24042024-ATR-01.qxd 4/24/2024 12:07 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune AAMIR KHAN LAUNCHES SONG PAPA KEHTE HAIN 2.0 LARA DUTTA'S CANDID TAKE ON RANNEETI: BALAKOT Actress Lara Dutta is all set to redefine the narrative with her upcoming web series Ranneeti: Balakot & beyond.P4 MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 36°C | MIN 20°C YESTERDAY MAX 29°C | MIN 19°C ACADEMY CHANGES RULES FOR OSCARS’ CEREMONY Actor Aamir Khan launched a new rendition of his iconic song Papa Kehte Hainfrom Qayamat Se Qayamat...P4 FORECAST In a bid to bolster traditional movie theatres, the Academy has revised the eligibility criteria for films. P4 » » SUNSET WEDNESDAY 7.06 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 5.50 AM » WEDNESDAY | 24 APRIL 2024 | AMRITSAR Man loses ~2L in online fraud; one booked Weak at roots, century-old tree falls at historic Company Bagh Our Correspondent Tribune News Service Tarn Taran, April 23 A swindler transferred a sum of Rs 2 lakh from the account of Tarsem Singh, a resident of Kallha village, six months back. The victim, identified as Tarsem Singh, in his statement to the police, said that the swindler somehow managed to transfer the amount from an account in a PNB branch at Adda Reshiana. The police have identified the accused as Ekamraj Motha, a resident of 314, Acharya Narendra Dev Nagar, Govindpur, Bhopal Hazoor, Madhya Pradesh. The investigation was initiated by the cyber crime cell of the district police. A case under Sections 420 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code and Section 43 of the Information and Technology Act, 2000, was registered against the accused by the police on Monday. Amritsar, April 23 Even as the historic Ram Bagh, known as Company Bagh, is an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)-protected site, a large number of fully grown old trees are falling prey to termite and rodents digging their burrows under their roots. In a recent incident, a large tree, which had dried up, crashed at Ram Bagh recently. Regular visitors to the Bagh say that the tree fell on its own five days ago. “Though it was a windy day, it was not sufficient enough to cause the fall of a large tree. Obviously, the tree collapsed due to the weakening of its roots caused by termite and rodents,” said Jagvir Singh, a visitor. A visit to the Bagh reveals that rats have dug burrows under each and every tree. Some of the trees are 100 years or older. And this is not the first instance of a tree being uprooted. Earlier too, a large tree near Children’s Wheat crop with more moisture content hindering procurement Officials worried recent rain may lead to hurried harvesting of crop Tribune News Service The dried tree collapsed around five days ago at Company Bagh in Amritsar on Tuesday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR Park had crashed as its stem was eaten up by termite. A visit to the Bagh also reveals that some superstitious people put grains into the burrows under trees. Apart from attracting a large number of joggers, the Bagh has become a favourite place for many people who offer grains to pigeons and rodents to ward off ‘evil spirts’ as is suggested by their tantriks and babas. Some residents say that apart from the historical buildings in the Bagh, old trees too are part of the heritage and need to be protected. “When the Bagh was developed during Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s time, he had brought many species from other places apart from native trees. A little care of these trees would not cost much,” said Vivek Sharma, another visitor. Amritsar, April 23 The district administration has appealed to the farmers not to bring wheat crop with moisture content more than the permissible limit to the grain markets. In a meeting held here today, the officials of Mandi Board informed Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori about the problems faced by procurement agencies due to more moisture content in the wheat grains. The officials feared that if the farmers continue to bring produce with more moisture, it would soon cause a shortage of space at the grain markets and affect the procurement process. On this, Deputy Commissioner Thori asked the officials involved in the pro- Minister faces ire as devotees pose ‘Complete Tung Dhab queries over ending drug menace drain project on time’ Charanjit Singh Teja Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 23 Cabinet minister Laljit Singh Bhullar, who is the Aam Aadmi Party candidate from Khadoor Sahib, faced the ire of devotees inside the parikrama of Darbar Sahib on the issue of drug abuse in the region today. Bhullar was here to apologise to the Ramgarhia and Sawarnkar communities for his ‘derogatory’ statement against them in a poll meeting at Patti a few days back. Bhullar visited the Ramgarhia Bunga, polished shoes of Sangat and washed utensils in langar. Meanwhile, some youngsters tried to question him regarding the free flow of Chitta (heroin) in the region. “We don’t have any other hope from the Aam Aadmi Party in the state. Not all drugs but at least Chitta should have been curbed in