28122022-LT-01.qxd 12/28/2022 12:51 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana TRIBUNE WORK TO REPLACE EXPANSION JOINTS ON FLYOVER BEGINS PAGE 2 Work to replace damaged expansion joints on one side of Dholewal flyover on Link Road was started by NHAI. FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY Man posing as CBI officer dupes woman of ~25L Tribune News Service Ludhiana, December 27 A Haridwar-based man posing himself as a CBI officer duped a city woman of Rs 25.93 lakh. Three accomplices of the suspect were also booked by the police who were part of the conspiracy. The suspects are Vipan Kumar, a resident of Haridwar, and his accomplices Kanti Stor of Ghaziabad, Sunil Kumar of Delhi and Rupa Rani of Delhi. The complainant, Tastas Mathur, of Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar told the police that a few months ago, she had come in contact with suspect Vipin through a matrimonial site, ‘Jeevansathi.com’. The suspect had posed himself as an inspector in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) agency and he had proposed her for marriage. He had promised that he would soon get married with her. The duo were frequently interacting with each other through video calls. “In June this year, the suspect had informed me that during some special operation in West Bengal, he suffered a bullet injury and he urgently needed money for his treatment. Since I was already convinced that he is a CBI inspector and he also wanted to marry me, I transferred Rs 25.93 lakh to him. Later, I was shocked to know that he was not a CBI inspector and he lied to me,” the complainant alleged. The woman said when the police started a probe, besides Vipin, three of his accomplices were also booked. The police said raids would be conducted to nab the suspects. POWER SHUTDOWN LUDHIANA 9.30 am to 5 pm: Green Land School line Dugri Phase II, Communty Centre line Dugri Phase II and opposite area of Gurdwara Sukhmani Sahib Dugri, Phase II. 9.30 am to 5.30 pm: MRP Nagar, New Subhash Nagar, Swatantar Colony, Kuldeep Nagar, Atal Nagar, New Kuldeep Nagar, Lucky Enclave, Mangat Colony, Sunder Nagar, Anandpura Mohalla, Chander Lok Colony, Tilak Nagar, Krishana Colony and adjoining areas. 10 am to 3 pm: Ghumar Mandi, Dial Nagar, Krishna Nagar and adjoining areas. MAX 18°C | MIN 7°C | YESTERDAY MAX 18°C | MIN 7°C SUNSET WEDNESDAY 5:32 PM Nitin Jain Tribune News Service MAIN GOALS Ludhiana, December 27 The industrial and business hub of the north is fast moving towards becoming a smart city as envisaged under the Smart City Mission (SCM) of the Union Government, the government has claimed. Ludhiana, spread over 169 square km area with a population of 16.18 lakh as per 2011 Census, was among 100 cities in the country and three in the state, which was selected under the SCM to be developed as a smart city in the first round of the selection by the Union Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) in 2015, officials have said. The progress summary prepared by Ludhiana Smart City Limited (LSCL), a copy of which is available with The Tribune, revealed that as many as 42 projects worth Rs 145.99 crore have already been completed while 28 more projects costing Rs 784.01 crore have been put under execution and were under various stages of progress. Of the 28 under execution projects, the work on 18 projects worth Rs 571.99 crore has already been awarded and was under progress, while other nine projects worth Rs 147.12 crore have been tendered out. Besides, the detailed project report was under preparation and approval for another project, which will cost Rs 64.9 crore. With this, a total of 70 projects worth Rs 930 crore were undertaken by the LSCL to develop Ludhiana as a smart city. The projects completed so ■ Rediscover the bicycle capital of the world and align it with ‘Make in India’ ■ Enhance the health and wellness of citizens ■ Reduce traffic congestion ■ Clean and green city ■ Ensure public safety ■ Enable e-governance ~1000-CRORE CORPUS WHY LUDHIANA? Ludhiana was selected to be made smart city for following reasons and purposes:Largest manufacturer of bicycles, can become the most bicyclefriendly city in the country. Creating a symbolic relationship with other Indian cities to promote sustainable practices around the country. Capitalise on the manufacturing base of the city for a sustainable growth. Projects to mitigate pollution, congestion, safety on streets to safe neighbourhoods. Vehicle-free zones, bike highways, shared streets planned in a phased manner, ensuring citizens adopt and adapt for a positive outcome in the long run. Being one of the most polluted cities in the world, Ludhiana to be made clean and green for reducing the rising pollution levels. SMART CITY ON PRIORITY: CM ❝ Ludhiana, December 27 As the tenure of the MC’s current House has to end in March 2023, councillors