12052023-LT-01.qxd 5/12/2023 12:48 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune 12 SCHOOLCHILDREN TAKEN ILL AFTER INOCULATION HANSAL MEHTA’S SERIES SCOOP TO RELEASE ON JUNE 2 ADIPURUSH BECOMES 2023’S MOST-WATCHED TRAILER Around 12 students of a Machhiwara government school were hospitalised after they were given tetanus shots.P2 The series is inspired by real events and Jigna Vora’s book, Behind Bars in Byculla: My Days in Prison. P3 The Ramayana-inspired movie Adipurush has been trending at No. 1 on YouTube since its release. P4 » » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 40°C | MIN 21°C YESTERDAY MAX 39°C | MIN 19°C SUNSET FRIDAY 7.12 PM SUNRISE SATURDAY 5:33 AM FRIDAY | 12 MAY 2023 | LUDHIANA 7 mobile phones, tobacco seized from jail inmates Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 11 A surprise checking in the Central Jail, Ludhiana, have led to the recovery of seven mobile phones and 170 gm of tobacco from jail inmates in separate incidents. In the first case, Assistant Superintendent, Jail, Sukhdev Singh, said on May 7 during a surprise checking, two cell phones were seized from two jail inmates, Gurjant Singh and Harison. As the duo kept banned items inside the jail, a case under the Prisons Act was registered against them on Wednesday. Assistant Superintendent, Jail, Gagandeep Singh, said he along with his team, conducted a checking inside the jail on May 8 which led to the recovery of two mobile phones and 170 gm of tobacco from inmates Tarlochan Singh, Gurdeep Singh and Rohit. A case under the Prisons Act was registered against the suspects. In another incident, three mobile phones were seized from three inmates, Amit Kumar, Jatin Sharma and Sonu, on May 8. After registering a case against the trio, further probe was launched to identify the source which facilitated the entry of the cell phones inside the jail. Soon, highly polluted Buddha Nullah to turn clean water river Rs 840-cr rejuvenation project to shed ‘nullah’ tag from Sutlej tributary Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 11 In what would be a major turnaround and big leap towards environment protection, the highly-polluted Buddha Nullah, a seasonal tributary of the Sutlej flowing in Ludhiana, would soon become a clean water river, the government has said. With the ambitious Rs 840crore rejuvenation project entering advanced stage of completion, one of the most polluted water bodies, running almost parallel to the Sutlej through most of Ludhiana district, including 14-km in Ludhiana city, which it bisects into two parts, before merging with the Sutlej, would also close to shed the infamous tag of “nullah”, officials have claimed. The development assumes significance as the first-of-itstype project had faced teething problems and had got adversely hit due to Covid restrictions during the initial months following which it had missed four deadlines to complete the capital work. Since the project has already achieved 85 per cent ❝ An intermediate pumping station coming up on the banks of Buddha Nullah to divert waste water in Ludhiana. TRIBUNE PHOTO PROJECT REPORT ~650cr DPR AMOUNT ~839.79cr ~519cr AWARDED CAPITAL AMOUNT WORK COST Expenditure incurred: ~460.97 O&M cost for 21 months: ~26.79 O&M cost for 10 years: ~294 completion, the fresh deadline was fixed as August 31. MC Commissioner Shena Aggarwal told The Tribune here on Thursday that the goal of the project was to give a new lease of life to the Bud- 4 of snatchers’ gang nabbed ■ Project started: December 2, 2020 ■ Missed deadlines: December 2022, March, May, June 2023 ■ Fresh deadline: August 31, 2023 Progress till date 85% (SOURCE: MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, AMOUNT IN CRORES) dha Nullah and make it a clean water body by ensuring that only treated domestic wastewater or fresh or storm water may flow in it. She said several components of the project had already been Tribune News Service Two MC officials suspended for ignoring violations Ludhiana, May 11 The Ludhiana police today claimed to have busted a gang of mobile snatchers and arrested four of its members. The police also recovered 20 looted mobile phones, two motorcycles and two sharp weapons from the suspects. They nabbed gangsters have been identified as Gaurav Kumar (22) of Dholewal, Vishal Kumar (20) of Dholewal, Sumit Kumar (22) of Janakpuri and Sahil Sharma, alias Nannu (20), of Janakpuri. Karan Kumar, Aniket, alias Masala, and Satish, alias Chotu, are at large in the case. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Harmeet Singh Hundal, ADCP (Crime) Rupinder Sran and CIA incharge Avtar Singh issued a joint statement in this regard. Police officials said a tipoff was received that the suspects were running a gang of snatchers and they had committed over 24 snatching incidents in the recent past. They were on the way to Gurh Mandi to sell looted Ludhiana, May 11 The Principal Secretary of the Department of Local Bodies has suspended MC’s ATP Sunil Kumar and Building Inspector Kuljeet Singh Mangat, in response to a complaint regarding the construction of the Vardhman City Centre in the Vardhman Park area on Chandigarh Road. They had allegedly ignored violations when the mall was being constructed. An official said the developer had initially received approval for the construction of SCOs in the colony but later violated the rules by starting construction of a mall without nod. Residents had complained that when they purchased the plots, the coloniser had shown SCOs in the layout plan but later instead of constructing the SCOs, the developer started constructing a mall. Later, they raised the issue. The Chief Vigilance Officerconducted a probe after residents and an RTI activist raised concerns about the construction of the mall. The order states that the officials had been suspended with immediate effect and chargesheets would be issued against them soon.