07052023-JTR-01.qxd 5/7/2023 12:04 AM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune SAD: CONG FAILED TO GIVE MEDICAL COLLEGE TO DIST SINGER LIONEL RICHIE ATTENDS KING CHARLES’ CORONATION Several pictures of the celebrities attending the ceremony has gone viral on social media. P3 THUNDERSTORMS MAX 35°C | MIN 20°C YESTERDAY MAX 33°C | MIN 19°C STARRING ADITI, RABB SE HAI DUA CROSSES 100 EPISODES SAD-BSP candidate Dr Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi slammed the Congress for neglecting the district. P2 FORECAST Aditi Sharma, who plays the character of Dua in it, says the aim is to make audience connect with the story. P4 » » SUNSET SUNDAY 7:04 PM SUNRISE MONDAY 5:34 AM » SUNDAY | 7 MAY 2023 | JALANDHAR INBRIEF 2 COVID DEATHS IN HOSHIARPUR Hoshiarpur: Two new Covidrelated deaths have been reported in Hoshiarpur. A 25-year-old man of Village Mehtiana village in Harta Badla block died at DMC, Ludhiana, while an 80-year-old man from Hoshiarpur died at Civil Hospital here. Civil Surgeon Dr Balwinder Kumar has said just one fresh case of Covid-19 was reported in the district on Saturday. As many as 300 new samples had been taken from people with flu-like symptoms. There have been 23 active cases in the district so far. OC MAN SNATCHES EARRINGS, NABBED Phagwara: The Nakodar city police have arrested a miscreant on the charge of snatching the earrings of a woman. Investigating officer Bhajan Singh said the accused was identified as Ajay Kumar, a resident of Nurmahal. Pawitar Singh, a resident of Shahkar village, had complained to the police that he was returning home on the evening of March 16 from Nakodar city when two motorcycle-borne miscreants attacked his wife Parmindar Kaur and snatched her earrings. The IO said a case under Section 379-B (2) and 34 of the IPC was registered against the accused. OC VILLAGER HELD FOR MURDERING YOUTH Phagwara: The Shahkot police have arrested a villager on the charge of killing a youth by giving him poison. Station House Officer (SHO) Baljit Singh said the accused has been identified as Jograj Singh alias Joga, a resident of Sokhe Wal village. Balwindar Singh, a resident of Nihaluwal village under Lohian Khas, complained to the police that the accused and his two other accomplices assaulted his brother-in-law Gursharan Preet, son of Tara Chand, a resident of Meiwal Arianyan village on April 28 and forcibly administered celphos poison to him which killed him. The SHO said that a case under Section 302 and 34 of the IPC was registered against the accused and Buta Ram, a resident of Meiwal Arianyan village and Shubam, a resident of Salliachan village, are absconding. OC MAN HELD FOR SELLING LIQUOR Phagwara: The Lohian Khas police have arrested a villager on the charge of selling illicit liquor. Investigating Officer (IO) Rannjit Singh said 25 bottles of hooch were seized from the possession of the accused, identified as Surjit Singh, a resident of Ria Wal Bet village. A case under Section 61, 1 and 14 of the Punjab Excise Act has been registered against the accused. OC Poll rallies,VIPs leads to closure of roads & diversions roadshows hit traffic Frequent movement of JALANDHAR LOK SABHA BYPOLL Tribune News Service Jalandhar, May 6 As the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll is just four days away and all parties have been holding rallies and roadshows in the city, almost all roads are getting clogged for the past some days. The situation was worst today as the Aam Aadmi Party held a roadshow from 12 noon to 5 pm through the city areas, followed by a roadshow of the BJP and women leaders and supporters of the Congress in the evening. It was the sixth consecutive day for AAP to hold a roadshow in Jalandhar. Since it was to pass through the city and was to start from the busiest Jyoti Chowk, all four roads, including Nakodar road, Civil Hospital road, old GT Road and Rainak Bazaar market road intersection here got jammed just at the start of the day. Since the BJP yatra was also to start from Jyoti Chowk at 5 pm, it once again got congested in the evening. Namdev Chowk, General Post Office Chowk, BMC Chowk and BSF Chowk also remained jam-packed as all bigwigs have been putting up in hotels along these intersec- Traffic snarl-ups have become a common sight in the city due to election rallies