10012024-LT-01.qxd 10-01-2024 00:24 Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune SURPRISED BY COLD PUNJAB, ATHLETES BUY WOOLLENS RUBINA SHARES GLIMPSE OF HER JOURNEY POST PREGNANCY LINDSAY MAKES APPEARANCE AT MEAN GIRLS PREMIERE Freezing winds and the drizzle failed to dampen the spirits of the players, who braved the cold at PAU. P2 Rubina and her husband Abhinav have recently become parents to twin daughters — Jeeva and Edhaa. P3 Hollywood actress Lindsay Lohan made a surprise appearance at the Mean Girls premiere in NY City. P4 » » » FORECAST FOG IN MORNING MAX 14°C | MIN 7°C YESTERDAY MAX 10°C | MIN 7.4°C SUNSET WEDNESDAY 5.44 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 7:31 AM WEDNESDAY | 10 JANUARY 2024 | LUDHIANA Ahead of NGT hearing, 2nd phase of Sidhwan Canal cleaning begins Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 9 Ahead of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) hearing on matter related to waste dumping in Sidhwan Canal, the Municipal Corporation has now commenced the second phase of the campaign from near Lohara canal bridge. Ludhiana South MLA Rajinderpal Kaur Chhina and MC Zonal Commissioner (Zone D) Jasdev Singh Sekhon inspected the ongoing canal cleaning efforts on Tuesday. The officials appealed to the public to refrain from dumping waste into the canal and to support the authorities in keeping the water body clean. They mentioned that the civic body had cleaned a significant stretch of the canal, starting from the canal bridge near the Verka milk plant to the Gill Road canal bridge, during the first phase of the 12 booked for selling SCO using fake papers DUMP NOT REMOVED ■ Kuldeep Singh Khaira, a resident, who had moved NGT, said a major garbage dump along the canal bank near the Gill Road Bridge, has not been eliminated so far. The next scheduled NGT hearing is on January 11, he said MAINTAINING VIGIL ❝ Civic body teams are maintaining strict vigil around Sidhwan Canal and hefty challans are being issued against violators. Jasdev Singh Sekhon, MC ZONAL Officials inspect Sidhwan Canal cleaning work in Ludhiana on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO campaign last year. Under the second phase, the cleaning drive, which commenced from the Lohara Canal Bridge, would progress towards the Ishar Nagar Canal Bridge and beyond, they said. They stated that it is expected that the Irrigation Department will not release water in the canal for the next approximately three weeks. Thus, the civic body staffers have been directed to expedite the process and clean the remaining portion of the canal. The officials mentioned that this time the canal is being cleaned with poclain machines, as JCB machines could not function properly due to wet sand/waste. Temporary bridges have already been established to facilitate the movement of poclain machines and tippers into the canal. Jasdev Singh Sekhon stat- ❞ COMMISSIONER (ZONE D) ed that, following the directions of MC Commissioner Sandeep Rishi, civic body teams are maintaining vigilance around the canal, and hefty challans of Rs 5,000 each are also being issued against violators caught dumping waste into the Sidhwan Canal. MC staff seal a building in an area falling under Zone B. TRIBUNE PHOTO 4 buildings sealed Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 9 The municipal corporation (MC) sealed four buildings on Tuesday as the owners allegedly failed to submit Change of Land Use (CLU) charges and other pending dues with the department. These buildings included three industrial buildings in Mahavir Jain Colony, Tajpur Road and a commercial building in Jamalpur area, Chandigarh Road. The areas fall under the Zone B of the MC. Assistant Town Planner (ATP) Harvinder Singh Honey said the civic body had also served notices to the owners of the buildings in the past and directed them to submit the pending dues including CLU charges etc. But the owners failed to submit the dues following which the buildings were sealed on Tuesday, he said. “The sealed buildings would be opened only after the building owners submit pending dues with the department,” he said. MC Commissioner Sandeep Rishi has directed the building branch officials to conduct regular drives against illegal constructions and take strict action against the same. Ludhiana, January 9 The police have booked 12 persons for allegedly selling a shop-cum-office (SCO) in Urban Estate, Dugri, using fake documents. The complainant alleged that the accused had sold the SCO for Rs 5.5 crore by preparing forged documents. The accused have been identified as Tarun Taneja, Harwinder Singh Sachdeva, Parminder Singh Sachdeva, Mandeep Singh, Upjeet Singh, Naresh Sharma, Harjinder Kang, Vijay, alias Sonu Mahajan, Deepak Ahuja, Laddi of Rahon Road Ludhiana, Manish Puri and Amit Kumar. Deepak Kathuria (39), the complainant, alleged that the accused conspired to commit fraud by selling him