26082024-LT-01.qxd 8/26/2024 12:07 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune 575 TAKE PART IN CISCE REGIONAL ATHLETICS MEET FAKE ASTROLOGY RACKET BUSTED IN SRIGANGANAGAR Two youths have been arrested for duping people by impersonating as astrologers on social media. P3 PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 33°C | MIN 26°C YESTERDAY MAX 34°C | MIN 25°C DIFFERENT STROKES FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS Two-day event organised by Guru Nanak Public School, Model Town Extension, concludes. P2 FORECAST Five instances where music composers blended traditional folk elements with contemporary sounds. P4 » » SUNSET MONDAY 6.52 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 5:57 AM » MONDAY | 26 AUGUST 2024 | LUDHIANA IMPROPER DISPOSAL OF LEGACY WASTE, UNTREATED SEWAGE MC on toes as NGT imposes ~1,026-cr environmental compensation on state Tribune News Service Ludhiana, August 25 The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (MC) is on its toes after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has imposed an environmental compensation of Rs 1,026 crore on the state government for improper disposal of legacy waste and untreated sewage. It has hit the panic button as the Ludhiana MC is now stressing on segregation of waste. People are being made aware and the MC Commissioner himself is visiting garbage dumpsites to see the waste segregation so that disposal of refuse becomes systematic. Officials are also busy in planning the disposal of legacy waste. The MC has issued a tender for the disposal of waste at the Jainpur garbage dump. Tender worth Rs 11 crore has been floated for processing 2.18 lakh metric tonnes of garbage. Earlier, garbage MC Joint Commissioner Inderpal conducts a surprise inspection at a static compactor site in Ludhiana. EFFORTS ON TO MAKE WASTE DISPOSAL SYSTEMATIC The Ludhiana civic body is now stressing on segregation of waste. People are being made aware and the MC Commissioner himself is visiting garbage dumpsites to see the waste segregation so that disposal of refuse becomes systematic. was dumped here but in 2012, a ban was imposed on dumping garbage at the spot, after which the MC started dumping waste at the Tajpur dump. Now, the civic body plans to clear the place of trash within a year. Tenders are also being floated for disposal of garbage that has collected at the Tajpur Road garbage dump. Nearly 22.44 metric tonnes of waste has been collected here and over three years have passed since the garbage processing was stopped. City produces 1,100 tonnes of garbage. The plan was to do bioremediation of waste. The first phase for 5 lakh metric tonnes of waste was started under the Smart City Mission but the second phase to treat the remaining 20 lakh metric tonnes of waste could not start as tenders were called off. This week, MC Joint Commissioner Inderpal conducted a surprise inspection at different static compactor sites situated in Sherpur and the Partap chowk area. During the inspection, the Joint Commissioner also interacted with garbage collectors and directed them to collect segregated dry and wet waste from households. Civic body teams have also been conducting awareness drives in the city to make residents aware of source segregation of wet and dry waste. Civic body Commissioner Sandeep Rishi appealed to residents to support the civic body in improving the solid waste management in the city by handing over segregated dry and wet waste to garbage collectors. He also appealed to them to stop dumping garbage at vacant sites/plots. The NGT’s decision came after reviewing various reports and data that highlight the poor state of waste management in Punjab. The NGT has directed the Punjab Chief Secretary to deposit the amount with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) within a month and to submit a compliance report. It has also asked why criminal proceedings under Section 26 of the NGT Act and provisions of criminal proceedings under the Water Act should not be initiated. Health Department issues advisory for monkeypox Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana, August 25 The state Health Department has issued an alert for monkeypox (Mpox) and the district Health Department had been asked to adopt all necessary precautionary measures for the same. Though no case of monkeypox has been reported in the state, all precautionary measures are being adopted. “Human-to-human transmission is known to occur primarily through large respiratory droplets generally requiring a prolonged close contact. It can also be transmitted through direct contact with body fluids or lesion material and indirect contact with lesion material, such as contaminated clothing or linens of an infected person,” said Civil Surgeon Pardeep Mohindra. “The state Health Department has issued an advisory for the districts and we are following the same in Ludhiana,” he said. Key symptoms of monkeypox include fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, Though no case of Mpox has been reported in state, all precautionary measures are being adopted KEY SYMPTOMS Key symptoms of monkeypox include fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion. Characteristic skin lesions must be identified by the health authorities. swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion. Characteristic skin lesions must be identified by the health authorities. Another medicine expert from the government sector said monkeypox was usually a self-limited disease with symptoms lasting from two to four weeks. Severe cases occur more commonly among children and were related to the extent of virus exposure, patient health status and nature of complications. Raising awareness of risk factors and educating people about measures they could take to reduce exposure to the virus was the main prevention strategy for monkeypox, the Civil Surgeon said. There are a number of measures that can be taken to prevent infection with Mpox virus, which include avoid contact with any material, such as bedding, that has been in contact with a sick person. Isolate infected patients from