18052025-LT-01.qxd 5/17/2025 10:19 PM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune HEALTH DEPT FOR MORE AWARENESS ON HYPERTENSION SECURITY BEEFED UP IN WAKE OF BORDER TENSION ACTRESS ADAH SHARMA OPENS UP ABOUT HER DREAMS The Dept has roped in international bodies for awareness on the causes and consequences of hypertension. P2 With border tension de-escalating, local authorities have emphasised that the police should not reduce vigilance. P3 Two years after The Kerala Story created waves, she reflects on how thefilm changed more than just her career. P4 » » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 43°C | MIN 26°C YESTERDAY MAX 44°C | MIN 25°C SUNSET SUNDAY 7.16 PM SUNRISE MONDAY 5:29 AM SUNDAY | 18 MAY 2025 | LUDHIANA Traffic police issue notices to vendors for encroachments on ‘no tolerance roads’ FIRs to follow if non-compliance continues, says ACP Jatin Bansal Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 17 Despite the Ludhiana police having declared eight stretches as ‘no tolerance roads’ in the city, some of the shopkeepers and roadside vendors have still not mended their ways. On Saturday, the traffic police during patrolling on some of these roads found that some shopkeepers and roadside vendors had spread their goods on the roads, which was slowing down the movement of traffic. The cops immediately prepared notices and issued these to the violators for non-compliance of the orders issued by the Police Commissioner, Ludhiana, Swapan Sharma. Assistant Commissioner of Police, Traffic Police, Jatin Bansal said that before declaring the roads as ‘no tolerance roads’, the traffic police had launched awareness drives in the areas and meetings had been held with the shopkeep- A notice being issued to a fruit vendor by traffic police for encroaching on a road in city. ers/roadside vendors in which they were categorically told to ensure compliance of the instructions issued for these eight ‘no tolerance’ roads and all of them had then agreed for compliance. “Ever since the police declared these ‘no tolerance roads’, the traffic police teams have been regularly monitoring the traffic movement there and during the monitoring exercise, the cops used to immediately remove encroachments. We have also observed that most shopkeepers and vendors have been ensuring compliance, but some violations remained there. In the due course of time, the traffic police would ensure hundred per cent compliance on the selected roads,” added ACP Jatin. He further said that around 12 notices had been issued today, mostly to the shopkeepers and vendors who had been caught while encroaching upon the roads. “Now, if despite serving notices, people do not mend their ways, then the police may initiate legal proceedings, including FIR, against the offender,” he added. “The traffic police does not want to impose punitive action on the violators, but only want that people should cooperate and ensure compliance, so that commuters may not face any inconvenience and traffic flow remains smooth on all roads,” held ACP Jatin. In the first phase the ‘no tolerance roads’ are Field Ganj Road from Jagraon bridge to Civil Hospital (both way), Rahon Road, Jodhewal Chowk to Jagirpur Road cut, Bhamian Road from New Onkar Vihar cut to Bhamian Colony cut, Chandigarh Road from Government High School, Mundian cut to 33-ft road vegetable market stretch, Chimney Road, canal bridge, Pakhowal, to indoor stadium (both way), Atam Park to Libra cut Dugri road (both way) and Dandi Swami Chowk to DMC Hospital cut. Haphazard parking outside schoolstroublesshopkeepers Not allowed to park vehicles on premises, say parents Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 17 Roads outside various schools in the city have become chaotic due to the sudden increase in traffic as parents park their vehicles haphazardly while picking up their children. This haphazard parking not only poses a risk to the safety of pedestrians, but also causes huge inconvenience to shopkeepers in the area. Even the shopkeepers while expressing frustration over the situation stated that parents often park their vehicles outside their stores as a consequence it reduces the available parking space for customers and affects footfall in the area. Some shopkeepers said, “During the school closing timing, our customers fail to find space to park their vehicles. Parents park their vehicles to pick up their children without any consideration for others, parking these in a way that blocks our shops’ front area and reduces accessibility.” Parents alleged that schools have not provided any designated space for parking and they park their vehicles wherever they find space. “We usually park vehicles for maximum half an hour only to pick our children. We know shopkeepers are facing huge inconvenience due the haphazard parking by parents, but they have no option as