05072024-LT-01.qxd 7/5/2024 12:37 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune RENAMING GOVT SCHOOLS WON’T SOLVE PURPOSE SUPERSTARS RAJINIKANTH, KAMAL HAASAN IN ONE FRAME ANANT, RADHIKA CELEBRATE MOSALU CEREMONY Schools in rural areas, primary schools in congested city areas cry for immediate attention. P2 Megastars Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan pose together for a picture, which sent fans into a frenzy. P4 The family organised the spectacular event at their Mumbai residence, Antilia. P4 » » FORECAST CLOUDY MAX 31°C | MIN 27°C YESTERDAY MAX 33°C | MIN 26°C SUNSET FRIDAY 7.28 PM SUNRISE SATURDAY 5:27 AM » FRIDAY | 5 JULY 2024 | LUDHIANA INBRIEF MAN ARRESTED WITH PISTOL Heavy rain causes waterlogging, residents suffer Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana: The Tibba Road police on Thursday arrested Akash, alias Kohli, a resident of Gautam Colony, Jagirpur Road, from BK Resort, Gopal Nagar. The police recovered two country-made pistols, two live cartridges from the accused. A local court sent him to two-day police custody and investigation into the case was on. TNS TWO BOOKED FOR MURDER Jalandhar: The police have registered a murder case against Nikka and Keshav, both residents of Dugri, under Section 103 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at Dugri. The deceased has been identified as Sarwan Kumar (19). A complaint was lodged by Prem Paswan, father of the victim. He alleged the accused came to his house and asked for Sarwan. When he told them that Sarwan was sleeping, the accused asked to wake him up. After Sarwan met them, they allegedly thrashed him and hit a sharp weapon on his neck. Sarwan was admitted to Dayanand Medical College where he succumbed to his injuries. TNS Ludhiana, July 4 With the city receiving 49.2 mm of rainfall on Wednesday night, many stretches in Ludhiana have reported waterlogging resulting in traffic snarl-ups. Though the rain brought down the mercury and made the weather pleasant, motorists had a tough time negotiating waterlogged roads. The worst-hit areas included Civil Lines, BRS Nagar, Sarabha Nagar, Ferozepur Road, Salem Tabri, Jalandhar bypass, Dugri Road and Chandigarh Road among other areas of the city. Commuters faced inconvenience on waterlogged roads while some vehicles passing through waterlogged roads also developed snags and got stuck in the middle of the road. Moderate to heavy rainfall is likely to occur in most places on Friday. “I was passing through the newly opened underpass at Pakhowal Road and it was filled with water. It is not the only case but other underpasses like on Lodhi Club Road, South City Road and BRS Nagar, all get filled with water. Why all such details are not taken care of by the architects while planning,” asks Shweta, a city resident. Tall claims were made by the Municipal Corporation on rain preparedness, but nothing has been Last night’s 49.2-mm rainfall led to heavy waterlogging on the roads in different areas of the city, causing trouble to residents. PHOTOS: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN/INDERJEET VERMA Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana, said water-borne disease can be bacterial, viral and parasitic, many of which are gastro-intestinal pathogens. Many water-borne diseases such as giardiasis, cryptosporidiosis, hepatitis A & e viral infections, leptospirosis, typhoid and cholera can occur due to drinking of contaminated water, especially in the rainy season. Infection commonly results when this contaminated water is used for drinking purposes or consumption of cross contaminated food with poor quality water. Experts from the Centre for One Health, GADVASU, have advised the public to be aware of the water-borne diseases that normally increase during the rainy season. Preventive measures done to resolve the waterlogging problem in many parts of the city. The departments concerned even failed to ensure good quality road works, said Balbir Singh, a resident of Haibowal. Another resident further added that the city might have developed leaps and bounds and many projects have come up here but when it comes to providing basic facilities like water drainage during the rainy season, it fails to provide them same and the development of the city seem to be of no good. Keep water-borne diseases at bay Dr Jasbir Sigh Bedi, Director, Centre for One Health, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and People should take preventive measures like ensuring that water does not get accumulated in and around their houses. Periodic maintenance and disinfection of the household water storage tank is necessary to maintain water quality. The experts from veterinary university have recommended that the water tank may be disinfected at least twice a year and water should be periodically tested for the presence of microbes and other contaminants. There should be proper maintenance of filters; as the filters may act as a potential source of microbial contamination of water, if not cleaned from time to time. Two arrested for theft City’s wait for electric buses gets longer 559 vehicles challaned, Tribune News Service Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana, July 4 The police claimed to have solved the Rs 35 lakh theft case with the arrest of two accused Sumit, alias Tyagi, a resident of Basto Jodhewal, and Satyam, a resident of Jodhewal. The incident occurred near Doorja Enterprises, Radha Soami Satsang Ghar, Tibba Road, on July 2. The police cracked the case within 24 hours with the arrest of the two accused while two more involved in the case, including Vivek and Vipan, alias Tota, are still absconding. The accused in police custody in Ludhiana on Thursday. TRIBUNE PHOTO An amount of Rs 35 lakh was recovered from the accused. The investigation was on in the case and the accused were sent to threeday police remand. Ludhiana, July 4 City residents have been eagerly wait for the e-bus service