19062024-LT-01.qxd 6/19/2024 12:36 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune BE CAUTIOUS WHILE SERVING LANGAR, VOLUNTEERS TOLD RATHORE STYLES DILJIT FOR DIL-LUMINATI TOUR ALKA YAGNIK REVEALS SHE HAS A ‘RARE HEARING LOSS’ Organisers have been urged to be cautious while serving sweetened water and food to motorists. P2 The singer-actor has joined hands with the designer to promote Indian heritage through his ‘concert’ looks. P4 Singer diagnosed with a rare sensory neural nerve hearing loss due to a viral attack. P4 » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 42°C | MIN 31°C YESTERDAY MAX 42°C | MIN 30°C SUNSET WEDNESDAY 7.27 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 5:20 AM » PHOTO: ASHWANI DHIMAN WEDNESDAY | 19 JUNE 2024 | LUDHIANA The mangled remains of the car and two-wheelers in Ludhiana. 2 minors critical in freak accident Ludhiana, June 18 Four persons, including two minors, were hit by a rashly driven SUV near Government High School on Jawandha Road here on Tuesday. Both the children suffered serious leg injuries and were admitted to a hospital for treatment. The car was being driven by a woman. According to the information, the car was being driven at the speed of 100kmph and the vehicle went out of control and rammed into the pedestrians. The injured children have been identified as Anand and Vikas. A total of four people were injured in the accident. The impact of the collision activated the air bags of the car and damaged the windshield of the car. Three motorcycle that came on the way were also damaged by the car. The police reached the spot and took the girl who was driving the car to the police station. ACP West Guriqbal Singh said that kin of the injured had not lodged a complaint as family of the errant woman driver had assured to pay for the full treatment of the injured. Meanwhile, residents demanded that the police should start a campaign against the overspeeding so that such incidents should not happen again. — TNS Waste clogs drain, poses risk of overflow during monsoon Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana, June 18 The monsoon is approaching and ahead of that Barsati nullah, rain-fed drain, is full of garbage and can lead to waterlogging during the monsoon. The nullah passes through Bhadaur House, Damoria bridge, Naali Mohalla and ultimately flows into Buddha Nullah. Huge quantity of trash, especially single-use plastic, had accumulated in the nullah and nearby shopkeepers and residents were worried about the coming rainy season. Harjinder Singh, a shopkeeper near Damoria Bridge, said if the nullah is not cleared, there is huge risk of overflow or waterlogging in surrounding areas. The nullah is covered at various places but it is open near Damoria Bridge and Bhadaur House which has led to huge accumulation of garbage especially polythenes which can cause blockage. Another area resident, Om Cool delight Barsati nullah, which passes through Bhadaur House, Damoria Bridge, Naali Mohalla, clogged with garbage and plastic. INDERJEET VERMA Parkash said the nullah is around 60-year-old and every year water gets accumulated around Damoria Bridge. “The waste was being dumped into the drain for long. People should understand their moral duty and not dump waste into the drain and authorities should also take action against the violators,” he said. A doctor who runs a clinic near Bhadaur House said that foul smells emit from this Nullah and it becomes difficult to pass through this stretch. “With summer season, this place stinks very badly and has become haven for flies,” he said. Every year water gets accu- mulated around the nullah especially around Damoria bridge. The area is turned into pool of water but seems authorities have failed to learn from its past lessons. Meanwhile Municipal Corporation Ludhiana (MC) has started cleaning buddha nullah before the onset of monsoon by deploying machinery and staff at different points of the nullah. Apart from this, machinery has also been deployed for cleaning the internal drains of the city including Dharampura drain/Dhokka Mohalla Nullah and Barewal drain. Barsati Nullah will also be cleaned in the coming days, said MC officials. Key accused at large, victim’s kin block highway Tribune News Service Ludhiana, June 18 It has been four days since the death of a youth who was set on fire in Jagraon by a group of individuals, but the kin of the deceased are yet to perform the last rites of the deceased. The family memebers today blocked the Barnala-Jalandhar highway in Jagraon, demanding arrest of the key accused, Vijay Kumar, and four others. On the night of June 4, victim Manpreet