20092023-LT-01.qxd 9/20/2023 12:10 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune SMUGGLER NABBED WITH 200 GRAMS OF HEROIN ISHA SHARMA, NISHANT ENJOY SHIKARA RIDE KANIKA MANN, VISHAL ROPED IN FOR CHAND JALNE LAGA The anti-narcotics cell of the Ludhiana police arrests a smuggler and recovers 200 grams of heroin. P2 Isha Sharma & Nishant Malkani enjoyed a Shikara ride for a scene of Pashminna — Dhaage Mohobbat Ke.P3 The story of Colors’ upcoming show Chand Jalne Laga unfolds against the backdrop of a beautiful vineyard. P3 » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 34°C | MIN 25°C YESTERDAY MAX 30°C | MIN 25°C SUNSET WEDNESDAY 6:22 PM » SUNRISE THURSDAY 6:10 AM WEDNESDAY | 20 SEPTEMBER 2023 | LUDHIANA INBRIEF FILE PHOTO OFFICIAL AMONG 2 HELD TAKING BRIBE Ludhiana: AAP MLA from Payal constituency Manvinder Singh Giaspura caught an employee of the Labour Department, Punjab, and her aide for accepting a bribe of ~6,500 on Tuesday. The Doraha police station registered a case against the woman employee, Harjit Kaur, a resident of Kaddon and her aide Tarun Kumar of Moti Nagar, Ludhiana. The police also recovered ~6,500 from the suspect. Sources said the MLA received complaints against Labour Department officials that they take bribe to pass the mediclaim of applicants. In this case, the official had allegedly demanded bribe to clear claim of some person. The moment woman and her aide accepted the bribe, the MLA caught them and also shot a video as an evidence. The MLA later handed over the duo to the police. Now, role of some senior officials of the department has also come under the scanner. TNS 18 new Aam Aadmi Clinics to be opened in Ludhiana dist Nine each to come up in urban, rural areas in fifth phase Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 19 Ludhiana district is all set to get 18 new Aam Aadmi Clinics (AACs) in the fifth phase of its expansion. Nine clinics will be opened in the urban and nine in the rural areas. Sites have been proposed for the same and the staff will also be empanelled in a month’s time. As far as the urban area is concerned, the focus is on smaller/middle-sized municipal committees with an objective to provide primary healthcare. In the rural areas, existing subsidiary health centres (SHCs) under the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat will be upgraded to Aam Aadmi Clinics. The District Health Society has identified new land/buildings and also ensured that the minimum distance between the existing health facility and the new Aam Aadmi Clinic to be established shall be 5 km in PROPOSED SITES URBAN ■ Damaged hall of Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana, at Subhani building ■ Vacant space near Kusht Ashram, Islam Ganj ■ Vacant space at Veterinary Hospital, Sanhewal ■ Vacant space near Jangpur bridge, Mullanpur ■ Vacant land at old sabzi mandi, Samrala ■ Vacant land at old police station-2, Khanna ■ Vacant land at Mian Mohalla, Machhiwara ■ Vacant space at Sewa Kender Complex, Doraha. ■ Dharamshala at Maloud RURAL Subsidiary health centres at Kamalpura, Sherpur Kalan, Hissowal, Sangowal, Kanech, Jhar Sahib, Ikolaha, Bilaspur and a sub-centre at Badhowal. case of rural areas and 1-3 km in case of urban areas. Infrastructure strengthening of these existing centres will be done, which includes civil works, repair, renovation, addition, alteration, branding of the facility and furniture as per the standardised plan. The upper limit for the upgrade of the existing buildings, including furniture, will not be more than Rs 25 lakh each and procurement and setting up of a fully-functional portable cabin/prefabricated structure, including furniture, will not be more than ~40 lakh each. Directions for hiring empanelled staff have also been issued. These clinics will have a medical officer, a pharmacist, a clinic assistant and a sweeper-cum-helper. The staff will be empanelled by October 12. Patient found dead in park outside Civil Hospital OPD Weather takes a pleasant turn Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 19 Weather turned pleasant after the district received 2.4 mm rainfall today. The maximum temperature was today recorded at 30.6 degree Celsius, while the minimum temperature was recorded at 25.8 degree Celsius. The morning relative humidity recorded today was 80 per cent, whereas the evening relative humidity was 90 per cent. Pavneet Kaur Kingra, head of