23012025-LT-01.qxd 1/23/2025 1:10 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune VISHWAKARMA CHOWK NIGHT SHELTER LACKS FACILITIES PADMAAVAT RE-RELEASE ON JANUARY 24 The poor condition and lack of facilities at the night shelter keep the homeless away from it. P2 ACTING IS A DEEPLY PERSONAL JOURNEY: AHSAAS CHANNA Movie is all set to turn seven and makers will be re-releasing it on January 24 to mark milestone. P4 » PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 22°C | MIN 11°C YESTERDAY MAX 23°C | MIN 11°C SUNSET THURSDAY 5.50 PM Actress Ahsaas Channa says for an actor to have an actor parent has no bearing on their craft. P4 » FORECAST SUNRISE FRIDAY 7:18 AM » THURSDAY | 23 JANUARY 2025 | LUDHIANA Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 22 As many as 18 new black spots have been identified within the limits of the Ludhiana Police Commissionerate, a latest government report has revealed. With 71 old accident-prone spots, the tally of black spots has gone up to 89, which was the highest count in any commissionerate or district in the state. However, six old black spots have been eliminated in the commissionerate limits during the past two years. With this, Ludhiana continues to carry the dubious distinction of being the “most accident-prone” city in the state. A study on the identification and rectification of accident black spots in the state was conducted by the Punjab Road Safety and Traffic Research Centre (PRSTRC), led by its Director, Dr Navdeep K Asija, with the help of the Punjab Police. The study was part of the annual report on ‘Road Crashes and Traffic in Punjab 2023’, which was released by Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav recently. The report, which was prepared following an extensive research by a team of experts led by the ADGP (Traffic and Road Safety), AS Rai, a copy of which is available with The Tribune, revealed that a total of 678 accident black spots have been identified across 28 police districts/commissionerate areas of the state. ASHWANI DHIMAN 18 new black spots identified in Police Commissionerate limits 71 old accident-prone spots take tally to 89, highest count in state Traffic chaos at Samrala Chowk, a black spot, is a common sight. TO IMPROVE TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT Primary purpose of the exercise is to identify black spots in state, aiming to better management of traffic through scientific techniques, ultimately contributing to overall improvement in road safety. AS Rai, ADGP (TRAFFIC & ROAD SAFETY) ❝ ❞ Dr Asija, who is also the traffic advisor to the Punjab Government, said the document titled ‘Road Accident Blackspot Identification and Rectification in Punjab 2020-2022 Phase (IV)’ was prepared by the PRSTRC with a primary purpose to identify accident black spots in the state, aiming to better management of traffic on roads through scientific and data-driven techniques, contributing to the overall improvement in road safety. “Of the total 583 accidental black spots identified in Punjab in the previous Phase-III (2019-2021), 458, accounting for 79 per cent, still exist as recurring/ existing black spots during the Phase-IV of accident black spot identification process for 2020-2022,” he said. Dr Asija said during the study period from 2020-2022, a total of 220 new accidental black spots were identified, which were 33 per cent of the total black spots existing on various highways/roads of the state. In accordance with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) guidelines, the identifica- tion of black spots encompasses state highways, major district roads, other district roads, village roads and urban roads. Rai, who has been spearheading the sustained road safety campaign for the past few years and has recently constituted the country’s first exclusive and dedicated road safety force in the state, said a significant concentration of the black spots was observed on National Highways-44 and 5, which pass through the city limits, signifying the urgent need for targeted safety measures. Dr Asija said during the previous study between 2019 and 2021, the road safety evaluation within the Ludhiana Police Commissionerate limits had identified a total of 77 accident black spots, of which only six were eliminated before the latest study. The old black spots encompassed 52 recurring or existing black spots with a documented history of accidents resulting in fatalities or severe injuries, along with 25 newly identified black spots, where a sudden surge in mishaps occurred during the previous study. Notably, the Ludhiana Police Commissionerate district stands out with one of the highest numbers of black spots in the region. The newly identified 18 black spots included seven on national highways, one on a state Visual treat highway, two on major district roads and eight on MC/urban roads within the Ludhiana commissionerate limits. The old black spots that existed included 54 on national highways, eight on state highways, one on major district roads, two on other district roads and six were located on MC/urban roads. What is a black spot According to the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the road accident black spot on the national highway is a road stretch of about 500-m in length in which either five road accidents, involving fatalities or grievous injuries, have taken place or 10 fatalities have been reported during the past three calendar years. Punjab had adopted this definition for the entire state, covering all highways, and had undertaken the task of identification and rectification of black spots in the state on the directions of the then Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan in April 2021 with an aim to making the state roads safer and smoother for driving. Recommendations The report stressed the need that the Police Commissionerate should take up special engineering improvement and enforcement emphasis in almost all police stations that have the majority of black spots coming under their belt. Three held for snatching Tribune News Service A flock of birds fly together as the city experiences clear weather, Ludhiana, January 22 The Daresi police have arrested three persons, Prem, Himanshu and Sanjay, all residents of Ludhiana in snatching incidents in the city. Police officials were on duty near ICICI Bank, Sunder Nagar, when they get a tip-off about the suspects. They were seen coming from the Madhopuri side area. The trio were stopped and during checking, six mobile phones were recovered from them. The suspects have been arrested and investigation is on in the matter. INDERJEET VERMA Commuters face a tough time on a road near Clock Tower in Ludhiana. INDERJEET VERMA Absence of cops, haphazard parking trouble commuters Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 22 The Domoria Bridge is closed by the railway authorities due to the ongoing construction work. As a result, the entire vehicular traffic, coming from the AC market side, is passing through