20112023-LT-01.qxd 11/20/2023 12:35 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune BETTER MONITORING SYSTEM NEED OF THE HOUR SHRUTI CHOUDHARY & SHAGUN PANDEY TO PLAY LEAD ROLES HOLLYWOOD’S MICHAEL B ALL SET TO DIRECT CREED 4 Farmers must be fairly compensated and authorities must spread awarness amongst them, say residents. P2 Set in Rajasthan, Colors show Mera Balam Thanedaar outlines the journey of Bulbul and Veer. P3 Hollywood actor-director Michael B Jordan is all set to direct the fourth instalment of Creed. P4 » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 27°C | MIN 13°C YESTERDAY MAX 27°C | MIN 12°C SUNSET MONDAY 5.26 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 6:58 AM » MONDAY | 20 NOVEMBER 2023 | LUDHIANA Subsidy for setting up biogas plant using stubble proving inadequate Farmer unions say land ‘forcibly’ acquired for NHAI re-occupied Admn acquired land at eway, unions say it was illegal Mahesh Sharma Manav Mander 23 CASES TODAY Tribune News Service Ludhiana, November 19 Even after the wait for six long years, the subsidy approved for the setting up of dry fermentation biogas plant using paddy straw developed by Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) is proving meagre. This year in July after six years, PAU’s dry fermentation biogas plant (stubble-based) was approved by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), New Delhi. After the approval of the design of this biogas plant, will be considered for the benefit under the biogas programme of MNRE, which is a nodal agency of the Centre for the implementation of renewable energy technologies at the national level. “The cost of setting up of this biogas plant of Rs 3 lakh but the subsidy that the farmer will get is only Rs 20,000-22,000, which is proving inadequate. The subsidy is given according to the ■ Today, as many as 23 cases of stubble burning were reported from Ludhiana district which has taken the total number of cases to 1,743. The average AQI of Ludhiana as recorded by the Central Pollution Control Board was 237 COSTLY AFFAIR up of ❝The cost of settinglakh, this biogas plant is ~3 but the subsidy that farmer will get is only ~ 20,000-22,000, which is proving inadequate. ❞ Dr Sarbjit Singh Sooch, SCIENTIST, PAU capacity of the biogas plant but the cost of setting up this plant is little high. The government should consider giving atleast 80 per cent subsidy so that it is widely accepted by the farmers,” said Dr Sarbjit Singh Sooch, Principal Scientist, Department of Renewable Energy Engineering, PAU. Explaining the technology, Dr Sooch said, “This process of dry fermentation is a batch process. Once the digester is loaded and activated, it would produce sufficient gas for a period of three months. With the installation of these biogas plants, a large quantity of paddy straw can be consumed for biogas production. The specialty of this biogas plant is that daily feeding of cattle dung is not required. So, the beneficiary having no cattle can install such biogas plant.” Sehbajpur farmer sets example Farmer Ajmer Singh from Sehbajpur village in Raikot block has successfully installed biogas plant at his home. There are three mem- bers in Ajmer Singh’s family and they are using clean cooking fuel and organic compost for their fields. “Environment is very precious and we need to conserve it. I have not burnt the paddy stubble from the past four years and using it in producing fuel and neither have I used pesticides in my fields and instead use paddy straw for the nutrient demand of the crops,” he said. This biogas plant is filled one time with 16 quintal chopped paddy straw along with 4-5 quintal cattle dung and it provides 3-4 m3 biogas daily. We need to refill the digester only after a year and after emptying it completely, this slurry is used as organic manure in the fields. “We are using straw and not causing any harm to the environment and in addition to this we get biogas and manure at our doorsteps. Farmers should take such environmental friendly steps to preserve our environment,” he said. Mandi Ahmedgarh, Nov 19 The kisan unions of the region have locked horns with the administration over the issue of taking possession of land acquired by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the construction of Delhi-AmritsarKatra Expressway under the Bharat Mala project. While the civil administration claimed to have taken possession of some plots of land situated at Chhapar village in Ludhiana district, farmers led by office-bearers of Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) and