03032025-ATR-01.qxd 3/2/2025 11:33 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MP HELP SOUGHT TO BRING MAN BACK FROM RUSSIA MLA INAUGURATES NEW ROAD CONSTRUCTION WORK ‘WE ARE A THALI WITH ALL FLAVOURS OF INDIAN MUSIC’ Mandeep has been missing for over a year in the warzone after being duped by travel agents. P2 Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar inaugurated the construction of a new road in Ward No. 37 on Sunday. P2 MAX 23°C | MIN 6°C YESTERDAY MAX 23°C | MIN 8°C With roots in namesake Delhi and launched in 2015, the band has performed over 1,000 gigs. P4 » » SUNSET MONDAY 6.29 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 6:54 AM » MONDAY | 3 MARCH 2025 | AMRITSAR Lawyer held on orders of court Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, March 2 The Sadar police on the basis of complaint orders of the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Amandeep Singh have arrested Buta Singh, a lawyer, working in the district courts. In the orders of the court it has been alleged that the lawyer on the night of Thursday (February 27) under the influence of some intoxicant threatened a judicial officer and used objectionable language against him. It too is mentioned in the complaint orders that the lawyer was armed and could have harmed security guard accompanying the victim. Inspector Kashmir Singh, SHO, Sadar police station, said a case had been registered against the lawyer under Sections 331 (4), 331 (6), 351 (2), 351 (3) and 355 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Helpline for hailstorm-affected farmers launched Tribune News Service Amritsar, March 2 The district administration has launched a telephone helpline for farmers whose crops was damaged by the hailstorm two days ago. Deputy Commissioner (DC) Sakshi Sawhney said the administration had already constituted teams which were visiting the areas affected by hailstorm. She said in case affected farmers felt that teams had not arrived in their area, they could call helpline number 9815828858 to report damage in their area. “Teams will visit all affected areas soon. Presently, we have preliminary information about the areas in which crop has been damaged,” she said. The DC said farmers could also contact the helpline in case they need any help. She said preliminary reports had identified Rajasansi, Majitha, Ajnala and Baba Bakala as the areas affected by the hailstorm. Sawhney said teams comprising revenue and agriculture officials would visit fields and assess the loss after which a report would be submitted with the state government for further action in this connection. Police, civil administration to identify, demolish houses of drug peddlers PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, March 2 With the Punjab Government announcing “War on drugs” and deciding to continue demolition of houses of notorious drug traffickers apart from freezing their properties, the police and the civil administration have started identifying structures owned by them. Till now, the administration and the police authorities have identified six such properties in the Chheharta area which may face demolition in the near future. Yesterday, official of the administration had gone to demolish a house allegedly belonging to a drug peddler in the Anngarh area, infamous for rampant drug abuse, but it was postponed after pasting a notice on the building. It could not be ascertained why the demolition was postponed. “We will take all appropriate measures in the future that could deter and discourage peddlers, while forcing them Drug peddlers arrested by the police during the cordon and search operation in Amritsar. to shun the illegal trade of drugs,” said a senior police official wishing anonymity. The Punjab Government had declared to rid the state of the menace of the rampant drug abuse within three months following which a crackdown and cordon and search operation (CASO) was launched in the entire state leading to arrest of peddlers and seizure of drugs. The city police recovered 1.3 kg of heroin in five cases and arrested six persons in this connection. The Chheharta police arrested drug peddlers identified as Amandeep Singh, alias Sonu (38), of Kartar Nagar, Pawan Kumar, alias Gora (50), of Shingar Avenue from the Kapatgarh area, and seized 265gm heroin from them. They had two and five cases registered under the NDPS Act against them, respectively. Similarly, the Maqboolpura police nabbed Ranjit Singh, aka Jimmy (30), of Mehta Road from Vallah Bridge and confiscated 270gm of heroin from him. He had 10 criminal cases registered against him. The Division B police arrested Khushwant Singh, alias Losa (40), of Chowk Parag Das with 260gm heroin from Bhushanpura locality. He had one case of the NDPS Act registered against him. The police also arrested Happy (29) of Pippal Wali Gali with 270gm heroin from the Jahajgarh area. He did not have any previous criminal record. In the fifth case, the Division B police nabbed Vavinder Kumar, alias Bindu, of Mahna Singh Road with 265gm heroin. He had four cases of NDPS Act registered against him. The Amritsar (Rural police) arrested 32 drug traffickers, including women, and seized 1.5kg of heroin, 1kg ICE (Crystal Methamphetamine), besides sedative pills