and marches by political parties. PHOTOS: MALKIAT SINGH FED UP OF JAMS ❝We are fed up of frequents traffic jams. I hope that it all ends in another two days as May 8 will be the last day of campaigning for the political parties. ❞ Sudhanshu Sharma, GT ROAD SHOPKEEPER tions. As the cars of VVIPs and their security personnel remain parked wrongly outside these hotels, the roads just outside them also often remain jammed. City residents said they were fed up of traffic bottlenecks getting cre- ated every day. “Bringing back children from schools has become a huge problem,” rued the parents adding that Forestworkersdemandregularisation Jalandhar, May 6 Members of the Forest Workers Union, Punjab, today held a protest rally at Desh Bhagat Yadgaar Hall in Jalandhar followed by a flag march in the city. Workers from across the state reached the protest venue this morning. Addressing a rally at the Desh Bhagat Yadgaar Hall, union leader Virsa Singh Amritsar, Pawan Hoshiarpur, Amandeep Singh Chatbir and Malkit Muktsar demanded that contractual workers working with the Forest Department for the past three years be regularised; workers who completed 10 years of service in 2006 should be made permanent; and forest department workers be paid the travel time on way back had doubled and it had especially become tough owing to souring daytime temperature. 3 vehicle lifters arrested with 2 stolen bikes Our Correspondent Forest Workers’ Union members hold a march against the state government in Jalandhar. MALKIAT SINGH salaries with 25 per cent hike. Addressing the gathering, leaders demanded that all workers be paid at least Rs 18,000 salary per month along with the facility of EPF and EIS and the rates of working in the Forest Department be increased. After the rally, forest workers took out a flag march in Jalandhar. Workers raised the slogans ‘kacche kaame pakke karo’ while traversing streets with red flags. The march also reached the AAP office in Jalandhar, where they were handed a letter for a meeting on May 8. Workers said if their demands were not met soon, they would intensify their protest. — TNS Phagwara, May 6 The local police arrested three vehicle thieves and recovered two stolen motorcycles from their possession. The arrested accused were identified as Bhupinder Singh, Amit Singh and Ali, all residents of Mehatpur village near Nakodar. A case under Sections 379 (intention to commit theft) and 411 (dishonest retention any stolen property) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against the arrested accused who were operating in various districts, the police said. VB arrests couple in overpriced land deal Tribune News Service Jalandhar, May6 The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) has arrested Barinder Kumar, a resident of Tura village of Jalandhar, and his wife Deepak Bala for colluding with other accused who had sold land in Karura village of Ropar to the state government at a price much higher than the prevalent collector rate, causing a huge loss to the state exchequer. The VB spokesperson said an FIR No. 69 had already been lodged in the case on June 28, 2022, against several persons and officials at Nurpurbedi police station under Sections 420, 465, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code and under Sections 7, 7A, 8 and 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act which was being probed by the bureau. He said about 54 acres under investigation was of hills, drain, gorge, dune etc., at Karura village in Sri Anandpur Sahib subdivision, and it was in the name of the habitants of the village. The Punjab State Forest Corporation, Mohali, had proposed to buy this land for tree plantations, he added. The spokesman further informed that during investigation it was found that two private individuals — Daljit Singh Bhindar and Amarinder Singh Bhindar, both brothers — had colluded CAUSED LOSS TO STATE EXCHEQUER ■ Daljit Singh Bhindar and Amarinder Singh Bhindar, both brothers, colluded with state revenue officials and sold land in Kaura village in Sri Anandpur Sahib subdivision to the Forest Corporation at much higher rate than the actual price and fetched ~5.35 crore ■ Bhindar brothers had transferred the ill-gotten money amounting to ~2 lakh in the account of Barinder Kumar, a resident of Tura