16062024-LT-01.qxd 6/16/2024 12:24 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune CONSTRUCTION WORKS HALTED AS SCHOOLS AWAIT GRANTS YO YO HONEY SINGH TO ATTEND SONAKSHI SINHA’S WEDDING Singer said though he would be busy with shooting in London, he would definitely attend the wedding. P4 MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 46°C | MIN 32°C YESTERDAY MAX 45°C | MIN 31°C DALLAS GIG STOPPED MIDWAY, BADSHAH BLAMES PROMOTER The govt schools now await release of the grants to resume construction and maintenance works. P2 FORECAST The rapper says the show promoter is at fault for not coordinating properly with the local authorities. P4 » » SUNSET SUNDAY 7.27 PM SUNRISE MONDAY 5:20 AM » SUNDAY | 16 JUNE 2024 | LUDHIANA 5-yr-old raped by shopkeeper in Khanna Paddy transplantation begins in dist 2 held within 48 hrs, 4 weapons seized Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Ludhiana, June 15 A shocking incident of rape involving a five-year-old girl has come to light at Bija village in Khanna. The shopkeeper lured the innocent girl with toffee, took her to the bathroom inside the shop and allegedly raped her. When the girl went home, bleeding started from her private part. She then told her mother about the incident. Following this, she was taken to the Civil Hospital for a medical examination and the police were informed. The Khanna Sadar police on Saturday registered a case against the accused shopkeeper and arrested him. The accused has been identified as 34-year-old Kuldeep Singh. The victim’s mother said that she used to buy household items from Kuldeep Singh's shop. Late on Friday evening, the accused lured the girl with toffee, took her to the bathroom of the shop and allegedly raped her. Ludhiana, June 15 Paddy transplantation started in the district from today. On the first day, the transplantation began on a slow note and will gain pace in the coming days. Shortage of labour has always been a problem during plantation of paddy. Transplanting paddy is a highly labour-intensive method which requires at least 2-3 workers to do the work. Although government is encouraging farmers to adopt Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR), which is less labour intensive but farmers prefer transplantation method. The window period for DSR was between May 15-31. Balwinder Singh, a farmer from Mansuran village, said he will transplant paddy by June 20 due to labour scarcity. “It is expected that labour will cost around Rs 3,0005,000 per acre. My nursery is yet to get ready, so I will wait till June 20 for transplantation,” he said. Since the paddy transplantation will pick up pace in the Manav Mander DORAHA FIRING CASE Paddy transplantation started in the Ludhiana district today. PHOTO: INDERJEET VERMA coming days, so it is only in the days to come that one will know about the power status. Paramjeet from Samrala said the power system need to be uphauled. “Years ago, farmers were using 200-500 horsepower motors. Now, farmers have started using more powerful motors but the wires connecting the tubewells and the connectors are same. The PSPCL needs to updated these for smooth functioning,” he said. Tirath Singh, a farmer from Gill village said, “I pray that it rain in some days as paddy is water intensive crop and will help in saving water in case it rains. There was a time when farmers used to sow paddy in the beginning of June and now this year it has been extended to June 15, which is too late.” Experts from Punjab Agricultural University said farmers should refrain from transplanting paddy before the scheduled date to reduce the load on underground water. Dr GS Mangat, Additional Director of Research (Agriculture) to the farmers. “Transplanting paddy as per the prescribed date which will help in water conserva- tion, high yield as well as successful and sustainable rice cultivation,” he said. Further, Dr Mangat disclosed that the PAU has developed and recommended 11 short/medium duration rice varieties in the past 11 years which have yielded exceptional results at farmers’ fields, covering more than 70 per cent of paddy area in the state. Ludhiana, June 15 The police managed to crack the Doraha jewellery showroom firing case within 48 hours with the arrest of two suspects and recovered four weapons along with 36 live cartridges from them. On June 12, the police received an information about firing at the shop of Paramjit Jewellers, Doraha, by two unknown bike-borne persons. They said under the leadership of Khanna SSP Amneet Kondal and supervision of Saurav Jindal, Superintendent Police (Investigation), a special drive was launched to nab the anti-social elements. The police said that during the investigation, special teams of police station Doraha and CIA staff were formed to trace the unknown persons. On June 15, Pardeep Singh of village Begowal near Payal and Suraj Prakash, alias David, of Gagan Preet Vihar, Wadi Haibowal, Ludhiana, were arrested and recovered four pistols along Payal DSP Nikhil Garg addresses a press conference