and registered 20 FIRs against the accused in this connection. NHAI starts recarpeting of service lanes Illegal structures razed in New Golden Avenue Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Amritsar, March 2 Finally, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) initiated recarpeting of service lanes at an underconstruction Vallah overbridge today. The problem of routine traffic jams on this road was highlighted when policemen on duty were seen filling potholes for the smooth movement of traffic on Friday. The administration announced restriction on the movement of the vehicles in the area for three hours to repair the road, but the traffic remained disrupted from morning to evening today. Despite the police making arrangements to tackle the traffic rush, long queues of heavy vehicles were seen on both sides of the road. Devotees attending the ongoing “Vallah da Mela” were the major victims, as they were also not allowed to travel in their vehicles. They faced inconvenience as the police restricted traffic Amritsar, March 2 Acting on the directives of Municipal Commissioner Gulpreet Singh Aulakh, the Municipal Town Planning (MTP) Department, has taken strict action against four unauthorised buildings in the New Golden Avenue area. The operation was carried out under the supervision of Municipal Town Planner Narendra Sharma, who was accompanied by Assistant Town Planners Gurvinder Singh and Raman Kumar, Building Inspectors Rohini, Navjot Kaur and Manish Arora and the Municipal Corporation (MC) demolition team. Sharma said two hotels were built without obtaining necessary approvals of the building plan, while two commercial buildings were built in violation of the building bylaws. He said all these unauthorised structures were demolished by the MC. “Two hotels were constructed without any approved building plans. Two commercial buildings were built in violation of the sanctioned designs. Illegally constructed hotels have been completely demolished and unauthorised sections of the commercial buildings have also been razed,” said Sharma. He further emphasised that the crackdown on illegal constructions would continue. He urged residents to obtain proper approvals before starting any construction work. “The Amritsar Municipal Corporation reiterates its commitment to enforce building regulations to ensure planned urban development,” he added. to actually increase the forest cover area on the ground as the National Forest Policy mandates that 33 per cent of the total geographical area in a state must be under green cover. The state government has already announced its plan to increase the covered forest area in Punjab by 2030.” There are seven forest ranges in the division namely Amritsar-I, Amritsar-II, Patti, Rayya-I, Rayya-II, Ajnala and Tarn Taran. It is bounded by the international boundary with Pakistan on the West. “The Ravi river on the western side, the Sutlej river on the southern side and the Beas river on the eastern side more or less act as the natural boundaries of the division,” he said. Environmentalist PS Bhatty said, “Rakh Sarai Amanat Khan with an area of 1,223 acres (489.20 hectare) is the only declared Wild Life Conservation Reserve here. We need to add more forest pockets on this line.” His Khudai Khidmatgar organisation and several other city-based environmental NGOs have been spearheading sapling plantation drives to make the city green. He felt that rigorous afforestation drives of native plants on government and private lands with participation of public and private stakeholders was required to meet the target. Officials of the district administration and the Forest Department said after the state government announced its plan to increase the covered forest area in Punjab by 2030, the district received lakhs of saplings last year. Similar efforts would be made next year, he said. Tribune News Service Recarpeting of service lane in progress at Vallah. VISHAL KUMAR movement on the main road. Police personnel deputed outside the entry of Gurdwara Kotha Sahib assisted devotees in crossing the road. Meanwhile, NHAI workers recarpeted service lanes, which were badly damaged due to the movement of heavy traffic. The traffic police had issued a notice for the general public yesterday to avoid the route between 9 am and 12 noon as repair work was expected to be carried out. However, the NHAI started the work with a delay, and it continued till evening. The police restricted traffic near D-Mart on Bypass Road. “It was the weekend and we were here to attend the Vallah da Mela. The police stopped vehicles away from the village. So, we walked around 1 km to reach the gurdwara and paid obeisance. Most devotees visit the mela on weekends. The authorities should have repaired road on other day,” said Narinder Kaur, a devotee. Supporters with winner candidates in Tarn Taran. GURBAXPURI 13 Independents win in Tarn Taran MC poll Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, March 2 The election for the 25-member House of the Tarn Taran Municipal Council (MC) were held here on Sunday. The results of the election were declared soon after the completion of the polling process. Thirteen Independent candidates were declared as the winners in the civic body poll. The ruling