03112023-ATR-01.qxd 11/3/2023 12:58 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR MAX 30°C | MIN 18°C YESTERDAY MAX 31°C | MIN 17°C MELA GADRI BABEYAN DA CONCLUDES ON HIGH NOTE B-TOWN WISHES KING KHAN ON HIS 58TH BIRTHDAY ALMA HUSSEIN JOINS THE CAST OF NEERJA… Mela Gadri Babeyan Da concluded on a high note with songs, dances and thought-provoking theatre. P2 Celebrities shared heartwarming wishes for Shah Rukh Khan on his birthday on social media. P3 Alma Hussein says, “I’m excited as Neerja…Ek Nayi Pehchaan is my first collaboration with Colors.” P4 » » » SUNSET FRIDAY 5.39 PM SUNRISE SATURDAY 6.48 AM FRIDAY | 3 NOVEMBER 2023 | AMRITSAR 30-yr-old dies of suspected drug overdose Tarn Taran, November 2 A man belonging to a poor family died of drug overdose in Chabal area here on Wednesday night. The victim was identified as Gursewak Singh (30), son of Pritam Singh of Baghiari village. A lone brother of four sisters, the victim was a truck driver and his father is a daily worker. Pritam Singh, father of the victim, said as Gurswek Singh had returned home on Wednesday after a tour of a couple of days. In the evening, Gursewak Singh left home saying that he would return home soon. He failed to return till late night. The family searched for him everywhere, but he was found nowhere in the village. On Thursday morning, the family searched him in the area and got to know that one body was found lying in the common marriage hall near Dode village. Pritam Singh with his family members went to the spot and found it to be that of his son Gursewak Singh. Pritam Singh said his son died of drug overdose. A case has been filed. — OC Villager booked for burning paddy straw in Total count of cases in last year’s paddy season was 1,542 Tarn Taran Our Correspondent 10 farmers booked for burning paddy stubble Manmeet Singh Gill Fined ~9 lakh by way of environmental relief With1/3rdcropyettobe harvested, dist registers1,252 farm fire cases Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 2 Having already reported nearly 81 per cent of the total farm fire incidents compared to last year and almost 30 per cent of the crop still awaiting harvesting, it is feared that the district would report more farm fire cases than in the previous season. The district reported a total of 1252 farm fire incidents till the evening of November 1. The administration has not released the data for farm fire incidents reported on Thursday (November 2). In the entire paddy season last year, the district had reported a total of 1542 fire incidents. While the harvesting of early sown basmati varieties is over, harvesting of parmal varieties is still going on. The harvesting of late sown variety like basmati 1121 is expected to begin after a week. An estimated 30 per cent of the crop is still standing and remains to be harvested. CROP RESIDUE BURNT ON 6,60 ACRES With the paddy crop grown on 1.80 lakh hectares (4,50,000 acres) of land in the district, the number of farm fires incidents being reported by the government agencies is minuscule in comparison to the actual number of incidents. Though 90 per cent of land holdings of the farmers in the district is less than five acres, a figure of 1252 farm fire incidents, assuming that each fire was spotted on a five acre plot, means that crop residue has been burnt on only 6260 acres (2504 hectares) only. An acre of paddy produces nearly 2500 kilo of dry residue. However, it is burnt Tribune News Service Labourers work at the Bhagtanwala grain market in Amritsar on Thursday. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR parmal would continue till every grain is purchased. Officials of the district administration stated that paddy produce including basmati and parmal is expected to cross 8 lakh metric tonne mark this year. The officials stated that har- Drug peddler nabbed with 230-gm heroin MC to survey commercial units for recovery of property tax Amritsar, November 2 The Majitha police have arrested a drug peddler, identified as Balraj Singh of Rania border village, and recovered 230 gm of heroin from his possession. According to the police, he was arrested by the police near the Majitha grain market during patrolling. Initially, the police recovered 50-gm heroin. Later during interrogation, the police confiscated 180-gm heroin again. The police said a case under the NDPS Act was registered. Sub-Inspector Jang Bahadur Singh, investigating officer in the case, said Balraj Singh was remanded in police custody for two days. He said he had brought the consignment from some unidentified persons from Sangatpura village and further investigation was in progress to establish his backward and forward linkages. — TNS Charanjit Singh Teja land in the district, the number of farm fires incidents being reported by the government agencies is minuscule in comparison to the actual number of incidents. ■ Though 90 per cent of land holdings of the farmers in the district is less than five acres, a figure of 1252 farm fire incidents, assuming that each fire was spotted on a five acre plot, means that crop residue has been burnt on only 6260 acres (2504 hectares) only. 6.50 lakh MT paddy arrives in district grain markets Amritsar, November 2 A total of 6,50,998 metric tonnes (MT) of paddy