the state. They can’t do anything else. But the youth are dying and mothers are los- Amritsar, April 23 Highly contaminated and toxic water in the Tung Dhab drain is a major cause of concern for the residents living in localities nearby and they want the political parties and candidates to provide a concrete solution to the problem. Residents of more than 50 localities, from Verka to Ram Tirath Road, are affected by the foul smell and toxic gases emanating from the drain. The residents stated that no poll candidate or political party has yet made any commitment with timelines or clear projectbased resolution of the issue. However, SAD candidate Anil Joshi claimed that he had covered a nullah at Majitha Road when his party was in power earlier and now if he gets elected as an MP he would get Tung , Dhab drain covered too. However, as per guidelines of National Green Tribunal (NGT), the Tung Dhab drain cannot be covered as it is a storm water drain. A project for Cabinet Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar (C) at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO ing sons. They (AAP) had promised to end the drug menace but failed to do anything,” they said. Responding to media queries, Bhullar stated that the youth did not oppose him but advocated the government’s policy to end the drug menace. “We also think of curbing drugs that claim the lives of thousands of Punjabi youth. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann gave directions to the police officials to end the drug menace,” he said. Bhullar claimed that he met the office-bearers of Ramgarhia Sabha and Sawarnkar Association and apologised for his statement. Earlier, he apologised in Facebook live to all the community members but the agitated members of Ramgarhia and Sawarnkar communities held demonstrations against Bhullar and AAP government all over the state. Foreign dreams tempered by realism portrayed in play ‘Mein Kittey Nai Gya’ Tribune News Service GNDU theatre festival begins with play Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 23 The play ‘Main Kittey Nai Gya’ written by Kulwinder Khaira and directed by Rajinder Singh was staged on the third day of the 23rd National Theatre Festival at Manch-Rangmanch. The festival is being staged in collaboration with Virsa Vihar Society. The play itself was presented by the team of Lok Kala Manch, Mulanpur. With the theme of youth migration central to its plot, the play highlighted the cause of young Indians who are struggling to survive in a country amid a chaos of generational change, aspirations, social and political upheavals. Often they run away to countries like Canada in the hope of a better life, just like the protagonist of the play, only to fall victim to corruption and exploitation in a nexus between drug mafia, Play Mein Kittey Nai Gya being staged at the Virsa Vihar in Amritsar. opportunists and other adverse circumstances. Finally, the dream of Bhagat Singh awakens inside him and he vows to come out of the swamp of drugs and fight against the corrupt society. While the climax of the play sends across a message of hope and resurrection, many are not given that chance in reality. Amritsar, April 23 Guru Nanak Dev University’s (GNDU) third theatre festival, spanning five days, commenced with Dr Amandeep Singh, Director, Youth Welfare Department, Navneet Randhey of Awaz Rangmanch and Dr Sunil, professor in-charge of Drama Club and Head, Department of Hindi, presiding over the inaugural ceremony. The opening day of the festival featured the play ‘Khadd’, directed by Kanwal Randhey and scripted by Pali Bhupinder Singh. ‘Khadd’ artfully illuminated the depths of human psyche, challenging societal norms and fostering liberation from orthodox thinking and rigidity. Acknowledging the play’s message and performances by actors including continued on page 2 c m y b channelisation of Tung Dhab and Gumtala Drain with concrete lining and segregation of industrial sewage in a covered channel is under consideration. “The drainage department has already submitted a proposal to concrete line the drain from bottom and on both sides and lay two parallel pipelines for effluent discharge and sewerage from rural Amritsar and other untreated release. The proposal before the Model Code of Conduct came into force was forwarded by the Deputy Commissioner’s office to the Secretary, Water Resources Department, for further action and release of funds. A separate sewerage-cum-effluent treatment plant has been proposed by the drainage department to treat the release collected from these pipelines. Once the project is implemented, the drain will be dry as before and only act as a seasonal storm water drain,” said Yogesh Kamra, an activist from Amritsar Vikas Manch. A farmer inspects the wheat crop in his fields after rain at Naushera Khurd village near Amritsar on Tuesday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR curement process to ensure that farmers only bring fully ripened crop which has moisture content of less than 12 per cent. The recent showers in the region which continued in the city on Tuesday morning, has created alarm among the