schools do not provide space for parking inside the schools,” asserted a parent. “Traffic police and school authorities should devise an amicable solution to this issue. Either school should allow parents to park their vehicles inside the schools or the latter should convince parents to bring only two wheelers instead of cars to pick their wards. If every parent will bring a car to pick their children and they will park haphazardly, traffic issues cannot be solved. Not only this, some school vans are also being parked outside the schools leaving less space for the parents to park their cars,” another parent said. This traffic mess mainly prevails at schools’ closing time as in the morning parents drop their wards and rush off. 2 cars burnt in garage fire at Machhiwara Our Correspondent Maximum fire incidents totalling 91 have been reported from Payal tehsil. FILE PHOTO Harvesting ends, farm fires start; 331 incidents reported in dist Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 17 With wheat harvesting coming to an end, farm fires are on rise in the state. Despite concentrated efforts, holding seminars on the issue and organising awareness camps, the farm fires are taking place all over the state. As per records with the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) here, a total 331 farm fire incidents have been reported in the district. These farm fires have taken place at many tehsils, including Jagraon, Khanna, Ludhiana (East), Ludhiana (West), Payal, Raikot, and Samrala. Of these, maximum fire incidents totalling 91 were reported from Payal tehsil, followed by 84 in Jagraon and 54 in Raikot tehsil. Around 38 incidents of fire were reported from Ludhiana (East), 44 from Ludhiana (West), 14 from Samrala and six from Khanna area. An official of the PPCB said that these were the reported cases while many others go unnoticed. The official on the condition of anonymity said that though environmental compensation had been imposed on the defaulters, still it doesn’t stop farmers from contin- uing with this unethical practice. He said that the government had also started registering FIRs in many cases, but still there had been no respite from the farm fires, which were being reported from all districts. These farm fires cause a lot of trouble, of which pollution remains the major one. With an increase in the number of farm fires, the air-quality index gets deteriorated within no time, posing serious threat to all living beings. Lately, a lot of emphasis is being laid on not to indulge in this unethical practice, but still there has been no respite from the problem. Doraha, May 17 The garage of a resident of Machhiwara was completely gutted in a major fire yesterday. Though the reason for fire is yet to be ascertained, the goods totalling approximately Rs 12 lakh were destroyed in the fire. A car parked at the garage of Gill Workshop in Bank Colony on Machhiwara-Samrala road suddenly caught fire yesterday and was reduced to ashes in no time. Following this, the fire spread to the entire garage and spare parts, along with other tools, also got burnt. The owner of the garage, Omkar Singh, shared that another car parked nearby was also partially damaged in the fire. The reasons of the accident could not be ascertained. The police along with the fire brigade teams reached the spot immediately after getting the information. The fire could be controlled only after three hours. When asked about the loss, the owner said, “It is too difficult to assess the total loss at this stage since the major concern was to douse the fire completely. I can come to know about the actual loss afterwards. Luckily, the workers are safe.” A burnt car at the garage where a fire broke out on Friday. School vans parked outside a school in Shastri Nagar, disturbing traffic flow on Saturday. Girl ends life after youth says no for marriage Ludhiana, May 17 After a youth refused the marriage proposal of a girl, the latter took the extreme step and ended her life. On the complaint of the girl’s mother, a case on the charge of abetment to suicide has been registered against the youth identified as Shoaib Alwi of New Shakti Nagar. Complainant Gauri Srivastav, also from New Shakti Nagar, told the police that recently she came to know that her daughter was in relationship with the abovesaid youth. Her daughter even expressed her desire to marry the guy. “For the past few days, my daughter was upset. She told me that her boyfriend had refused to marry her. I tried to calm her down but she couldn’t. On May 16, she hung herself in a shop,” revealed the deceased’s mother. — TNS Despite cleanliness drive, space under Lakkar Bridge waste dump Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 17 Despite the cleanliness drive going on in the city in full swing, with MLAs to MPs participating in the same, there are few areas in the