— TNS The suspects in police custody in Ludhiana on Thursday. 20 MOBILES, 2 MOBIKES, SHARP WEAPONS SEIZED The police recovered 20 looted mobile phones, two motorcycles and two sharp weapons from the four arrested members of the snatchers' gang. cell phones to some shopkeepers. Later, the CIA team laid a naka at strategic points where the four suspects, who were riding two motorcycles, were arrested. The mobile phones were seized from them. During preliminary questioning, the suspects revealed that they had been committing snatch- ings in Moti Nagar, Janakpuri, Jodhewal, Cheema Chowk, Tajpur Road, Shivpuri, Jalandhar Bypass, Chandigarh road, bus stand and other areas. Further probe was launched to inquire about shopkeepers who had been buying looted mobile phones from the suspects, the officials said. Goods worth lakhs gutted in hosiery unit fire Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 11 A major fire broke out in a hosiery factory at Mehmoodpura here this morning. Goods worth lakhs reportedly destroyed in the fire. As per information, when the incident occured, the son of the factory owner and two workers were inside the unit, ‘AK Chopra Hosiery’, and they had to rush out to save their lives. Local residents along with the factory workers initially tried to douse the flames but they failed in their attempt. Later, they informed the fire A fireman douses the flames at the hosiery unit. INDERJEET VERMA brigade. Within a few minutes, fire tenders reached the spot and doused the flames in 45 minutes. Since the factory was situated in a narrow lane, the fire had also reached PROJECT TO BE FINISHED IN COUPLE OF MONTHS We are committed to replacing the nomenclature Buddha Nullah with Buddha Dariya (river) by achieving zero discharge of sewage and effluents flowing into the Sutlej tributary since ages, causing the main source of pollution in the river. The project has been taken up on a priority basis and will be completed in the next couple of months to ensure that only treated or fresh/storm water may flow into the Buddha river. the opposite factory but it was timely controlled. When the fire broke out, panic spread among owners of nearby factories as they feared it might reach their units. Rajinder Singh, a fire officer, said the incident occured around 10 am. The fire had engulfed the first and the second floor of the building. Though it was controlled within less than an hour, they faced difficulty to douse the flames. The factory was located in a narrow lane due to which the fire tenders could not reach exactly outside the unit. Hence, they had to use long water pipes to control the fire. A short-circuit was said to be the cause of the fire. The factory owner was yet to ascertain the exact loss caused due to the incident. c m y b ❞ Bhagwant Mann, CHIEF MINISTER completed while rest of them were in the advanced stage of completion and the pace of the ongoing work had been further accelerated to complete it by August 31. Continued on page 2 Panic after road portion swells, manhole cover displaced Kot Mangal Singh residents seek fair probe into incident Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 11 Residents in the Kot Mangal Singh area here were left frightened when concrete road slabs swelled and cracks appeared at an intersection. Additionally, a sewer manhole cover got reportedly bounced in the air. Now, the residents are urging the Municipal Corporation (MC) to investigate the reason behind the incident. A resident, SP Kalsi, said this street of Kot Mangal Singh had been constructed sometime ago. “Today, concrete road slabs had swollen and cracks appeared at an intersection, causing the sewer manhole cover to bounce into the air and displace from its actual position. Foul smell that seems to be of sewer gases was emanating from the manhole when I reached there. Nearby road gullies were lying choked. I don’t know whether the incident occurred due to some gases in the sewer or because of poor construction of the road. I demand a fair probe be done to know the cause of the incident”, Kalsi said. The road portion that got swollen in Kot Mangal Singh area, Ludhiana. The residents placed the manhole cover back onto the opening. Another resident raised concerns over the sudden appearance of cracks on the road and bouncing of sewer manhole cover. He said the matter must be investigated to identify the cause behind the incident to prevent any mishap in the future. MC officials arrived at the site after the incident occurred. Meanwhile, Executive Engineer Rakesh Singla of the B&R branch denied any issue with the sewer system and claimed that the road portion got damaged due to heat. What MC officials say? MC Joint Commissionercum-Zonal Commissioner (Zone C) Kulpreet Singh said during the preliminary investigation, it had been found that the incident in the Kot Mangal Singh area occurred due to improper expansion joints on the concrete road. The concrete slabs expanded due to rising heat (temperature) and cracks developed at the site due to improper expansion joints. MC Commissioner Shena Aggarwal said a detailed investigation of the incident would be done and required action would also be taken after looking into findings of the probe.