AAP could win in just eight wards, while three candidates of the Congress made it to the MC House. The poling started at 7 am and at 4 pm during which with 54.6 per cent exercised their right to franchise. The polling in 24 out of 25 wards was held today, while the election in Ward No. 3 was postponed due to some error on the part of the administration. Now, the polling in Ward No. 3 will be held on March 4 as per the schedule released by District Election Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner Rahul. Though the winner Independent candidates have not confirmed their association with any political party, majority of them are associates of former Tarn Taran MLA Harmit Singh Sandhu, who left the SAD four months ago. He is yet to disclose his future political ambitions. Thirteen Independents, who won the election, are Bhagwan Singh (from Ward No. 2), Parminder Kaur (Ward No. 5), Surinder Singh Mallhi (Ward No. 6), Sukhjinder Kaur (Ward No. 7), Sanjeev Kundra (Ward No. 8), Palwinder Kaur (Ward No. 9), Manoj Agnihotri (Ward No. 10), Ravinder Kaur (Ward No. 11) , Jagroop Kaur (Ward No. 13), Kulwant Kaur (Ward No. 19), Suraj Sharma (Ward No. 20), Sharanjit kaur (Ward No. 21) and Sarabjit Singh Lali (Ward No. 24). Eight candidates of the AAP who the civic body poll , are Jaskaran Singh (Ward No. 4), Sarbrinder Singh Bharowal (Ward No. 12), Ganagdeep Kaur (Ward No. 15), Sarabjit Singh (Ward No. 16), Kamlesh Kumari (Ward No. 17), Naginder Singh Nagi (Ward No. 18), Gurpreet Singh (Ward No. 22) and Parminder Kaur (Ward No. 23). AAP candidate Sarbarinder Singh was elected unopposed. Three Congress candidates, who won the election are Meena Kumari (Ward No. 1), Sham Singh (Ward No. 14) and Jagwinder Kaur (Ward No. 25). No political party got clear cut majority in the poll. BJP workers protest in Tarn Taran on Sunday. PHOTO: GURBAXPURI MunicipalCouncilelection ConcertedeffortsneededtoincreaseforestcoverinAmritsar:Environmentalists postponed in Ward No. 3 Our Correspondent WORLD WILDLIFE DAY Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Amritsar, March 2 The World Wildlife Day falling on Monday is an attempt to wake people and the government to save the diminishing forest cover. For district like Amritsar, which has one of the lowest forest areas in the country, environmentalists feel efforts should be made to increase this cover. The total forest area of Amritsar division, comprising revenue districts of Amritsar and Tarn Taran, is 13898.53 hectares which also includes 8252.29 hectares as strip forests. The total geographical area of both the districts is 5.06 lakh hectares while the total forest area is 13898.53 hectares which constitute around 2.75 per cent of the total geographical area of the two districts. Gunbir Singh, Chairman, World Wide Fund for NatureIndia (WWF India), Punjab, said, “Sixty per cent of the total forest cover in the district is classified under strip forest which cannot be termed as actual forest area. Out of total 2.75 per cent forest cover in Amritsar, 60 per cent is strip forest, which is an eyewash. Unless we redouble efforts, we will have farm denudation, water scarcity and climate catastrophes in future. The writing is on the wall.” “Climate change is dictating the urgency for reparations against degradation of the forest cover. The future shall see harsher summers and aggressive weather as a consequence of man’s timber mania and his hegemony, cutting and occupying forested zones,” he said. “We need concerted efforts ❝Climate change is dictating the urgency forcover. reparations against degradation of the forest The future shall see harsher summers and aggressive weather as a consequence of man's timber mania and his hegemony, cutting and occupying forested zones. ❞ Gunbir Singh, CHAIRMAN, WWF-INDIA (PUNJAB) c m y b Tarn Taran, March 2 The election in Ward No. 3 of the Tarn Taran Municipal Council (MC), which was to be held on Sunday, has been postponed as wrong election symbol of the BJP candidate was pasted on the electronic voting machine (EVM). District Election office (DEO)-cum-Deputy Commissioner Rahul said the State Election Commission was informed today in writing to fix the next date of election. Rahul said the error was noticed by officials of the administration at 10 am when sufficient number of voters had cast their votes. The polling started at 7 am today morning. The development has put the district administration in an embarrassing situation. The DEO said District Development and Panchayat Officer (DDPO) Harjinder Singh Sandhu was appointed Returning Officer for Ward No. 1 to 13. The AAP fielded Navjot Kaur Hundal, wife of Dr Kashmir Singh Sohal, as the party candidate. Activists of the BJP under the party’s district president Harjit Singh Sandhu called it a move of the state government and the district administration to sabotage election as the AAP was losing in polls in the town. Workers of the BJP lodged a strong protest against the alleged negligence on the part of the administration. In another incident of election violence at polling booth in Ward No. 20, workers of the AAP and supporters of Independent candidate Suraj Sharma clashed with each other leaving one injured. Heavy police force was deputed at the site to control the situation.