city which the MC authorities and those undertaking the cleanliness drives fail to notice. The main aim of the cleanliness drive is to clean roads or also the dirty corners of the city remains the unanswered question. The space beneath the Lakkar Bridge has become a garbage dump, emitting foul smell and making it difficult The space beneath Lakkar bridge has become a garbage dump, making it difficult for people to move around. INDERJEET VERMA for the people to move around. Many times the area under the bridge also becomes a hub for anti-social activities, especially at night. Two sports courts have been developed under this bridge and the remaining space remains unutilised and have become a dumping ground for garbage. The need of the hour is that the space under the flyover should be utilised to best of its capacity. It can be landscaped, which will give a facelift to the city, but instead this space is being used by people for throwing waste. While on one side, sports courts have been developed by the municipal corporation, the remaining stretch remains unutilised. c m y b 13-year-old, Tavish, who comes to play badminton at the sports court under the bridge, says that he usually comes here to get refreshed and play after his studies, but the foul smell emitted by the garbage dumped under the bridge spoils his mood. “People should be educated and they should be told about the importance of proper waste disposal and the negative impact of dumping garbage in the open,” said he. Bumika, who lives at Club Road, said that transforming the area under the bridges into green spaces or aesthetically pleasing areas could discourage dumping and create a more welcoming environment. Gurpal Singh, a government employee whose office is nearby, said that the place was turning filthier with each passing day. “Even a casual visitor is appalled by the filth in this area and things become worse during the monsoon when the foul smell increases and it becomes almost impossible to pass from this stretch,” he added. Further, he said that many a time he had seen unscrupulous elements drinking here at night time and one could see empty bottles around. ASHWANI DHIMAN DSR technology fails to attract farmers despite incentive Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 17 Paddy sowing using Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) technology has been started from today onwards. The government is putting in a lot of efforts to promote this technology, but still farmers are shying away from adopting this technique. An incentive of Rs 1,500 per acre has failed to attract the farmers towards this technology and while ignoring it, they are still preferring the traditional method of puddled transplanting of rice (PTR) in majority of the paddy sown area. Ludhiana district was the only district to record minimal contribution to DSR technology during the last paddy season. Of the total 2,53,328 acres under DSR in Punjab in 202425, Ludhiana district had a share of only 3,928 acres, which accounts to only 1.55 per cent. Gursewak Singh, a farmer from Barudi village, said that he tried sowing paddy through DSR for one year and though the incentive would help him in his next intercrop, but the money was transferred into the account during the wheat season. “What was the use of the money when the payment got delayed. So, I thought it is better to stick to the traditional method only,” he said. Another farmer, Harvinder Singh from Samrala, added that the incentive of Rs 1,500 per acre is too meagre. “The government should increase the incentive to at least Rs 2,500 per acre so that more and more farmers feel motivated to adopt this method,” he said. For Tejinder Singh, a farmer from Raikot, it is the technical know-how which comes in between his adoption of this technique. “The incentive is a pulling factor, but we have to fill the details online for the same. I am not technologically sound to do that. The Agriculture Department do organise camps for the same, but it consumes lot of time. So incentive is not a pulling factor for me,” he said. Man held on rape charge Ludhiana, May 17 The Jagraon police yesterday arrested a person on the charge of raping a girl on the pretext of marriage. The accused had reportedly developed friendship with the girl on some social media site. He has been identified as Gursem Singh of Dholan village. A 27-year-old complainant in a statement to the police said that he got to know the accused through a social media site. In no time, their friendship turned into a love affair. The accused used to press her for marriage and on several occasions he had taken her to several places, where he also developed physical relations with her. The complainant alleged that recently the accused categorically refused to solemnise marriage with her. She then lodged a police complaint against the accused. — TNS