26052022-ATR-01.qxd 5/25/2022 11:37 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar TRIBUNE MC: GURSHARAN’S ANCESTRAL HOUSE WON'T BE DEMOLISHED A notice was pasted outside the house of late theatre artiste prohibiting its demolition or construction. FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY INBRIEF SECURITY UP FOR GHALUGHARA WEEK Amritsar: In the wake of Ghalughara week (anniversary of Army attack on Akal Takht), the city police claimed to have made foolproof security arrangements. Senior police officials conducted checking. DSP Parminder Singh Bhandal conducted the checking at Bhandari Bridge. “The arrangements are being made for the security and safety of residents. Around 3,000 paramilitary personnel have reached in the city and more companies of the armed forces would reach within one or two days. We have 4,000 cops in Amritsar Police Commiserate and all were deployed on special duty. Meetings are being arranged with various organisations to maintain peace during Ghalughara week,” the DCP said. The police officials urged residents to cooperate with the police. TNS SPORTS TRIALS ON MAY 27, 28 Amritsar: Sports Department, Punjab, will hold selection trials for U-14, U-17 and U-19 categories for admission to the Sports Wing Schools (day scholars) for 2022-23 session on May 27 and 28. Inderbir Singh, District Sports Officer, said the trials in athletics, football, judo, handball, hockey and swimming will be held at Khalsa College Senior Secondary School; that of boxing at Senior Secondary School, Chheharta; wrestling at Golbagh Wrestling Stadium; and gymnastics at PBN Senior Secondary School. He said the overall in-charge of all these trials would be Simranjit Singh, junior cycling coach and Harjit Singh, junior table tennis coach. The players would report for registration at 8 am and admission forms could be obtained from the district sports office on or before the scheduled date. . TNS PAGE 2 YOU GET WHAT YOU DREAM OF, BELIEVES SONU SOOD PAGE 3 As Sonu dons poet Chand Bardai’s avatar for Prithviraj, it’s a dream come true for the actor-philanthropist. MAX 39°C | MIN 23°C | YESTERDAY MAX 35°C | MIN 21°C SUNSET THURSDAY 7:27 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 5:27 AM Verbal assurance won’t do, residents seek it in writing DIGGING CASE Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 25 The Municipal Corporation (MC) started removing the debris from the basement of the under-construction hotel here on Wednesday. However, the process of dismantling the dilapidated portion of Grand Hotel was yet to start. In a recent meeting, in which area MLA Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh was the mediator, the proprietor of the upcoming hotel agreed to pay the affected residents for their temporary stay. Those affected have been shifted to the rented accommodation after the Municipal Corporation asked them to vacate the house. However, residents are waiting for a written agree- ment, having legal validation, from the authorities and proprietor of the under-construction hotel before handing over the houses to the MC and builder. According to the information, the proprietor of the under-construction hotel also agreed to reconstruct PAGE 4 Channel’s new look reflects a fresh and dynamic mood that celebrates the spirit and positivity of youth. five houses, which were majorly damaged and repair of four houses having minor damages. Meanwhile, the authorities have arranged engineers to check the other probable risks to houses before its reconstruction. Simran Singh, one of the affected residents, said: “We have requested the MLA for help. The builder of the adjoining hotel assured to reconstruct five houses and repair the other four. He also agreed to pay ~10,000 per month as rent for each accommodation. We asked them to get a written agreement signed from the proprietor of the under-construction hotel and district and MC authorities should also be party in it. They have to assure the safety, strength and time-bound construc- tion of our houses.” Residents claimed that they haven’t received anything in written till date. “We can’t handover our houses to the MC on verbal assurance of builder and politicians. The officials in the administration should sign the written agreement about the condition of our houses. We have shifted to a rented accommodation, but no one has asked us about the bank account number to pay the rent. We were residing in double-story houses with four bedrooms. They assured ~10,000 for rent, which is for one BHK. We are suffering due to the negligence of the authorities and their responsibility should be fixed,” another resident said. Meanwhile, the investigating committee officials also recorded