to be launched in the city under the e-bus Sewa Scheme, but the wait seems to be getting longer and till then the Municipal Corporation (MC) has decided to continue with its existing city bus service and plans to involve Punjab Roadways Transport Corporation (PRTC) in the running of the city bus service. The city was supposed to get 100 electric buses under the scheme and will operate on a public-private partnership (PPP) model Civic body to continue city bus service and four bus depots will be set up as charging centres where fast charging points will fully charge the e-bus in 45 minutes and bus can run approximately 250 kilometers. Sandeep Rishi, Commis- sioner, Municipal Corporation, said it will take some time to start the e-bus service in the city and till then the city bus service will continue. “In the last meeting, it was discussed and we plan to hand over the running city bus service to PRTC as it is also government run and there will be no hassle of issuing tenders,” said MC chief Rishi. He further added that the private firm’s contract was terminated in February this year, which led to the return of 29 buses out of the 82 from the company. The e-bus service, which was expected to start in the city in May, got delayed due to the Lok Sabha elections. Now, the tendering process will start soon. “The city bus service is at present available on only two routes in the city and the e-bus service will take another three months to launch,” said Rishi. Gagan, a city resident, said it has been nearly 10 months since the announcement of the launch of e-bus service, but the wait seems to be getting longer. “It is a step taken in good direction, keeping in view the environment and authorities should launch it soon as it will be a step towards the greener city,” she said. Police crack whip on drug smugglers, 3 held Tribune News Service Residents of Jawahar Nagar Camp argue with a cop and block a stretch as they protest over the 48-hour power cut. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN Power cuts, water shortage irk residents Tribune News Service Ludhiana, July 4 Residents of Jawahar Nagar Camp held a protest on the main road against the authorities concerned as they had to bear the humid weather without power for the past two days. The residents protested and raised slogans against the authorities and the government and held them accountable for their miserable condition. The protesters, including women and children, were a harried lot due to the absence of power for about 48 hours due to which they were not even able to get the water supply. They said they were going here and there but nothing was done to provide relief to them and at last they had to come out, sit on the road to wake up authorities. The police were called later as there was a huge traffic jam. After the intervention of the police, the protesters dispersed. c m y b Ludhiana, July 4 Ever since the police have started to act tough on drug peddlers, cases are being registered on a daily basis and the number of arrests under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, has also risen. In the last 24 hours, three cases were registered at different police stations against the peddlers and prohibited tablets were recovered from them. In the first case, the Jamalpur police have arrested Raj Pandey from near 33 feet road with 300 intoxicating tablets. A case was registered under Sections 22, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act. The Focal Point police have also arrested Mandeep Kumar, a resident of Neechi Mangli area. He was apprehended from Sua Bridge, Ucchi Mangli and 70 tablets of Etizolam and 20 tablets of Alprazolam and a bike were seized from him. In yet another such incident, 380 tablets of Lomotil were recovered from Pawan Kumar, a resident of Tajpur road. The accused was arrested from near EWS colony near Tajpur Road. ~94 lakh fine collected TRAFFIC VIOLATION Ludhiana July 4 The Regional Transport Officer (RTO) has cracked the whip on the violators of the traffic rules and has slapped a fine of whopping Rs 94-lakh on them in Ludhiana district during the past six months, officials have said. Spearheading the sustained challaning drive, the RTO, Randeep Singh, has challaned at least 559 vehicles and impounded 353 vehicles, mostly heavy and including school buses, for various violations of the norms from January 1 to June 30. The development assumes significance as Ludhiana had earned the dubious distinction of being the most fatal district with maximum road accident deaths in the state during the past three years. The RTO said ever since the challaning drive was intensified following the complaints of gross traffic violations, endangering the lives of commuters and passengers, especially the school children travelling in the school buses. Taking serious note of the matter, he launched a special campaign to aware and edu- cate the vehicles drivers about the traffic rules but those who failed to pay heed to the repeated warnings, were challaned under the provisions of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019. “Challaning is a penal action. It is the last resort taken to save precious lives,” Randeep said. Most fatal district The gravity of the situation could be gauged from the fact that Ludhiana Commissionerate Police had reported a whopping 380 deaths in road accidents during 2021 against only 157 casualties, which account for even less than half, precisely 41.32 per cent, logged in the other two Police Commissionerates in Amritsar and Jalandhar. The rising trend in Ludhiana was contrary to the trend seen in the state, which had recorded an overall decline of 4.5 per cent in road fatalities during the past three years. Maximum black spots Ludhiana also tops the state with a maximum of 77 accident black spots, of which 55, which accounted for 71 per cent, were located on National Highways. — TNS Officials during a challan drive in Ludhiana. INDERJEET VERMA