22072024-ATR-01.qxd 7/21/2024 10:37 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune MOTORCYCLIST KILLED, 2 INJURED IN ROAD MISHAP THIS MTV SPLITSVILLA X5 COUPLE IS IN NO MOOD TO SPLIT Digvijay Rathee and Unnati Tomar decide to take their relationship forward, outside the reality show format. P4 PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 37°C | MIN 29°C YESTERDAY MAX 38°C | MIN 28°C ANOTHER PROJECT OF DILJIT LINED UP FOR RELEASE A youth died while two others suffered injuries when a speeding car hit two bikes near Rayya. P2 FORECAST The actor-singer’s upcoming film, Sardaarji 3, is set to release in theatres on June 27, 2025. P4 » » SUNSET MONDAY 7.33 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 5:40 AM » MONDAY | 22 JULY 2024 | AMRITSAR General House defunct, MC fails to sell properties to generate revenue Govt approval required for selling commercial units | Earnings take a hit Charanjit Singh Teja FORMATION OF NEW GENERAL HOUSE MUST Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 21 Though the Local Bodies Department has asked the civic bodies to increase revenue from their own resources, the Amritsar Municipal Corporation has not been able to do so as it failed to sell its properties in the last few years. Selling of commercial units used to be a major source of revenue for the MC. In the absence of funds, the MC staff has been receiving salaries after delay and is facing hardships in the implementation of development projects. MC officials claimed that they need the approval of General House for the auction of properties but the House stands dissolved since January 21, 2023, pending fresh municipal elections. During the Congress regime, the General ❝ For the sale of vacant plots and properties, we need the government’s approval. After the nod, the price would be fixed by panel and then the General House will approve it. Until the formation of a new General House, we will not be able to sell properties. ❞ In the absence of funds, the MC staff has been receiving salaries after delay and is facing hardships in the implementation of projects. FILE DharminderJeet Singh, ESTATE OFFICER House had approved a proposal to sell its properties and collect Rs 20 crore. As per the rules, a price fixation committee, comprising MLAs and officials of the administration, should fix the rates to get approval from the government. After the formation of the AAP government, the proposal passed in MC House was cancelled. Now, the price fixation committee has not been constituted and even the General House is lying defunct. In the annual budget 2024-25, the Municipal Corporation targeted to earn Rs 20 crore from the sale of properties. However, the estate wing of MC is not able to sell the properties without the nod of the government. There are two types of MC properties. It owns 1,055 shops which are sublet to tenants. A number of tenants have been defaulters on rent for the last several years. The MC had proposed that the tenants buy the shops but later cancelled the proposal. There are some other vacant plots of MC, which have been identified for sale. These properties need the government’s approval for sale. DharminderJeet Singh, Estate Officer of Municipal Corporation, said, “We don’t want to sell our shops, which are on rent. The rent amount has been increased and we are getting good revenue from it. For the sale of vacant plots and properties, we need the government’s approval. After the government’s nod, the price would be fixed by committee and then the General House will approve it. Until the formation of a new General House, we will not be able to sell properties.” A CCTV grab of the robbery at a chemist shop on Majitha Road in Amritsar on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Chemist robbed at gunpoint Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 21 Two unknown armed persons looted Rs 30,000 cash from a chemist shop located on Majitha Road area here late last evening. Though the police have registered a case, it has yet to make any breakthrough so far. The accused entered the shop at around 8pm and stayed there for around two minutes. They bolted the doors from inside and ~30,000 looted, cops yet to arrest miscreants pointed gun at the owner. Harjit Singh, investigating officer, said the CCTV footage of the incident has been procured and further probe was on to identify and nab the robbers. Gautam Sharma, the complainant, said he runs a medical store at Nagina Avenue on Majitha road. He said he was present in the shop when two bike-borne persons stopped outside the shop and entered on the pretext of taking medicine. He said they had covered their faces with handkerchief. He said one of the accused pointed a pistol at him while the other bolted the doors. They forced him to sit on a side. Within minutes, they took out the cash from the box and sped away on their bikes. The police said an investigation was in progress in the case. Man arrested for issuing fake Lane driving is not sane driving for traffic violators Chaos on city roads points to lack of awareness among drivers, casualness in following rules sports certificates to players Manmeet Singh Gill Tribune News Service Racket aimed at helping aspirants get jobs, sports quota seats Amritsar, July 21 An interesting case of a conman, Abhilash Kumar, selling sports certificates to young players in lieu of money has surfaced after the registration of a case against him. Kumar had allegedly been running the racket in 15 states through his registered sports organisation. The investigating officer in the case, registered at Sadar police station’s Fatehgarh Churriyan chowki, said the accused had been arrested. He had duped budding players with the promise of a certificate of the district, state, national and international level to enable them to claim sports quota seats in educational insti- tutions and government departments for jobs. In return for issuing the certificates, Abhilash Kumar he used to charge a hefty sum from the players, who had not done much in their chosen sport. The accused Abhilash Kumar is a resident of Chand Avenue, situated on Fatehgarh Churriyan road. It has been learnt that the accused had been conducting matches of football, kabaddi, karate, basketball, kho-kho and other games. He had been doing all these under the aegis of a sports NGO. Amit Kumar, a victim, said the accused introduced himself as an office-bearer of a national sports federation. In his complaint to the police, he stated that Abhilash had claimed that his association was authorised to release certificates to sports persons which carry value in educational