03062024-LT-01.qxd 6/3/2024 1:04 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune SCORCHING HEAT A FACTOR BEHIND LOW VOTER TURNOUT PREITY ZINTA WRAPS UP SHOOTING OF LAHORE 1947 STUDENTS OF NIFT SHOWCASE THEIR UNIQUE COLLECTIONS Democratic frustrations and scorching heat were among major factors behind low voter turnout. P3 Preity Zinta has wrapped up the shooting of her upcoming movie Lahore 1947. P4 Tantu, an exhibition at NIFT, Panchkula, featured collections of 30 students pursuing BTD degree. P4 » » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 45°C | MIN 27°C YESTERDAY MAX 42°C | MIN 26°C SUNSET MONDAY 7.20 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 5:21 AM MONDAY | 3 JUNE 2024 | LUDHIANA Major fire breaks out in hardware store District registers 60.12 per cent voter turnout Blaze engulfs first, second floors; over 5 fire tenders used to douse flames Tribune News Service Ludhiana, June 2 A major fire broke out in a hardware shop, Ashoka Hardware, near Aarti Chowk, here this afternoon. The fire had engulfed the first and second floors of the multistorey shop. Since the main shutter of the store was lying locked, firemen had to bring a turntable ladder to start the operation. Interestingly, the ladder was used first time by the fire brigade here. The shop owner had told fire officials that on Sunday afternoon within a few minutes after closing the shop, a spark started from the first floor, which further spread to the second floor. Following which, they informed the fire brigade about the incident. Panic spread among nearby shopkeepers as there was a fear that fire may spread to adjoining shops. An owner of a shop located near the hardware store had also started shifting goods to a safer place, fearing that fire might engulf his shop but fortunately, firemen did not let the blaze spread to the adjoining shop. More than five fire tenders were used to control the fire. Fire officials claimed that there were no fire safety arrangements in the shop due to which shopkeeper could not control fire at the initial stage. Even some flammable material was also said to Ludhiana West highest at 63.34%, Jagraon lowest at 56.79% Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana, June 2 Ludhiana district registered a final voter turnout of 60.12 per cent in the final phase of the Lok Sabha elections, as per the Election Commission of India (ECI). The Ludhiana West Assembly segment registered the highest turnout of 63.34 per cent while the lowest turnout was in the Jagraon constituency — 56.79 per cent. After Ludhiana West, the Dakha constituency registered 62.75 per cent followed by Ludhiana East at 61.63 per cent. The Gill constituency saw 60.99 per cent turnout while Ludhiana Central witnessed a turnout of 60.28 per cent. Ludhiana North saw 59.56 per cent while Ludhiana South 57.75 per cent followed by Atam Nagar 57.07 per cent voter turnout. Total male voters who came out to vote in Ludhiana was 61.97 per cent while female voters’ turnout was 58.01 per cent and the third gender voter turnout was 26.87 per cent. The highest number of male voters — 65.48 per cent came out to vote in the Ludhiana West constituency while the highest number of female voters who voted on June 1 AAP candidate Ashok Parashar Pappi and others stand in a queue to cast their votes in Ludhiana. FILE were 61.42 per cent, which was registered in the Dakha constituency. The Ludhiana East constituency has the highest number of 27 third gender electors, of which only six made use of their right to vote. In Ludhiana Central constituency, seven third gender voters cast their votes, which was the highest in Ludhiana. In Dakha, no vote was cast by third gender voter and only one third gender voter was registered here. From Ludhiana, key contestants include Amrinder VOTER TURNOUT Constituency Ludhiana West Dakha Ludhiana East Gill Ludhiana Central Ludhiana North Ludhiana South Atam Nagar Jagraon Turnout 63.34 % 62.75% 61.63 % 60.99% 60.28% 59.56 % 57.75% 57.07 % 56.79% Singh Raja Warring from the Congress, Ravneet Singh Bittu from the BJP Ashok , Parashar Pappi from the Aam Aadmi Party and Ranjit Singh Dhillon from the Shiromani Akali Dal. The political scene in Ludhiana heated up after threetime MP Ravneet Singh Bittu joined the BJP and the Congress fielded Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring from Ludhiana while AAP fielded sitting MLA Ashok Parashar from the Ludhiana Central constituency. With fate sealed in EVMs, now everyone