Kisan Union Sidhupur, claimed that they have reoccupied the said fields by demolishing ridges made as token of possession by the government. District leaders of the union including Saudagar Singh Ghudani, Rajinder Singh Sihar and Charanjit Singh Phallewal lamented that the administration had attempted to take possession of land belonging to some farmers of 2 held after youth dies of drug overdose March of the faithful Tribune News Service Devotees take part in a nagar kirtan ahead of Gurpurb at Sarabha Nagar in Ludhiana on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: ASHWANI DHIMAN Ludhiana, November 19 The Koom Kalan police yesterday arrested two persons on the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The accused have been identified as Joginder Singh, Balwinder Kaur, residents of Chaunta village. The accused who are yet to be arrested have been identified as Gurpreet Singh, Sheelu, Kulwant Singh and Mukha Singh. The complainant Gurcharan Singh told the police that his sons, Ganga Singh and Gurmail Singh, are drug addicts. On Novem- Smugglers allegedly injected syringe of drugs in victim’s arm ber 17, both his sons had left home without informing anything. When they didn’t return home, he went to trace them on Ratnagarh Link Road of Gahi Bhaini village. “I was shocked to see that his son Gurmail Singh was caught by the smugglers who were injecting a syringe of drugs in the arm of his son. When he raised an alarm, the accused fled from the spot. I immediately took my son at home where his health deteriorated. When he was taken to hospital for treatment, he was declared brought dead by doctors,” alleged deceased ‘s father. His son Ganga said they often used to buy drugs from these people, but now they wanted to give up drugs and had stopped buying drugs. Due to this smugglers turned angry and they forcibly caught hold on Gurmail and injected drugs in his arm, revealed the complainant. Investigating officer Assistant Sub-Inspector Major Singh said raids were being conducted to nab the remaining accused in the case. SHO suspended for Agri varsity prepares model fruit nutrition ‘failure’ to control crime garden for year round organic produce Activists at Chhapar village in Ludhiana on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Chhapar village on Saturday illegally and forcibly, which they had ‘foiled’ today by demolishing the ridges made the administration. Saudagar Singh Ghudani said that last year too an attempt was made to take possession of the same land, which was foiled by the farmers following which the administration had promised that the issue would be resolved amicably. “But despite the fact that the owners had sown wheat crop in their fields, the administration attempted to feign having occupied the land by Fire breaks out at garment factory Fire breaks out at a factory in Salem Tabri in Ludhiana on Sunday. Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Ludhiana, November 19 The Police Commissioner, Mandeep Singh Sidhu, placed the Model Town Police Station Station House Officer Sub-Inspector Gurshinder Kaur under suspension. The top cop took the decision as the SHO failed in crime prevention and detection. Sources said some other non-performing SHOs are also on the radar of the top cop and they may also face music. Even yesterday three robbers had entered a money changer shop to commit loot. The robbers attacked the duo and injured them seriously. The accused were also carrying a toy pistol to intimidate the shopkeeper. The shopkeepers had caught two robbers while one managed to escape. As per sources, the Police Department had been receiving complaints against the SHO for failing to address the issues of public. The senior officials after collecting the necessary feedback had apprised the top cop following SI Gurshinder Kaur which she was suspended. Sources said Sidhu had also strictly told the entire police force to comply to the police norms and do not resort to any ill will practices in policing. He even warned of strict and immediate action against the policemen if they will resort to corrupt practices. Notably, since the day of his joining as CP Sidhu had , rewarded as many performing cops with cash rewards, DGP Commendation Discs and certificates and he had already cleared that non-performing cops will have to face music. Ludhiana, November 19 Fruits contain all the essential elements but apart from being expensive, fruits brought from the market are also sprayed with chemicals. Keeping this in view, a model of fruit nutrition garden has been prepared