02032023-LT-01.qxd 3/2/2023 12:18 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune GLADA DEMOLISHES FOUR ILLEGAL COLONIES FARHAD SAMJI TO BRING HOTSTAR SPECIAL POP KAUN KIARA TO PERFORM AT FIRST WOMEN'S PREMIERE LEAGUE Four illegal colonies on the periphery of the city were razed today by team of GLADA officials. P2 Disney+Hotstar and ace filmmaker Farhad Samji team up to present comedy series, Pop Kaun. P3 Actress Kiara will be the star performer at Women’s Premiere League, which will begin on March 4 in Mumbai.P4 » » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 28°C | MIN 13°C YESTERDAY MAX 27°C | MIN 14°C SUNSET THURSDAY 6.25 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 6:51 AM THURSDAY | 2 MARCH 2023 | LUDHIANA Woman ends life; mother-in-law, husband, booked DOWRY DEATH 39postsvacantschoolsschoolsdon’tteachers in dist Couple arrested govt |All992primary sans evenhavesweepers,watchmen 1,742 Nitin Jain TELLING NUMBERS Tribune News Service Tribune News service Ludhiana, March 1 A 23-year-old married woman ended her life by hanging herself from the ceiling fan at her in-laws’ residence at Ayali Khurd. The city police had registered a case of dowry death against the deceased’s, Poonam, husband Sandeep and her mother-in-law Savitri. The complainant, Sripal, deceased’s father, said his daughter got married to Sandeep in November last year. Soon after marriage, the accused started torturing her for dowry. His daughter was even thrashed by the accused several times. On February 21, his son-inlaw called and said if demanded dowry was not given, he would kill Poonam. A few hours later, he again called and said Poonam ended her life, alleged deceased’s father. “Due to the daily torture of my daughter she was living under depression. When she could not bear torture anymore she took the extreme step,” asserted the complainant. Investigating officer ASI Balwinder Singh said probe was on and raids were conducted to nab them. Ludhiana, March 1 In what appears to be a sorry state of affairs, at least 39 government schools were without even a single teacher while not less than 1,742 posts of teaching staff of various levels were also lying vacant in the district. Notably, all 992 government primary schools in the district were running without sweepers and watchmen in the absence of their sanctioned posts. If this was not enough, at least 150 government schools in Ludhiana were having a single teacher each to cater to the entire lot of students in their respective institutions. This was despite the fact that over 1,100 elementary teachers were provided to Ludhiana district after 6,635 new recruitments were made in July last year. The situation had become bad to worse with the retirement of 14 block primary education officers (BPEOs) since December 31 last following which the primary schools were lacking proper monitoring. The official data available with The Tribune revealed that 35 primary and 4 upper primary schools were teacher-less in the district, 13 cellphones seized Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 1 Thirteen mobile phones were seized during a surprise checking in the Central Jail, Ludhiana, in two separate cases. Of these, 10 were found abandoned on the jail premises while three were recovered from the jail inmates. Assistant Jail Superintendent Gagandeep Sharma said on February 15, a search operation was conducted on the jail premises which led to the seizure of 10 mobile phones from the washrooms. Some unknown inmates would have dumped these phones in the washrooms. Now, further probe would be conducted to inquire about those who dumped these on the jail premises. A case under Prison Act was registered against the unknown inmates. In another case, assistant jail superintendent Kashmir Lal said on February 25, a surprise checking was conducted in jail which led to the recovery of three mobile phones from three jail inmates identified as Jatinder, alias Puppy, Prince Saini and Sandeep Singh, alias Ravi. These inmates had kept cell phones in their belongings and committed a violation of jail rules. A case under Prison Act was yesterday registered against these inmates. If connivance of any jail official comes to the fore, action will also be taken accordingly, said jail officials. SCHOOLS WITHOUT TEACHER Primary 35 Upper primary 4 Total 39 SINGLE TEACHER 132 18 150 VACANCIES 11,563 9,821 Sanctioned posts Filled A government primary school in Ludhiana. ASHWANI DHIMAN HOPEFUL OF EARLY RELIEF With the state government already in the process of hiring more teachers, we are hopeful that we would get more teachers soon to fill the vacancies. Even with the present strength, we are trying our level best to deal with the situation and impart the best possible education to our students. Once the staff crunch is resolved, all our schools will further improve their standard.” ❝ 1,742 VACANT SCHOOLS Primary: 992 Middle: 177 High: 165 Sr Secondary: 191 Total: 1,316 Pvt schools: 2,841 – BALDEV SINGH JODHAN, DISTRICT EDUCATION OFFICER (ELEMENTARY EDUCATION) Mangat-2, Pakhowal and Samrala blocks. In this way, as many as 189 government schools in the district were either without even a single teacher or were