hast to wait for June 4 when the counting of votes will be done. NO FIRE SAFETY ARRANGEMENTS Fire officials claimed that there were no fire safety arrangements in the hardware shop due to which the shopkeeper could not control fire at the initial stage. Even some flammable material was also said to be stored in large quantity inside the store. An official said firemen struggled hard to control the blaze. From top: Fire personnel douse the flames at the hardware shop near Aarti Chowk in Ludhiana and a worker shifts stock from the shop after it caught fire. TRIBUNE PHOTOS: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN be stored in large quantity inside the store. Assistant divisional fire officer Maninder Singh said firemen struggled hard to control the fire. Turntable ladder turned out to be a saviour as it helped firemen to broke the glass window of the second floor and spray water to douse the flames. Notably, onlookers had also gathered in a large number outside the shop and they had also been making videos of the incident. The fire offi- Post-poll scrutiny of Form 17A held 10 FIRs filed for poll code violations Ludhiana, June 2 The Ludhiana police yesterday registered around 10 cases of various kinds of poll code violations. Cases were also registered against voters and workers of the Congress, AAP and BJP . The first case was registered against Hitesh Bedi, son of BJP ex-MLA Harish Bedi, by the Ludhiana police for taking a photo while casting his vote on Saturday. He faced legal action after he posted his photo on social media and some unidentified person lodged a police complaint against him. An FIR was registered under Sections 128 and 131 of the Representation of Public Act and 188 of the IPC. Harish Bedi remained an MLA from the North constituency. A case was registered against Manish Verma of New HIMANSHU MAHAJAN Ludhiana, June 2 A post-poll scrutiny of Form 17A and other documents for the Ludhiana parliamentary constituency was conducted by District Election Officer Sakshi Sawhney on Sunday in the presence of General Observer Divya Mittal and representatives of candidates at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU). The scrutiny was carried out to check polling stations where any significant event, EVM-related or other, was reported, whether polling took place in the absence of any polling agent, polling stations where the number of electors who cast their votes using documents other than Elector’s Photo Identity Card exceeded DEO Sakshi Sawhney leaves the PAU after conducting the post-poll scrutiny of Form 17A on Sunday. 25 per cent of the total votes polled in the station, stations where over 10 per cent of the electors have been identified as ASD (absent/shifted/deleted) turned up to vote, sta- tions where the polling percentage is plus 15 per cent or minus 15 per cent than the average polling percentage of the Assembly constituency and others. However, no discrepancy was found during the scrutiny and candidates and representatives expressed complete satisfaction over the polling procedure. — TNS Shakti Nagar, who while casting his vote made a video of his voting choice and later uploaded it on his Facebook. He was held and handed over to the police by polling staff. The Police Division 3 registered a case against AAP worker Harsh and 12 unidentified party workers who were creating trouble outside a polling booth at Issa Nagari. The Police Division 3 also yesterday arrested Gautam Bhasin of Kucha Alamdin and Gagandeep Sachdeva as the duo was found making a video while casting vote. A case has been registered. The Sadar police also arrested Gurmukh Singh, alias Gora, of Kheri village who was found creating trouble outside a polling booth at Himayupura. An FIR was filed. The Shimlapuri police also registered a case against Avtar Singh of Kot Mangal, a Congress worker who along with the cavalcade of eight to 10 vehicles was resorting to hooting near the ITI college. The Shimlapuri police also booked Balbir Singh of Hasanpur, an AAP worker, who, along with the cavalcade of vehicles, was roaming. The Police Division 6 also booked Ravi Kumar, a BJP worker, who, along with 40 other workers, tried to create a hurdle in the ongoing voting at a polling booth at Labour Chowk. The Dakha police yesterday registered a case against Gurdeepak Singh of Issewal after he was caught making video of his voting process. Election staff recovered his mobile phone and deleted the video. — TNS Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, June 