on Saturday. TRIBUNE PHOTO with 36 magazines from them. Financial feud behind attack Key accused, Pardeep, revealed in his interrogation that he had a financial dispute worth crores with the jeweller and the latter was not returning his amount. “I had not gone to kill the jeweller but just to intimidate him,” Pardeep told police. However, the police said accused had opened six fires simultaneously from two weapons. One weapon fired five shots while another weapon developed some snag and fired only one bullet. — TNS Businessmen sore over Labour shortage Farmers to make Ladhowal toll-free from today erratic electricity supply cripples industry plazaultimatum to NHAI to decrease charges Had given Shivani Bhakoo Ludhiana, June 15 City industrialists have expressed deep concern over the way they are given treatment by the state government. They feel that instead of providing them with facilities and other sops, government was pushing them back by adding more financial burden. The recent decision to increase the power rates has jolted the industrialists, especially when the supply of power remains erratic in the factory premises. Avtar Singh Bhogal from Bhogalsons, having unit at Focal Point, said unscheduled power cuts have troubled us a lot. “The worst part is power cuts are unscheduled. All of a sudden, the power goes off. You never know when the power supply will stop. All this hits production. Yesterday, they decided to increase the rates of power, which is unjustified. If there is shortage of power, why are Tribune News Service The decision to increase power tariff has irked the industrialists, especially when the supply of power remains erratic. FILE PHOTO you providing free to the domestic users where usage is less than 300 units? And ultimately, the entire industry is taxed,” rued Bhogal. Gurcharan Singh Gemko, former vice president, UCMPA, said due to the wrong policies of the government, the youth prefers to settle abroad. Badish Jindal, president, FOPSIA, said the last two days gave us a little respite but before that, there were unscheduled power cuts. “We get to know only when power is off. There are no scheduled cuts. The government wants to save the vote bank but for this, industry is paying the price,” said Jindal. Narinder Bhamra, president, Fastener Association of India, said, “The power demand increases in summer, leading to unscheduled power cuts. The industry is facing a serious issue of erratic power supply.” —TNS Ludhiana, June 15 The months of April, May and June always remain stressful for the industry due to the labour shortage. The migrants from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odhisha stay back in their native villages to sow paddy in their fields. The industry, hit badly in the productions, feel that Punjabis need to be roped in at any cost to sustain. “For how long can we rely on migrant labour? The industry always faces labour shortage during this phase of the year. The semiskilled and skilled labour is needed in the industry and when they leave, industry is bound to be hit,” said Ajit Lakra, Head Textile Division, Federation Of Industrial & Commercial Organisation (FICO). “We need to rope in Punjabi girls and women and provide them with skillbased training in different sectors. The Central Government has initiated several schemes, if they come up with the working women hostels and the Punjab Government provides land, industry can provide other facilities and there will be no problem. Sadly, no one is thinking on these lines and this is a serious matter,” said Lakra. The Chairman of United Cycle and Parts Manufacturers’ Association (UCPMA), Charanjit Singh Vishkarma, said the shortage of labour is worrisome. “Labourers have started coming back after the elections but still a good number of skilled and unskilled labour is back home. So we have no option but to wait for them. Industries fail to function when the labour is away and production is hit,” said Vishkarma. NHAI withdraws ~957-cr Southern Bypass project Big blow of infra development as authorities fail to take possession of land, disburse compensation ludhiana, June 15 In a major blow to the infrastructure development, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has withdrawn the approval granted to construct the much-awaited 25.24-km-long Southern Ludhiana Bypass for want of land, officials have confirmed. Reason: The physical possession of the land acquired for the project could not be obtained and even the approved compensation amount could not be disbursed even over two years after the big ticket project was approved on June 2, 2022. Earlier, the construction company, who was selected and awarded the work, had refused to undertake the work and had left the project. The development assumes significance as this six-lane AIMED TO DECONGEST CITY ROADS ■ While the physical possession of almost 100 hectares of acquired land has already been taken over and handed over to the NHAI by the district administration, the proceedings to complete acquisition for