institutions and government jobs. So, the complainant said he had paid him about Rs 1.50 lakh. The FIR stated that the accused had been organising sports competitions in about 15 states besides Nepal. For holding sports competitions and issuing certificates, he had been charging a neat amount from different stakeholders, including players. — TNS Amritsar, July 21 It could be lack of awareness, not being mindful or the relentless urge to flout the law but not following the basic traffic rules is the biggest reason for chaos on the roads here. Seeing drivers in the extreme left lane when they wish to take a right turn at traffic intersections is not uncommon here. The same is true for those looking for an exit on the left but wait in the middle lane or the extreme right. “It seems that drivers these days are not aware that for taking a right turn, they should stay on the extreme right and those wanting to turn left should stay on the extreme left as the middle lane is for those going straight,” said an Traffic chaos at Putlighar Chowk in Amritsar on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTOS: SUNIL KUMAR old-timer Joginder Singh. Joginder Singh wonders that even as drivers are given training and have to undergo a test, they do not follow simple traffic norms. “May be something is wrong with the training or it means that all these are mere formalities,” he said. People changing lanes without any reason on a busy road rank high on the list of those who create traffic chaos in busy areas. Satwant Singh, another resident, said, “The biggest punishment for those not following the traffic norms would be to send them to a mandato- ry training session to freshen up their knowledge of traffic rules and etiquettes.” He said that not taking action against such violations encourages others to flout basic norms. A section of the residents opined that the problem of traffic jams and chaos in the city would get resolved to a great extent if all the drivers follow basic traffic norms. “The responsibility of staying in their lane lies with the drivers. We can spot people with SUVs driving on the wrong side of the road when U-turn is just a few meters on the other side.” Police Colony turns a graveyard of case property vehicles Reeling under debt burden, man kills self PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 21 Punjab police especially the lower rung police official are always a soft target as they face not only the maximum hours of the duty but also the criticism for poor law and order or corruption. But when it comes to provide facilities to them or their families, they perhaps come on the last of the priority list of the governments. The police quarters located near the office Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) and the Cantonment Police station is perfect example of this. These flats were crying for attention for long now. Many of the unsafe quarters were abandoned by the families and shifted outside for want of repair and maintenance. However, these were being occupied by some fourth class employees for their residential purpose risking their lives. Nonetheless, hundreds and thousands of case property Tribune News Service Huge number of case property vehicles dumped in the playground and in every nook and corner of Police Colony in Amritsar on Saturday. TRIBUNE PHOTOS vehicles have been dumped at every nook and corner of the society while repeated pleas before higher authorities have fallen in deaf ears. These vehicles were dumped into the only open park and playground for the children and residents of in the colony. The links roads connecting the colony with the main roads were also blocked and rendered of no use. This not only provides a shabby look to the colony but also become a breeding ground for insects and snakes that crept into their houses leading to panic. “We have met police commissioner in the past for a couple of times requesting them to remove the dump of case property vehicles as they become a nuisance for the families living there, but nothing was done so far,” said Meenu, resident of the locality. A boundary wall of a house collapsed during recent rains leaving it vulnerable. Not only snakes or insets but the unscrupulous elements can also enter the house from there, said Anjali Sharma. She said in the past also some thieves had targeted their house and decamped with valuables. Though a case was registered but nothing came out of it. There are over 100 flats and residential complexes where c m y b cops from HC to Inspector rank officials resides. Almost all of them were occupied. Some of the flats were even five decades old or so. “We pay significant amount as house rents from our salary. But authorities never bothered to maintain these quarters. We cannot afford to pay huge rents for living outside. Even we spent for whitewashing or little repairs from our pockets. We urge to hear our pleas and get these quarters repaired besides lifting the dump of case properties from the colony. Police Commissioner, Ranjit Singh Dhillon said the process of the disposing off the case properties is lengthy process and it takes times. As far as maintenance of these flats are concerned I was unaware of the issue and would do the needful, he added. Amritsar, July 21 A 32-year-old married man identified as Tanish Sachdeva, a resident of Ram Tirath Road, ended his life by consuming celphos tablets in Rani Ka Bagh area here yesterday. He was facing acute financial problems as he had taken loan from private loan sharks. Though he had returned the amount with interest, still the suspects asked him to return Rs 25 lakh standing against his name. He told his family members that he had taken a loan of Rs 27.44 lakh and returned Rs 48.91 lakh along with interest amount in different accounts. Among those booked included Shomil Mehra, Ishan Mehra, Rakesh Mehra, Bhanu Chopra, Aarish Arora and Sunil Kumar. A case under Sections 108, 3 (5) of Bhartiya Nayaya Sanhita (BNS) was registered against them though no arrest was made till now. Tanish Sachdeva Tarsem Kumar, father of the deceased, told the police that Tanish used to work as a medical representative in Sunpharma Company. He was living separately for the past six months. On Friday night, he got a message from him that he was going to end his life, he said. His car was found near a bakery in Rani Ka Bagh area and his health condition was very serious. He told that he had consumed celphos. He was taken to a private hospital from where he was referred to another hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
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