05012023-LT-01.qxd 1/5/2023 12:50 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana TRIBUNE INTENSIVE RLY TICKET-CHECKING PAGE 2 DRIVE YIELDED ~2.79 CR IN DEC NAMITA REACTS TO TROLLING OF SHARK TANK INDIA JUDGES The Ferozepur Division of the Northern Railway collected ~2.79 cr as fare & penalty from 28,804 rail passengers. The fans have called judges biased and said they are showing ‘friendship goals’ rather than judging talents. FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 16°C | MIN 3°C | YESTERDAY MAX 14°C | MIN 6°C SUNSET THURSDAY 5:38 PM PAGE 3 SAMANTHA RUTH PRABHU NOT REPLACED IN CITADEL PAGE 4 Rumours have been doing the rounds of her exit from the flick. Now the actor’s team has rubbished the rumours. SUNRISE FRIDAY 7:25 AM THURSDAY | 5 JANUARY 2023 | LUDHIANA Work to clean Sidhwan Canal launched Cop duped by travel agents Project to install chain-linked fencing along stretch of canal too opened by MinisterNijjar of ~13.28 lakh Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 4 The Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana, in coordination with the Irrigation Department launched the work to clean the Sidhwan Canal. Local Bodies Minister Inderbir Singh Nijjar kick-started the work to clean the canal from Bhai Randhir Singh (BRS) Nagar canal bridge here on Wednesday. Dr Nijjar also inaugurated the project to install chainlinked iron fencing (2 meter height) along the 13-km long stretch of the canal within the city limits. Aiming to stop residents from dumping waste into the canal, the project is being taken up at a cost of Rs 6.64 crore. The work to install the fencing will be completed in the next six months. The minister was accompanied by MC Commissioner (officiating) Aaditya Dachalwal and AAP MLAs. Civic body officials said the canal falls under the jurisdiction of the Irrigation Department. Amid rising concern over garbage and filth dumped in the water body, which passes through the city, the MC has stepped up to clean the canal in coordination with the department. Temporary ramps have been Minister Inderbir Singh Nijjar kick-starts the work to clean the Sidhwan Canal in Ludhiana. ASHWANI DHIMAN set up at various points of the canal and the water body is being cleaned with the help of JCB machines and tippers. They said the Irrigation Department had prepared a schedule to stop the flow of water in the canal for 21 days. The process to clean the stretch of the canal from the Lohara bridge to the Barewal canal bridge will be taken up during the period. If required, the department will also be asked to stop the flow of water into the canal for a few more days. Cabinet Minister Nijjar said initiatives taken by the civic body to clean the canal and install iron fencing around the same were appreciable but the public should also support the authorities in keeping the canal clean and stop dumping waste into water bodies. A garbage dump of the MC is also located near the bank of Sidhwan Canal on Gill Road. Environmental activists recently highlighted that waste from the dump also falls in the canal. On being asked, Dr Nijjar said required steps would be taken for removal of the dump. Notably, four residents of the city had earlier moved the NGT against the dumping of waste into the Sidhwan Canal. During the hearing in the matter in November 2022, the NGT constituted a Joint committee comprising Irrigation Department, Punjab Pollution Control Board, District Magistrate, Ludhiana, and Executive Engineer, Canal Officer (Sidhwan Canal Division) to submit a factual report within two months. Residents urged to step forward to save environment Paying obeisance to Guru Granth Sahib at Sukhmani Sahib path organised by the Municipal Employees Sangharsh Committee to mark the New Year celebrations at the MC’s Zone D office in Sarabha Nagar, Minister Dr Nijjar appealed the residents to step forward to save the environment and groundwater. He also assured to fulfill demands of employees raised by the chairman of the employees union, Ashwani Sahota, and president Jasdev Sekhon. The minister also honoured different NGOs/social activists working in association with the civic body. These include Shahi Imaam Punjab Maulana Muhammad Usmaan Rehmani Ludhianvi, Gursahib Singh and Davinder Nagi from Team 1699, Maneet Dewan from City Needs and members of other NGOs, including Lets Clean Ludhiana Foundation, Neki Di Rasoi and Ashke group. Women empowerment sculptures unveiled Dr Nijjar also unveiled women empowerment sculptures installed at road islands outside the MC Zone D office. The sculptures have been installed by FICCI FLO group, which has been working in association with the MC. Appreciating the effort by group members, led by head of the national governing body Monika Choudhary and Ludhiana chairperson Neha Gupta, the minister urged NGOs to work in association with the civic body to spread greenery across the city. Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 4 The Police Division 7 yesterday registered a case of travel fraud against a mother-son duo who duped Punjab Police ASI Mehar Singh of Rs 13.28 lakh on the pretext of sending the son of the complainant abroad. The suspects have been identified as Karamjit Kaur, her son Abhi, residents of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Dhandra road. The complainant, a resident of Police Colony, Jamalpur, in a statement given to the police said his son Rundeep Singh wanted to go to Australia on study visa. After he got to know about the travel agents, the latter assured to arrange study visa and in lieu, took Rs 15.10 lakh from him but they failed to arrange the visa. Later, when the duo were asked to return the money, they only returned Rs 1.82 lakh and refused to return the remaining Rs 13.28 lakh, the complainant alleged. ASI Gurmeet Singh said a case under Sections 420 (fraud) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and the Immigration Act was registered against the agents and further probe was on in the case. Motorists commute amid dense fog in Ludhiana. INDERJEET VERMA Cold wave, dense fog to continue in city Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 4 Cold wave conditions will continue to persist in the district with the possibility of fog during morning hours. A thick blanket of fog is continuing to engulf the district making the visibility very low. The cold wave makes commuting, especially on two-wheelers, difficult during morning hours. The maximum temperature recorded today was 10.2 degrees Celsius while the minimum was 5.8 degrees Celsius. Morning relative humidity recorded was 94 per cent and evening relative humidity 79 per cent. Dr Pavneet Kaur Kingra, Head, Department of Climate Change and Agricultural Meteorology, said cold and foggy conditions would con- tinue to persist in the city in the next three to four days. “There seems no possibility of rain in the next few days. Cold weather is good for Rabi crops so there is nothing to worry about that. As rainfall is not predicted in the coming days, farmers should irrigate their fields,” said Dr Kingra. Drivers are advised to drive safely and slowly and switch on the headlights and indicators to avoid any untoward incident. Many workers are seen lighting bonfire to keep themselves warm. Meanwhile, with the temperatures plummeting and the severe cold persisting here, people must take precautions for themselves and their kids. Dr Manu Sharma, paediatrician and neonatologist, said: “Foods rich in Vitamin C should be eaten during the winter season.” Man returned from Italy tests +ve for Covid Peddler nabbed with 920-gm heroin Dist most fatal with maximum Ludhiana, January 4 A man who returned from Italy has tested positive for Covid-19. As per information, he belongs to Raikot of Ludhiana district. His sample for Covid testing was collected at the Delhi airport. Later, he tested positive. As per the Health Department, the man is in home isolation. It has confirmed 1,13,632 positive virus cases in the district to date. — TNS Ludhiana, January 4 The Special Task Force (STF) wing of the Ludhiana police today arrested a peddler and seized 920 gm of heroin from his possession. The suspect has been identified as Jassi Kumar (21), a resident of Bhagat Singh Colony. A case under the NDPS Act was registered against him. STF inspector Harbans Singh in a statement issued said a tip-off was received that the suspect was into the heroin smuggling trade for a long time. He was on the way to deliver the huge quantity of drugs to his clients in the city on his scooter. Accordingly, the STF team laid a trap and intercepted the scooter (PB91N0930) for checking near a school in Moti POWER SHUTDOWN LUDHIANA 10 am to 3 pm: Maya Nagar, Krishna Nagar, Heera Singh Road and adjoining areas. 10 am to 6.30 pm: Star City and Bala Ji Colony. 12 noon to 3.30 pm: Yogi Dyeing and BR Knitfab. road accident deaths in state Tribune News Service 1,656 killed in mishaps in 3 yrs | Over 23% jump in 2021 Nitin Jain Tribune News Service The suspect in custody of STF officials in Ludhiana on Wednesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Nagar. Later, when the dickey of the scooter was checked, 920-gm heroin was recovered and the man was arrested, said STF inspector Harbans. During the preliminary questioning of the suspect, he admitted that he was unemployed and was into the heroin smuggling trade for a long time. He even confessed that he was also a heroin addict, inspector Harbans said, adding that on Wednesday, even a dope test of the man was also conducted from the Civil Hospital and his report also came positive. Now, police remand of the smuggler would be sought from court so that the entire drug supply line can be busted and more recovery of heroin can be made. Child artistes to spread awareness against China string Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 4 Already registering cases and nabbing sellers involved in the trading of deadly Chinese string, the Ludhiana Commissionerate have come up with a novel idea to deal with the menace. The police have roped in two child artistes and shot a small video to encourage kite lovers to avoid the use of the string. Commissioner of Police (CP), Ludhiana, Mandeep Singh Sidhu, said the Chinese string (also called China dor) thrills but it also kills birds and humans. “The Ludhiana police have roped in child artistes as ‘Campaign Ambassadors’ for a campaign against the deadly string to spread awareness about the ban and educate people about harms of using the same. We have shot a special video for the purpose which has been Cops with artiste Hazel in a grab of the video shot by the city police. WE MUST PLEDGE TO STOP USING CHINESE STRING should give wings the ❝Weagainst the Chinesetostring.campaign of the Punjab Police We must pledge and make others to vow to use normal string for kite flying. I am thankful to