running with a single teacher. These included 35 primary and 4 upper primary institutions without even a single teacher and 132 primary and 18 upper primary with a single teacher each. 40 posts of principals vacant As many as 1,742 posts of the total 11,563 sanctioned posts of teachers in Ludhiana district were also lying vacant with 9,821 tutors running the affairs of a total of 1,525 government schools, which included 992 primary, 191 senior secondary, 177 middle and 165 high schools. The vacancies included 40 posts of principal, 94 headmaster/ headmistress, 158 lecturers, 979 master cadre, 37 computer faculty, 41 CHT, 65 HT, and 328 posts of JBT teachers in the primary cadre were lying vacant. Notably, the district had got the lion’s share of 1,111 teachers of the total 6,635 tutors hired by the state government in July last year. Of these, 10 teachers had already left the district after being transferred out. with 2.1-kg heroin The accused in police custody. TRIBUNE PHOTO Tribune News Service Ludhiana March 1 The Special Task Force (STF) wing of the district police today arrested a couple and seized 2.1-kg heroin. The value of the contraband is reportedly over Rs 10 crore. The accused have been identified as Suresh Kumar (36) and his wife Manisha (27), both residents of BRS Nagar. STF DSP Davinder Chaudhary and Inspector Harbans Singh issued a joint statement in this regard. STF officials said a secret information was received that abovesaid couple were into the heroin smuggling trade and they were on the way to Ludhiana from Moga to deliver heroin to their clients. The STF team laid a naka at strategic place where after intercepting their Verna car same was stopped for checking. During search in the car, a packet containing 2.1-kg heroin was recovered from beneath the driving seat of the car. During preliminary questioning, accused confessed that they were into drug trade from a long time and several cases were also registered against them in the past. Officials revealed that even father and brother of the accused woman were also heroin smugglers and they were also nabbed by the STF, Ludhiana, along with 1.7-kg heroin in the year 2021 and presently both are in jail. which included 2 in Dehlon-1 block, 4 in Dehlon-2, 2 each in Doraha and Jagraon, 3 in Khanna-1, 1 each in Khanna2 and Machhiwara-2, 2 in Mangat-2, 1 in Mangat-3, 4 each in Pakhowal and Raikot, 6 in Sidhwan Bet-1, and 3 primary schools were without even a single teacher in Sidhwan Bet-2 block. Among the teacher-less upper primary schools, the maximum of two were having no teacher in Dehlon-2 block, and one each were running without any tutor in Machhiwara-1 and Raikot blocks. The 132 government primary schools, which were running with a single teacher, included maximum 19 institutions in Machhiwara-1 block, 13 each in Machhiwara-2, Mangat-3 and Sidhwan Bet-1, 12 in Sidhwan Bet-2, 11 in Dehlon-2, 7 in Samrala, 6 each in Doraha, Pakhowal and Sudhar, 5 each AIKF chief Buani passes away Road dug up for laying sewer pipe troubles commuters in Dehlon-1, Khanna-1 and Raikot, 4 in Khanna-2, 3 in Mangat-1 and one such elementary institution was located in Mangat-2 block. Among the 18 upper primary schools with a single teacher, the maximum of 3 each institutions were in Machhiwara-1 and Sidhwan Bet-1 blocks, 2 each in Khanna-1 and Sudhar, and 1 each such school was situated in Dehlon-1, Dehlon-2, Doraha, Khanna-2, Machhiwara-2, Tribune News Service Doraha, March 1 All-India Kisan Federation (AIKF) president Lakhwinder Singh Buani died after prolonged illness and was cremated at his native village Buani today. He remained the sarpanch of his village for 20 years. He stood firm and fought for the cause of farmers, labourers and the downtrodden. He led a successful movement against the laying of gas pipelines through agriculture farms by GAIL India in Punjab. National general secretary MCPI (U) Kuldeep Singh and state secretary Pawan Kumar Kaushal paid tributes to Buani. — OC Ludhiana, March 1 Commuters faced inconveniences after a portion of Ferozepur Road near Bhai Bala Chowk was dug up for the installation of a sewer pipe allegedly in an unplanned manner last night. The pipe of an under-construction commercial mall was to be connected with the Municipal Corporation’s (MC) sewerage, but no permission was taken from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for digging the road portion. Notably, NHAI’s Elevated Road project work is underway on Ferozepur Road. A shopkeeper said the long traffic jams occurred on the stretch this morning as the road was dug up for the A portion of Ferozepur Road was dug up for installation of a sewer pipe. TRIBUNE PHOTO installation of a sewer pipe of a private building. “Even the road portion excavated out- side our shop too. It was even difficult for us to open the shop as heaps of soil were lying there. Nobody felt any need to share prior information in this regard. The police and NHAI officials had also reached the site,” he said. Project Director KL Sachdeva said the road portion was dug using a JCB machine for the installation of a pipe due to which the traffic movement got affected. The required steps were taken to make