14032024-LT-01.qxd 3/14/2024 12:54 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune TWO-DAY KISAN MELA BEGINS TODAY AT AGRI UNIVERSITY SKIN DISEASE: 50% HEADS OF CATTLE VACCINATED KAREENA, TABU, KRITI SET THE DANCE FLOOR ON FIRE Nearly 300 stalls have been put up on crop varieties & latest tech pertaining to agriculture, horticulture, etc. P2 Around 50% heads of cattle covered under ongoing immunisation drive against lumpy skin disease. P3 A new song, Ghagra, from Kareena Kapoor Khan, Tabu and Kriti Sanon-starrer Crewunveiled. P4 » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 26°C | MIN 14°C YESTERDAY MAX 25°C | MIN 13°C SUNSET THURSDAY 6.34 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 6:36 AM » THURSDAY | 14 MARCH 2024 | LUDHIANA Tribunal disposes of case, seeks fresh report on CETP from pollution board GIASPURA GAS TRAGEDY Notes possibility of acidic effluent discharge into sewer not ruled out Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 13 Almost 11 months after taking suo motu cognisance of the Giaspura gas leak tragedy, which had claimed 11 lives and had left four injured last year, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has finally disposed of the case while seeking fresh report on the common effluent treatment plant (CETP) in the area from the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB). “The above two reports themselves contain the observation that possibility of discharge of acidic effluent into sewers at the time of accident is not ruled out,” noted the Principal Bench, led by chairperson Prakash Shrivastava and comprising judicial member Sudhir Agarwal and executive members Dr A Senthil and Dr Afroz Ahmad. In its four-page order, a copy of which is with The Tribune, the NGT said: “Tribunal has also received a letter by one of the complainants, disclosing that a common treatment plant is at Phase II, Focal Point, here, which is run by JBR company, which brings effluent discharge from all electroplating factories across the state to its plant at Ludhiana and the treatment capacity of its CETP is 5,00,000 litres per day but the said project proponent has made agree- Cops near the gas leak incident site in Giaspura. FILE ment with the electroplating industries all over the state for over 10,00,000 litres per day and it throws about 5,00,000 litres untreated effluents into sewers. In the complaint, it has been expressed that since the pH was found less than two, therefore, it proves that there was a huge quantity of acid in the sewer. The letter has been kept in the seal cover in this original application.” “Considering the above circumstances, we dispose of the original application directing the Member Secretary, Punjab PCB, to furnish a report before the Registrar General of the Tribunal disclosing installed capacity of the CETP run by JBR company and details of the agreements which have been entered into by the JBR firm with the unit for collection of their effluent discharge and also the correctness of the allegations that about 5,00,000 litres of effluent discharge collected by the proponent is thrown in the sewers. The PPCB Member Secretary will also submit the report explaining the issue relating to the pH being less and the quantity of acid being thrown in the sewers,” the Tribunal’s Principal Bench directed. The NGT instructed the PPCB Member Secretary to furnish the desired report in two months. “If found necessary, the matter will be listed for consideration before the Tribunal,” it said, while disposing of the original application in the case. The order was passed after the Centre’s joint panel, comprising senior functionaries of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the IIT in Delhi, had submitted its fresh probe report before the NGT on March 4. In a 58-page report, the joint Central panel, comprising MoEF&CC Deputy Inspector General of Forests (DIGF) Raja Ram Singh, CPCB Member Secretary Bharat Kumar Sharma and Delhi IIT Chemical Engineering Professor Sreede- vi Upadhyayula, has found “faults” with the sewer lines at the houses of the victims without pinpointing any culprits of 11 lives lost in the tragedy. Earlier, the NGT had on October 13 last “rejected” the report of the PPCB Chairman-led joint inquiry committee, while terming it “not convincing” and had ordered a fresh independent probe into the sudden release of high concentration of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) gas from a roadside manhole in Giaspura on April 30 last, which had claimed 11 lives and had left four injured. PPCB gave ‘clean chit’ to polluting industries The eight-member factfinding joint committee, headed by PPCB Chairman Adarsh Pal Vig, had concluded in its report, which had earlier been “rejected” by the NGT, that actual causes of the incident are “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 PPCB had submitted the 397-page voluminous report to the NGT on October 11 last, after conducting the inquiry for over five months. NGT took suo motu notice Taking a suo motu notice of the incident, the NGT Princi- pal 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 Shrivastava, and comprising judicial member Sudhir Agarwal and expert member A Senthil, had said the report had attributed the gas leak to the escape of gases from the sewer line, which “does not appear to be convincing”. Fresh probe The NGT had ordered a fresh probe, saying, “We are of the opinion that a fresh report by an independent committee is required to be obtained as the issue is serious wherein an incident of gas leak has caused death of 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 MoEF&CC