14102024-ATR-01.qxd 13-10-2024 23:03 Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 33°C | MIN 19°C YESTERDAY MAX 33°C | MIN 19°C INDISCRIMINATE AXING OF TREES BLOW TO NATURE'S DIVERSITY MALLIKA KANDALI, A FIRM BELIEVER IN INDIAN TRADITIONS ADITI RAO HYDARI TURNS MUSE FOR TARUN TAHILIANI Nature and nurture go hand in hand, sustainable development is crucial, say residents. P2 Says one should follow the path laid down by Bhakti saints to deal with complexities of modern-day life. P4 Dressed in a blue flowy outfit, she unveiled the designer’s sub-brand, OTT, at Lakme Fashion Week. P4 » » » SUNSET MONDAY 5.59 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 6.33 AM MONDAY | 14 OCTOBER 2024 | AMRITSAR Farmers protest shortage of DAP, tardy procurement Police register 8 FIRs in farm fire cases Amritsar, October 13 With no let-up in the number of farm fire instances in Punjab, especially Amritsar which is on top of the list, the Amritsar rural police have started registering FIRs in the connection. A majority of cases were being registered against unknown land owners where the raiding police and administrative officials found stubble burning. In the past two days, the police have registered eight FIRs and seven of them were against unknown persons. Only the Jandiala police have booked a farmer, Sandeep Singh, of Makhanwindi village. Besides Jandiala, cases were registered at Rajasansi, Bhindi Saida, Kamboh, Ramdass, Mattewal and Lopoke. Till now, Amritsar has recorded the highest number (269) of instances of farm fires followed by Tarn Taran with 132. Earlier, the police were laid stress on imposing fines on the erring farmers, besides issuing a warning to them to desist from putting paddy residue on fire. As a significant rise was seen in farm fire cases, the state government asked the police to take strict action and register FIRs against the offenders. — TNS Say rice milled during the last season still lying in shellers Tribune News Service Passengers wait for trains at the Amritsar railway station on Sunday. Passengers bear the brunt as several trains delayed Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 13 Commuters faced great inconvenience as several trains were delayed, short terminated and originated with farmers blocking the railway line here on Sunday. As a result, many trains were diverted via Tarn Taran leading to wastage of time. As per the records of the Railways, the farmers blocked the rail traffic from 12 pm to 3.50 pm, but it upset the schedule of trains till 9 pm. The Delhi- Amritsar Shatabdi via Tarn Taran arrived at 3.05 pm instead of its scheduled time of 1.30 pm. Consequently, its departure was delayed by 20 minutes. A pair of passenger train between Bhagtanwala to Khemkaran was cancelled. A pair of Ludhiana to Chheharta train was short terminated at the Tangra railway station. Arvind Juneja, a trader by profession, who frequently commutes to Delhi for business purpose, said travel time got extended without any reason. They had to stay at the station for quite a while leading to their harassment. Passengers also complained of wasting additional time in commuting as the trains were diverted via Tarn Taran which takes longer time. Vendors at the local railway station and hawkers who sell eatables in trains fear that shortduration stirs may lead to frequent blocking of the railway line. It would cause them financial losses as passengers would have to stay away from the railway station. Amritsar, October 13 Farmers held protests at various places in the district accusing the government of failing to make proper arrangements for the procurement of paddy and shortage of DAP required for sowing of wheat. The protests were held at Putlighar, Kukrawala, the Verka railway crossing and other places. Farmer leaders associated with the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha complained that rice milled during the last season is still lying in the shellers and as such there is no space for storing fresh stock. Farmer leader Rattan Singh Randhawa of the Jamhoori Kisan Sabha, while leading the protest at Putlighar, said, “The Central Government has once again taken a stand which is against the interests of the agrarian community.” He said the Central Government should have shifted the rice stored in the mills to make space for new produce. Randhawa said farmers are Farmers during a protest at the Vallah railway track in Amritsar on Sunday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR also being paid less than the minimum support price announced by the government on one pretext or other. He added that state government too has failed to make arrangements of DAP for sowing of wheat. “Sowing of wheat is going to start within a week and farmers are not able to get the fertiliser,” said Jatinder Singh Chinna of the Kirti Kisan Union during the protest at Kukrawala. He said the state government had also failed to take up the issue of rice stocks lying at mills of the Central Government. Chinna said SKM would be forced to announce a bigger action if the government failed to sort out the issues