the traffic movement normal. Nobody, took permission from the NHAI for digging the road portion that is a part of the highway. The MC has been asked to take necessary action in this regard. MC’s Superintending Engineer Ravinder Garg said the mall owner had taken permission from the MC for a sewerage connection but no permission was taken from NHAI. A notice has been issued to the mall owner now. Urban Vihar Colony residents Gang of vehicle lifters Inspect public toilets, officials told irked over rising dog bite cases busted, two nabbed Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 1 After dog bite cases have been reported in the area, residents of the Urban Vihar Colony near Dugri have sought the Municipal Corporation’s (MC) attention to take immediate steps to prevent dog bite incidents in their area. The residents had sent a complaint to the Animal Birth Control Centre where sterilisation of stray dogs is done. Jaspal Singh Tiger, a resident of Urban Vihar, said they have written to an official regarding the attack of dogs resulting in severe bite injuries to the residents of the colony. However, no action has been taken to resolve the matter. “Within one month, over 10 dog bites cases have PAY ATTENTION IMMEDIATELY ❝ Within one month, over 10 dog bites cases have been reported and most of the sufferers were children, old women, and senior citizens. If nobody had come to rescue them, such attacks would have been fatal. We demand from the MC to pay attention and take preventive steps. Jaspal Singh Tiger, A RESIDENT OF URBAN VIHAR ❞ been reported and most of the sufferers were children, old ladies, and senior citizens. Some of the persons have received severe dog bite injuries. If nobody had come to rescue them, such attacks would have been fatal. A ferocious dog has attacked a number of persons in the area. We demand from the civic body to pay attention and take steps for preven- tion of dog bite cases here,” he said. “The sufferers had to bear expenses for medical treatment after they were bitten by the dogs. We want the MC to take rapid and suitable action to provide relief to us from dog bite incidents,” said another resident. MC’s Joint Commissioner Ankur Mahindroo could not be contacted for a comment. Ludhiana, March 1 The Focal Point police busted a gang of vehicle lifters and arrested two of its members. The police also recovered nine stolen two-wheelers. The arrested accused have been identified as Vicky, alias Vikram of Dhandari and Monu Gupta of Dhandari Khurd. ADCP Tushar Gupta and SHO Focal Point Inspector Amandeep Brar addressed a press conference regarding the matter. ADCP Gupta said secret information was received that the accused were involved in over a dozen cases of vehicle thefts and had dumped several stolen vehicles at the shop of Vicky at Dhandari Khurd. The accused used to sell most of the stolen vehicles by putting fake number plates on them. The vehicles which could not be sold were dismantled. Acting on the tip off, a naka c m y b The accused in police custody. was laid at a strategic place where after intercepting the accused they were arrested by the police. Later on their disclosures, nine stolen two wheelers were recovered and four number plates of vehicles, which the accused had dismantled were also recovered. One of their accomplices, Krishna of Dhandari Khurd, managed to give slip to the police. SHO Brar said now police remand of the accused would be sought so that more members of the gang can be nabbed and more stolen vehicles can be recovered. — TNS Ludhiana, March 1 A day after questions were raised by an NGO over the dilapidated condition of a public toilet that was constructed under the smart city mission near Merado Colony on Gill Road that falls under Zone C, MC Commissioner Dr Shena Aggarwal has given directions to the zonal commissioners to inspect the toilets in their respective zones. Zonal Commissioner (Zone A) Neeraj Jain conducted a field inspection on Wednesday and checked the conditions at different toilets situated in the areas falling under Zone A of MC. Jain said he found the public toilet facilities in good condition and he also directed the field staff to maintain cleanliness and hygiene. Commissioner Shena Aggarwal stated that strict directions have been issued to the zonal commissioners and field staff that they should ensure cleanliness and proper maintenance of Zonal Commissioner Neeraj Jain inspects a public toilet. public toilets in their respective zones. A spokesperson of MC said, “There are around 50 operational public and community toilets situated in different parts of the city. There are a few pre-fabricated public toilets facilities, including the one established at Gill road, which have been closed for repairs and those will also be opened for the public in the coming time.” Notably, Kuldeep Singh Khaira, president, Vigilant Citizens’ Forum, visited a public toilet outside Merado Colony on Gill Road and raised questions over its pathetic condition on Tuesday. He had alleged that the water tanks, solar panels, taps, etc have gone stolen from the facility and there is no maintenance of the toilet complex, indicating sheer wastage of public funds. — TNS