2 A collision between two goods trains (one stationary) and a passenger train, which was also stationed, at New Sirhind Railway Station hit the train services on the Ambala-Ludhiana rail line. Passengers at the Ludhiana railway station faced huge inconvenience as trains were running behind the schedule. As per information shared by the Ferozepur Division, 31 trains were affected, of which most were diverted, some were short terminated and a few were also cancelled. Help desk booths were set up at Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar City, Jammu Tawi, Jalandhar Cantt, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra, Ferozepur Cantt and Pathankot Cantt stations Passengers face inconvenience in absence of facilities amid scorching heat for guiding passengers regarding diversions, cancellations, short-origination and short-termination of trains. Each help desk booth was got manned by two staff with helpline number for providing information to passengers. Some of the main affected trains include AmritsarKatihar, Pathankot-Old Delhi, Pathankot-Old Delhi, Jammu Tawi-Ajmer, Jalandhar City-Darbanga, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi KatraNew Delhi, Gandhi DhamShri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra, New Delhi-Amritsar, Jai Nagar-Amritsar, Amrit- sar-Jai Nagar, NagpurAmritsar, Haridwar-Amritsar, Ludhiana-Ambala and Ambala-Jalandhar City. A passenger, Parvinder Kumar, said his train had to arrive at 2.30 am on Sunday and now, it’s 2.30 pm, but it was yet to arrive. It becomes difficult to stay at the railway station due to the sizzling heat. Ravina Kumari, who came from Jammu Tawi and was heading to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, said: “Our train was running eight hours late. They were told by the people that due to the accident of trains, trains were running behind schedule.”There is a lack of cold potable water at the railway station in Ludhiana. Even washrooms in the train are dirty. Despite scorching heat, fans are not working. We are forced to travel in such inhumane conditions,” she said. Another woman passenger said she, along with children, were heading to Jammu from Ajmer but their train was running hours behind the schedule. There is no supply of potable water inside the train. The train was stopped at various places on the way due to accident of trains at the New Sirhind railway station and still, they could not get drinking water to quest their thirst in this searing heat. Another passenger, Jagjit Singh, said his train was scheduled to arrive at 11.50 pm but now it’s 2 pm, there is not information about the exact arrival time. He, along with his wife and children, was forced to bear c m y b ASHWANI DHIMAN Collision between goods trains at New Sirhind rly station hits rail services Passengers spend time on a platform at the Ludhiana railway station due to disruption in train services. cials had to call the police, who later shooed away the onlookers from the place. The fire was almost controlled around 8 pm but the firemen were still present at the spot for precautionary purpose. Mobile tower catches fire at Khanna village Tribune News Service Ludhiana, June 2 A massive fire broke out in a mobile tower located in the middle of a residential area in Jarag village of Khanna on Sunday. Though the entire tower was not burnt, a large part of it was damaged. There was panic among residents around the area after the incident. After getting information, the fire brigade team reached the spot and managed to douse the flames within an hour. After the incident, the mobile services of the company concerned was affected in the area. SHIFT TOWER FROM AREA: RESIDENTS Residents had demanded that the mobile tower should be shifted from the residential area of the village so that such major incident should not occur in future. According to information, the mobile tower is installed in the middle of houses in the village. People had also reportedly opposed the installation of the same in the past. It is being suspected that the fire was caused due to heaps of garbage set on fire near the tower. The tower operating room caught the fire and it further spread to other parts. Alertness of fire staff prevented the fire from spreading further to residences. Meanwhile, the residents who gathered at the scene had demanded that the tower should be shifted from the residential area of the village so that such major incident should not occur in future.