04052022-LT-01.qxd 04-05-2022 00:49 Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana TRIBUNE LUDHIANA TAKE 44-RUN FIRST INNINGS LEAD AGAINST MANSA PAGE 2 Fine batting by Ludhiana enabled their side take a 44-run lead in first innings on second day in final of U-23 cricket meet. FORECAST GENERALLY CLOUDY AALISHA BELIEVES SUCCESS OF ANY SHOW IS A TEAM EFFORT PAGE 3 KIM KARDASHIAN SLIPS INTO MARILYN MONROE’S DRESS There are a lot of factors that contribute to the success of any project, the chemistry between actors being one. MAX 36°C | MIN 26°C | YESTERDAY MAX 38°C | MIN 28°C SUNSET WEDNESDAY 7:07 PM PAGE 4 Met Gala witnessed stars impersonating stars and names of historic women embroidered on designer gowns. SUNRISE THURSDAY 5:39 AM WEDNESDAY | 4 MAY 2022 | LUDHIANA Amid controversy, cost of smart District tops state in maximum road,nearly 30 per cent from ~38.63 crore to ~50.20 cr accident deaths in lockdown market project raised Increased Ludhiana reported highest 41 casualties, worst even in three smart cities Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 3 Amid the controversy over ‘flaws’ in project works, the project cost of Retrofitting of Sarabha Nagar Market and Development of Malhar Road as Smart Road has been increased by nearly 30 per cent, raising many eyebrows. The foundation stone of the project was laid by the then Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh in 2018 and it was supposed to be completed by May 2020 but some works are still pending. In a review meeting of the Smart City Mission called by MP Ravneet Singh Bittu on Monday, the cost of the project was mentioned as Rs 50.20 crore in the document during the presentation. However, no discussion was conducted as to why its cost has been increased. When a similar meeting was held in 2020, the project cost was said to be Rs 38.63 crore. Now, the cost The stone of the smart Malhar Road project was laid in 2018. FILE NO DISCUSSION HELD ON PROJECT COST HIKE In a review meeting of the Smart City Mission called by MP Ravneet Singh Bittu on Monday, the cost of the Retrofitting of Sarabha Nagar Market and Development of Malhar Road as Smart Road was mentioned as Rs 50.20 crore in the document during the presentation. However, no discussion was conducted as to why its cost has been increased. has been increased by around Rs 11.57 crore. As per the presentation given during the meeting on Tuesday, the officials shared information regarding 98 per cent physical progress and 97 per cent financial progress of the project. However, the works such as installation of unground cables and shifting of elec- Eid mubarak tricity poles are still pending. Leaders of various political parties, including the BJP, AAP and SAD had earlier raised questions over the Smart City Mission project. The traders had also raised objection over the reduction of the Malhar Road width due to the Smart Road project. After AAP came into power in the state, MLA from Ludhiana West Gurpreet Gogi asked officials to fix the ‘flaws’ in the project on Malhar Road, Ludhiana. On the other hand, the officials of the MC and Ludhiana Smart City Limited said some works, including the installation of underground cables, were pending. They said the amount had been revised as per requirement to complete the pending works. Meanwhile, MC Commissioner Pardeep Kumar Sabharwal said there was no issue at all. The rates were required to be revised due to some recommendations. DEADLY FIGURES Tribune News Service TOTAL ACCIDENTS IN STATE: 459 LIVES LOST: 375 PERSONS INJURED: 205 HIGHEST FATALITIES: 41 in Ludhiana (10.9%) LOWEST CASUALTIES: 4 in Nawanshahr (1.1%) DEATHS IN SMART CITIES: 80 Ludhiana, May 3 Ludhiana district topped the state with a maximum of 41 deaths in road accidents reported during the curfew and lockdown imposed due to Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the government has confirmed. The state’s biggest district reported 10.9 per cent of the total casualties due to road mishaps in the state from March 21 to May 31, 2020, while Nawanshahr remained the safest district with the lowest of four fatalities, accounting for 1.1 per cent of the total deaths caused due to road accidents in the state, the official figures have revealed. The report on Punjab Road Accidents and Traffic-2020, prepared by a team of the Punjab Police, headed by the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Traffic, Amardeep Singh Rai, a copy of which is with The Tribune, showed that as many as 375 lives were lost while 205 per- (41 Ludhiana, 22 Jalandhar, 17 Amritsar) FILE PHOTO Harshraj Singh ❝The statistics presented in the report will help in databased analysis of understanding the complex phenomenon of traffic management and road safety in the state ❞ Amardeep Singh Rai, ADGP (Traffic), Punjab sons were left injured in 459 road mishaps reported during the Covid curfew and lockdown in the state from March 21 to May 31, 2020. The analysis of the official data indicated that as many as 80 deaths due to road accidents were reported in three smart cities – Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar – during the lockdown and cur- few period, of which Ludhiana again topped with the highest of 41 casualties, followed by 22 in Jalandhar and 17 in Amritsar. The district-wise breakup of the fatalities in the road mishaps from March 21 to May 31, 2020, in Punjab, revealed that Nawanshahr recorded four deaths, continued on page 2 4 test +ve for Covid ~10.90L loot cracked, 3 nabbed Money changer’s employee main conspirator, friends other accused Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service A boy gets vaccinated against covid in Ludhiana. INDERJEET VERMA Tribune News Service Muslims offer prayers to mark Eid ul-Fitr in Ludhiana on Tuesday. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN Man held for impersonation Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 3 The Ludhiana police today nabbed a man who had been threatening revenue officials to execute land registries without going through documents while posing himself as the OSD to the Chief Minister. A case was yesterday lodged against the accused at the Police Division 5 on the complaint of Dr Vinay Bansal, sub-registrar (west), and Gurpreet Kaur, naib tehsildar (central). The accused has been identified as Karamjit Singh Simar of Punjabi Bagh, Jawaddi, here. Commissioner of Police (CP) Kaustubh Sharma, DCP (Crime) Varinder Singh Brar and CIA in-charge inspector Rajesh Sharma addressed a press conference regarding the matter. The CP said the accused had introduced himself as Deol to revenue officials and told them to perform land registries. When the officials suspected some foul play, they informed the police and during a probe, the man was found to be fraud. He said the accused had been strictly telling the revenue officials that they should not check documents of certain persons he would send and their land registries should be done without any delay. The DCP said now, the police remand of the accused would be sought to inquire if he had called any other officers in the state while posing himself as the OSD to the Chief Minister in the past to get some works done. The accused in police custody in Ludhiana on Tuesday. ASHWANI DHIMAN Ludhiana, May 3 Four Covid cases were reported in the district while no death was reported due to the virus today. A total of 1,09,874 persons have tested positive for the virus since March 2020 while 2,280 persons from the district have succumbed to the virus so far. The recovery rate of Covid-19 patients was 97.90 per cent today. There were 32 active cases in the district and 32 were asked to isolate themselves at their homes by the Health Department on Tuesday. COVID-19 FIGURES SAMPLES POSITIVE ACTIVE DEATHS 35,10,215 1,09,874 32 2 2,280 For info Contact: 0161-2444193 & 4622276 At present, one Covid patient is admitted to a hospital in Ludhiana. Till date, a total of 35,10,215 samples have been taken, of which 33,85,582 were found negative. Samples of 3,244 suspected patients were sent for testing today, the results of which are expected shortly. Ludhiana, May 3 The Ludhiana police today claimed to have solved a loot case of Rs 10.90 lakh and arrested three persons. The main conspirator in the case was an employee of the money changer. The arrested accused are Anmol Kaku of Model Town, Phagwara; Kamalpreet Singh Kamal of Phagwara and Hitesh Sharma, alias Honey, of Adampur, Jalandhar. All accused had recently completed Class XII. Hitesh was an employee at the shop of the money changer located in Deepak Complex near the Gill chowk. He is also a relative of the owner. The police have recovered 9.75 lakh in cash from the robbers. Commissioner of Police (CP) Kaustubh Sharma, JCP RS Brar, DCP (Crime) Varinder Singh Brar, Shimla- CP Kaustubh Sharma shows the cash recovered from the accused in Ludhiana on Tuesday. PHOTO: ASHWANI DHIMAN puri SHO inspector Jagdev Singh and CIA inspector Rajesh Kumar Sharma addressed a press conference in this regard. As per the initial complaint received on April 19 from the money changer in which he had stated that he had sent his employees Jaspinder and Hitesh, alias Honey, for cash collection. When they were returning to the shop, Jaspin- der was riding a bike while Honey, who was carrying a bag of cash, was riding pillion. When they reached near the grain market, Gill chowk, two bike-borne persons had allegedly stopped them and looted the bag containing cash at gunpoint, the CP said. “When we questioned Jaspinder and Honey, we found the role of Honey continued on page 2 Overcharging continues at MC parking lot Harshraj Singh A STONE’S THROW FROM MC OFFICE Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 3 When AAP leaders are making tall claims to weed out corruption from the state, nothing has changed at Municipal Corporation’s parking lots as fleecing of visitors is going on unabatedly under the nose of MC officials. The visitors are being forced to pay Rs 70 for parking their four-wheelers against the prescribed parking fee of Rs 20 at the MC’s multi-level parking lot which is just a stone’s throw from the MC’s Zone A office near Mata Rani Chowk, here. It seems the MC’s officials concerned are not ready to act against the private contractor, allegedly backed by some politicians and officials as well, despite the visitors raising their c m y b Visitors are being forced to pay Rs 70 for parking their four-wheelers against the prescribed parking fee of Rs 20 at the MC’s multi-level parking lot which is just a stone’s throw from the MC’s Zone A office near Mata Rani Chowk, here. The MC’s multi-level parking lot near Mata Rani Chowk in Ludhiana. PHOTO: INDERJEET VERMA voice against overcharging. A city resident, Rajeev Jain, said he was forced to pay Rs 70 as car parking charges. When he demanded parking fee slip from staff, they issued a partially torn slip to hide the parking fee amount. “No parking fee was mentioned on the torn slip that was issued to me. I had raised an objection against overcharg- ing but they claimed the fee is Rs 70. Later, I sent a photo of the torn slip to the Deputy Commissioner who assured to raise the matter with the MC Commissioner,” Jain said. Notably, the fleecing of visitors was common during the regimes of the previous Congress and SADBJP governments. Ahead of the Assembly elections, AAP leaders had raised the issue of the parking mafia in the city. But the visitors had failed to get any relief from overcharging at parking lots, even now. Another resident, Satinderpal Singh, said: “Instead of handing overparkinglotstoprivatecontractors who have been looting visitors, thedepartmentsconcernedshould deploy their own employees at the lots.Wewantthegovernmentmust take concrete steps to stop the exploitationofthevisitorsatthelots. Theparkinglotsarefortheconvenience of the people not for causing harassment to them.” AAP MLA from Ludhiana Central Ashok Parashar Pappi said they would take strict action if anyone was found overcharging visitors. MC Commissioner Pardeep Kumar Sabharwal said they would look into the matter and take strict action if any violation was found.