had an argument with some youth following which the latter sprinkled petrol on him and set him on fire. On June 13, the victim succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in Faridkot. Rakesh Kumar, the father of the deceased, the incident happened 14 days ago. Even four days after Manpreet’s death, the police have not arrested the main accused. He said that earlier when they had closed the BarnalaJalandhar highway three days ago, the police had asked for one day’s time. He also alleged that on the day the case was registered, all the accused were at home but the police did not catch them. Govt depts bleed PSPCL, Cop among 5 booked owe crores in power arrears for abetting suicide Tribune News Service Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Women relish ice-cream on a hot sunny afternoon in Ludhiana. TRIBUNE PHOTO: ASHWANI DHIMAN Ludhiana, June 18 City residents have been regularly complaining about unscheduled power outages, higher electricity rates and imbalance between supply and demand of electricity amid searing heat. One of the reasons for such sorry state of affairs is that most of the government agencies owe the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) crores of rupees in unpaid electricity bills. As per sources in the department in Ludhiana, many government departments have failed to deposit the pending power bills, the amounts of which are in several crores. The PSPCL supplies power to about 54 departments. The majority of the departments owe crores of rupees to power corporation. These include Local Bodies Department Rs 87.26 crore, Water Supply and Sanitation Rs 53 crore, Health and Family Welfare Rs 26.56 crore, Rural Development and Panchayat Rs 21.15 crore, Home Affair and Jails Rs 5 crore, District Courts and continued on page 2 Ludhiana, June 18 The police on Monday registered a case against a police constable, his parents and two others for abetting the suicide of his wife Sonia. The accused have been identified as Mandeep Singh, a resident of police quarters Sidhwan Bet, his parents, Rajiv and Ravi. A case was registered on the complaint of deceased’s brother Raman Kumar. The complainant alleged that his elder sister got married to Mandeep in 2017. Yesterday morning, Mandeep called and asked us to reach Sidhwan Bet as Sonia is not well. When they reached his sister’s house, they were shocked to see that she was already dead. “My sister had told my parents that Mandeep was having an illicit affair with another woman. Whenever confronted, he would assault her,” he alleged. The complainant said on June 16, Mandeep thrashed Sonia and next day she was found hanging from the ceiling fan. The police said an investigation has been launched in the case. MC begins fire audit of factories, commercial buildings Akhara residents oppose bio-gas Nikhil Bhardwaj FIRE NOCS ISSUED FROM 2019 TO 2022 Tribune News Service Ludhiana, June 18 For the first time in its history, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation has started fire audit in factories and other commercial units. The development took place after Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney issued the necessary instructions to MC and fire department. The DC had asked the MC to submit fire audit report within 10 days but due to staff shortage, the MC has found the task tedious. MC Commissioner Sandeep Rishi told Tribune here on Tuesday that the fire audit had already been started. “We have audited about 100 units including factories, restaurants so far. There are thousands of units in the industrial hub and we also don’t have enough staff for the task, still we will complete the audit as soon as possible. The erring units would first be served notices and then action, including ceiling of factories, will follow if the owners do not conform to the norms,” added Rishi. It is pertinent to mention here that even after so many years, the civic body and fire depart- ■ HIndustrial units ■ Marriage palaces ■ Godown ■ Commercial ■ Schools ■ Hospital ■ Shopping mall ■ Coaching centre ■ Total 1,141 76 69 25 1,541 393 32 24 3,801 SHORTAGE OF MANPOWER HAMPERS EFFORTS We have audited 100 units including factories, restaurants so far. There ❝thousands of unitsaboutwe also don’t have enough staff for the task, still we will are and complete the audit. The erring units would first be served notices and then action, including ceiling of factories, will follow. Sandeep Rishi, MC COMMISSIONER ❞ ment have failed to carry out fire audit in the industrial and commercial buildings. This is despite the fact that a detailed fire audit was announced in 2017 after a building collapsed