14012024-LT-01.qxd 1/14/2024 12:43 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune CITY GIRL MAKES IT TO STATE TEAM FOR U-19 N’TNL MEET RESIDENTS FACE TROUBLE AS CHILL CONTINUES IN CITY SHILPA: MORE ACTION-ORIENTED ROLES FOR WOMEN NEEDED’ Harshika Dhammi has been selected in Punjab U-19 team for national cricket tourney at Ahmedabad. P2 In view of the region being blanketed by fog, PAU experts have advised farmers to take care of their crops. P2 Shilpa Shetty says even audiences are ready to see women actors in action avatars on the screen. P3 » » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 14°C | MIN 6°C YESTERDAY MAX 15°C | MIN 5.5°C SUNSET SUNDAY 5.45 PM SUNRISE MONDAY 7:25 AM SUNDAY | 14 JANUARY 2024 | LUDHIANA Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 13 Three Honda Activa scooterborne miscreants robbed a kite seller, Naval, at gunpoint near Kailash Chowk on Friday night. When he protested, the miscreants took out their pistol and pointed it at the man and his wife. After pushing him, they took away his scooter and fled the scene. Over Rs 5 lakh were lying in the dickey of the vehicle. Naveen, son of the trader, said his father runs a kite shop at Daresi, near here. On Friday, his father Naval and mother Chanchal, after keeping over Rs 4 lakh in the scooter’s dickey, left the shop for home. When they reached near Kailash Chowk, three scooter-borne persons hit his father’s scooter. They pointed a pistol and threatened to kill him. While abusing, the three youths fled the scene with his scooter. Station House Officer (SHO), Police Division 8, Inspector Vijay Kumar, said the complainant suspected the role of some persons behind the loot and CCTV cameras were being checked to get any clue in the incident. A case was registered against the unidentified suspects. DSR fails to impress farmers, area dips by 32% this season 314 growers given 28.32L subsidy for promoting water-saving paddy sowing method Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 13 The direct seeding of rice (DSR), in which seeds are sown in the field rather than by the traditional way of transplanting seedlings from nursery, has failed to impress farmers in the district, the government has confirmed. It was evident from the fact that the area under the watersaving paddy plantation method has gone down by over 32 per cent from 2,797 hectares in 2022-23 to 1,888 hectares in 2023-24 crop season, official figures have revealed. However, the Agriculture Department was still trying its best to promote the DSR technique by granting Rs 1,500 per hectare financial assistance to farmers, who had opted for the technique, as per the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. The Chief Agriculture Officer (CAO), Dr Narinder Singh Benipal, told The Tribune here on Saturday that 314 farmers, who had sown paddy through the DSR technique over 1,888 hectares of land in the district in 2023-24, had been given subsidy of Rs 28.32 lakh. He said the area of paddy DIST-WISE COMPARISON Dist DSR area Amritsar 4,733 Barnala 2,056 Bathinda 10,150 Faridkot 3410 Fatehgarh Sahib 437 Fazilka 36,464 Ferozepur 8,975 Gurdaspur 2,192 Hoshiarpur 525 Jalandhar 1,142 Kapurthala 785 Ludhiana 1,888 Mansa 4,145 Moga 1,399 Pathankot 319 Patiala 3,234 Ropar 240 Sangrur 3,189 Mohali 743 Nawanshahr 788 Muktsar 45,132 Tarn Taran 1,790 Total 1,33,745 Farmers 883 271 1,285 483 73 4,915 799 454 147 100 83 314 706 206 91 577 57 493 59 113 4,618 284 17,011 sown through the DSR technique in 2023-24 was mere 0.73 per cent of the total 2,56,900 hectares cultivated under rice in the district during the last crop season. In 2022-23, the area of paddy Warmth of Lohri CULTIVATED AREA 2023 DSR PARMAL BASMATI 2022 DSR PARMAL BASMATI FILE PHOTO 2,56,900 1,888 2,46,600 10,300 2,58,800 2,797 2,51,250 7,550 (Source: Agriculture Dept, area in hectares) sown through the DSR technique in Ludhiana district was 1.08 per cent of the total 2,58,800 hectares of paddy cultivated area in the district, which was highest in the state. Dr Benipal said a whop- ping 2,46,600 hectares, which accounted for 96 per cent of the total 2,56,900 hectares of paddy cultivated area in the district in 2023-24 was sown with non-basmati (parmal) rice while the rest only 10,300 hectares, which was just 4 per cent of the total paddy area, was cultivated with basmati rice. In 2022-23 also, the trend of non-basmati and basmati rice cultivation was the same in the district with 96 per cent and 4 per cent area, respectively. The CAO said the Agriculture Department had run an extensive awareness and education drive to motivate the farmers to opt for the DSR, for which Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had given a clarion call to save water and natural resources in the agrarian state. High and low Among 22 districts, Ludhiana has ranked tenth lowest as far as the DSR area was concerned in the 2023-24 paddy sowing season. While Muktsar has topped the state with the maximum DSR area, Pathankot remained the laggard with the minimum paddy area through the DSR technique. People use banned string to fly kites with impunity in city TRIBUNE PHOTO: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN Kite seller robbed at gunpoint by three youths Bikers try to save themselves from the plastic string on the Lakkar bridge in Ludhiana on Saturday. Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 13 Despite directions given by the police that banned Chinese string would not be allowed to use for kite flying, people used the same with impunity. Almost every second person could be seen flying kites with the deadly string. The police had, however, conducted checking in some areas and also seized spools of the string from the people who were flying kites but no major drive was launched to catch culprits reportedly due to social pressure. “We enjoyed kite flying on Cops conduct checking in some areas but no major drive was launched to catch offenders Lohri very much and openly used the plastic string. No police official came to us to confiscate our spools,” Munish Shama of Haibowal said. Another resident Bipan Arora said he and his friends bought around a dozen spools of plastic string from a shopkeeper of Upkar Nagar. Though they bought the same at a high price, it’s quite enjoyable to fly kites with the same. “We were against the use of the deadly string as it can cause serious injuries to birds, animals and human beings. We used only normal thread to fly kites due to which we could not compete with those who were using the plastic string. Most of our kites were cut by them but we have no regrets as at least to enjoy kite flying we did not injured any human being or bird,” said Sourabh Chadha, a bank employee of Ludhiana. Meanwhile, sources said every police station might register FIRs against those people who had been using the banned Chinese string. NGT imposes ~25K penalty on civic body MC remained unsuccessful to date in clearing its waste dump along Sidhwan Canal bank Tribune News Service Residents sit around a bonfire to celebrate Lohri in Ludhiana on Saturday. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN P2 Murder case registered 4 yrs after 40-year-old man’s death Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 13 The Khanna police yesterday registered a murder case against unidentified persons in a mysterious death of a man that took place over four years ago in Khanna. A case was registered after the deceased’s brother suspecting some foul play in the death approached the National Commission for Scheduled Castes. As per information, Bittu (40) was working at some boutique in Khanna. The boutique owner had told the police that Bittu was alcoholic. On September 21, 2019, after taking Rs 5,000 from him, Bittu had left the place but did not return. On October 5, 2019, his body was found hanging from wooden stairs at the cattle house of the boutique owner. The deceased was rushed to the Civil Hospital by his employer (bou- VICTIM WAS WORKING AT BOUTIQUE Bittu was working at a boutique in Khanna. In September 2019, after taking ~5,000 from his employer, he had left the place but did not return. In October, his body was found hanging at the cattle house of the boutique owner. He was rushed to Civil Hospital by his employer but doctors declared him brought dead. tique owner) but doctors declared him brought dead. Acting on the statement of the victim’s employer, the police initiated the inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and closed the case suspecting no foul play. Even the autopsy report suggested that hanging was the cause of his death and the victim had died by suicide. Later, in the same year, deceased’s brother Parveen Gautam lodged a police complaint with the Khanna police and alleged that his brother was murdered by a few people and it was not a suicide case. However, the police set aside his complaint, citing the post-mortem report that claimed that Bittu died due to hanging only. It was only when the victim’s brother approached the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, which sought report from the Khanna SSP and other administration officials, a murder case was registered against unidentified persons on Friday. After registering the case, the police assured the complainant that the suspects named by him would be questioned and if their role was established in the murder, their names be added to the already registered murder case. Ludhiana, January 13 During a hearing pertaining to pollution in the Sidhwan Canal, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) levied a penalty of Rs 25,000 on the Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana. The civic body has remained unsuccessful to date in clearing its waste dump situated along the canal bank near the Gill Road bridge. Earlier, two residents, Kapil Arora and Kuldeep Singh Khaira, had filed a NRI held for opening fire Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 13 The Sarabha Nagar police yesterday arrested a non-resident Indian (NRI) on the charges of opening fire with a double barrel gun. A case was registered on the complaint of Sham Sundar, a resident of the Badewal road area, under various sections of the IPC and the Arms Act. The suspect has been identified as Harjinder Singh, a resident of the Badewal road area. The complainant said the suspect runs a nursery in front of his house on the Badewal road. On January 12, he saw the NRI resorting to celebratory firing. After listening the sound of gunshots, he and his family members had panicked a lot. They lodged a police complaint, following which the police registered a case and arrested the suspect. Investigating officer ASI Harjinder Singh said further probe was on in the case. c m y b A garbage dump along the Sidhwan Canal bank on Gill Road. FILE petition before the NGT that the Sidhwan Canal passing through Ludhiana is highly polluted due to the dumping of plastic bags, polyester clothe waste and other non- biodegradable materials. In July 2023, the corporation asserted that they had successfully cleared 90 per cent of the Sidhwan Canal, committing to clean the remaining 10 per cent in accordance with regulations within the next three months. However, in light of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order issued on January 11, 2024, a substantial time has lapsed since then, and even today, the statement of the MC Commissioner (who appeared virtually for hear- ing) is that 90 per cent has been cleaned from the canal and rest of the garbage is still lying there. Notably, the Commissioner has not provided information on any effective measures taken to remediate the situation, as per the order. The NGT Bench ordered that in the circumstances of the case, the prayer made by the learned Counsel for the Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana, to grant two weeks’ time to file further report is allowed by imposing the cost of Rs 25,000.