of different political parties demanded from the Mayor to call Finance and Contract Committee (F&CC) meeting at the earliest so that pending development works in their respective wards be carried out on a timely basis. After a gap of around three months, the F&CC meeting was called on Friday. But the meeting was later postponed after arguments between Senior Deputy Mayor Sham Sundar Malhotra and MC’s Health Officer Vipul Malhotra over the non-approval of funds to a gaushala, as per the fixed rate. As many as 199 items were on the F&CC meeting PROJECT DETAILS STATUS NUMBER COST Completed 42 145.99 Under execution 18 571.99 Tendered out 9 147.12 Under approval 1 64.9 Total 70 930 (SOURCE: LSCL, COST IN RS CRORE) far included LED streetlighting at the cost of Rs 13.39 crore, development of smart school classrooms in government schools at Rs 6.26 crore, waterfront development and landscaping beautification along the Sidhwan Canal worth Rs 5.18 crore, façade light illumination of flyover at the Sidhwan Canal at Rs 2.38 crore, carcass utilisation plant at Rs 8.58 crore, procurement of sewer cleaning machines at Rs 4.44 crore, discharge of 200 cusecs fresh water into the Buddha Nullah at Rs 4.28 crore, installation of digital and analogue wayfinding and signages worth Rs 5.25 crore, installation of rooftop solar panels on existing buildings at Rs 6.54 crore, prefabricated toilet blocks worth Rs 3.1 An illegal structure being razed in Ludhiana. TRIBUNE PHOTO MS Bedi, head draftsman, MC Zone D, said owners failed to get buildings plans approved from the civic body and commercial buildings were being constructed in residential areas. The building bylaws were being violated at large, due to which the drive was organised by the building branch. The owners have been directed to get the building plans approved and no commercial activity should be taken up in the residential areas, he said. — TNS works in their respective wards would be approved but the meeting was postponed. The fresh date of meeting is yet to be fixed. Shiromani Akali Dal councillor from Ward 46 Harbhajan Singh Dang said the F&CC meeting should be now held every week so that the councillors could get the pending development project works approved by the panel. After approval of the estimates, tenders must be floated timely. Dang said, “The tenure of MC’s current House would end in March 2023. If the F&CC meetings are organised timely, councillors can get the pending development works done. Moreover, the House meeting should also be called at the earliest. We will meet Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu soon and raise the matter before him.” Meanwhile, Dang also alleged that the MLAs of the AAP government are not allowing contractors to start development works which had already been approved. A BJP councillor said there was a need to hold an F&CC meeting as soon as possible as a lot of development works in different wards were pending. “All councillors should also be given intimation to get the estimates prepared and approved for pending development works in their respective wards”, the councillor said. However, Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu could not be contacted for comments as his phone was switched off. c m y b crore, fabrication of firefighting vehicles on suitable chasis at Rs 6.45 crore, construction of government senior secondary schools in Ward 13 at Rs 3.34 crore, construction of top floor of existing multilevel car parking at DAC complex at Rs 4.75 crore, construction and commissioning masonry toilet blocks worth continued on page 2 After 2 weeks, three test +ve Tribune News Service Ludhiana, December 27 After a gap of 14 days, today three samples tested positive for Covid. No person has tested positive in the district since December 13. With the BF wave scare, samples test.7 ing positive has put the department on its toes. All three samples have been sent for their genome testing to rule out the new variant. Civil Surgeon Hitinder Kaur said 1,13,631 persons have tested positive in Ludhiana district and 3,018 people have lost their lives to the deadly virus since March 2020 in the district. On Tuesday, there were three active cases in the district. At present, the recovery rate of Covid-19 patients is 97.34 per cent. As many as 805 samples were sent for testing on Tuesday. 