12052023-ATR-01.qxd 5/12/2023 12:27 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 41°C | MIN 24°C YESTERDAY MAX 40°C | MIN 21°C DIST REPORTS 122 STUBBLE BURNING CASES IN A DAY ADAH SHARMA ENTERS THE FILM THE GAME OF GIRGIT PARVATI SEHGAL WILL STAR IN GAUNA EK PRATHAMESH With the harvesting of wheat crop nearly over, farmers in the district start burning crop residue in fields. P2 Adah Sharma joins Shreyas Talpade in the upcoming thriller The Game of Girgit; will play the role of a cop. P3 Rohit Purohit and Krutika Desai been roped in to play the main leads in Gauna Ek Prathamesh. P4 » » SUNSET FRIDAY 7.17 PM SUNRISE SATURDAY 5:35 AM » FRIDAY | 12 MAY 2023 | AMRITSAR Petrol pump owner looted of pistol, ~1.5L Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 11 Three unidentified bikeborne armed miscreants looted a petrol pump owner in the Chheharta area here on Wednesday. The victim, Varinderjit Singh, told the police that he runs a filling station in the Guru Ki Wadali area. He also has a poultry farm on the Guru Ki Wadali to Kot Khalsa road here. While he was going to his poultry farm around 9 pm yesterday, three bikeborne miscreants hit his scooter near his farm. As a result, he fell in the nearby fields. When the suspects attacked him with sharp weapons, he took out his licensed pistol. The suspects snatched his licensed pistol and took away ~1.5 lakh in cash from his scooter. The police have registered a case against unidentified persons under Sections 379-B (2) and 34 of the Indian Penal Code and launched further probe into the matter. Of 2.6L connections, only 38,800 users paying water, sewerage fee MC chalks out plan to crack down on defaulters, illegal connections Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 11 Though the Department of Local Government is pressing the civic bodies to generate more revenue to ensure good governance and development, due to the negligence of Municipal Corporation officials, the major revenue generating departments of the civic body have not been able to achieve the recovery targets following shortcomings in their functioning. Ironically, one-fourth of the total water-sewer connection in the city are illegal. As per the official data, around 67,000 water and sewerage connections are illegal in the city. Residents get water and sewerage connections by connecting them to the main line on their own. Under the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) funded sewer project and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), the MC installed 11 TEAMS CONSTITUTED FOR RECOVERY The department has constituted 11 teams for the recovery of pending bills. The notices will be issued to at least 10 major defaulters every day and action will be taken. water and sewer lines in several localities on the outskirts of the city. Around 67,000 watersewerage connections were illegally installed by the residents without paying any fee to the MC. Most of the connections under these projects are in the assembly constituencies, including East, West and South. According to the MC record, there are a total of 1,90,345 water- Risking lives sewerage connections in the city out of which 1,75,765 are domestic while 14,571 are commercial. A large number of households don’t pay the watersewerage bills as the state government exempted them under various schemes for freebies. The Municipal Corporation is getting water bills from only 38,800 consumers out of 2.6 lakh legal and illegal connections. In In violation of norms, an overloaded tempo plies near the grain market at Bhagtanwala in Amritsar on Thursday. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR Tribune News Service 24X7 CANAL-BASED WATER SUPPLY PROJECT World Bank team directs officials to speed up work Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 11 The police have booked three members of an in-laws’ family after a man ended his life by consuming some poisonous substance in Uthian village falling under the Rajasansi police station area. The deceased has been identified as Gurbir Singh, a resident of Jastarwal village. Those booked include his wife Komalpreet Kaur, mother-in-law Amanpreet Kaur and brother-in-law Robinpreet Kaur. No arrest has been made so far. The police have registered a case against the suspects under Section 306 of the IPC. Amarbir Singh, brother of the deceased, told the police that Gurbir was married to Komalpreet Kaur around two years ago. After few days of marriage, Komalpreet started quarrelling with his brother and parents on one pretext or the other. He said Komalpreet and her family members demanded ~20,000 from him for the marriage of his brother-in-law. However, he could not give the money. As a result, their relations got strained. After a quarrel with Continued on page 2 the last bill cycle, around 10,000 domestic and 5,000 commercial users didn’t