10082022-JTR-01.qxd 8/10/2022 12:15 AM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar TRIBUNE PUNJAB AVENUE RESIDENTS SEEK TUBEWELL, STREETLIGHTS PAGE 2 Residents of Punjab Avenue on Monday met MC officials demanding a tubewell and streetlights in the area. FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY SKY UPASANA SINGH LAUNCHES HER SON WITH PUNJABI FILM PAGE 3 Upasana Singh launches her son Nanak Singh with Punjabi film Bai Ji Kuttange, which she promises will be a laugh riot. MAX 37°C | MIN 29°C | YESTERDAY MAX 36°C | MIN 29°C SUNSET WEDNESDAY 7:16 PM ADAH CELEBRATES RAKSHA BANDHAN WITH AUTO DRIVERS PAGE 4 Actor Adah Sharma tied rakhi to auto-rickshaw drivers. Happiness on each driver’s face was overwhelming. SUNRISE THURSDAY 5:50 AM WEDNESDAY | 10 AUGUST 2022 | JALANDHAR Bus operators’ strike hassles commuters Chaos as Roadways vehicles pick and drop off passengers on road along bus stand Tribune News Service Jalandhar, August 9 Private bus operators in the district, on a call given by the Punjab Road Transport Workers’ Federation, observed a daylong strike and staged a protest at the local bus stand here today against the Bhagwant Mannled-AAP government over the non-fulfilment of their long-pending demands. Holding black flags in their hands, the protesters raised slogans against the government. They said they had time and again sought intervention of the state government to save them from financial ruin, but to no avail. “We are facing huge losses because of the ill-conceived policies of the state government and free bus travel facility to women,” they added. Sandeep Sharma, a member of the Punjab Motor Union, said almost all private bus operators were under debt and the condition was so bad that they didn’t even have money to pay their loan instalments. He said due to freebies like free bus service to women, they were facing huge losses. “The state government waived the tax for six months till December 31, 2020, and later from April 1 to July 31 on a kilometre basis, whereas Himachal Pradesh waived tax for 19 months,” he said, adding they also demanded a hike in bus fares in the wake of an increase in diesel rates. Jarnail Singh Garhdiwal, WAITED FOR HOURS I wasn’t aware about the strike today. Even after waiting for two hours outside the bus stand, I couldn’t get any bus. Shweta, PASSENGER COULDN’T CROSS ROAD The scene outside the bus stand today was no less than a vegetable market. It took me 20minutestocrosstheroad.Manmeet, COMMUTER ❝ ❝ A family struggles to find a bus at the bus stand in Jalandhar; and (below) passengers have a tough time to board a bus. SARABJIT SINGH spokesperson for the SmallScale Bus Operators of Punjab Association, said they had met the Chief Minister in this regard. He promised that all our demands would be addressed but till date they hadn’t received any response. He said 2,200 private buses and 4,500 mini- buses remained off road today owing to the strike. Meanwhile, passengers faced huge inconvenience due to the strike. Many pas- sengers were unaware of where to board the bus as protesters did not allow Roadways buses to enter the bus stand. The main entrance to the bus stand remained blocked for the entire day, and the roadways buses which were operating had to pick up and drop off passengers on the roadside. Passengers also complained that owing to chaos that prevailed on the road outside the bus stand, autorickshaw drivers doubled their fares and were charging up to Rs 500 to drop them off till LPU. “It is always the common man who has to bear the brunt of these strikes. Had the government talked to these protesters on time, the public would have not suffered like this,” said Kamaljit Kaur, a senior citizen, who had to wait for around an hour on the road to board a bus to Mukerian. Another passenger, Shweta, who had to travel to Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh, said, “I wasn’t aware about the strike today. Even after waiting for two hours outside the bus stand, I couldn’t get any bus. It was a nightmarish experience”. Like Shweta, there were many passengers who either missed their bus or had no idea where to board the bus. The buses were stopping anywhere on the road, there were no cops deployed to manage the traffic situation. “The scene outside the bus stand today was no less than a vegetable market. All the passengers were standing outside, buses were parked here and there, it took me 20 minutes to cross the road,” said Manmeet, a commuter. 2-yr-old boy falls into nullah, rescue op on Tribune News Service Kapurthala, August 9 A two-year-old boy fell into a nullah on Tuesday afternoon while crossing it to reach his shanty with his mother and sister along Kapurthala-Amritsar road near Shalamar Bagh here. Initially, family members, who hail from Bihar, tried to rescue the child themselves, but soon the teams from the Municipal Corporation and local civil and police authorities also reached the spot and started the rescue operation. Heavy machinery was called in to break the concrete part of the nullah and search for the missing boy. Deputy Commissioner Vishesh Sarangal and SSP Navneet Singh also reached the spot for an assessment of the situation. A 29-member National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team from Bathinda also reached the site around 9 pm and started the rescue operation. The NDRF team also deployed three JCB machines and got the digging started from three sections of the nullah. Floodlights were installed for ensuring proper lighting in the night. DC Sarangal stayed put at the site and said that the operation would run until the boy is found. Farmer-admn talks remain 2 held with heroin inconclusive, stir continues Jalandhar, August 9 The CIA staff of city police today nabbed two smugglers and seized 262 gm of heroin from their possession. The accused have been identified as Surinderpal Singh (27), alias Nikka, a resident of Kot Hirde Ram, tehsil Majitha in Amritsar, and Prabhjit Singh (23), a resident of Rupowali Brahmanan village, in Baba Bakala, Amritsar. Inspector Sukhjit Singh, incharge CIA staff, said the police had put up a naka at link road, near Pathankot bypass flyover, where regular checking of suspicious vehi- Our Correspondent Phagwara, August 9 