the remaining 80.58 hectares of land, which constitutes 44.77 per cent of the total land requirement, could not be completed ■ This big ticket infrastructure development project was planned to decongest the busy internal and external arteries of the industrial and business hub of the North Greenfield highway project to be built at the cost of Rs 956.94 crore had been hanging fire for the past over two years due to the non-availability of land following the stiff resistance by the landowners to part away with their landholdings under acquisition, officials have said. While the physical possession of almost 100 hectares of acquired land has already been taken over and handed over to the NHAI by the district administration, the pro- ceedings to complete acquisition for the remaining 80.58 hectares of land, which constitutes 44.77 per cent of the total land requirement, could not be completed. While the district administration has claimed that the physical possession of 80 per cent of the requisite land had already been handed over to the NHAI/ contractor, which was mandatory to begin the construction work, the NHAI blamed that there was an inordinate delay in handing over the possession of the land. The Rajya Sabha MP from Ludhiana, Sanjeev Arora, told The Tribune, on Saturday that the NHAI has withdrawn the letter of approval (LOA) granted for the project, citing the delay in handing over the possession of the land as the main reason. He was briefed by the NHAI that only Rs 198.42 crore of the total Rs 323.06 crore compensation amount declared for land acquisition was disbursed and the physical possession of 19.74-km of the total 25.24-km land required for the project was obtained so far. “The disbursement and physical possession of land needs to be expedited by the District Revenue Officer (DRO) and the land in Rajgarh village needs to be c m y b handed over, which was taking a long time,” the NHAI said. However, the DRO Gurjinder Singh said physical possession of over 80 per cent of the acquired land had already been handed over to the NHAI/ contractor, which even failed to sustain the same. “The district administration, led by the Deputy Commissioner, has been making all out efforts to resolve the pending issues pertaining to the project at the earliest,” he claimed. Taking up the matter, the MP called on the NHAI Chief General Manager (CGM) in New Delhi recently and impressed upon him to take immediate requisite steps to restore the project. continued on page 2 Ludhiana, June 15 The Bhartiya Kisan Mazdoor Union (BKU-M) and BKU (Doaba) have decided to make Ladhowal toll plaza free for commuters from today. They had given an ultimatum to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to decrease the toll charges to the bare minimum by Saturday else they will make the toll free for commuters on June 16. Farmers has given this call after the recent hike in toll charges after the completion of general elections. Dilbagh Singh Punjab, president, BKU(M), said the NHAI increased toll charges thrice in a year, causing trouble commuters. “When we buy a car or any vehicle we are forced to pay road tax and now by installing these toll barriers we are again forced to pay road tax. This is totally unacceptable. If still government wants us to pay toll charges for the maintenance of roads, charges should be bare minimum so that any common man can easily shell out,” added Singh. BKU leader said Ladhowal toll barrier is the Punjab’s most expensive toll plaza and since it’s inception in 2009, it’s TOLL REVISED ON JUNE 3 ■ As per the latest revision in toll charges, car owner is shelling out ~220 for a single journey (earlier ~215) and ~330 for return journey (earlier ~225). Light vehicle owners are paying ~535 for a return journey within a day (earlier ~520). ■ Bus and truck drivers are now paying ~745 for single journey (earlier ~730) and ~1,120 for return journey (earlier ~1,095), while more heavy construction vehicles (up to three axles) are made to pay ~815 for single journey (earlier ~795) and ~1,225 for return journey (earlier ~1,190). The seven and more axles vehicles have to pay ~2,140 against the earlier amount of ~2,085 for return journey. The next toll charges revision as per the NHAI is March 31, 2025 contract is being continuously revised by the government. The plaza might have collected hundreds of crores and still it is adding burden on the people. “We will make this toll barrier free for commuters on Sunday for an indefinite period. If NHAI will not announce to decrease the toll charges to bare minimum we will not allow told company to collect toll charges from commuters from tomorrow onwards. Now, for cars one has to pay Rs 220 for a single journey but we demand this should be around Rs 150 and similarly charges of other vehicles should also be decreased accordingly, “ said BKU leader Dilbagh Singh. — TNS Water relief With temperature rising, children take a dip in a pool to beat the heat. INDERJEET VERMA
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