at Suffian chowk. The authorities only talked about carrying out checking in the buildings to ensure fire safety arrangements. The fire and building collapse incident in Amarsons Polymers had happened on November 20, 2017 killing 16 people including nine firefighters. The incident had forced the authorities to announce an audit of all buildings in the city, especially the commercial and industrial ones, as it had come to light that highly flammable chemicals were stored inside the unit without any permission in this incident. There are around 4.25 lakh properties in the city accord- ing to the MC and of these at least two lakh properties come under commercial and industrial categories. The officials, however, blamed the shortage of manpower for not being able to conduct any audit and also claimed that it is the duty of the residents to get the fire NOCs. Even now, whenever there is any fire incident in the city, it invariably comes to light that hardly any fire safety c m y b arrangements have been made by the owners and most of the time, only fire extinguishers are found. There are areas where industrial units work from households and they are in danger zone, still there is no awareness. Punjab Fire and Emergency Service Act, still awaited Fire officials are waiting eagerly for the implementation of Punjab Fire and Emergency Service Act 2022 a draft of which is already ready and waiting for the final nod before implementation. Fire officials claimed that the Act will make third party audit mandatory for the owners of buildings along with some more powers to the fire brigade, including checking the premises after serving notice three hours prior to it. Only 5,700 NOCs issued in five years The Fire Department of Ludhiana has issued about 5,700 fire NOCs in the past five years. The number of NOCs issued is far less than the available commercial establishments in the industrial hub. Fire NOCs issued in 2023 till December 26 were 1,896. plant, gherao MLA’s residence Tribune News Service Ludhiana, June 18 Akhara village residents on Tuesday gheraoed the residence of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Sarvjit Kaur Manuke at Jagraon to protest the setting up of bio-gas plant at the village. They blamed the MLA for failing to take up the issue of setting up the plant, which will degrade the environment. Notably, protests were already going on in several villages, including Bhundari, Akhara, Ghungrali Rajputan and Mushkabad. A bio-gas plant at Ghungrali Rajputan village was already functional, but operation of the same was also stopped by the villagers a few days back. Meanwhile, experts said if farmers are claiming that setting up of bio-gas plants pollute the environment, they should also think of the environment degradation caused by stubble burning. However, farmers said apart from burning, managing stubble incurs huge expenditure. The legislator assures committee members of meeting with CM Mann Environmentalist and social activist Kuldeep Singh Khaira said any kind of pollution whether caused by farmers through stubble burning or by industry is not acceptable. “Farmers cause environment pollution by burning stubble for about two weeks only but what about industrial pollution which runs for the whole year. No official dares to take action. Ludhiana’s Buddha Dariya has been made Buddha Nullah and industrial waste being illegal flowed into it is responsible. Leaders lack will to take action against such violations on ground,” added Khaira. Dr Sukhdev Singh Bhundari, a leader of Sangharsh Committee against Bio-gas Plants, said protest lasted for about two hours. MLA Manuke came out of her house and accepted the memorandum of demands. The MLA assured that she would arrange a meeting of the committee with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. “Four bio-gas plants are being set up near the populated area in Ludhiana district. Interestingly these places have been declared dark zone where ground water is already over exploited. With the setting up these plants, there would be excess use of ground water which will further hit the groundwater level,” said Singh. Singh further said cow dung , sugarcane waste etc would be used to produce bio-gas and during it’s process, foul smell spreads in the area. “We also showed to the authorities that how the operational bio-gas plant at Ghungrali Rajputan in Khanna was degrading the environment. They had dug up wells where they were dumping waste generated from the plant. Even villagers had also apprised officials about the foul smell emanating from the plant,” added Singh.
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