06052022-LT-01.qxd 06-05-2022 00:30 Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana TRIBUNE PAGE 2 POWER CUTS, MAINTENANCE WORKS MAKE LIFE OF RESIDENTS MISERABLE MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 38°C | MIN 21°C | YESTERDAY MAX 38°C | MIN 20°C SUNSET FRIDAY 7:08 PM SUNRISE SATURDAY 5:37 AM Daily fires spike up to 114; crop residue burning cases reach 427 on Thursday Nitin Jain OFFICIALSPEAK We are continuing with our efforts to sensitise the stakeholders in preventing the crop residue burning. Besides awareness and education campaigns, a special enforcement drive is also underway to check the menace Tribune News Service Civil Surgeon inspects Civil Hospital Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 5 Civil Surgeon SP Singh today carried an inspection at the Civil Hospital. He also checked the arrangement at the isolation ward. He said, “The Civil Hospital is ready with 30-bedded isolation ward in which 20 beds are for adult patients while 10 are reserved for paediatric patients. Out of these 10 beds are equipped with the ICU facility.” He checked the oxygen plant and said they were in working condition. He visited the underconstruction RTPCR lab and said, “It will be ready in two weeks and as the equipment comes and manpower is employed, it will be made operational.” He also visited the deaddiction centre and met inmates. He instructed to display the contact number of safai karamcharis outside washrooms so that the issue of cleanliness could be taken care of. The issue of defunct ultrasound machine was also highlighted. He said they had received the nod for the expenses, but the company which was to repair machine had asked for advance payment. “We will soon find a solution to this problem,” he added. ❝ ❞ Surabhi Malik, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER HOW TO PROTECT ■ Wear mask outdoors ■ Run air purifier indoors ■ Keep windows closed to avoid dirty outdoor air ■ Avoid outdoor exercise ■ Promote greenery in your vicinity Farmers burn wheat crop stubble in a field on the Jassian road in ludhiana. FILE TOP 10 POLLUTED CITIES City AQI Source: PAU, Ludhiana City AQI Mandi Gobindgarh 172 Mohali 118 Ludhiana 151 Jalandhar 82 Faridkot 128 Bathinda 80 Khanna 119 Ropar 76 Amritsar 118 Patiala 73 tion to check the menace of stubble burning. In a first-of-its-kind initiative, all 968 villages covered under 941 panchayats and 367 primary agriculture cooperative societies (PACS) in Ludhiana district had before the start of kharif season in September last had resolved not to let anyone burn crop residue in their respective jurisdictions, but no such initiative was reported in the district so far. While farmers blamed the “inadequate and ineffective” facilities and arrangements made by the government to avert farm fires, the administration claimed that much awareness and DISTRICT-WISE FARM FIRES Amritsar Barnala Bathinda Faridkot Fatehgarh Sahib Fazilka Ferozepur Gurdaspur enforcement measures were taken to contain the menace of stubble burning in the district this season. With this, the air pollution in the state’s industrial capital has also touched a new high as the air quality index (AQI) went up from 143, which falls under the “poor” category and was considered “unhealthy for sensitive groups”, on April 28 to 171, which was an ‘unhealthy’ level, on May 3. As PM2.5 concentration in Ludhiana air remained the main pollutant, which is currently 11.3 times above the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) annual air quality guidance 939 380 708 358 25 440 1,163 958 Hoshiarpur Jalandhar Kapurthala Ludhiana Malerkotla Mansa Moga Muktsar Source: PRSC, Ludhiana 348 258 461 427 109 381 907 486 value, Ludhiana was the second most polluted city in Punjab on May 5 with the AQI 151, which also falls under the “unhealthy” category. Another industrial town Mandi Gobindgarh remained the most polluted area in the state with the highest AQI 172. The poor air quality has left the maximum cities of Punjab under an envelope of smog, especially in the morning and evening hours, with the rise in respiratory problems due to “unhealthy” AQI. The other top 10 most polluted cities in Punjab are Faridkot third with AQI 128, Khanna fourth Pathankot Patiala Ropar Sangrur Mohali Nawanshahr Tarn Taran Total 89 284 16 609 13 46 909 10,314 with AQI 119, Amritsar and Mohali shared the fifth spot with AQI 118, Jalandhar sixth with AQI 82, Bathinda seventh with AQI 80, Ropar eighth with AQI 76 and Patiala ranked the ninth most polluted city with AQI 73. “The increasing air pollution is a cause of concern, especially for the sensitive groups like aged, children and those suffering from respiratory and cardiac ailments. PM2.5 concentration being the main pollutant and going up to 15 to 20 times above the WHO guidelines is also