the detailed statements of the victim families. THURSDAY | 26 MAY 2022 | AMRITSAR Posing as Tarn Taran DC, swindler targets his staff Gurbaxpuri HOW IT ALL HAPPENED Tarn Taran, May 25 A swindler targeted the staff at the DC office on WhatsApp by introducing himself as DC Moneesh Kumar and sending messages asking them to send cash on a particular number without delay. He assured them that the amount would be returned as soon as he gets free from a meeting. A week ago someone from an unknown number with a photograph of Deputy Commissioner Monish Kumar introduced himself as Moneesh Kumar and sent WhatsApp messages to the staff at the DC office and others known to him asking them to send him cash on a mobile number without delay. He assured them that the amount would be returned soon, as he was busy in a meeting. Most of the staff members and others got ready to make the payment through GPay. A Superintendent at the DC office even tried making the A week ago, someone from an unknown number with a photograph of the Deputy Commissioner introduced himself as Moneesh Kumar and sent WhatsApp messages to the staff at the DC office and others known to him asking them to send him cash on a mobile number without delay. He assured them that the amount would be returned soon, as he was busy in a meeting. Most of the staff members and others got ready to make the payment through GPay, but as soon as the DC got to know about it, he alerted the staff. payment but somehow it could not be delivered due to some technical fault. As soon as the DC got to know about it, he immediately asked the staff and others to beware. The location of the swindler was traced to West Bengal. The local sadar police have registered a case under Section 419, 420, 425 IPC, 66C and 66-D of the IT Act. ‘Collect biomedical Pathankot cops bust ‘politically backed’ gambling racket waste from houses’ ‘Satta’ biz was being run by BJP MC |‘Satta King’ Ashok Bawa used to fund politicians during poll Ravi Dhaliwal Amritsar, May 25 In a meeting with the district environment committee officials, the Deputy Commissioner asked the Municipal Corporation to collect biomedical waste from households on the same pattern as it was being collected from hospitals. The MC is already collecting segregated wet and dry waste from households. DC Harpreet Singh Sudan said a substantial quantity of biomedical waste is generated at houses as people use machines for checking BP . Other kind of biomedical waste generated at households include used injection vials, expired medicines, shaving blades and used bandages. The DC asked MC officials to initiate a trial run from any selected area in the city. The DC also took stern view of the cutting of trees on the pretext of development. He asked officials to ensure that if a tree poses any difficulty it should be shifted to a suitable place. — TNS Tribune News Service Pathankot cops with Ashok Bawa and his two accomplices. DAC fully equipped, but other buildings sans facilities TAKING CUE FROM 2015 FIRE INCIDENT? FIREFIGHTING PREPARATIONS-V ■ Taking a cue from a massive fire Neeraj Bagga that broke out at the erstwhile DC office in 2015, the new premises comply with all fire safety norms ■ Over 150-year-old structure, that had already been declared unsafe by the PWD, had led to extensive damage to the heritage building and also destroyed the invaluable records pertaining to revenue and the pre-Partition era Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 25 The newly constructed District Administrative Complex (DAC) boasts of having almost all fire-fighting equipment, fire alarms and other features in compliance with the standard fire safety norms to tackle any fire eventuality. However, the same features are missing on its other premises housing a variety of offices. The offices of Excise and Taxation I and II, both being housed in an old and rickety building on the prime Court Road, do not comply with the fire safety norms. Officials said buildings at the complex were dilapidated and unsafe. So, there was little or no scope of incorporation of material. Besides, there is no point of investing as offices are likely to be shifted to the DAC. Another cause for concern is the premises having offices of District Development Panchayat Officer, District Education Officer, both secondary and elementary. Situated close to the district courts, the entire complex has outlived its life and as per plan, these will be shifted to the DAC. Perhaps, taking a cue from a massive fire that ACTOR SIDDHANT CHATURVEDI UNVEILS ZING’S NEW AVATAR While the DAC is fully equipped to meet any eventuality; the dilapidated building housing the GST, Excise and Taxation office (below) lacks the same. PHOTOS: SUNIL