associated with procurement of paddy. Farmer leaders also highlighted the issue of low prices of basmati. Parminder Singh of the BKU Ekta Ugraha during the protest at the Verka railway crossing said, “First the farmers have to fight to get fertilizers to sow their crops and then when the crop is ready they again have to fight to sell it.” He said providing sufficient fertilizers and procurement are responsibility of the government which it has failed to fulfil. Fire in blanket factory reduces 10 months after youth’s Farmers disbursed ~43.08 cr for goods worth crores to ashes death, police file case paddy procurement in district Tribune News Service Short-circuit likely reason behind fire; no casualty reported Tarn Taran, October 13 A major fire broke out at Kochar Sung Up Acrylic (blanket factory), Gohalwar, here on Saturday night. Two units, knitting and carpeting, of the factory were reduced to ashes in fire causing a loss of crores of rupees. However, there was no loss of life. A short-circuit is said to be the cause of the fire. Around 2,000 workers are employed at the factory, but due to the Dasehra festival, there was no worker in the factory otherwise the fire would have claimed many precious lives. The fire was so big that 15 fire tenders, called in from Tarn Taran, Patti, Amritsar, Kapurthla, Sultanpur Lodhi, Jandiala Guru, Gurdaspur and others places, were pressed into service to douse the fire. The fire started at about 7.30 pm and could be brought under control at 7 am on Sunday. Inspector Harjinder Singh, SHO, Tarn Taran (City), said on being informed about the fire incident, a police team reached the The blanket factory in Tarn Taran on Saturday. spot and fire tenders were called from fire stations based in some other district. He said the rescue operation was carried out the whole night and the fire could be controlled early in the morning. Surinder Singh Dhillon, Fire Officer, Tarn Taran, said the firefighting system of the factory was of no help as the water motor failed to start and the underground fire pipes too were not functional. There was no water stock in the fac- PHOTO: GURBAXPURI tory complex. He said the fire tenders had to go to nearby industrial units to fetch water to control the fire. Workers of the factory said the knitting and carpeting units have totally been reduced to ashes. The sheds of the factory have been collapsed. The SHO said the police team reached the spot as soon as the news of the fire was received by it. The factory had also suffered a huge loss due to fire about eight years ago. — OC Amritsar, October 13 Ten months after a youth was found dead under mysterious circumstances at Akalgarh Dhapiyan village, the Jandiala police have now booked a youth for his murder. The family members had to approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court for registering an FIR in this regard. Avtar Singh, father of the victim, alleged that his son Vipin Singh (22), a gym owner, was strangled to death by Arshdeep Singh of his village. He has been arrested and further probe was on. Vipin had gone to his gym on December 28 while his body was found in a canal minor distributary in the village next day. The police had taken inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC at that time. Now the police have registered a murder case (under Section 302, IPC) against Arshdeep in this regard. Mukhtiar Singh, SHO, Jandiala Guru police station, said the case was registered after an autopsy report which confirmed strangulation as the prime cause behind Vipin’s death. Avtar Singh said his elder son Vipin used to run a gym in the village after taking a plot on rent. He said during this period, he met with accused Arshdeep Singh who along with him used to work out there. He said the accused borrowed ~1 lakh from the victim while promising to return it soon. Vipin wanted to construct another gym on the Tarsikka road. He needed money for the same and asked Arshdeep to repay him the money, but he did not. This led to a dispute between them and the accused allegedly strangled him to death, alleged Avtar Singh. He said he made rounds of the police station which did not register an FIR in the case. He said finding no other way, they approached the high court which ordered the registration of a case in the matter. Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 13 With the total procurement of parmal varieties by the government procurement agencies reaching 35,183 metric tonnes on Saturday, farmers have been disbursed ~43.08 crore. Reviewing the progress of the procurement, Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney held a meeting with officials of various departments and asked them to expedite lifting of stocks from mandis to generate space for fresh arrivals from agricultural fields. The Deputy Commissioner said the purchase of basmati by private traders is also going on smoothly and so far, 3.32 lakh MT basmati has been procured. She said officials of the administration are ensuring that farmers get payment for their crop within 48 hours. Meanwhile, Dr Ajay Gupta and Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjer, MLAs of the ruling party, also visited grain markets and claimed that the AAP govern- Labourers busy at the Bhagtanwala grain market in Amritsar on Sunday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR ment has done a massive work to ensure smooth procurement. Dr Nijjer claimed that the lifting of paddy from mandis has broken all records this season as the stocks is being shifted immediately. Farmers too are not facing any problem. He said farmers should bring dry crop to the markets so that it could be procured instantly. Meanwhile, the district administration, while taking note of the reports that farm- ers are being manipulated into selling their crop at a rate less than the minimum support price, has stated that action would be taken against the commission agent concerned, inspector of the mandi board and officials of procurement agencies if such reports are found true. The administration has also asked the farmers to bring such complaints to the Deputy Commissioner’s notice. Vernacular journalist assaulted, suffers multiple fractures Chief Secretary KAP Sinha pays obeisance at Golden Temple Ravi Dhaliwal Tribune News Service Batala, October 13 Romesh Bahl, a vernacular journalist, suffered multiple fractures after being assaulted by miscreants here on Saturday. The incident has come under criticism from politicians of opposition parties with almost all of them demanding the immediate arrest of Batala AAP MLA Sherry Kalsi “for his role in the episode.” Bahl has been admitted to a private hospital. Doctors said he had suffered multiple fractures on both his legs and arms. SSP Suhail Qasim Mir claimed the cops had identified the attackers. “We will be arresting the accused soon,” he said. In a statement from his hospital bed, Bahl claimed that he had identified one of the attackers as Manek Mehta, a close aide of Batala AAP MLA Sherry Kalsi. Kalsi, however, denied the allegations. “I distance myself from the incident. I have nothing to do with the attack,” he said. Bahl had a steady stream of visitors since early morning. Leader of Opposition (LoP) Partap Singh Bajwa said there was a complete breakdown of the law-and-order machin- ery in the city. “I fail to understand the role of the police. Why are officers not investigating the role of the MLA? He needs to be investigated because Bahl has been repeatedly taking the name of one of his close aides as one of the attackers. It is an open secret that Bahl had been running stories against the MLA which had angered him. This is a serious matter and needs to be thoroughly investigated,” he said. Partap, who along with Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Gurdaspur MLA Barindermeet Singh Pahra, had reached the hospital in the morning. MP Randhawa said, “What was holding the police back from registering an FIR against the MLA? The cops, the MLA and his goons are hand in glove with each other. The law-and- order situation in this city is a total mess. Grave injustice is being done to Romesh Bahl. It is high time cops wake up from their slumber and arrest the accused.” Congressmen of the city were quick to release photos of AAP leaders, including Manek Mehta, sitting on chairs meant for government officials in the local Municipal Corporation. Prominent among the c m y b leaders who visited the hospital were Batala Mayor Sukhdeep Singh Teja, Municipal Councillor Harinder Singh, Congress block president Sanjeev Sharma, Congress leader Amandeep Jantipur and social activist Jagjot Singh Sandhu. Meanwhile, senior SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema in a tweet said, “I strongly condemn the attack on Romesh Bahl who has been hospitalised in a serious condition. I hope the Punjab CMm DGP and judiciary will listen to the shocking revelations made by Bahl and take strict action against the culprits.” Amritsar, October 13 Punjab Chief Secretary KAP Sinha on Sunday paid obeisance at the Golden Temple and Sri Durgiana Mandir in Amritsar. After paying obeisance at Sri Darbar Sahib, the Chief Secretary performed the traditional ‘parikrama’ around the holy place. He also listened to the Gurbani kirtan. After this, he was honoured by SGPC officials. He also visited Sri Durgiana Temple, where his visit was acknowledged by the mandir committee. Sinha said after assuming the responsibility of the new post, he has come to take blessings from ‘Guru Ghar’ and express his grat- Punjab Chief Secretary KAP Sinha (centre) during a visit to the Golden Temple in Amritsar. itude.HesaidtheLordhasblessed himtoservepeopleofPunjabwith sincerity and dedication. On the occasion, Deputy Commission- er (Amritsar) Sakshi Sawhney, SDM Mankanwal Singh Chahal and DCP Harpreet Singh Mander were also present. — TNS
The Tribune, now published from Chandigarh, started publication on February 2, 1881, in Lahore (now in Pakistan). It was started by Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, a public-spirited philanthropist, and is run by a trust comprising four eminent persons as trustees.
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