the Ludhiana police that I have been made an ambassador of the drive. Hazel, CHILD ARTISTE ❞ launched on all social media channels of the Ludhiana police and it is also being shared by police personnel and residents,” Sidhu said. He has also reportedly gave a strict warning to the people selling and using deadly string and hinted strict action. Sources said the CP had gave a clear message to senior officers and all SHOs to not spare anyone selling plastic string. In the days to come, some big sellers could be arrested and a huge quantity of the same could also be recovered by the police as undercover operations were already on. In the first video, the police have engaged child theatre artiste Hazel dressed up as a bird and reciting a poem against the deadly string. The poem was also composed by her, Sidhu said. In this small video of about two minutes, Hazel dressed up in the costume of a bird while flying in the sky gets stuck in the plastic string and suffers injuries. At the end, the artiste says the Chinese string had taken many lives of humans and birds and also injured c m y b many in the past. Now, the time has come when kite lovers must shun the use of the deadly string and contribute to society in a positive way. The video also features CP Mandeep Singh Sidhu, Joint Commissioner of Police Saumya Mishra, ADCPs Sameer Verma, Suhail Qassim Mir and Tushar Gupta. “We should give wings to the campaign of the Punjab Police against the Chinese string. We must pledge and make others to vow to use normal string for kite flying. I am thankful to the Ludhiana police that I have been made an ambassador of the campaign by the police,” Hazel said. Notably, the police have also roped in another child artiste Madhwan Rai as a campaign ambassador to campaign against plastic string and he will launch awareness campaign on social media platform. Ludhiana, January 4 In what appears to be a cause of concern, Ludhiana continues to be the most fatal district with maximum road accident deaths in the state during the past three years, a government report has confirmed. As many as 1,656 persons were killed in the mishaps on roads passing through the state’s biggest and largest district, in terms of area and population, between 2019 and 2021, the data compiled by the Punjab Road Safety and Traffic Research Centre in collaboration with the Punjab Police has revealed. The report on Punjab Road Accidents and Traffic-2021, which was released by Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav recently, showed that road accident casualties in Ludhiana registered a jump of over 23 per cent in 2021 with the count of deaths going up to 649 in 2021, highest since 2019, from 499 in 2020 and 508 in 2019. According to the report prepared by a team, led by ADGP (Traffic) AS Rai, a copy of which is available with The Tribune, the average of road accident deaths in Ludhiana district vis-à-vis total death toll in the state also rose from 11.24 per cent in 2019 to 12.8 in 2020 and shot up to 14.14 per cent in 2021, which was the highest ratio recorded in three years. The report also highlighted that December and November remained the deadliest between 2019 and 2021 with the maximum number of road accident deaths reported during these two months. While December 2021 recorded the maximum threeyear-high monthly death toll of 64, the maximum number of monthly casualties remained at 57 each in November 2020 MONTHLY GRAPH Deaths 2019 2020 January 37 51 February 49 36 March 38 37 April 47 8 May 23 31 June 35 30 July 41 49 August 52 47 September 39 46 October 44 59 November 46 57 December 57 48 Total 508 499 ANNUAL AVERAGE Month 2021 51 62 53 33 41 47 57 60 62 59 60 64 649 11.24% in 2019, 12.8% in 2020, and 14.14% in 2021 10 DISTS TURNED SAFER While 10 of the total 22 districts analysed in the report turned safer with a decrease in their annual accident deaths from 2019 to 2021, Ludhiana and Jalandhar remained the worst-hit district with maximum casualties during the three years. ❝ ❞ – AS RAI, ADGP (TRAFFIC) (SOURCE: PUNJAB POLICE, FIGURES FROM JAN TO DEC 2019 TO 2021) and December 2019. On the safer side, April and May months reported the minimum monthly road accident deaths between 2019 and 2021. While April 2020 recorded the minimum three-year month death toll of 8, the minimum count of monthly casualties remained 23 in May 2019 and 33 in April 2021. Among other districts, the road accident deaths reported during 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively, included 163, 158 and 172 in Gurdaspur, 263, 189 and 228 in Amritsar, 167, 121 and 102 in Kapurthala, 331, 224 and 360 in Jalandhar, 128, 137 and 164 in Nawanshahr, 252, 190 and 201 in Hoshiarpur, 180, 127 and 193 in Ropar, 136, 119 and 152 in Ferozepur, 106, 107 and 89 in Faridkot, 165, 112 and 130 in Muktsar, 144, 173 and 185 in Moga, 261, 229 and 213 in Bathinda, 119, 114 and 133 in Mansa, 238, 241 and 286 in Sangrur, 454, 339 and 434 in Patiala, 167, 159 and 166 in Fatehgarh Sahib, 283, 254 and 269 in Mohali, 115, 99 and 126 in Tarn Taran, 132, 117 and 96 in Barnala, 92, 63 and 93 in Pathankot, and Fazilka recorded 117 casualties each in 2019 and 2020 and 132 in 2021. The overall state tally remained 4,521 in 2019, 3,898 in 2020 and 4,589 in 2021. Besides, the state also reported 30 deaths under the purview of the railway police between 2019 and 2021 with a maximum of 16 in 2021, followed by 10 in 2020 and four in 2019.