04122022-ATR-01.qxd 12/4/2022 12:33 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar TRIBUNE DELEGATES SMOKE ON GNDU PREMISES, STUDENTS PROTEST PAGE 2 After delegates of the orthopaedic association were caught smoking at GNDU, students staged a protest. FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY PAGE 3 ISHA KOPPIKAR’S SURANGA TO RELEASE ON DECEMBER 9 Julia Reichert, who won an Oscar in 2020 for her feature American Factory, passed away at the age of 76. MAX 24°C | MIN 7°C | YESTERDAY MAX 24°C | MIN 8°C No trace of gangster who fled fromcourt SUNSET SUNDAY 5:26 PM ASSOCIATE OF BISHNOI, BHAGWANPURIA GANG ■ Notorious gangster Nitin Nahar, SUNRISE MONDAY 7:15 AM SUNDAY | 4 DECEMBER 2022 | AMRITSAR Charanjit Singh Teja an associate of the Lawrence Bishnoi and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria gang, who escaped from a local court after hearing on Saturday, was still out of reach for the police ■ Nahar, a resident of Indira Colony on Jhabal Road, having over a dozen criminal cases registered against him at various police stations in Punjab, was brought to Amritsar court from Goindwal jail by Tarn Taran police for hearing in a murder bid case LONG-PENDING DEMAND Tribune News Service Amritsar, December 3 The ongoing drive of the Amritsar Municipal Corporation to shift out vends from the vending zones is not making much difference around the Inter-State Bus Terminal (ISBT). Residents claim that the shifting of the bus stand is the only solution. A number of residents are hopeful that with this drive of the MC, commuters would get relief from routine traffic jams around the bus stand. However, a large section of residents observed that it would not be a permanent solution as vendors are not the only obstacle in the smooth movement of traffic. The roads around the bus stand are congested and not fit for the movement of interstate and intrastate buses. Adding to the problem are auto-rickshaws, which are stopped on the road to pick and drop passengers, around from handcuffs. Though cops chased him, he ran away from the court complex. Besides Nahar, the police booked ASI Kuldeep Singh for negligence and a case under Sections 223 and 224 of the IPC was registered against them. Assistant Commissioner of Police (North) Varinder Singh Khosa said raids were being conducted by police teams and he would be arrested soon. Vends on a road outside the Inter-State Bus Terminal in Amritsar on Saturday. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR the ISBT. The auto-rickshaw driver unions never allow authorities to implement their plan to streamline the auto rickshaws pick up and drop out points. Residents, who face traffic jams on roads around the ISBT, have been raising the demand to shift it to Vallah as it will assist in decongesting the area around. It will minimise danger to commuters and tourists while crossing the roads around Inter-State Bus Terminal. The residents claim that the shifting of ISBT would resolve traffic problems on many roads, including the PAGE 4 Starring Isha Koppikar in the lead role, Suranga is all set to release on December 9 on Atrangii App. Shift ISBT for permanent solution to traffic congestion: Residents Tribune News Service Amritsar, December 3 Notorious gangster Nitin Nahar, an associate of the Lawrence Bishnoi and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria gang, who escaped from a local court after hearing on yesterday, was still out of reach for the police. Though the police claimed to be conducting raids to arrest him, he was still absconding. Most of police personnel today were deployed in VVIP protection duty as Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar visited the holy city and paid obeisance at the Golden Temple. Nahar, a resident of Indira Colony on Jhabal Road, having over a dozen criminal cases registered against him at various police stations in Punjab, was brought to Amritsar court from Goindwal jail by Tarn Taran police for hearing in a murder bid case. After hearing when he was being taken back, he fled after getting himself freed VETERAN DOCUMENTARIAN JULIA REICHERT PASSES AWAY stretch from Gurdwara Baba Deep Singh Shaheedan to Rambagh Chowk, GT Road Maqbool Chowk to Bhandari railway overbridge and other places. “Besides, air and sound pollution also affect the Golden Temple, which is less than 1 km from the bus stand. All The shifting of ISBT to Vallah was proposed in 2015 and the then government had made efforts for it. Former MLA Navjot Kaur Sidhu made efforts and took up the issue with higher officials. In 2015, the comprehensive mobility plan (CMP) prepared by the Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company (PMIDC), a department of the Local Government, for infrastructure development of the city for the next four decades, also proposed to shift ISBT out of the city. the main road links connecting the Vallah area and it would be better to shift ISBT to Vallah,” said Michal Rahul, a social activist. The office-bearers of the Amritsar Vikas Manch also wrote to CM Bhagwant Mann suggesting him to shift ISBT to Vallah. Woman among two booked for murder Tribune News Service Amritsar, December 3 The Beas police have booked a woman and a hotel owner on the charge of murder after a man died under mysterious circumstances here five days ago. The deceased has been identified as Gulshan Singh (25) of Paharipur, Kapurthala. The woman also belongs to the same area. Gaurav Singh, brother of the deceased, told the police that on November 28, Gulshan Singh along with the suspect woman went to a hotel in Beas. They stayed in a room and Gulshan also called his friend Ravi there. He said when he went there, he found Gulshan in unconscious condition. Ravi immediately returned to inform Gaurav. When they came back to the continued on page 2 Poor mgmt to blame for jams from Railway Road to Bhandari Bridge STRETCH OF PROBLEMS Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Amritsar, December 3 Residents of the city are of the view that encroachments are one of the major reasons for long traffic jams. Besides, there are several spots where traffic mismanagement leads to snarls. In the absence of proper traffic arrangements, commuters face long traffic jams on the Railway Station-Bhandari Bridge Commuters stuck in a long traffic jam near the railway station in Amritsar on Saturday. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR Tarn Taran, December 3 A resident of Thatha village — Pawan Pamma — has been booked for allegedly kidnapping a teenage girl of his village a week back. The mother of the victim has alleged in her complaint to the police that on the intervening night of November 26 and 27, she woke up from sleep in the middle of the night to some loud sound. She saw the suspect, Pawan, drive her daughter off on his motorcycle. She has also alleged that the suspect used to loiter around their house earlier. The girl’s mother has claimed that Pawan has abducted her daughter because he wants to marry her. She has also accused the cops of dragging their feet on the matter, alleging undue delay in the registration of an FIR. — OC side then there should be a divider on the road. Secondly, there are four lanes on the bridge. The traffic police are not utilizing the new bridge properly leading to a chaos on the top of the bridge. Residents also do not follow the traffic rules. The police should deal with them strictly. The haphazardly parking of vehicles on the railway link road, Queen’s road and Crystal Chowk also add to woes. Most of the showrooms and some prominent hotels do not have their separate parking space. There is no parking lot nearby and most visitors park their vehi- Risking life, vendors operating under transformers in city TANGLED MESS Tribune News Service Amritsar, December 3 In absence of any check or any penalty, street vendors and hawkers at various prominent commercial points in the city continue to operate their stalls under electric transformers, posing a risk to not only to their own lives but also to that of buyers. Sparing no thought to the possible threat of electrocution, these vendors can be seen operating under transformers, with even loose wires hanging or suspended over, in parts of Ghee mandi, Islamabad and various other commercial chokepoints. Electric transformers, loose and taped electric wires on footpaths of city roads already are a threat to commuters and passersby. In some places, these transformers are installed at low height, tantamount to flouting of norms. But as cles by the roadside. The Municipal Corporation does not have any check on the parking space of commercial establishments. Moreover, the traffic police are also unable to tow away any car from the road in the absence of towing away vehicles. “There was political intervention to allow traffic on the Bhandari Bridge through wrong side. After the construction of a new bridge, there are no traffic congestions on the bridge. The traffic system needed to be streamlined. The police are now actively making efforts to clear bottlenecks,” said a traffic cop on duty. MC asked to remove roadside encroachments Tribune News Service PHOTOS: SUNIL KUMAR One booked for abducting teenage girl stretch via Crystal Chowk. There are some temporary encroachments opposite Alexandra School and near Crystal Chowk, but the haphazardly parking of vehicles and violation of traffic rules are among the main causes of congestion on this particular stretch. Advocate Kuljit Singh, who often raises concern over traffic issues, said, “The traffic lights are lying defunct at Queen’s Road Chowk. It creates mess at the chowk. The traffic police allow commuters to drive wrong side on the Bhandri Bridge. If they allow traffic from wrong An electric transformer; and (right) street vendors operate their stalls under a transformer in Amritsar. PSPCL and local authorities fail to provide any solution or keep a check on violations, this has become an accepted norm. “Transformers installed at public places must be at a certain height, away from reach and contact. They must be fenced. Vendors can be seen operating vends under the trans- formers, with heavy footfall of buyers, seemingly oblivious to the risk. Only when some tragedy strikes, will the authorities be woken up from their slumber?” asked a shop owner, Maninder Singh, in the Ghee mandi area. Several incidents of electrocution of birds, animals and even some local residents c m y b have already been reported over the years. But the violation continues with the vendors citing lack of space allotted to them by the MC. “Since it’s the matter of our livelihood, where should we go if not here,” said Ram Asara, a food stall owner, who has a stall under a transformer. He claims he is doing his business from the spot since four years. Amritsar, December 3 The District Planning Committee held a review meeting on the works being done under the Swachh Bharat mission at Bachat Bhawan here on Saturday. Jaspreet Singh, Chairman of District Planning Committee, asked officials of the municipal corporation (MC) to provide details of all the roads falling under the jurisdiction of the MC with their maintenance body so that clear instructions could be passed to the department concerned for their cleanliness and repair work. He asked the MC officials to remove encroachments to ensure smooth movement of the growing volume of traffic in the city. He instructed the MC officials to ensure that only good quality food should be served to customers in hotels, restaurants, dhabas and all kinds of eating joints in the city.