08032025-LT-01.qxd 3/8/2025 12:58 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune RAKH BAGH, HUB OF RECREATION FOR CITY RESIDENTS DR MALIK BELIEVES ONE’S FEET MUST BE FIRMLY ON GROUND AARUSHI ATTRIBUTES HER SUCCESS TO HER FAMILY For decades, Rakh Bagh, located in heart of city, continues to serve as a popular recreational spot forresidents. P3 Int’l Women’s Day for Dr Ranjana Malik is a day to acknowledge and celebrate women. P4 Aarushi Oswal, a make-up artist from Ludhiana is a leading name in the make-up industry today. P4 » » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 28°C | MIN 12°C YESTERDAY MAX 27°C | MIN 11°C SUNSET SATURDAY 6.26 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 6:39 AM SATURDAY | 8 MARCH 2025 | LUDHIANA Civic body collects ~133-crore property tax, highest ever so far Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 7 In a record of sorts, the Municipal Corporation (MC) has collected over Rs 133crore property tax during this fiscal 2024-25 so far, which was the highest-ever recovery of levy ever since it was introduced in Ludhiana in 2013-14, officials have said. MC chief orders recovery of arrears, warns of strict action against over 2.14 L defaulters, pushes target of ~200-cr collection The collection of Rs 133.09 crore made till March 6 was Rs 433.21 lakh more than Rs 128.76-crore property tax collected during the corresponding period in previous financial year 2023-24. Also, this was over 66 per cent of the target to earn Rs 200-crore revenue from the levy this fiscal, officials have confirmed. Following the failure of defaulters to clear their dues, the civic body has stepped up its ongoing special drive to recover the arrears from the defaulters, who had not cleared their dues despite repeated notices and reminders. Besides levying penalty and interest, the MC will also resort to attaching and sealing properties of the major defaulters in case they fail to pay the arrears without any further delay. Taking serious note of the People deposit property tax at the MC Zone D office in Ludhiana. failure of the defaulters to pay the arrears, MC Commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal has ordered recovery and enforcement officials to speed up the recovery of arrears. He has also warned the defaulters of strict action, which could also include attachment/ sealing of properties and penal proceedings. Dachalwal told The Tribune, here on Friday that the civic body had received a sum of Rs 133.09 crore on account of property tax through 1,61,861 property returns for current fiscal filed from April 1 last to March 6. “It was 66.54 per cent of the amended budgetary provision of Rs 200-crore property tax collection for the current financial year,” he said. He said as compared to this fiscal’s progress so far, the MC had collected Rs 128.76crore property tax between April 1, 2023, and March 6, 2024. “It was Rs 4.33-crore less collection, accounting for 3.25 per cent less revenue than property tax collected during the corresponding period this fiscal,” the MC chief revealed. With this, the MC has created a record of sorts by collecting a sum of over Rs 133.09crore during the current fiscal so far, which was the highest-ever collection during the corresponding period since 2013-14 when the levy was imposed in Ludhiana. The MC chief said the civic body has recorded the highest-ever receipts during the current financial year so far since the imposition of the levy in 2013, with almost 1.62L property owners paying the levy so far across four zones in the MC limits. According to the year-wise property tax receipts, the MC had collected property tax amounting to Rs 138.03 crore in 2023-24, Rs 122.45 in 202223, Rs 92.84 crore in 2021-22, Rs 97.15 crore in 2020-21, Rs 84.25 crore in 2019-20, Rs 78.24 crore in 2018-19, Rs 70.4 crore in 2017-18, Rs 66.05 crore in 2016-17, Rs 69.44 crore in 2015-16, Rs 52.94 crore in 2014-15 and Rs 74.79 crore had been collected from property tax head during the financial year 2013-14. Pertinently, the MC had collected the revenue of Rs 715.21 crore from different heads during the financial year 2023-24, which was, however, almost 9 per cent more than Rs 658.08 crore revenue receipts recorded in 2022-23. However, the last fiscal’s total revenue was over 18 per cent less than Rs 872.84 crore collection generated in 202122 and over 6 per cent less than Rs 764.19 crore total income logged in 2020-21. Moreover, the overall revenue receipts of 2023-24 had fallen a whopping 23 per cent short of the revised estimates of Rs 927 crore fixed in the Budget for the previous financial year. It was due to a shortfall in collections from five of the total 13 revenue heads in Ludhiana, popularly known as Manchester of India, spread over 169 sq km area with an estimated population of 20 lakh. 4.68-L properties A total of 4,68,141 properties falling in the municipal limits were assessed to pay the property tax. The MC had been sending reminders to owners of the defaulter property owners through