a shopcum-office (SCO) in Phase 1, Urban Estate Durgi, using forged documents. He alleged that the accused had created fake documents for an SCO spanning approximately 331.58 square yards, subsequently selling it to him for around Rs 5.5 crore. A case under Sections 420, 465, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC has been registered against the accused. — TNS Make water sample report public, demand Mangat village residents Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 9 Accusing officials of the Punjab Pollution Control Board, Ludhiana, of not making the water samples test report public, a group of residents from Mangat village along with an NGO staged a protest outside the office of the PPCB on Tuesday. The villagers said the officials are not revealing the test report for those water samples collected by PPCB team last month. The villagers said the water samples they had got tested at a different laboratory failed test. Notably, the residents had earlier levelled allegations against a dyeing unit for polluting the groundwater in the Mangat village. Thereafter, a PPCB team collected water samples from four locations within the village on Decem- They had levelled allegations against a dyeing unit for polluting the groundwater ber 5. A few samples of water were also kept by the villagers at that time. Sukhjeet Singh Gill, a villager, said they staged a protest demanding from the officials to provide water samples test report to them. “The PPCB had collected groundwater samples from our village more than a month ago, but the officials have not revealed the report to date. Today, when we went to stage a protest at PPCB office, the officials provided various excuses and were unwilling to share the PPCB’s report,” he said. Gill further said they had got two water samples tested from the PAU. He said, “We presented report from PAU Ludhiana, where we had got two water samples tested. The PAU report clearly shows the failure of both water samples.” They questioned as to why the PPCB is reluctant to disclose its own report. A member of a public action committee said the role of PPCB is under scanner for not disclosing the water sample report of Mangat village. They will make further plan to mark protest against the PPCB. On the other hand, Pardeep Gupta, Chief Environmental Engineer, PPCB, Ludhiana, said they would analyse the report and subsequently submit it to higher authorities for further action. He mentioned that they have requested residents to allow them a few more days for the analysis of the report. A man sells tea at the Ludhiana railway station; (and) people sit around a bonfire to warm themselves on a foggy day. TRIBUNE PHOTOS: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN District shivers as mercury plummets to 7.4°C Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 9 The unyielding grip of the cold wave persisted in the district on Tuesday. The Department of Climate Change and Agricultural Meteorology at PAU, Ludhiana, reported that the minimum temperature plummeted to 7.4°C, while the mercury only managed to climb to a maximum of 11°C today. The relentless cold waves show no signs of abating, leaving residents to contend with the ongoing chilly conditions. Accord- ing to the weather report, the weather is expected to remain partly cloudy with the possibility of isolated showers over Ludhiana and its adjoining areas during the next 24 hours. According to Dr PK Kingra, who leads the Department of Climate Change and Agricultural Meteorology, PAU, there is prediction of some clear weather conditions on Wednesday. Regarding the issue of foggy weather, Dr Kingra mentioned that an orange alert for fog was in effect until Tuesday, after which it will transition to a yellow alert from Wednesday. There is a possibility of fog occurring in the morning and at night in specific isolated areas. Meanwhile, individuals at different locations along roadsides were seen warming their hands by bonfires. CPCB seeks more time to report Giaspura gas leak cause Woman ‘assaulted’ at NGT allows 4 weeks to submit final report Daba police station Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 9 The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has sought more time to finalise its ongoing investigation into the Giaspura gas leak tragedy. Acceding to the request, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has allowed the CPCB four more weeks to file the final report. “The committee in the said report will duly disclose the cause of gas leak and persons/ units responsible for the same and also the proposed action/ action taken,” the NGT Principal Bench has ordered, while posting the matter to March 5. The Bench, led by the chairperson Prakash Shrivastava, and comprising judicial member Sudhir Agarwal, and executive members Dr A Senthil Vel and Dr Afroz Ahmad, noted that the CPCB has submitted that the committee