village, Jalandhar, and~1.95 crore in the account of his wife, Deepak Bala with the state revenue officials and sold the village land to the said Forest Corporation at much higher rate than the actual price. They thereby collected Rs 5.35 crore. During the probe, it came to light that Bhindar brothers had transferred this ill-gotten money amounting to Rs 2 lakh in the account of Barinder Kumar, a resident of Tura village, Jalandhar, and Rs 1.95 crore in the account of his wife, Deepak Bala. This couple have been arrested and further investigation in this case was under progress. Water project refuse along busy road not lifted, commuters hassled Aparna Banerji Tribune News Service Jalandhar, May 6 On any given day, the Workshop Chowk road is abuzz with students and teaching fraternity moving to and fro educational institutes that lie on the stretch. There are at least five colleges and an Apahaj Ashram on the road. It is also home to DAV Ayurvedic College and adjoining pharmacy. Collectively, over 9,000 students frequent the stretch. Besides, residents who have to visit Tagore Hospital, Gulab Devi Hospital, Pingla Ghar and Apahaj Ashram and Burlton Park also use the busy thoroughfare. Considering the heavy traffic on the Workshop Chowk road, one would think that it always remains under authorities’ watch for upkeep. However, it seems otherwise. Ever since the work on the surface water project began in the city, the Construction material and scrap lie strewn along the road near the Workshop Chowk in Jalandhar. TRIBUNE PHOTOS WASTE MATERIAL DUMPED IRRESPONSIBLY ❝ Is there is any law against departments which dig up roads and leave them as it is? They are responsible for lifting construction refuse, but they have irresponsibly dumped it all over the road. Sunny Sharma, LOCAL RESIDENT ❞ condition of the road has gone from bad to worse. The facade and the outer wall of HMV College is littered with discarded con- struction sacks and damaged pipes left over from the project, garbage and rubble. During the rains, the garbage lets out a stench further harrying c m y b AWARE OF THE ISSUE, WILL RESOLVE SOON I of the issue. The ❝KVam awarethe areagarbageobstructionpresence of 66 lines in poses for any new work. The problem on the road is in our notice; we will be addressing it soon. Abhijeet Kaplish, MC COMMISSIONER ❞ commuters and students and raising fear of disease, as stray dogs often feast on garbage piles lying along roads. Residents complain that workers and officials on the project possibly forgot to pick up the waste. Dr. Ramnita Saini Sharda, Associate Professor, HMV Col- lege, and a green activist says, “For over a year, the road has been lying in a deplorable condition. During exams our students encounter the worst time. They have to get to the college soon but are stuck in jams and bottlenecks. Many have met with accidents as there are big potholes besides garbage mounds. Despite it being one of the busiest roads, a majority of it is not available for use due to the lying waste. HMV College was the first in the region to create a food forest and hence a greenbelt oustide the college. But the land was reclaimed by the MC for the smart city project. Now there is neither the green belt — nor has it been used for any thing else. Many of the trees planted by us have been cut and piles of rubble dot the area.” Sunny Sharma, who regularly uses the road to get to his residence nearby, says: “There are 9,000 students in all educa- tional institutions alone. Burlton Park is also used by sportspersons. It is alarming that such a key area which should ideally be made into a no-horn zone due to the heavy presence of colleges and hospitals, is facing the administrative apathy. While residents are penalised for any wrongdoing, it also needs to be questioned whether there is any law against firms or departments which dig up roads and leave them in a much worse condition. They are responsible for picking up refuse but they have irresponsibly dumped it all over the road.” MC Commssioner Abhijeet Kaplish said, “I have travelled through the area. I am aware of the garbage issue. The presence of 66 KV lines in the area poses some obstruction for any new work. We are working to resolve the garbage issue in the city. The problem on the road is in our notice, we will be addressing it soon.”