injurious to health,” an expert Dr Ashok Kumar Khullar opined. Man booked for killing 2-month-old son Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 5 The Dugri police on Thursday evening registered a case against a man on the charges of killing his two-month-old son by negligence. The accused has been identified as Ankush (24). A case under Section 304 A (causing death by negligence) of the IPC was reg- istered against him. The child’s mother Monica in a complaint to the police said she had solemnised marriage with Ankush about a year ago. It was her second marriage. Ankush had been torturing her without any reason since then. On Monday, after her husband thrashed her, he also beat up the child and threw him on the floor. The child suffered serious head injuries and was taken to the hospital where on Tuesday he succumbed. The SHO, Dugri police station, Sub-Inspector Neeraj Chaudhary, said Monica had alleged that Ankush had intentionally thrown the child on the floor with a clear intention to kill him. After the incident, Ankush had reportedly fled to his native PAGE 4 Sonu Sood was recently seen with Janhvi, a poor girl he helped a few months ago by sponsoring her surgery. No let-up in stubble burning in district Ludhiana, May 5 There is no let-up in stubble-burning cases as the daily farm fires have spiked up to 114 in Ludhiana district, the official figures have confirmed. The gravity of the situation on ground could be gauged from the fact that the crop residue burning cases have jacked up four times within a week to touch 427 on Thursday from just 107 fire events recorded in Ludhiana in the first 28 days of the current wheat harvesting season, commonly known as rabi, till April 28, the data compiled by the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC) in Ludhiana has revealed. The raging fires in the agriculture fields made Ludhiana the 11th worsthit district in the state with a total of 427 cases of stubble burning recorded in district till May 5. This was less than Ferozepur, which topped the state with the highest of 1,1163 stubble-burning cases, followed by Gurdaspur 958, Amritsar 939, Tarn Taran 909, Moga 907, Bathinda 708, Sangrur 609, Muktsar 486, Fazilka 440 and Kapurthala 461. The last week witnessed 320 crop residue burning cases in the district, with a daily average of 46 farm fires — 64 on April 29, 23 on April 30, 26 on May 1, the season’s highest so far 114 on May 2, 17 on May 3, 26 on May 4 and 50 on May 5. The impunity with which the crop residue burning continued this crop season also belied the claims made by the district administra- SONU MEETS GIRL HE HELPED OVERCOME SPINAL DEFECT Shivangi says, “Khatron Ke Khiladi is going to be my first ever reality show and I am extremely excited for it.” Frequent power cuts, coupled with maintenance shutdowns, in the city have made life of residents miserable. FORECAST PAGE 3 SHIVANGI JOSHI TO JOIN KHATRON KE KHILADI 12 place in Uttarakhand. The SHO said now viscera samples were also sent to the forensic lab for examination and further probe would be initiated accordingly. Sources said Ankush, who is six years younger than his wife, had been doubting that his wife had an extramarital affair and he was also not the real father of the child. FRIDAY | 6 MAY 2022 | LUDHIANA Boy assaults girl, her friend outside amusement park Claims to be member of Puneet Bains gang, fires into air Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 5 A boy, allegedly a member of the notorious Puneet Bains gang, along with his accomplices assaulted a girl and her friend outside the Hardy’s World amusement park, located on the Ludhiana-Jalandhar highway on Thursday evening. Shubham, the victim girl’s brother, said on Thursday afternoon his sister (20) had gone to the amusement park along with her friend. In the evening when they came out, a boy, named Sidhu, resident of their locality, cornered his sister in the parking space of the amusement park. “Sidhu was once a friend of my sister and he also used to study tuition with her but due to the bad character of the boy, my sister had stopped talking to him and even blocked his number. Today Sidhu, after seeing my sister with her new friend Joban, started arguing with her and told her to leave Joban,” alleged the victim girl’s brother. Shubham said when his sister refused to do so, Sidhu turned furious and started beating her and her friend badly. The accomplices of Sidhu made a video when he was beating his sister and they said they would also make the video viral on social media to defame them. Shubham said later Sidhu threatened to kill his sister and brought a weapon and fired a shot into the air. Passers-by gathered after listening to the firing sound and Sidhu and his accomplices fled. Meanwhile, the girl called the Police Control Room. The Ladhowal police came and recorded the statement of the girl. The girl’s brother said Sidhu used to tell his sister that he was member of the Puneet Bains gang and he could even kill her if she disagrees to have friendship with him. Meanwhile, the Ladhowal police said a case is being registered against Sidhu. 