has collected the samples from the concerned units and has obtained sam- Fact-finding joint committee head Dr Adarsh Pal Vig with SDM Swati Tiwana near the Giaspura gas tragedy site in Ludhiana. FILE ple analysis report. “The committee is analysing those reports, therefore, has sought four weeks time to file the fresh report,” the two-page NGT order added. Earlier, the NGT had on October 13 last “rejected” the report of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) chairman-led joint inquiry committee, while terming it “not convincing” and had ordered a fresh independent probe into the sudden release of very high concentration of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) gas from a roadside manhole in Giaspura here on April 30 last, which had claimed 11 lives, including five of a family, and had left four injured. The eight-member factfinding joint committee, headed by the PPCB chair- man Adarsh Pal Vig, had concluded in its report that the actual causes of the incident are “very difficult” to establish, while giving a “clean chit” to the polluting industries on the ground that “no polluting industry was responsible for the incident”. The 397-page report was submitted to the NGT on October 11 last, after conducting the inquiry for over five months. Taking a suo motu notice of the incident, the NGT Principal Bench, headed by the then chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel and comprising then judicial member Sudhir Agarwal and executive member Dr A Senthil Vel, had on May 2 last ordered to constitute the panel to inquire and submit its report to the Tribunal on or before June 30. Taking up the matter on October 13 last, the NGT Principal Bench, headed by chairperson Prakash Shrivas- c m y b tava, and comprising judicial member Sudhir Agarwal and expert member A. Senthil, had said that the report had attributed the gas leak to the escape of gases from the sewer line, which “does not appear to be convincing.” In a four-page order, the NGT had ordered, “We are of the opinion that a fresh report by an independent committee is required to be obtained as the issue is very serious wherein an incident of gas leak has caused death of as many as 11 persons. The possibility of a repeat of such an incident cannot be ruled out, therefore, it is important to ascertain the real cause of the gas leak and to fix the responsibility.” It had constituted a threemember committee, comprising the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) Joint Secretary, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Member Secretary, and one professor to be nominated by the Director, IIT-Delhi, having expertise in the field. The CPCB member secretary will act as nodal agency for coordination and compliance. “The committee will visit the site, ascertain the cause of gas leak and also the persons responsible for the same and submit a comprehensive report in this regard to the Tribunal on or before the next date of hearing,” the NGT had directed, while listing the matter for January 5, 2024. “In the same report, the CPCB had advised that all industries located around sewer network need to be surveyed for possible source of acidic and metals, heavy metals and sulphide containing industrial effluent waste but the same has not been done and details have not been furnished to us,” the Tribunal had mentioned. The NGT had pointed out major “anomalies” in the investigation conducted by the PPCB chairman-led joint panel. Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 9 Days after the alleged rape and murder of a four-year-old girl, a group of people, including victim’s family members, staged a protest in the Daba area on Tuesday against the police’s inaction. The protesters alleged that the police failed to take any concrete action and have not arrested the accused so far. In the meantime, Neha, who identified herself as a member of an NGO from Jalandhar, had also paid a visit to Daba police station in Ludhiana to raise the issue with the police. Reportedly, heated arguments were exchanged between the SHO and Neha. A purported video in this regard has been circulated widely on social media. The Station House Officer (SHO) at the police station SHO denies the allegations allegedly misbehaved with the woman. Subsequently, the SHO allegedly instructed his staff to expel the woman from the station. A female cop then forcefully expelled Neha from there. After the purported viral video went viral, questions were being raised about the conduct of the police. On the other hand, SHO Kulbir Singh has refuted all the accusations. He alleged that the woman had actually misbehaved with him. Additionally, he claimed that the video was recorded in a preplanned manner. He alleged that the woman had previously issued a threat to gherao at the police station. Meanwhile, he also claimed that the police are making all efforts to solve the murder case.