehicular movement has been stopped on the stretch. Even I face difficulty in reaching my shop as a portion of the road has been dug up. A few traders have left their businesses due to the closure of the vehicular movement and high rent of shops. We want that the project should be carried out in a planned manner so that our businesses should not suffer.” Notably, projects worth crores of rupees under the Ludhiana Smart City Limited and the MC are underway but no information about project plans, deadlines, estimated cost and other important specifications are being displayed at sites. Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu said the project plan and other required information would be displayed at construction sites. He said they would take necessary steps to resolve other issues too. resolution: ACP Tribune News Service Ludhiana, December 31 Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Gurdev Singh has taken a New Year resolution to further improve the traffic situation in the industrial hub. The ACP who had , taken a lot of initiatives in this regard, now, pledges to do more for the city. In a statement issued, Gurdev said due to the ongoing development projects in the city such as elevated road, Malhar road beautification, Pakhowal road RUB and widening of old bridge over Sidhwan canal, traffic movement at these spots had been slowed down but from January 1, he has made a special diversion plan at these places to avoid traffic jams. The ACP said the traffic police had identified 91 black spots in the city which would be converted to white spots in the coming days by making technical reforms. The ACP said in most of the road accidents, pedestrians and cyclists were killed. Now, to prevent such accidents, a special campaign has ACP (Traffic) been started Gurdev Singh in which reflective tapes would be put on cycles and speed radars would be installed at black spots. The traffic police have also planned special seminars for auto-rickshaw drivers and schoolchildren to make them aware of the traffic rules. The ACP said they were also planning to provide a separate lane to vehicles such as ambulances and police and school vehicles. Notably, the ACP has also received the Police Medal for Meritorious Services and the Chief Minister Medal for Outstanding Devotion to Duty for his services in managing traffic in the city. He has also worked tirelessly during the pandemic-induced lockdown to serve food to the needy and implement the Covid-19 guidelines. plan has been made to resolve the problems being faced by us now. Even no information about the project and its deadline has been dis- played anywhere. At present, the stretch, outside our property, has been blocked due to the ongoing sewer work.” He said: “The project Training on setting up of women desks Choking of trees: Plaints lodged against LIT, MC Ludhiana, December 31 Ludhiana Police Commissioner Rakesh Agrawal today conducted a training regarding the setting up of women desks for addressing issues of women. The training was conducted at the Police Lines here. Agrawal said the ADGP Com, munity Affairs Division, Punjab, Chandigarh, Gurpreet Kaur Deo, had set up 488 women help desks at the police station level to deal with crime related to women and children that would be inaugurated by the Chief Minister on January 1. These ‘mahila mitras’ will attend women in distress at the help desks. In this regard, a one-day training was conducted today at the conference hall of the Police Lines under the leadership of the top cop. The CP said women desks were being set up to provide timely justice to women facing any kind of issues. — TNS Ludhiana, December 31 Finding fault with the method of laying interlocking tiles on sides of several roads in the city by the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) and the Municipal Corporation (MC), which would result in severe damage to most of the trees, the Council of Engineers (CoE) has lodged two complaints with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the state government, seeking their intervention to stop the practice immediately. CoE president Kapil Dev cited an earlier complaint in this regard (made in January 2020, after which the Department of Local Government, Punjab, issued instructions to the MC to not to cover the area around trees with concrete and paver blocks. The complaint said work for the laying of interlocking tiles on footpaths and road berms had been initiated by the LIT Kuldip Bhatia c m y b The area around trees is being covered with concrete or paver blocks on several roads in violation of the norms in Ludhiana. TRIBUNE PHOTO on Mall Road, College Road, Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar Man Road and contrary to the directions issued by the state government and the orders made by both the apex court and the NGT, area around trees were being covered with concrete and paver blocks damaging the roots of the trees. Citing the orders of the Supreme Court and the NGT, the CoE recalled that in 2013, the NGT had directed the Delhi civic bodies to leave a 1-m radius around trees and those failing to comply with these directions were liable to face a penalty of Rs 10,000 per tree. Kapil Dev pointed out that officials concerned of the LIT and the MC were continuously covering the areas around the trees with concrete and fixing the interlocking tiles over it without consulting horticulturists and experts about the devastating effect of the same. The practice had not only resulted in stopping the penetration of rainwater into earth’s surface but was also acting as slow poison for existing trees and plants. Seeking immediate intervention of the government and the NGT, the CoE said to avoid irreparable loss to trees and greenery and to ensure proper seepage of rainwater through the earth surface of the remaining area on roadsides, directions be issued to the LIT and the MC for replacing the paver blocks with grass pavers/turf pavers (porous pavers) along with leaving space for green cover as well.