the Department of Climate Change and Agricultural Meteorology, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), said the weather was expected to remain cloudy. There was a possibility of isolated showers over Ludhiana and its adjoining areas during the next 24 hours. Ludhiana, September 19 An unidentified patient breathed his last at a park outside the OPD of the Civil Hospital here on Tuesday. The patient came to the hospital on September 16 on a rickshaw, but could not get consultation due to huge rush. He again came back on September 18 and some tests were prescribed to him by the doctor. The patient was found dead in the park on Tuesday. The police post inside the hospital was informed about the incident. Since the deceased could not be identified, his body has been kept in the mortuary for 72 hours for identification. Tribune News Service JOYRIDE School students enjoy during the rain in Ludhiana on Tuesday. PHOTO: ASHWANI DHIMAN “To save rice crop from sheath blight, keep the bunds of the field clean by removing grasses. If the symptoms of disease appears, then spray 150 ml Pulsor or 26.8 g Epic or 80 g Nativo or 200 ml Amistar Top or Tilt or Folicur/Orius in 200 litres of water per acre after the weather clears up,” said an expert from the PAU. “To manage rodent pests in the rice crop, cover all holes during evening and next day place 10-10 gm bait of zinc phosphide inside these fresh holes at 6-inch depth. To get better results adopt this practice in the entire village at same time,” he said. Former PSPCL employee jailed in corruption case Legal Correspondent Ludhiana, September 19 The Court of Additional Sessions Judge Dr Ajit Atri has convicted Tarsem Singh (61), a retired employee of the PSPCL, Behlolpur, Samrala tehsil, Ludhiana district, in a corruption case. He was sentenced to undergo five years of rigorous imprisonment. He was also ordered to pay a fine of ~10,000. The court declined the plea of leniency raised by the convict on the grounds that he was suffering from various ailments, retired from service after facing trial for years and never misused the concession of bail, with the observation that such grounds were of no help in view of his indulgence in corruption. Delivering the verdict, the court held: “It is proved against the convict that he had demanded ~20,000 as illegal gratification from the complainant for doing his work. However, the amount was settled at ~10,000, which was to be paid in two installments of ~5,000 each. The convict acted as if it was his right to do the Sentenced to undergo 5-year RI, fined ~10,000 work in this way”. “The very faith in the working of the organised system put in place for the good governance is brought under doubt by the act of corruption. It tends to bypass the procedure established by law and with time, gives an impression of being the part of the system itself. Nobody knows for how long this type of corrupt practice on part of the convict was going on. Any kind of leniency shown in absence of any special circumstance will send a wrong signal to society at large,” the court remarked further. Divulging details, Additional Public Prosecutor Amandeep Singh Adiwal said a case was registered against the accused on June 14, 2018 at the Vigilance Bureau police station, Ludhiana, following the complaint of one Pavitar Singh. The complainant had submitted Continued on page 2 c m y b Work on Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway begins in district 72% land made available to build 38.22-km stretch in Ludhiana after 18 months Nitin Jain PROJECT REPORT Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 19 Finally, work to construct the much-awaited Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway has begun in Ludhiana district, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has confirmed. While the physical possession of around 72 per cent of the land required to build 38.22-km stretch of one of the 6 greenfield expressways identified under the Bharatmala Pariyojna Phase-I and included in the list of 22 greenfield corridors in the Budget announcements for this fiscal, falling across 24 villages in Ludhiana district, has already been taken, the rest 28 per cent land is yet to be acquired, officials have said. The 361.656-km proposed length of the 650-km-long expressway falls in Punjab. The development assumes significance as the work to build the expressway was