pay water and sewerage charges. The Municipal Corporation is now planning to crack down on the defaulters of water-sewer bills. In a recent meeting, senior MC officials discussed the recovery of pending bills. The Municipal Corporation has now decided to disconnect all these connections of consumers who defaulted to press them for the recovery of their bills. The department has constituted 11 teams for the recovery of pending bills. The notices will be issued to at least 10 major defaulters every day and action will be taken. Rajinder Sharma, Secretary, Water Supply and Sewerage wing, stated that on the directions of MC Commissioner Sandeep Rishi, the staff will make field visits and disconnect the connections of defaulters who have not paid their bills. The suspect in the custody of the Punjab Vigilance Bureau in Ajnala on Thursday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 11 Aiming to curb the menace of corruption in the state, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Thursday nabbed a Patwari, Kabal Singh, posted in the Revenue Department at Raajia, tehsil Ajnala, on graft charges. He was caught red-handed for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 6,000. A spokesperson for the Vigilance Bureau said the Patwari was arrested on the complaint of Pargat Singh, a MONEY RECOVERED After verifying the allegation in the complaint, a Vigilance Bureau team from Amritsar laid a trap and the accused Patwari was caught accepting a bribe of Rs 6,000. The money was recovered from him in the presence of two official witnesses. resident of Dhaliwal Kaler village in Ajnala tehsil. The complainant approached the VB and alleged that the Patwari had been demanding a bribe of Rs 6,000 for making corrections in the mutation of land belonging to his relatives. After verifying the allegation in the complaint, a Vigilance Bureau team from Amritsar laid a trap and the accused Patwari was caught accepting a bribe of Rs 6,000. The money was recovered from him in the presence of two official witnesses. A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against the accused at the VB police station in Amritsar. Further investigation is in progress. Police crackdown on drug traders, arrest nine Our Correspondent Man dies by suicide; wife, in-laws booked Patwari caught taking ~6K bribe Amritsar, May 11 A team of the World Bank, funding agency for 24x7 canal-based water supply project, reviewed the ongoing project in the city. Team members asked officials concerned to speed up the work. The World Bank team held a meeting with MC Commissioner Sandeep Rishi and other senior officials, including Joint Commissioner Hardeep Singh, at the Head Office, Ranjit Avenue. Sharing information regarding the meeting, Sandeep Rishi said the project was being implemented with the help of the World Bank to provide potable water to every household in Amritsar. Rishi claimed that the work of the project was going on at a fast pace and the team visits from time to time to keep a check on it. The team members reviewed the ongoing project and asked officials about any difficulty in the work. They also gave instructions to officials of departments concerned regarding the project. It is worth mentioning here that the first phase of the surface-based water project worth ~722 crore was inaugurated on February 22, 2020. The entire project would cost around Rs 2,200 crore. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, lending arm of the World Bank Group, is financing 70 per cent of the cost and the rest is being paid by the Punjab Government. A major share of funding would be used from the Amritsar Smart City Limited. According to MC officials, a total of 88 overhead water tanks would fulfil the needs of the city under this project. The authorities would construct 51 new overhead water tanks in the city. Thirteen recently constructed overhead water tanks under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) would be used for the project. Apart from this, 24 old overhead water tanks would be repaired. Tarn Taran, May 11 In an intensified drive against drug traders, the district police have arrested nine persons and recovered 1.5 kg of heroin on Wednesday. Meanwhile, teams from different police stations arrested four persons involved in illicit liquor trade while three managed to escape. SP (Investigation) Vishaljit Singh said here today that the Sarhali police recovered 270 grams of heroin from Daya Singh, a resident of Thatha, and Gurbaj Singh of Sohawa (Sarhali). Meanwhile, the Chohla Sahib Police team attacked, two of family held Nab four in illicit liquor trade, 3 flee The suspects arrested with 270 grams of heroin by the Sarhali police. PHOTO: GURBAXPURI police also recovered the same quantity of heroin from c m y b search operation launched by the police. The arrested accused were Jagjit Singh