arrived in the grain markets of the district till Thursday. Of the total arrival, 4,19,489 is basmati crop while 231509 is parmal. The district mandi officials stated that a total of 7,787 MT of basmati and 2,578 MT of parmal produce arrived in the markets on Thursday. The mandi officials stated that 80 per cent of the parmal crop had already been lifted from the markets. The parmal varieties of paddy are procured by government agencies while basmati is solely purchased by private buyers. The government agencies have procured a total of 2,27,490 MT of parmal, private buyers share in its purchase is only of 3,526 MT. The mandi officials said that government procurement of when it is already green and the moisture content in it is still high. Unlike wheat crop residue, the paddy residue gets burnt only partially due to its moisture and produces more smoke. A retired agriculture department official said, “Wheat sowing has already started and for farmers whose crop has not yet been harvested, the easiest and fastest way to clear the fields would be to burn crop residue.” He said that on ground burning of crop residue would increase during the next week even though government data may claim otherwise. Tarn Taran, November 2 Harjinder Singh, a resident of Kalsian Khurd village, has been booked under Section 188 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) by Khalra police for burning straw in his paddy fields on Wednesday. The Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI), Satnam Singh, said here today that the accused was burning paddy straw which was noticed by Gurinder Singh, Inspector, Co-operative Societies-cumCluster Coordinator for block Bhikhiwind. Gurinder Singh, in his complaint to Khalra police, said the accused had violated the orders of the District Magistrate who had imposed a ban on burning paddy straw to avoid air pollution. Officials of the Agriculture Department said it was the sixth case registered during the current season against the accused responsible for burning paddy straw. ■ With the paddy crop grown on 1.80 lakh hectares (4,50,000 acres) of vesting of parmal varieties is at its last stage as most of it has already reached the markets. He officials added that payment for purchase of parmal is being directly transferred into the bank accounts of farmers within 48 hours of purchase. Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 2 Acting tough against farmers, the district administration got FIRs registered against at least 10 persons on Thursday for violating the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 for causing air pollution by flouting the ban on burning of crop residue imposed by the government. Earlier, the administration booked four farmers for violating the ban on burning crop residue imposed by the Deputy Commissioner under Section 144 of CrPC. Additionally, an amount of nearly Rs 9 lakh has been imposed as environmental compensation as per the guidelines of National Green Tribunal (NGT). To check the burning of crop residue, teams led by Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori visited the rural areas. The DC himself visited Personnel of the Fire Brigade douse the fire in a field at Bhala village near Amritsar on Thursday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Iban village along with fire trucks after receiving information about the burning of crop residue. Officials of the district administration said that teams comprising senior officials visited at least 18 spots where fire activity was detected and used fire tenders to douse the flames. The Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 2 The local Municipal Corporation which is lagging behind in recovery of property tax has deployed 20 staff to survey commercial units in the city. MC Commissioner Rahul held a meeting with the staff of property tax wing and issued instructions to enhance tax collection. The MC has collected Rs 27.75 crore till the end of October in the current financial year (2023-24). During the meeting, Municipal Secretary Vishal Vadhan and Superintendent Dharminderjeet Singh were also present. MC Commissioner Rahul appointed 20 clerks to thoroughly inspect commercial units in the assigned areas. They have been instructed to first examine the property tax returns filed by these units. If a com- Twenty clerks have been appointed by civic body officials to thoroughly inspect commercial units in the assigned areas. mercial property is renting out, its measurements should be taken. If there is a tenant, a copy of the lease agreement should be obtained. MC Commissioner Rahul stated that if the owner of a commercial unit does not cooperate with the authorised staff of the property tax wing, they should report this directly to Vishal Vadhan, secretary of the wing. He stated that action will be taken against owners of commercial property who do not cooperate with MC. The Municipal Commissioner stated that property tax recovery, which is not satisfactory, will be increased in continued on page 2 MC needs to do more on cleanliness front PSPCL removes 13 ‘kundi’ connections, imposes fine WARD WATCH Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 2 Ward number 27 of the Municipal Corporation consists of localities like Head waterworks