awarded in April last. Due to the non-availability of the land falling under the project, the construction work could begin on the ground after almost 18 months. Sharing details, the Rajya Sabha MP from Ludhiana, Sanjeev Arora, who reviewed the progress of the project here recently, told The Tribune, here today that almost 72 per cent of the total 429.17 hectares area required for the expressway in Ludhiana district had already been acquired and its physical possession had been duly taken to pave way for the construction work. He disclosed that a sum of ~455.22 crore, which accounted for 53.58 per cent of the total awarded amount of ~849.62 for the acquisition of 429.17 hectares of land, had been awarded to the owners of the land that had been acquired and taken under possession. ESTIMATED COST ~25,000 CR TOTAL LENGTH 650 KM Work underway on the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway in Ludhiana. TRIBUNE PHOTO: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN “The already acquired land that has been taken under possession will pave the way for the construction of the 27.22-km expressway stretch,” he said. Arora was informed that 100 per cent land required for the expressway in the Jagraon sub-division (6.07km) and the Ludhiana East sub-division (2.15-km) had been acquired and possessed, while 70 per cent land required for 18-km of the total 30-km stretch falling under the Ludhiana West sub-division had also been acquired and possessed. “The work to complete the ongoing acquisition proceedings for the remaining 11-km stretch in Ludhiana West has also been expedited and will be completed shortly,” he was told. The NHAI project director informed that the physical progress of the expressway across Punjab had touched the 31 per cent mark so far. The work to construct the 35.09-km stretch of the DelhiAmritsar-Katra expressway package 8 under phase 1 from Ludhiana-Malerkotla (SH-11) near Bhogiwal village to the Ludhiana-Moga road (NH-5) near Mullanpur Dakha had been awarded to a joint venture - OJSC EuroAsian Construction Corporation Evrascon-MKC Infrastructure Ltd. Similarly, another connecting 43.04-km stretch of the same expressway package 9 under phase 1 from the Ludhiana-Moga road (NH-5) near Mullanpur Dakha to the Jalandhar-Moga road (NH703) near Kang Sahibu village has also been awarded to the same company. According to official information, the NHAI’s estimate for the construction of package 8 was fixed at ~1,129.02 crore and the lowest bid was received at ~989.66 crore, following which the work was allotted. Similarly, the NHAI’s estimate for package 9 was fixed at ~1,404.13 crore and the work was awarded after the lowest bid was received at ~1,234.4 crore. Besides these two packages, the work on seven other packages on this expressway falling in Punjab had also been awarded to different companies. The expressway project’s greenfield section comprises of 15 packages, including 12 on the 397-km Delhi-Gurdaspur section and three on the 99-km Nakodar-Amritsar spur. According to the project Main Expressway 550 km Greenfield expressway 397 km Greenfield spur 99 km Punjab section 362 km Ludhiana stretch 38.22 km Lanes (expandable to 8) 4 Right of way 90 meter Owner NHAI Completion deadline Dec 2025 Project model HAM STATUS: WORK IN PROGRESS report, the Punjab section of the 650-km-long expressway being constructed at a cost of ~25,000 crore with completion deadline of October 2023 begins from near Galoli village in Patiala and ends at Gurdaspur bypass. The proposed Amritsar greenfield connectivity starts from Nakodar and ends near the canal on Amritsar-Ajnala road. The project alignment of the Punjab section passes through Ludhiana, Patiala, Sangrur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala and Gurdaspur districts, while the alignment of greenfield connectivity to Amritsar crosses through Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Tarn Taran and Amritsar districts. To reduce distance, travel time The expressway will reduce the distance between Delhi and Amritsar/Katra by about 40 km and provide travel time from Delhi to Amritsar within 4-4.5-hours and Delhi to Katra within 6-6.5-hours. Since the four-lane accesscontrolled road expandable to 8 lanes being developed under the hybrid annuity model (HAM) passes through Punjab, Haryana and Jammu, it will provide the shortest connectivity to industrial Continued on page 2