Joint Secretary, CPCB Member Secretary, and one professor to be nominated by the Director, IIT Delhi, having expertise in the field. Vehicles stuck in a traffic jam near the Police Lines in Ludhiana on Wednesday. ASHWANI DHIMAN CM’s visit leads to traffic snarls Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 13 The visit of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann along with Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav for a meeting with officials of the Punjab Police caused inconvenience to the public as a major traffic jam reported on roads around the Police Lines. Besides the DGP all senior , superintendents of police (SSPs) and commissioners of police (CPs) from across the state had come to attend the meeting pertaining to security arrangements being made for the ensuing elections. Long traffic queues were reported mainly around the Woman, pet die as fire breaks out in house Ludhiana, March 13 A fire broke out in a house in the Hargobind Nagar area here at 4 am on Wednesday. A woman and her pet dog sleeping in a room died due to asphyxiation. When the deceased’s mother went downstairs, fire broke out in the studio built on the first floor of the house. Later, after noticing smoke, family members raised an alarm. Following which, their neighbours tried to control the fire, but could not succeed. Later, fire brigade was called but by the time the fire brigade arrived, the woman and her pet died due to suffocation. After receiving information, officials from Police Division 3 reached the scene and started investigation. The body was shifted to the Civil Hospital for autopsy. The preliminary probe stated that a short-circuit could be the cause of the fire but further investigation was on. Kanwaljeet Singh, father of the deceased, Prabhjot Kaur, said some renovation work was going on on the ground floor of the house. His son had built a soundproof music studio on the first floor of the house where he records religious songs. His daughter Prabhjot Kaur and his wife were sleeping in the studio room along with their pet dog last night while he and his son were sleeping on the ground floor. “Prabhjot’s mother woke up around 3 am and came down to do some household work. Following which a fire broke out in the studio. Walls and the roof of the room are covered with PVC sheets, which added fuel to the fire. In no time, the fire took a ugly form and the entire studio was filled with smoke. My daughter and pet died on the spot due to suffocation,” he said. An explosion also occured in the studio. They also tried to open the door but it was locked from inside. Later, local residents came and tried to douse the flames by pouring water. When the heat subsided a little, they broke the door and went inside. But by then, the woman and the pet dog had already died. SI Amritpal Singh said the body of the woman was handed over to her family after autopsy. The statements of her kin was recorded and further probe was on. Ludhiana, March 13 A speeding school bus coming from the wrong side rammed into a postman riding a motorcycle at Bujgar village near Jagraon. He suffered serious injuries and was rushed to a hospital from where he was referred to the DMCH, where he died during the treatment. The incident occured on March 11. He has been identified as Jagtar Singh of Bansipura Sidhwan Bet. The police yesterday registered a case against bus driver Kulwant Singh of Sidhwan Khurshaidpura village, who is absconding. — TNS Police Lines. Major traffic bottlenecks witnessed on the Civil Lines road opposite the Police Lines gate. Vehicles were seen moving at a snail’s pace on the strech of around one km starting from the Police Lines till the Rajpura chowk. Parked escort vehicles of police officials on the road adjoining the wall of the Police Lines added to the chaos. The movement of police patrolling vehicles on the road also led to slow movement of traffic. Meanwhile, traffic came to a standstill on the PAU road. Since a road leading to the Police Lines was blocked for commuters by the police and only VVIP vehicles were allowed on the stretch, motorists had to take a long route to reach their destinations. Police officials on duty had cited security concern as the reason for not allowing commuters on the stretch leading to the main gate of the Police Lines. After the meeting, traffic resumed as usual on the stretches. Notably, this is not the first time that traffic was affected due to the movement of VVIPs. Earlier also, similar issues witnessed in the city. Mother, friend get 20-year jail in minor girl’s sexual exploitation case Legal Correspondent Postman killed as bus hits bike Mann, DGP were in city for meeting over security arrangements for LS poll with cops from across state Ludhiana, March 13 The Court of Additional Sessions Judge Amarjeet Singh has sentenced Gagandeep Singh, a resident of Dugri, to 20-year imprisonment, finding him guilty of sexually exploiting an 11-year-old girl. The convict has also been ordered to pay a fine of Rs 1,72,000. The victim’s widowed mother has also been sentenced to 20-year imprisonment for abetting and supporting the accused in the heinous act. Besides, the court has also ordered the woman to pay a fine of Rs 2,44,000. The court has made it clear in its decision that of the fine amount collected, Rs 1,50,000 each will be paid as compensation to the victim. Additional public prosecutor BD Gupta said the case was registered at the Division No 6 police station on June 19, 2021, following the complaint of a woman, a neighbour of the girl and her mother. The complainant told the police that she came to know that the woman