road (right side of Golden Avenue), Jodha Fathak, GTB Nagar, Mehta Road and Maqboolpura. Though almost every locality in ward number 27 receives water supply and has sewer connections, most areas are filthy and residents face poor sanitation. Heaps of garbage can be seen lying on the main Mehta road exposing the MC’s claims of cleanliness. Maqboolpura is one of the major localities in the ward where residents face several issues like supply of contaminated water and choking of sewer line. Areas like Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar and Mall Mandi scheme were developed by the Amritsar Improvement Trust. The main Mall Mandi road has been recently recarpeted by the AIT. However, residents of GTB Nagar have been Tribune News Service A road in bad condition; and (right) a garbage heap at Guru Tegh Bahadur Nagar in Amritsar on Thursday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR facing several other issues including pathetic condition of parks, overflowing of sewer water, wild growth of weeds and garbage dumping in vacant plots. Localities alongside the railway line are also being ignored by the workers of solid waste management company. Due to irregular lifting, the residents dump garbage in vacant plots in the area. “The MC and AIT have failed on the cleanliness front. One can see garbage lying strewn on the main roads and inner streets. The surroundings of historical gurdwara of Guru Teg Bahadur is filthy. The parks in GTB Nagar are illmaintained. The sewer water is overflowing in the parks and vacant plots near the quarters for economically weaker sec- tions (EWS). The AIT and MC should provide sanitation staff in the area,” said Sukhdev Singh, a local resident. “The roads and streets in the area needed recarpeting. In the past few months, some roads have been repaired but there are several streets and roads which are still in need of repair,” said Raju, another resident. c m y b Amritsar, November 2 Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) on Thursday cracked down on illegal connections and power theft in east subdivision area and found several cases of power theft. A team of power officials from the east subdivision raided several houses in Joda Fatak area and found 13 direct ‘kundi’ connections and three cases of meter tampering. PSPCL officials also imposed a penalty of ~3.37 lakh on violators. The team visited the area early in the morning and seized wires being used for power theft. “The government has been providing free 300 units to consumers. There is no reason of power theft. Despite warning, some residents regularly indulged in power theft. Today, we found direct ‘kundi’ connection in 13 houses. Employees of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited along with the removed wires in Amritsar on Thursday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Some persons tampered their power meters. The penalty has been imposed and strict action would be taken against those involved in power theft,” said a PSPCL official. Deputy Commissioner stated that 275 nodal officers and 55 cluster officers have been appointed to check the burning of crop residue. The district administration has also instructed all sub-divisional magistrates (SDMs) to visit the spot after a fire activity is detected and take measures to stop the same. Two peddlers injured in police firing; heroin seized Amritsar, November 2 Two drug peddlers were injured in firing when a police party intercepted them at Khalchian here on Wednesday. They fired at the police party following which the police team retaliated leaving the two traffickers in a car injured. They were then taken to hospital and are out of danger. Both suffered bullet injuries in the arm. The police confiscated 270 gm of heroin from their possession. A case on charges of attempt to murder, under the Arms Act and the NDPS Act was registered against them. Those arrested were identified as Sukhjinder Singh and Akashdeep Singh, both residents of Morinda and Rupnagar, respectively. The police said Sub-Inspector Satnam Singh along with the police party was on patrol on the main GT Road and when they reached near Chandi palace in Khalchian, they found a Swift car (PB-12-Z8377) parked on the roadside. Superintendent of Police Gurpartap Singh Sahota said when the police vehicle approached the car, the occupants tried to flee and fired at the police party. He said the police team took positions and retaliated. He said in the meantime, the DSP Baba , Bakala, along with their gunmen also reached the spot, surrounded the car and countered the firing. “Soon after the firing stopped from the car, the police team cautiously approached the car and found the two occupants injured. They were rushed to private hospital. The police recovered 270 gm of heroin from them,” said Sahota. The police registered a case under Sections 307 (murder bid), 353 (assaulting government servant while discharging duty), 427 of the Indian Penal Code, Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act and Sections 21, 29, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act was registered in this regard. DSP Sukhwinder Singh said the duo faced four criminal cases each. They had come to get the heroin consignment, he said. — TNS