wheat growers and it is feared that it would hasten the harvesting. The district agriculture officials stated that panic harvesting due to unfavourable weather conditions would go against the farmers as they would not be able to sell their crop. Agriculture experts stated that though it had rained on many occasions in the past few days, it had not caused any adverse effect on the wheat crop as the showers were scanty. Meanwhile, grain markets in the district witnessed the arrival of 27,884 metric tonnes of wheat on Tuesday. With this, the total arrival so far has reached 69,805 MT with a total procurement of 47,254 MT out of which 41,768 MT has been procured by government agencies. With this, nearly 68 per cent of the wheat crop has been procured. Mandi Board officials stated that most of the unsold crop is the stock with more moisture content. They stated that if farmers bring ‘dry ’ crop to the market, it would be procured instantly, without any delay. LSelection: Bhagtanwala dump takes centre stage GS Paul Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 23 With the Lok Sabha poll around the corner, Amritsar city’s “solid waste management” issue has taken the centre stage. After the SAD, the Congress and the AAP failed to address the issue, BJP’s candidate, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, has now promised the electorate to set things in order once voted to power. Located just 1.8 km away from the Golden Temple, 30foot high mountains of waste spread on 25 acres of land at Bhagtanwala dump can be spotted from a distance. Ironically, this dump yard is adjacent to Amritsar grain market and around 60,000 persons residing in the surrounding localities suffer from respiratory and skin diseases. Though Amritsar had three Local Bodies Ministers — Anil Joshi (SAD- Bhagtanwala residents show the mounds of garbage piled up. BJP 2012-2017), Navjot Singh Sidhu (Congress 2017-2019) and Inderbir Singh Nijjar (AAP 20222023) — seldom any concrete efforts were made to fulfil their pre-poll promises of addressing the issue. “It is unfortunate that residents have been compelled to live in hell-like conditions for over a decade. Shifting this dump out of the city limits will be on my priority list. I believe that none of the MPs or ministers in the past made sincere efforts to resolve the issue. I appeal to people to elect the person who has the capability and access to get the things done,” said Sandhu. Prior to the 2017 Assembly poll, the then SAD MLA (South) Inderbir Singh Bolaria had shifted his allegiance to the Congress citing the Bhagtanwala dump issue as one of the core reasons of his differences with the Akali Dal. Though Bolaria was elected again in 2017, the problem remained unresolved. City localities face drinking water crisis Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 23 Even as summer is yet to set in fully, potable water crisis has emerged as a serious problem in several localities of the city. Despite spending a heavy amount on digging bore wells and installing motors, a large number of tube-wells break down every year. Ironically, there are some areas where residents are not receiving water supply due to non-functional motors. The residents of Pawan Nagar main bazaar in ward number 26, Rambagh area in ward number 51 and Tung Pai area on Batala road complained about the supply of contaminated water. Water supply is also facing disruption in Sandhu Colony on Batala road, localities near Sikka Gas Agency, Godown road, Batala road and zone number 7. The residents of Kabir Park and Guru Tegh Bahadur Colony stated that Gujrat Gas Ltd is laying a gas pipeline in the locality, dig- Tubewells have been lying defunct in many city areas. SUNIL KUMAR ging up roads in the process that is badly affecting water supply. There is no MC official to take care of the grievances. Even the employees of the gas company do not pay heed to their problems. The residents of Street No. 5, Guru Gobind Singh Nagar (East) and Majitha road are also affected. The water pump has been lying defunct at New Golden Avenue, resulting in residents not getting water supply for three days. The water pumps at Choti Park, Tikoni Park and Dhingra Complex park are also not functional. There is no water supply in the area near Panj Peer, Golden Complex, New Golden Avenue and Jodha Fatak. Residents at Preet Nagar, Batala Road, Murabbe Wali Gali at Tarn Taran road, Basant Avenue and Abadi Karampura near Mental Hospital are also facing water issues. Leakage has been reported on GT road in front of Bharat Petroleum near Vishal Mega Mart, Chheharta. Water is accumulating in front of all shops because of the leakage, said Sukhchain Singh Dhillon, a local resident. Deepak, a resident, said, “We have been facing inconvenience as the water pump in our area is lying defunct. It has broken down yet again, the third or fourth time this month. The frequent breakdown of the water pump is causing significant inconvenience to all residents. Each time it fails, we are left without access to essential water supply, disrupting our daily lives and routines.”
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