Mata Rani Chowk or the road near Clock Tower to reach the Pavilion Mall bridge. Haphazardly parked autorickshaws parked right in the middle of roads add to commuters’ woes, especially when there are no policeman to regulate the traffic. Though barricading is done by the police, these are pushed aside by commuters as per their convenience, disturbing the entire traffic movement. “There is no police official to regulate the traffic. Autos, cars, two-wheelers and pedestrians struggle to reach the other side of road and during their attempts, sometimes vehicles hit each other, resulting in conflicts among commuters. The traffic department should come up with some solution to ease out the traf- fic”, said a shopkeeper at the AC market, who has to pass through the stretch at least twice a day. On the bridge near the railway station, auto-rickshaw drivers stand in a queue to wait for their customers, which results in traffic jams. Most of the times, there are no traffic police to check the movement of vehicles on the bridge and at times, the police personnel are seen talking over phones while people keep on banging horns, asking auto-rickshaw drivers to give way. Over 36 stray dogs caught for sterilisation from Hasanpur 8 cages set up at village after 2 kids mauled by canines recently Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 22 Continuing its dog-catching drive, various squads have captured over 36 stray dogs from Hasanpur and adjoining villages in the district so far. The squads have also set up eight cages in Hasanpur village where two minor schoolchildren were mauled by ferocious canines recently following which panic had gripped the village with residents not letting their children kids to step out of their houses. The drive was being carried out under the supervision of the BDPO, Sudhar, Veterinary Department, DSP Mullanpur Dakha, along with the Wildlife Depart- Cages placed at Hasanpur village to catch stray dogs. ment. Officials along with residents were camping in Hasanpur and keeping a close vigil on the situation. Deputy Commissioner Jitendra Jorwal said a detailed plan had been drawn under which the private firm would catch the dogs and sterilise them to control the rising stray dog population in rural areas of the district. He assured that soon, such drives would be carried out across the district where stray dog menace was prevalent. Chinese string: Appoint officer to probe RTA official-agent nexus: HC to VB Director DGP conducts search operation Gaurav Kanthwal Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 22 The DGP (Law and Order), Punjab, Arpit Shukla, on Wednesday visited the city. With local senior officials, he went to the Daresi area to conduct a search operation on sale, stocking of Chinese string, which had put lives of human beings, birds and animals in danger. Many shops were thoroughly checked by police teams accompanying the official. Shukla said stern action was taken against violators as the deadly string was completely banned. He said not only in Ludhiana but search operations were also being conducted across the state. Speaking about threats on Republic Day, The DGP said police teams were conducting continuous raids. Checkings were on at hotels, bus stands and railway stations by the police, adding that in the past few days, 90 FIRs wee lodged against those selling Chinese string. — TNS Mohali, January 22 The Punjab and Haryana High Court has sought from the Director, Vigilance Bureau, Punjab, to appoint a senior IPS officer to investigate the role of illegal Says no work is done or no file is cleared, unless public pays money to such unscrupulous persons agents, brokers and corrupt officials of the Regional Transport Authority (RTA), Ludhiana, “as no official work is done unless the public pays money to such unscrupulous persons”. The Court of NS Shekhawat, in an observation, noted that after going through the report of an investigating officer in an alleged cheating-extortion case related to the RTA, Ludhiana, “It appears that a welloiled system is working in the office of the RTA, Ludhiana, in which, the petitioner and other brokers are also involved. These agents sit outside the RTA office and collect money even for petty official works. Even, the public has no access to officials of the RTA and no official work is done or no official file is cleared, unless the public pays money to such unscrupulous persons. The veil will be lifted from such a c m y b racket when the investigation will be conducted by a senior IPC officer of the Punjab Police. Even, it appears that the complainant appears to be a chronic litigant and some other officials of the RTA, Ludhiana, may also be involved,” the order, dated January 16, reads. On December 6, 2023, the Vigilance Bureau arrested Ludhiana RTA Narinder Singh Dhaliwal, a PCS officer, on the charge of running an organised crime by collecting money as bribe from transporters. The petitioner, Bhupinder Punj, had filed an anticipatory bail application in a cheating, extortion and a criminal conspiracy case registered by the Economic Offences Wing, Vigilance Bureau police station, Ludhiana, on November 30, 2024 after “Ravinder Kataria had filed complaints against him on diktats of Amardeep Singh, a clerk in the RTO, Ludhiana”. The case was registered by the Vigilance Bureau, Ludhiana, after a detailed inquiry report by the SHO, Vigilance Bureau police station, Ludhiana, in which it was reportedly found that Bhupinder Punj and Satnam Dhawan used to obtain works of innocent people done with RTO offices themselves and after threatening officials of the RTO regarding giving their complaints to the Vigilance Department, they forced them to do their work early and after blackmail- ing, obtain money from them. The inquiry report mentions that clerks Ravinder Singh, Vikram Singh and Neelam produced screenshots in this regard and from the register produced by Navdeep Singh, steno, it was found that Bhupinder Punj of Lohara, in routine, gets the work of people from the RTO done and himself receives documents (RCs, licences/permits). “Whereas the said work do not belong to his-self, but is of the public and in lieu of this work, Bhupinder Punj obtains huge amounts from them and blackmails officials of the RTO, the EOW report reads, adding that the allegations regarding Bhupinder and Satnam threatening/blackmail- ing RTO officials by getting complaints registered against them at the bureau are proved. The probe mentions at least six employees’ name of the RTO, Ludhiana, being extorted by agents. In the WhatsApp conversations, amount in lakhs is being sought and negotiated with a data entry operator. In one instance, the inquiry report mentions that Rs 80,000 reportedly changed hands through UPI transactions. A lawyer, a stamp vendor and others are also under the scanner. The observations were made only for the limited purpose of disposal of the bail application and shall never be construed as an expression of opinion on the merits of the case.