The indefinite dharna of sugarcane growers over the pending dues continued for the second day on the Ludhiana-Jalandhar National Highway at Phagwara on Tuesday, even as a meeting between Kapurthala Deputy Commissioner Vishesh Sarangal and farmers leaders at the SDM office today remained inconclusive. BKU (Doaba) president Manjit Singh Rai, addressing the protesters, announced that the indefinite dharna would continue until the arrears of Rs 72 crore were deposited in the bank accounts of the farmers concerned. Due to the stir, commuters travelling from Ludhiana towards Jalandhar faced tough time. Meanwhile, Sandhar Sugar Mill chairman Sukhbir Singh Sandhar, on a Whatsapp call from the UK, alleged of red tape in payment of dues to farmers. Commenting upon the DC’s orders of attaching his property in all 22 districts of Punjab, Sandhar claimed neither he nor his any family member purchased any property in any part of the world in the past 10 years. “If the government wants, it can get all my bank accounts and other documents checked. Also, no money of any kind has been sent abroad by me from any bank,” he said. Despite repeated attempts, the Kapurthala Deputy Commissioner couldn’t be contacted. cles was being done. He said both the accused were coming towards the road from Maqsudan bypass side on a bike when the police asked them to stop. He said the accused instead of stopping their vehicle tried to escape and turned towards the opposite direction. “Suspecting that something was wrong, the police got hold of them. During search 10 gm of heroin was recovered from Surinderpal, while 252 gm from Prabhjit. Besides, the bike they were riding on has been impounded by the police,” he said. — TNS A rescue operation underway to save a two-year-old boy who fell into a drain in Kapurthala on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Back home after 7 decades Farmers protest on the second day in Phagwara on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: SARABJIT SINGH Hopelessness, frustration at site Aakanksha N Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Jalandhar, August 9 Frustration, anger, restlessness and hopelessness — these are the emotions that sugarcane growers are going through. Talk to them and one gets a clear idea that even though they are sitting on a dharna and raising slogans, but deep inside they are depressed. If someone is worried about paying debts, another is waiting for the payment so that they could renovate homes with the money. On the second day of their indefinite protest, Karanjit Singh (61), a farmer from Behram, expressed his disappointment with the authorities. “Pata nai ki gunah kitta hai asi. Sabda pet vi bharida hai, koi galat kamaayi vi nai, WORRIED ABOUT LOAN I have raised loan from several people… I had thought of returning it to them after getting my sugarcane dues, but it seems I would not be able to pay it anytime soon. ❝ Karanjit Singh, BEHRAM FARMER ❞ fer vi saade baare koi nai sochda (I don’t know what sin we farmers have committed. We fed others by growing crops, we don’t earn through wrongdoings, still, we suffer and nobody thinks for us),” this is how Singh showed his anger. He said every time he got notice from the bank for the loan he had taken, he felt embarrassed. “I have raised loan from several people, now they ask for their money. I had thought of returning it to them after getting my sugarcane dues, but it seems I would not be able to pay it anytime soon,” he said. There are several other farmers who have the same story to share. Davinder Singh, a farmer from Nawanshahr, said if someone didn’t get his/her salary for a month, how would he/she manage? Just think over. “I have not got my over Rs 7 lakh yet. Can you even imagine what important works of ours are getting delayed? Ki dassiye hun sabnu. Har kisi di koi na koi kahani hai (what should I tell anyone, here everyone has some or the other problem),” Singh said. c m y b Tribune News Service Jalandhar, August 9 It was a teary reunion for Sarwan Singh (92) of Jalandhar and his nephew Mohan Singh (81) (now Abdul Khaliq) as the duo met each other 75 years after the Partition at Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan on Monday. Reaching back his home at Sandham village where he is living with his daughter Rashpal Kaur, Sarwan Singh said, “It was a moment which I cannot describe in words. My 75 years of efforts to find clues about my missing nephew had finally yielded results and I could take him in my arms. It was a very emotional moment for me but I controlled myself. I did not just meet my nephew whom I had last seen as a sixyear-old child, but also 14 members from his family, all of whom came along. Mohan told me how he escaped from the rioters and was raised by a Sarwan Singh at his home in Sandham village, Jalandhar. MALKIAT SINGH Muslim family. gomery district. Two YouTuSarwan has been putting up bers Harjit Singh and in Canada from where he Mohammad Javid Iqbal had came here recently. His stohelped connect the two ry was portrayed by a families about a month filmmaker and a half back. Sukhdeep Singh Other than Rashand released about pal, Sarwan Singh five years ago. Saraccompanied Dalbir wan Singh had given Kaur, who is Mohan PA N RTITIO clues that his nephew Singh’s maternal Mohan Singh had two aunt’s daughter. She also thumbs and that he used to tied rakhi to him and gave him live at Chak 37 in Mont- a wrist watch as a gift. INBRIEF 5 BOOKED FOR ENCROACHMENT Phagwara: The Nakodar sadar police have booked five persons on the charge of encroaching a panchayat shop and cutting a tree in front of the shop. Balwindar Kaur, sarpanch of Nurpur Chatha gram panchayat, complained to the police and urged the authorities to get the panchayat shop vacant and act against the encroachers. A case under relevant sections of the IPC and other Acts had been registered against the accused. OC EPF OFFICIALS PLANT SAPLINGS Jalandhar: The regional office of Employees Provident Fund (EPF) celebrated Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav by planting saplings at Government Junior Model School, Ladowali Road. Regional Commissioner Sunil Kumar Yadav said the drive had been started to celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. TNS