staying next to her house, having an 11-year-old daughter, and her friend Gagandeep Singh were beating up the girl badly. The complainant reached the house of the accused woman and when she peeped through a window, Gagandeep and the woman were beating her and dragged her by her hair from one room to another. The complainant rescued the girl from their clutches and sent her to a hospital and informed the police about the matter. Several injuries were found on the body of the victim. During probe, the police also found that the two culprits had made some obscene videos of the girl and used to beat her even more badly by threatening the victim to upload them on social media. Moreover, she was also sexually abused. After receiving the video, the police added sections to the case. Both culprits were arrested and prosecuted. In the court, the culprits claimed themselves to be innocent and pleaded for mercy. After hearing arguments of both sides and looking at the evidence, the court found them guilty. Day after house arrest, MP Bittu opens Thieves’ gang busted, 3 MC makes public ~8.5-crore athletics track at city stadium held; stolen items seized announcements to recover dues LEASED, RENTED PROPERTIES Our Correspondent Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 13 The Municipal Corporation (MC) has started making public announcements at markets of the city to expedite recovery of dues from its allottees and tenants of leased/rented properties. In this regard, the tehbazaari team of Zone B visited the market located below the Cheema chowk flyover and asked allottees of kiosks to pay pending rent. The civic body officials stated that the allottees have been directed to pay the pending rent/tehbazaari fees, otherwise strict action will be taken against them and the MC can also seal shops in case of default. Tehbazaari inspector Sunil said the allottees of kiosks under the Cheema chowk flyover had failed to pay rent in the past. Now, they had been directed to pay the pending rent in three days, otherwise the civic body will initiate action against them. It can also seal the kiosks, if they remained adamant and failed to pay the dues. Meanwhile, MC Commissioner Sandeep Rishi also appealed to residents to avail benefits of one time settlement (OTS) policy for property tax and pay the pending property tax by March 31 with 50 per cent interest and penalty waiver. — TNS Ludhiana, March 13 A day after he was put under house arrest, Congress MP from Ludhiana Ravneet Singh Bittu on Wednesday inaugurated a newly-constructed athletics track at Guru Nanak Stadium here. Cong leader says sports, players should not suffer due to political slugfest The three-time firebrand parliamentarian, who had been representing Ludhiana for the past two consecutive terms before being elected for the first time from Anandpur Sahib in 2014, Bittu, along with district Congress president Sanjay Talwar, were put under the preven- MP Ravneet Singh Bittu inaugurates the new athletics track at Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana on Wednesday. ASHWANI DHIMAN tive arrest at the MP’s local residence when they were about to leave for inaugurating development projects in the city on Tuesday. “Sports is the only future of our coming generations and Punjabis have always excelled in it,” the MP said while stressing that sports and sportspersons should not be made to suffer due to the political slugfest. c m y b Flanked by former municipal councillor and former Congress minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu’s wife, Mamta Ashu, Bittu threw open the new athletics track at Guru Nanak Stadium, which was built at the cost of Rs 8.5 crore under the Smart City Mission and was awaiting formal inauguration for the past over four months. “Today, we are inaugurating the sports facility at Guru Nanak Stadium, which is lying completed for the past four months but was not opened to sportspersons,” the Congress MP said while claiming that the world-class stadium and the facilities developed in it were conceived and completed by the previous Congress regime. “It has the world’s latest athletics track, which has been relayed at a cost of Rs 8.5 crore under the Smart City Mission. The whole idea was visualised and executed by me as MP Bittu said ,” while divulging that it also has a football ground and an athletics ground with sprinkler system in the stadium with numbered seats. He said the stadium had started wearing and tearing continued on page 2 Sahnewal, March 13 The Sahnewal police claimed to have arrested three members of a gang of thieves who allegedly broke into a factory in Dhandari and stole copper material on the intervening night of March 5 and 6. A total of 4.78 kg of copper wire and a crowbar were recovered from them. Mandeep Kumar of Shimlapuri, had complained to the Sahnewal police that miscreants scaled the wall of JK Enterprises in Dhandari on the intervening night of March 5 and 6. They decamped with 200 kg of copper wire and 350 pieces of copper hangers. He came to know about the theft when he opened his factory on March 6. The suspects were later identified as Neeraj of Azad Nagar, The suspects in custody of the Sahnewal police. TRIBUNE PHOTO Ludhiana, Dilip of Jotha village, Bhagalpur district, at present residing in Shepur, and Beeru of Sherpur. Sahnewal SHO Guljinderpal Singh along with the police team succeeded in arresting the trio, who were indulged in breaking into factories in night hours and decamping with goods. A case had been registered. They were presented before court and sent to police remand.
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