public notices and personal messages on their registered mobile numbers to pay the levy. What helped A sustained campaign to collect taxes, motivating residents to pay levies, facilitating collections through online platforms, keeping collection centres open even during public holidays, and last but not the least, issuing stern warning to attach properties and initiate legal proceedings against the defaulters had helped the civic body to achieve the record collections under property tax and other heads in the current financial year 2024-25. Revenue to boost dev, says civic body chief “Record revenue collections under property tax and other heads in 202425 were made Aaditya possible only Dachalwal due to the voluntary deposits by the residents/ tax payers and hard work by the civic officials concerned to ensure maximum recoveries. The more revenue collections will certainly help more development of the city as a major chunk would be spent on further improving the basic civic amenities being provided to the residents. Those, who have not yet cleared their dues, are again issued notices, failing which stern penal action will be initiated against them,” said Aaditya Dachalwal, MC Commissioner. NRI’s 17-acre land worth croresfreedofencroachment Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 7 It was like a dream come true for a UK-based NRI Randhir Singh, who on Friday got his 17-acre prime land worth crores of rupees at Bhundri village in Ludhiana, back. The land was encroached upon by none other than but his own brother for the past several years. However, his ancestral home was still under illegal possession. NRI Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, while handing over the freed land to the NRI, ordered immediate eviction of the encroacher from his ancestral home as well for restoring its possession to the NRI at the earliest. Expressing gratitude to the state government and especially minister Dhaliwal, the NRI said he had lost Ancestral home still under illegal possession, minister orders immediate eviction all hope to get back the land but after he mustered courage and approached the minister, he came to his rescue and ordered the removal of encroachment from his 17-acre prime land in Bhundri village. During an inspection of the vacated land this morning, Dhaliwal emphasised that the state government, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, was dedicated to addressing concerns of the NRI community while providing transparent governance in the state. He noted that NRI Randhir Singh had approached him regarding the encroachment of his land by his brother. Upon receiving the complaint, he promptly issued orders to the officials concerned to free the land of illegal possession and restore its possession to the rightful owner. “Randhir’s ancestral house will also be freed from encroachers in coming days and will be handed over to him,” the minister assured. Dhaliwal said since he assumed the charge of NRI Affairs portfolio, as many as 3,200 cases of different nature, involving NRIs, had been resolved over the past three years. He said the state government had established a mechanism to efficiently address issues faced by the NRI community, enabling them to resolve matters without having to extend their stay in the state for facing litigation. Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal (centre) with the NRI (on his right) at Bhundri village in Ludhiana. 3 illegal shops sealed in Model Town Extension CP holds raid in Shimlapuri to nab peddlers Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 7 Taking action against illegal constructions, the Municipal Corporation (MC) sealed three illegal shops in Model Town Extension (Block-B) on Friday. Building branch officials of the MC Zone D stated that they came to know about the illegal constructions during a routine inspection and the illegal shops have now been sealed. The action was taken on the directions of MC Commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal. An MC official seals an illegal shop in Model Town Extension. The officials said responding to reports of an illegal construction in Raghunath Enclave, the site had been inspected by the civic body officials and no illegal con- struction was found. A residential building was being constructed at the site and the owner had got the building plan approved from the corporation as per the building bylaws. The non-compoundable portion (houseline area) of the building had already been demolished by the MC in the recent past. Meanwhile, the MC Commissioner appealed to the public to start construction works only after getting building plans approved from the civic body, otherwise strict action would be taken against illegal constructions. Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 7 Commissioner of Police (CP), Ludhiana, Kuldeep Singh Chahal, along with a team on Friday raided Satguru Nagar mohalla in the Shimlapuri area to catch drug smugglers. The CP said a raid was conducted after receiving complaints from some residents that some people were indulging in drug smuggling. Eight suspects were rounded up and their questioning was on. “Raid is a part of the spe- CP Kuldeep Chahal interacts with Shimlapuri residents on Friday. cial campaign launched by the Punjab Police against drug traffickers. Area residents also appreciated the campaign. I also asked the people to give information about drug traffickers in their area and the name and address of the informer will be kept confidential. Residents also vowed to support the police in the ongoing campaign,” the CP said. Meanwhile, the CP said the police would continue to make all possible efforts to root out the evil of drugs. People could also contact anti-drug helpline no 91155-18150 to give information about any drug trafficker. Day to go for Sutlej Club poll, campaigning in feverish pitch 30-yr-old mason dies by suicide Nitin Jain TELLING NUMBERS Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 7 With 24 hours left for the annual elections to the 10 posts of Ludhiana’s elite Sutlej Club, electioneering reached a feverish pitch here on Friday. As many as 2,700 valid voters of the total 3,240 members would decide the fate of 18 candidates for the eight posts of the club, which will go to the poll on Sunday. The polling would be held between 9 am and 5 pm, following which the counting of polled votes would be held and results would be announced. While the contestants have pulled all stops to woo the voters, Dr Sulbha Jindal and Tina Bansal were elected unopposed to the posts of Total members Voters Posts Candidates Unopposed elected Sutlej Club in Ludhiana. PHOTO: ASHWANI DHIMAN Sports Secretary and Lady Executive. Dr Sulbha was elected unopposed to the same post last year as well. Those in the fray include Sanjay Kappor and Prof Arvind Malhotra for the post of vice-president, Dr Ashish Ahuja, Dr Ajit Chawla and Gurmeet Kairon for general secretary, Maninder Singh Bedi and Dr Simran Pal Bindra for joint secretary, Jasdeep Nalwa and KPS Walia for finance secretary, Harkesh Mittal, Dr Dhawan and Rattan Deep Bawa for cultural secretary, Vivek Sharma and Subodh Batish for mess secretary, Bhupinde 3,240 2,700 10 18 2 2,700 voters to decide fate of 18 contestants for eight posts on Sunday Dev and SS Bedi for bar secretary, and Vidhur Khosla, Mani, and Dr Shiv Gupta were in the race for the post of executive member. While Deputy Commissioner Jitendra Jorwal is the exofficio president of the club, the most coveted post is that of the general secretary for c m y b which Dr Ashish Ahuja, a bariatric surgeon, is giving a tough fight to other two contestants — Dr Ajit Chawla and Gurmeet Kairon. Coming from a family of doctors serving in different specialities, Dr Ahuja has been pledged support by leading industrialists, including Oswal, Munjal, Avon, Trident, Janpath, Kangaroo and Octave Groups. Besides, the Pakshi Sewa Society and Jewellers Association have also come out in his support. Keeping the contest alive, Dr Chawla and Kairon, with the help of their links and resources, were also mustering active support from the voters by promising better management and services. The prestigious Sutlej Club with a rich history is spread over 5 acres in Ludhiana’s Civil Lines. Initially an officers’ club, it has maintained its exclusivity with around 3,240 elite members, including 2,700 active voters. The club dates back to the British era when the Britishers had started it as an officers’ club with the serving Deputy Commissioner as its president in ex-officio capacity in mid 1940s. The elite class, including officers, professionals, doctors, educationists and businessmen, are members of the club. Polling to elect eight officebearers of the club would be held on Sunday between 9 am and 5 pm, following which the counting of polled votes would be held and results would be announced. Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 7 A mason staying in a rented house on the Kochar Market road died by suicide under suspicious circumstances on Thursday night. When the two children of the deceased saw their father’s body hanging from the window, they raised an alarm. Local residents rushed the man to the Civil Hospital where doctors had declared him brought dead. The deceased was identified as Kanhaiya (30). He was married to Muskan about 10 years ago. At the time of the incident, his wife had gone to work. According to information, the incident came to light when Kanhaiya’s children returned home after visiting a temple. They kept knocking on the door for a long time. When the door did not open, the elder son, Rehan, peeped through the window and saw that his father was hanging from the fan. After which, the children raised the alarm. Deceased’s wife Muskan Khan said they had solemnised love marriage about a decade ago. They had two sons. Her husband was working as a mason and she used to work at a beauty parlour. Suspecting no foul play in the case, the Kochar Market police post initiated inquest proceedings in the case.