Gattu of Bua Patti, Rajpal Singh of Bhail Dhai Wala, Devinder Singh of Jaura and Sukhraj Singh of Kairon, while the three who managed to escape from the spot are Jarmal Singh of Rajoke, Amrik Singh of Mari Gaud Singh and Lovjit Singh of Patti town. The suspects have been booked under Section 61, 1 and 14 of the Excise Act. SP Vishaljit Singh had warned those involved in the drug trade to mend their ways failing which they would be dealt with strictly. Man shot at by armed assailants, 3 booked Suspects flee spot in car I Further probe on to identify them, say cops Tribune News Service Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, May 11 A police team was attacked by a family in Chandigarh Mohalla of Fatehbad village on Wednesday. Two of the four accused were arrested while the remaining two managed to escape. ASI Jaspreet Singh, incharge of the police post, Fatehbad, said here today that the police team was on its routine patrolling in the village when ASI Dilbag Singh arrested an unidentified person who freed himself by pushing away the police officer and ran toward his house. The police team, led by ASI Jatinderpal Singh, followed him and were subsequently attacked by the family members. The police said among those who assaulted were three brothers Karandeep Singh, Jagroop Singh, Mithan and their mother Lakhwinder Kaur. Karandeep Singh and Jagroop Singh had been arrested while the other two managed to escape. A case under Sections 186, 353, 332 and 34 of the IPC has been registered against the accused, said the police. Varinder Singh of Ruriwala village. The others who have been arrested with heroin include Sahib Singh of Dialpura, Gurnishan Singh of Bakipur, Gurbakhash Singh Ghulla and Satnam Singh, both of Khemkaran, Amarajit Singh of Suba Waring Singh, and Vishal Singh of Valtoha. They were arrested from different places. The suspects have been booked under Sections 21C, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act. The recovered consignment is said to be worth more than ~5 crore. The SP said a working still, 300 litres of lahan and 42,750 ml of illicit liquor had been recovered too from different places in the Amritsar, May 11 Yuvraj Singh, a resident of Tong village, was shot at by unidentified armed assailants in the village. He sustained bullet injuries in the leg. The suspects managed to escape after people started gathering at the spot. The incident took place on Monday night, while the case in this regard was registered yesterday. The police have started further probe into the matter. The complainant told the police that he, along with his friend Prabhdeep Singh, had gone to keep reaper shaft at the house in the village on their SUV bearing registration number PB-02-CV-9555. He said they parked the SUV in the street and went inside the house to keep the reaper shaft. When they returned, three unidentified persons came there. Two of them were armed with pistols, while one was carrying a baseball bat. He said one of the accused fired at him. He suffered bullet injury on his leg. He raised an alarm, fol- lowing which people started gathering at the spot. The suspects fled the spot in a car while firing into the air. The police have registered a case under Section 307 and 452 of the IPC and Section 25 and 27 of the Arms Act against unidentified persons. The police said further investigations were on to identify the suspects. Kairon market parking project yet to see light of day Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 11 The Kairon market multilevel automated parking has become a saga of delays, jumping deadlines one after another. The project has been keenly awaited by people to resolve parking woes in commercial pockets situated in the vicinity of the Golden Temple. Among the two proposed parking projects at the Kairon market and the Machhi Mandi, Amritsar Smart City Limited (ASCL) had commenced working on the former in 2017. However, paperwork such as tendering, re-tendering, lockdown COST ESCALATED Paperwork such as tendering, re-tendering, lockdown and several other reasons delayed the project for nearly six years. Hence, it is obvious that its cost has escalated several times. From an initial cost of ~18 crore, its fresh cost is pegged at ~53 crore. An under-construction Kairon market parking lot in Amritsar. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR and several other reasons delayed the project for nearly six years. Hence, it is obvious that its cost has escalated sev- eral times. From an initial cost of Rs 18 crore, its fresh cost is pegged at Rs 53 crore. Now, its civil work is expect- ed to begin from this month as its work order was issued about a month ago. Situated between the Hall Bazaar and Katra Jaimal Singh, the parking lot would offer a major relief to shopkeepers and their employees. Ramesh Kundra, a store Continued on page 2