2 international travellers among fresh cases The three persons who were tested positive today include two international travellers, one has returned from Japan and the other from America, both are residenst pof Ludhiana. The third person is an expecting woman who was admitted to a hospital in Chandigarh and tested positive during her admission. SAMPLES POSITIVE ACTIVE DIFFERENCE DEATHS 40,41,150 1,13,631 3 3 3,018 WEDNESDAY | 28 DECEMBER 2022 | LUDHIANA ED raids milk plant, offices of liquor contractor Channi Tribune News Service Ludhiana, December 27 Before the year comes to an end, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) cracked a whip against wine contractor Channi Bajaj and his company Pure Milk. The raid started early this morning and about 8-10 premises of Bajaj were raided by ED sleuths and paramilitary personnel. About a week ago, the Excise Department had seized Indian Scotch worth lakhs of rupees from the Bajaj group from Barnala district and today, it had conducted the raid. Highly placed sources said the ED swung into action following an alleged bank fraud case. Channi had got a loan worth about Rs 40 crore for setting up a milk plant but the funds were diverted to other pur- Paramilitary personnel stand guard outside wine contractor Channi Bajaj's residence during the raid in Ludhiana. ASHWANI DHIMAN poses and now, the loan amount had reached a whopping amount of Rs 70 crore, including the interest amount. Over 8-10 premises, including residence and office of Bajaj at Sarabha Nagar, were raided. It is learnt that computers and laptops are taken into custody and other bank details are scanned by the ED officials. Till the filing of the report, the raids were on. Woman ends life after paramour made her obscene pictures viral Tribune News Service ❞ 5 illegal constructions razed agenda. Notably, the estimates or proposals regarding the installation of new water tube wells, re-carpeting/reconstruction of roads, installation of interlocking tiles, and development of green belts and parks in different wards were to be presented before the panel. Besides, the proposals estimates/proposals for the projects such as Implementation of an Adaptive Traffic Control System, trenchless rehabilitation of the existing trunk sewerage system on Panj Peer Road and PAU Road by the standalone structural lining method, Automated Material Recover Facility Plant and Bio-CNG plant were part of the agenda. The councillors were expecting that the estimates of development The selected cities were granted Rs 1,000 crore each, on the equal sharing basis of Rs 500 crore each by the Centre and state, which can be leveraged for getting additional resources for funding the project implementation/ execution under the SCM. Our government has taken up the Ludhiana Smart City project on a top priority and has pulled all stops to ensure completion of all under progress projects within the stipulated timeframe. — Bhagwant Mann, CHIEF MINISTER Meet postponed on Friday after arguments between Senior Dy Mayor, Health Officer Tribune News Service SUNRISE THURSDAY 7:23 AM 42 projects completed, 28 under execution to make city smart The waterfront development and landscaping beautification along the Sidhwan Canal project has been completed. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN PAGE 4 Sushant Singh Rajput’s sister Shweta Singh Kirti has demanded a fair probe in his brother’s death case. Smart City in making: ~146-crore spent, ~784-cr works in progress Ludhiana, December 27 The Municipal Corporation (MC) razed five illegal commercial buildings being constructed in residential areas on the Jassian road here on Tuesday. Officials said the civic body had received complaints against illegal constructions and the building inspector had also identified illegal activities in the area, following which a demolition drive was organised on Tuesday. SSR FILE TO REOPEN? ACTOR’S SISTER SEEKS FAIR PROBE Tapeshwari Sharma, who started her career with TV show Kasautii Zindagi Kay, has now turned a professional DJ. Hold F&CC meeting at earliest: Councillors Harshraj Singh PAGE 3 ACTOR TAPESHWARI SHARMA TURNS PROFESSIONAL DJ Ludhiana, December 27 A married woman died by suicide after her alleged paramour made viral her obscene pictures at Jalajan village in Khanna. The woman had ended her life by jumping into the Babanpur canal in Sangrur district. The deceased has been identified as Navjit Kaur. The Khanna Sadar police registered an abetment to suicide case against the woman’s paramour, Harjinder Singh, and his wife Hardeep Kaur, residents of Jalajan village. Complainant Lakhvir Kaur told the police that her daughter was married to Shamsher Singh of Jalajan village. Her daughter had an illicit relationship with Harjinder, a resident of the village. The suspect had clicked obscene pictures of her daughter and later made viral the photos. The wife of the suspect was also part of the conspiracy in uploading the objectionable pictures on social media. “After my daughter came to know that her pictures have been made viral by the suspect, she went in depression and left home on December 24. Next day, her body was found in the Babanpur canal. She ended her life as both Harjinder and his wife Hardeep were blackmailing her,” the complainant revealed. Investigating officer Inspector Nachatar Singh said raids were being conducted to catch the suspect.