4 rape 16-yr-old girl, booked Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 5 The Focal Point police yesterday registered a case against four persons on the charges of raping a 16-year-old girl. The accused have been identified as Kuldeep Singh of Mata Bhag Kaur Colony, Sahib of Gobindgarh village, Amrik Singh of Dhandari and Sanjay of Sherpur. The girl’s mother in a complainant to the police said her daughter had left home on April 27 and returned on May 5. “My daughter revealed that she had friendship with Kuldeep and went to meet him on April 27. Kuldep took gold earrings, nose ring and Rs 20,000 from her,” alleged the victim’s mother. The same day Kuldeep took her daughter to some guest house and kept her there for a few days where he along with his other three friends raped her. On May 5, Kuldeep dropped her near our house and fled. Kuldeep had also told the girl not to reveal anything to the family else threatened her with dire consequences. Investigating officer ASI Rajinder Pal said raids were being conducted to nab the accused. A man gets vaccinated against Covid in Ludhiana. INDERJEET VERMA 2 test positive in dist Tribune News Service COVID-19 FIGURES Ludhiana, May 5 Two fresh Covid cases were reported, while nobody died due to the disease in the district today. A total of 1,09,877 persons have tested positive for the virus since March 2020, while 2,280 persons from the district have succumbed to the virus till now. The recovery rate of Covid19 patients was 97.90 per cent today. There were 25 active cases in the district and 24 patients were asked to isolate themselves at their homes by the Health Department. At present one Covid SAMPLES POSITIVE ACTIVE DEATHS 35,16,107 1,09,877 25 6 2,280 For info Contact: 0161-2444193 & 4622276 patient is admitted to a hospital in Ludhiana. Till date, a total of 35,16,017 samples for Covid test have been taken, of which 33,91,471 were found negative. Samples of 3,757 suspected patients were sent for testing today, the results of which are expected shortly. Sewerage connections of AAP govt fooling people on power issue: BJP 7 illegal colonies snapped Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 5 The Municipal Corporation today disconnected sewerage connections of seven more illegal colonies as they were connected to MC sewer lines without payment of disposal and other charges. Men and machines of the MC cut off sewerage connections of Eco-Green Colony in Jugiana, Aggarwal Colony in Jaspal Bangar, Dinesh Properties, Garg Colony, Neeraj Colony and Dhillon Colony, all in Lohara. An illegal sewerage connection of an industrial colony located in Kanganwal, outside city limits, was also disconnected. This colony was releasing discharge from over 100 industrial units in the MC’s sewerage. MC workers disconnect the sewerage connection of an illegal colony in Ludhiana on Thursday. TRIBUNE PHOTO The MC team had to return from 33-Feet Road where it intended to snap sewer connections of some half a dozen illegal colonies on the intervention of AAP MLA Hardeep Singh Mundian. The legislator was reported to have told the MC to serve notice and give some time to the developers to make alternative arrangements in view of the inconvenience that the residents would have to face in the absence of basic amenity like sewer disposal. — OC c m y b Ludhiana, May 5 The BJP today raised slogans against the state government for allegedly fooling the people of Punjab on the issue of power. The protest was held under the leadership of Pushpinder Singal, president, Ludhiana unit of the BJP, who said that the AAP government had promised to supply uninterrupted, cheap power to the people in the state, while the reality is that the state is suffering due to unscheduled power cuts of 12-14 hours a day at many places. The leaders said when the SAD-BJP government was ruling in Punjab, power was surplus in the state. But ever since the AAP took over the reins, the power BJP workers and leaders hold a dharna against the Punjab Government outside the DC office in Ludhiana on Thursday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN situation has become worst. The leaders said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is busy getting his pictures clicked by the media and he is not bothered about the plight of people in Punjab. The BJP leaders said forget about free power, the state is not getting even reg- ular power supply. The leaders said the AAP government is just busy making false promises and fooling innocent people of Punjab.