others and practice good hand hygiene after contact with infected animals or humans. Use appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) when caring for patients. Surveillance strategy Once the case is identified: ■ Isolate cases to prevent further transmission. ■ Provide optimal clinical care. ■ Identify & manage contacts ■ Protect frontline health workers. ■ Effective control and preventive measures based on the identified routes of transmission. Day 2: PSPCL detects 73 Four snatchers Civic body distributes free cases of power theft in dist nabbed with 17 compost among residents mobiles, iron rods Ludhiana, August 25 Tightening noose over illegal power connections, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) on Sunday again conducted a surprise checking of electricity connections to detect cases of power theft. Residents were found using power in an illegal manner. According to information, 2,836 connections were checked on a random basis by PSPCL teams in all circles of Ludhiana district, during which 73 cases of power theft were detected. Around Rs 43 lakh penalty was imposed on the violators. The department has initiated proceedings against the defaulters. In the East and West circles, maximum cases of theft were detected. One of the officials said despite the fact that the state government was providing free power to consumers up to 300 units, many of them were still stealing power. Tribune News Service Tribune News Service A PSPCL employees checks illegal power connections in Ludhiana. The official said the checking would be done at these spots on a regular basis till the power theft was curbed. — TNS Ludhiana, August 25 Snatching and looting incidents are occurring in various areas of the city and criminals are targeting vulnerable people. In two incidents, the police arrested four persons and recovered 17 mobile phones from them, which they have snatched from residents in the past. The police have also seized two motorcycles and iron rods from the suspects. In the first incident, the Daresi police arrested two persons, Avneet Kumar, a resident of Mahavir Colony, Bhamian, and Ankush Sharma, a resident of Khasi Kalan. After getting a tip-off, the police saw the two suspects, who were coming on a motorcycle, near a checkpoint near the ICICI chowk. The duo were stopped and a motorcycle and 12 mobile phones were recovered from them. They were also carrying an iron rod. The motorcycle and iron rod were also seized by the police. The suspects were going to sell the snatched mobile phones. A case under Section 304-3 (5) of the BNS has been registered against them. In another incident, the Salem Tabri police arrested Manish of Gold City and Zoravar of Gurnam Nagar and recovered five mobiles from them. On getting a tip-off, the police set up a naka near Senior Citizen Park where the motorcycle of the suspects was stopped for checking. The police seized the motorcycle, five mobiles and an iron rod from them. They were sent to police remand. — TNS Ludhiana, August 25 The Municipal Corporation (MC) organised camps and distributed ‘Harit - Punjab city compost’ to residents free of cost. Camps were organised at Nehru Rose Garden, Laddowal, Gill village, among other areas. While distrib- SPECIAL CLEANLINESS DRIVE uting the compost among the residents, civic body officials also appealed to them to promote cleanliness and greenery in their respective areas. The initiative has been taken under the five-day special cleanliness drive launched on the directions of the state government, led by Chief Minister (CM) Bhagwant Singh Mann. Working on the directions ‘Harit’ compost being given to residents in Ludhiana. of MC Commissioner Sandeep Rishi, MC Joint Commissioner Inderpal also participated in the camps and encouraged the residents to turn their wet household waste into compost in their houses. MC Commissioner Sandeep Rishi said during the five-day long special cleanliness drive, garbage vulnerable points (GVP) were removed from differ- ent parts of the city and plastic plogging drives were also organised for recycling the plastic waste. Meanwhile, Sandeep Rishi appealed to residents to support the authorities in solid waste management by not dumping waste at vacant areas/plots. He also urged them to hand over segregated dry and wet waste to garbage collectors. City decked up as Janamashtami fervour grips residents 15 kg of marijuana, opium seized; 2 held Tribune News Service Ludhiana, August 25 With Janmashtami falling tomorrow, markets were all decked up with idols and accessories of Lord Krishna. Devotees were seen making purchases to dress up the Lord as the festival holds great significance in Hindu religion. Starting from idols to accessories such as bright-coloured clothes for Krishna, jhoola (swing), flute and peacock feathers were sold by shopkeepers in different markets. Not just the markets, temples too were being tastefully decorated with flowers and fancy lights to celebrate the occasion tomorrow. Janamashtami is the birth of Lord Krishna and in most of the temples, rituals are held at midnight to welcome him. Tribune News Service ISKCON temple illuminated on the eve of Janmashtami at South City; and (right) residents buy items from a market for the celebrations in Ludhiana on Sunday. ASHWANI DHIMAN c m y b Ludhiana, August 25 The police have arrested two persons with drugs in two incidents. The Jamalpur police have arrested Suraj, a resident of Khasi Kalan, Jamalpur, and seized 500 gm of opium from him. After getting a tip-off, the police set up a naka near Kakka Dhaula village and nabbed Suraj with the drug. The suspect was sent to police remand for further interrogation. In the other incident, the police arrested a drug peddler, Ram Chander, a resident of Kumdanpuri. The police got information that the suspect, who hails from Bihar, at present Police officials with one of the suspects in Ludhiana. residing in Kundanpuri, was present at Ram Park, Guru Nanak Pura. When the police searched, 15 kg of marijuana was seized from him. Following which, he was nabbed. The man was into the illegal drug trade for the past many years.