26102024-JTR-01.qxd 10/25/2024 11:30 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune ISLAMIA SCHOOLS CELEBRATE CENTENARY OF ESTABLISHMENT PATIALA LAUNCHES INITIATIVE TO CURB FARM FIRES BISHNOIS BURN EFFIGIES OF SALMAN KHAN, SALIM KHAN Islamia Senior Sec School, managed by the Punjab Wakf Board in Chandigarh, celebrated its 100th anniversary. P3 In an effort to combat air pollution, the Patiala administration has launched ‘Satth ch Gall ate Hall’ programme. P3 The Bishnoi community burnt effigies of Salman Khan and his father, who termed him ‘innocent’ in the poaching case. P4 » » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 32°C | MIN 16°C YESTERDAY MAX 32°C | MIN 17°C SUNSET SATURDAY 5.44 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 6.40 AM SATURDAY | 26 OCTOBER 2024 | JALANDHAR Who will clear Jalandhar roads? Festive season is here, so are encroachments & traffic jams Aakanksha N Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Jalandhar, October 25 Festive season is here, so are the encroachments on roads and the consequent ‘neverending’ traffic jams in the city. The Jyoti Chowk, Saidan Gate near Milap Chowk, Rainak Bazar, Nakodar Road, Phagwara Gate, Partap Bagh, Guru Nanak Pura Market, Shekha Bazar, Shastri market and the Kishanpura market witness maximum encroachments during these days ahead of Diwali. One can see vendors selling various items, dry fruits, sweets, furniture, and other stuff on the roadsides. As much as these items attract visitors, these also lead to congestion and bottlenecks. The employees of the Tehbazari Department of the Municipal Corporation claim that they are visiting these areas and ensuring that the vendors and shopkeepers don’t encroach upon the road. A team of the Municipal Corporation today paid a visit to the Avtar Nagar road and seized material. An MC employee said that an anti-encroachment drive was being carried out in the city, especially these days to assure the smooth flow of vehicles. Commuters said travelling by two-wheelers was slightly easier, but travelling in cars had become very difficult due to the congestion. “It becomes difficult for people to reach their destina- INBRIEF LAWYERS OBSERVE ‘NO WORK DAY’ Phagwara: Following a call by the Bar Association, Rupnagar, all lawyers belonging to the Bar Association, Phagwara, headed by its president Karanjot Singh Jhikka, on Friday observed ‘No Work Day’ and condemned the act allegedly committed against advocate Hardeep Singh Bassi of Rupnagar. However, matters in the family court were concluded through proxy counsels. OC MINOR GIRL ABDUCTED Phagwara: The police have registered a case against an unidentified person on the charges of abducting 15-yearold daughter of Dalip Kumar of Kherra village. The minor, who studying in Class X, went to school on October 21 but did not return home. SP Bhatti said the police have registered a missing report. OC COUPLE DUPES MAN OF ~6LAKH Phagwara: Following a complaint by Surjit Singh of Sanghowal (Phillaur) village, the police have registered a case under Section 420 and 406 of IPC and Punjab Travel Professions Regulation Act against a husband-wife duo on for duping the complainant of Rs 6,17,500 on the pretext of sending him to the UK. SP Rupinder Kaur Bhatti said the accused, Jatinder Singh and his wife Harjinder Kaur of Sultanpur Lodhi, but presently residing in AGI Flat near Haveli. OC Heavy congestion in a market; and (below) encroachments outside shops in the Nakodar Road area in Jalandhar. SARABJIT SINGH State saw 70% drop in dengue cases: Minister Joins mosquito larvae detection drive in city Tribune News Service Jalandhar, October 25 Punjab Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh today said the state had witnessed around 70 per cent reduction in dengue cases this season. In Jalandhar, 79 dengue cases — 56 in urban areas and 23 in rural areas — have been reported this season. He attributed the success to the state’s intensified antidengue campaign. Addressing students at School of Eminence in Bhargav Camp, the Minister stressed the impact of the ongoing “Har Shukarvaar Dengue Teh Vaar” drive, a weekly awareness campaign launched by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann. The Minister was also joined by Deputy Commissioner Dr Himanshu Aggarwal. The overwhelming sup- port from residents and various departments in the fight against dengue was also highlighted on the occasion. Balbir Singh also addressed students at the Bhargav Camp (locally known as Bhargo camp) school. Meanwhile, the accompanying health teams collected water samples and inspected sites for the presence of mosquito larvae through the serpentine streets of the locality. Holding up a bottle containing mosquito larvae at a Jalandhar home, the Minister informed the residents about the dangers of mosquito larvae. Only five mosquito larvae were detected during the inspections. The Minister urged residents to participate in the weekly anti-dengue drive by cleaning storage tanks and preventing water stagnation near their houses. The Health Minister said the government’s comprehensive strategy, encompassing efforts from ASHA workers to senior officials, had contributed to an extraordinary outcome — only one death had been reported due to dengue so far. He said, “On Fridays, officials across ranks visit communities, spreading awareness on vector-borne diseases.” He further announced plans to train Punjab’s 20 lakh students in dengue prevention and other lifesaving skills, ensuring that every Class XII passout and graduate is equipped with essential first-aid knowledge and non-communicable disease prevention skills. Singh later visited the Civil Hospital, Jalandhar, presiding over a meeting with the administration and staff at the hospital. ❝We have been visiting these areas and askingdrives vendors to cooperate with us. Anti-encroachment have already started in the city. But at this point, we cannot even go hard on vendors because of the festive season. — Ashwani Gill, TEHBAZARI SUPERINTENDENT The Rama Mandi area ❝festival season, but thisgenerally gets blocked during the time, we have ensured that things remain under control. Besides, there are 17 ‘notolerance zones’ in the city, and we are going to add eight more to the list. — Rashminder Singh, INSPECTOR AND TRAFFIC IN-CHARGE tion on time. At times, it takes hours to navigate through traffic jams. In the evening, the rush increases further as people come out to buy things. It often leads to quarrels, creating an uncomfortable environment amid the festival season,” said one of the commuters. “Everyone knows how tricky it gets. Encroachments create several problems for the common public. But, the situation gets worse during the festive season. These days, I usually get very late to reach the office,” said Anmol Sharma, who is working in a private firm. Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh joins the health team in a drive to detect mosquito larvae in Jalandhar on Friday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: MALKIAT SINGH Contractual sanitation Farmers block roads for four hours workers to get regular jobs, says Ravjot Ashok Kaura Phagwara, October 25 Punjab Local Bodies Minister Dr Ravjot Singh has assured contractual sanitation workers that they would soon get permanent positions as per the rules. He said this while inaugurating the ‘Swachhta Fortnight Campaign’ in Phagwara on Friday. He was accompanied by Phagwara ADC Navneet Kaur Bal and Phagwara SDM Jashanjeet Singh. The Local Bodies Minister called on Phagwara residents to participate actively in the cleanliness drive. “Just as we clean our homes and workplaces during Diwali, let us extend this practice to our city to make it cleaner and more beautiful,” he said. Ravjot emphasised the state’s commitment to enhancing civic services and extending long-term security to sanitation workers. The Local Bodies Minister said that the applications of as many as 334 outsource sanitation workers were being scrutinised to appoint 134 such employees soon. He added that official paperwork to finalise appointment letters for these workers was underway. AAP district secretary Ashok Bhatia had recently directed the administrative ‘Applications being scrutinised for 134 positions’ steps in Chandigarh to fasttrack this process. On his arrival, he was warmly welcomed by the District Planning Board Chairperson Lalit Saklani, senior AAP leader Joginder Singh Maan, Improvement Trust Phagwara Chairman Advocate Kashmir Singh Malli, Market Committee Chairperson Tavinder Ram, and various other officials and AAP members, including Hariom Gupta and Dr. Jatinder Singh Parhar. A delegation from Rotary Club Phagwara Gems, led by club president Pawan Kumar Kalra, met with Local Government Minister Dr Ravjot Singh during his visit to Phagwara. The club members presented a memorandum to the Cabinet Minister, requesting land allocation for the construction of a Rotary building. In response, Dr Ravjot Singh assured the Rotary delegation that their request would be considered seriously. Rotarians SP Sethi, Mahinder Sethi, past president Nikhil Gupta, Inderpal and Rakesh Sood were also present on the occasion. Long queues of vehicles seen on a road as farmers block the Amritsar-Delhi highway. Our Correspondent Hoshiarpur, October 25 On the United Kisan Morcha’s call for blocking roads in state, farmers of the United Kisan Morcha also started a jam at Rahimpur Mandi in Hoshiarpur between from 11 am to 3 pm. The farmer leaders said the arhtiyas had started buying paddy, but the 10-kg cut per quintal, that was being asked by arhtiyas and sheller owners, was not acceptable to them. They said they could not give crops that they have brought up like their sons for free. The Punjab Government had failed in every aspect, they added. They warned that if the purchase of paddy was not done on time in the coming days, they would hold a big protest, which would be the responsibility of the administration and the gov- ernment. A large number of farmers, including Harbans Singh Sangha, Jagtar Singh Bhinder, Baldev Singh, Sodhi Singh, Satnam Singh, Gurdeep Singh, Jarnail Singh, Harnek Singh and Gurcharan Singh were also present. Sit-in against tardy lifting at Phagwara enters Day 5 Phagwara, October 25 The dharna staged by farmers near Sugar Mill Chowk in Phagwara against the tardy procurement and lifting process has entered fifth day. The protest is being held under the banner of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Doaba). Leaders of BKU (Doaba), including union president Manjit Singh Rai, general secretary Satnam Singh Sahni, vice-president Kirpal Singh Mussapur along with 100 farmers took part in the sit-in today. Manjit Singh Rai said till now, no solution had been formulated by the Centre and state government to resolve the issue of tardy procurement of paddy. “On Thursday, a meeting of the union was held at Chandigarh, indefinite morchas would be organised at Moga, Sangrur, Phagwara and Batala,” he said. Thus, GT Road on Sugar Mill Chowk, Phagwara, would be totally blocked from both sides for indefinite time on Saturday. — OC Protests leading to losses in much-awaited festive season: Traders Ashok Kaura Phagwara, October 25 Traders and business class have expressed resentment against dharnas, saying these have become a daily routine. During interactions with local leaders from the business class and shopkeeper unions regarding the farmers’ ongoing protest at Sugar c m y b Mill Chowk in Phagwara, it was observed that these communities were feeling harassed due to the blockade. The leaders said they wait a whole year for the festival season so that they can earn and make profits, on which they rely on for the entire year, but due to the ongoing protest at Sugar Mill Chowk, customers were not coming to the market, leading to huge financial losses. They highlighted that if farmers had any issue with the state and central governments’ policies, they should have organised dharnas in front of the CM’s or Governor’s residence in Chandigarh. “Why are they causing huge financial losses to local businesses,” they asked. Stating that businessmen and shopkeepers of Phagwara were under huge mental stress due to the ongoing dharna at Sugar Mill Chowk, they highlighted that during the ongoing season of weddings and festivals, a large number of NRIs visit Punjab, contributing a huge amount to their sales. But currently their has been a huge slump in purchasing by NRIs due to the inconvenience caused by protests. The leaders of local shopkeepers expressed resentment against the ongoing protest and demanded that steps should be taken by the government to relocate protesters from Sugar Mill Chowk so that the business in local markets was not impacted during the ongoing festive season.