by Punjab Agricultural University (PAU). The main aim behind developing this model is to get fruits all year round at domestic level. “Through this model, 22 different types of fruit trees are grown in an area of 625 square meters. The fruit nutrition garden provides all kinds of essential nutrients like calcium, phosphorus, iron, etc. Fruits are a long-term crop, so it is important to have right selection of fruits for better establishment and yield. Evergreen fruit trees and deciduous trees should be planted separately. Very tall trees like mango, lychee, jamun and sapota are recommended to be planted in the northern part of the home garden so that they get shade,” said an expert Dimpy Raina from department of fruit science. Citrus fruits and guavas can be planted in the inner part of the garden and deciduous fruit trees like apple, pear, peach, plum and pomegranate can be planted in the south-eastern part. Papaya and banana can be cultivated in the last row on the southern side. On the eastern side, different varieties of grapes can be planted using the Y-trellis method. Karonda and phal- c m y b sa on the western side and sweet lime on the northern side should be planted as a hedge, added Dr Monika Gupta, another expert from the department. Five important points to keep in mind ■ Before establishing nutrition garden always follow the recommendations for selection of different varieties of fruit plants, time of planting, layout, basic maintenance of garden, training pruning, fertiliser application, watering , insect pest management and harvesting. ■ The layout of fruit nutrition garden should be planned before digging and filling holes for planting. Layout should contain provision of road, water pits and paths between the garden. ■ Indulge in organic way of making nutrition garden following methods like use of mulch and straw/plastics for weeds, farm yard manure, manure for feeding, spraying of neem compounds for insect control, and PAU fruit fly traps for fruit fly. All these measures also reduce the use of pesticide chemicals. ■ Take measures to protect fruit plants especially papaya and banana from frost. Apart from this, it is very important to protect newly planted plants such as mango, litchi, amla and guava plants from cold and frost. ■ Get plants for fruit nutrition garden from authentic nurseries like the nurseries established at Ludhiana, Ladhowal, Bathinda, Gurdaspur, Bahadurgarh (Patiala), Gangian (Dasuya), Jallowal (Jalandhar) and Abohar. making ridges in the absence of farmers on Saturday,” said Ghudani claiming that the land was re-occupied by the farmers concerned with the efforts of activists of Kisan Unions on Sunday. SDM Ludhiana (West) Dr Harjinder Singh, on the other hand, claimed that the administration had taken possession of certain fields at Chhapar village for handing over the same to the NHAI. Dr Harjinder Singh said appropriate action would be taken if the NHAI authorities report any obstruction in the project. Ludhiana, November 19 A fire broke out in a garment factory at Salem Tabri on Sunday evening. Goods worth lakhs were said to be gutted in the fire. As per the information, fire broke out at around 4 pm when the proprietor closed the factory. A short circuit has been cited as the reason behind the fire which engulfed the first two levels of the factory. Fire officials said that after getting information they immediately reached along with fire tenders and doused the flame in four hours. Fire officials said exact loss was yet to be ascertained but a large stock of garments had reduced to the ashes. Fire officials said they would check whether the factory owner had fire safety arrangements in place. Speeding car kills two Ludhiana, November 19 A speeding Swift car driver ran over four women MNREGA workers on the road from Rada Sahib to Malaud near the government school in Lahal village, Khanna, yesterday evening. In the tragic accident, two women died on the spot while two suffered serious injuries. The deceased women have been identified as Jasveer Kaur (60), a resident of Lahal village and Buddha Kaur (68), a resident of Lahal village. Two women in critical condition in the accident had been taken to a nearby hospital where after receiving first aid they were referred to other hospital. Eye witnesses told that the car was being driven at high speed and failed to notice the women workers working on the highway. The driver dragged the women for a long distance due to which both of them died on the spot. After the accident, people caught the car driver on the spot. — TNS