KUMAR had broken out at the erstwhile Deputy Commissioner’s office in 2015, the new premises complied with all fire safety norms. Over 150-year-old structure, that had already been declared unsafe by the Public Works Department, had led to extensive damage to the heritage building and also destroyed the invaluable records per- taining to revenue and the pre-Partition era. In contrast to the erstwhile DAC, the new stateof-the-art building, built in sync with the Sikh architecture of the holy city, has got more than one entrance and exit to facilitate rushing out of more people in case of an emergency. With a total covered area of over 6 lakh sq feet, the complex has two wings — civil and police. Ample parking in the shape of two basements, the building boasts of a large meeting hall, two video-conference rooms, four lifts besides fire hydrants and alarms. There is a provision for separate entry for VIPs and the public. However, the staff has a grouse that the building of DAC is not centrally air-con- c m y b ditioned as is the case with similar offices in other districts. They say that barring the ground floor, the rest of the floors sizzle in the hot summer and it is extremely difficult to work for long hours while perspiring. Premises of several Suwidha centres, situated in different parts of the city to serve the public, are also equipped with firefighting equipment. Pathankot, May 25 The Pathankot police on Wednesday nabbed one of the city’s biggest ‘satta kings’, who also happens to be a BJP councillor in the Sujanpur Municipal Committee, following a well-planned operation. Ashok Bawa, a BJP councillor from Ward No. 5, was arrested on Wednesday morning. Officers’ claim he also used to fund campaigns of leading politicians. The BJP rank and file were Ashok Bawa, a BJP councillor from Ward No. 5, was arrested on Wednesday morning. Officers claim he also used to fund campaigns of leading politicians. not taken aback when they heard of Bawa’s arrest because it was a known fact that cops had been hot on his trail for the last few weeks. An FIR was registered against Bawa and two of his accomplices — Vinod Kumar and Rocky Kumar — under Section 420 of the IPC (cheating) and various sections of the Public Gambling Act at the Sujanpur police station. Residents heaved a sigh of relief when the word spread about Bawa’s arrest. SSP Arun Saini said he had received numerous complaints from residents, particularly from the parents of unemployed youth, following which he formed a special team comprising SP (Investigation) Sohan Lal, DSP Continued on page 2 Astray fires from wheat fields destroying green cover Manmeet Singh Gill Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 25 Astray fires from wheat fields lit to get rid of the crop residue after the recent harvesting has caused damage to thousands of trees alongside roads in the district. In many cases, over 50 per cent of the tree trunks have been burnt. It has not only damaged the green cover, but also increased the chances of road accidents as these damaged trees can fall on roads if the winds blow fast. Sure enough, fires in the fields were lit by farmers to clear their fields of the crop residue. It is understandable when someone reasons that there is no viable alternative available to burning of crop residue, but not dousing it when it has served its purpose seems criminal. After all, a spark neglected can burn a house. “The trees alongside roads are slowly dying. Some of these are fully grown. It would take 20 years for a tree to attain such size,” said Harmeet Singh, a resident, adding that accidents have occurred in the past when the damaged and week trees had fell on roads during fast winds. If farmers are at fault for causing damage to trees, the local administration, too, does not seems serious enough to increase the green cover. A large number of decorative palm trees planted on the divider on Majitha road just before the Assembly elections were uprooted on Wednesday. Sources in the Municipal Corporation said the palm trees were procured at exorbitant prices, which now have dried due to lack of care. “These were procured at a price of over ~30,000 per tree,” claimed an insider. When it comes to beautification and tree plantations, the costly palm trees are the politicians’ foremost choice. Umpteen times, environmentalists and common residents have suggested that native shade and fruit trees, which are hardy and conducive to the local weather conditions, should be planted. “These palm trees have no shade, bear no fruit and do not even support nests of birds. Even their wood cannot be used for making any furniture, but still these are being used as these look good in pictures,” a local resident said.