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P4 » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 36°C | MIN 25°C YESTERDAY MAX 36°C | MIN 26°C SUNSET MONDAY 6.17 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 6:12 AM » MONDAY | 23 SEPTEMBER 2024 | LUDHIANA Commercial projects come up along canal instead of buffer zone, PAC issues notice Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 22 After noticing major violations by the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA), Forest Department, MC, Ludhiana, and GLADA by not creating a green buffer zone of 30 m along the Sidhwan Canal but instead of permitting the axing of trees standing even on public places for development of private projects, the Public Action Committee (PAC) has served notice to all departments, including MoEF&CC and DC, Ludhiana, with a demand for immediate demarcation of 30m green buffer zone along with planting saplings of trees. The permission for axing of trees was taken from the regional office of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Chandigarh. The PAC has given 15 days’ time to initiate necessary steps, failing which it will move the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for redressal of legitimate grievances. The notification for development of the 30-m green strip as buffer zone, dated October 18, 2018, has asked A commercial project along the Sidhwan Canal in Ludhiana. 15 DAYS’ TIME GIVEN The PAC has given 15 days’ time to initiate necessary steps to the departments concerned, failing which it will move the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for redressal of legitimate grievances. for Zoning Regulations and Development Controls for Master Plans in the state and was issued by the Department of Town and Country Planning, Housing and Urban Development, Punjab. Dr Amandeep Singh Bains, member of the PAC, while serving the notice, said as per Zoning Regulations and Development Controls for Master Plans in Punjab, it was crystal clear that minimum 5-m wide green strips on each side of minor water bodies/drains should be maintained on the portion, falling within the existing municipal limits and 10 m on the portion falling outside the limits. Other major water bodies such as rivers/major canals, etc, should have minimum 30-m green strips on each side in the portion falling within as well as outside the existing MC limits. In these green strips, golf course, sports and recreational activities shall be permissible, with 2 per cent ground coverage for construction of offices, booths serving snacks/milk booths, library, etc. The Sidhwan Canal, one of major canals of the state takes off from Nilo Nehar and passes through Sahnewal, Harnampura and crosses the municipal limits of Ludhiana at the Lohara bridge to Fatehpur Awana and further goes to Isewal village onwards towards downstream. There is a no construction zone of 5 meters within the MC limits and 30 m outside the limits along the canal. “After the notification issued by the Department of Town and Country Planning, Housing and Urban Development, Punjab, instead of development of a green buffer zone along the Sidhwan Canal, permission was given to axe large number of trees for the development of commercial projects such as restaurants, market plazas, etc,” Bains said. Another member of the PAC, Kapil Arora, said all such axing had been allowed not only for the entrance of such projects but for the entire frontage of the projects, which means the permission given for axing was solely to give wrongful advantage to the projects, which was against the environment as well as the notification issued by the state government. 21 FIRs registered against travel agents in 45 days Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 22 The Civil Lines Police SubDivision had cracked the whip against fraud travel and immigration agents. In the past one-and-a-half month, as many as 21 first information report (FIRs) have been registered against the fraudsters. These cases have been registered at the Police Division 8, Police Division 5 and Model Town police stations, falling in the jurisdiction of the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Civil Lines. Pertinently, in these cases, the travel agents have duped foreign aspirants to the tune of around Rs 5 crore. The ACP Civil Lines, Jatin , Bansal, told The Tribune here on Saturday that in the 21 FIRs, 11 immigration and travel firms were involved. Four agents were arrested while raids were on to catch the remaining over 24 suspects. “The FIRs have been registered in a short period of 45 days only after conducting a preliminary probe. Several complaints against other travel agents have also been received and after completing investigation, the complaints may also turn into FIRs if the A brother-sister travel agent duo in police custody in Ludhiana. FILE RAIDS ON TO CATCH OVER 24 SUSPECTS: COP The ACP, Civil Lines, Jatin Bansal, said in the 21 FIRs, 11 immigration and travel firms were involved. Four agents were arrested while raids are on to catch the remaining over 24 suspects. allegations are found to be true,” the ACP said. Bansal said the Commissioner of Police, Ludhiana, Kuldeep Singh Chahal, had given clear directions that any kind of fraud with residents should not be tolerated and action should be taken against fraud travel agents and other miscreants to deliver justice to complainants. Bansal urged the people that they should not file fake complaints against anyone by presenting cases of financial dispute as matter of immigration fraud. Among the 21 FIRs, six were registered against Global Way Immigration, situated in Model Town, here, in which the police had also arrested the suspects, Amit Malhotra (39) and his sister Veenu Malhotra (38), residents of Phase 1, Dugri, along with Rs 1.07 crore illegal money amassed allegedly from foreign aspirants. The brother-sister duo has also duped a woman police officer from Mohali, who is part of the the Chief Minister’s security team. MC takes action against Juvenile among 2 held for smuggling heroin Bizman opens fire after arguments with illegal slaughtering Destroys over 1 quintal security guard, held of meat, fish Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 22 Acting against illegal slaughtering and encroachments, Municipal Corporation (MC) teams took action against the illegal fish market near the Shivpuri puli, alongside the Buddha nullah, on Sunday. Joint teams of the MC health branch and tehbazaari wing also took action against illegal slaughtering near the Kundanpuri area. They destroyed over 1 quintal of illegally slaughtered meat and fish at both sites. The civic body officials stated that strict directions had been issued to meat vendors/shopkeepers to stop illegal slaughtering. They said the officials had also received complaints of traffic jams near the Shivpuri area, which occur due to encroachments in the illegal fish market. The officials said the sellers had also been directed to get meat slaughtered at the modern slaughterhouse facility of the civic body in the Haibowal dairy complex. Ludhiana, September 22 The CIA-2 of the Police Commissionerate yesterday arrested two persons and seized 100 gm of heroin from them. The suspects have been identified as Jatin Sidhu of Valmiki mohalla, and his accomplice, a juvenile. CIA in-charge Inspector Rajesh Sharma said when he, along with the police party, was patrolling on the stretch between Samrala Chowk and the Basti Jodhewal chowk, ASI Jaswinder Singh had received a tip-off that Jatin Sidhu had been supplying heroin to his clients in the city after bringing the same from drug suppliers of other districts. As per information, Jatin had also kept a teenag- One of the suspects in police custody in Ludhiana on Sunday. er with him for supplying heroin in retail to his clients in the city. As Jatin was standing on a road at New Madhopuri to deliver heroin to his clients, a CIA team conducted a raid and nabbed the suspect along with 100 gm of heroin. During preliminary questioning, on his disclosures, his accomplice, a teenaged boy and a resident of New Shimlapuri, was also arrested, inspector Sharma said. The CIA in-charge said the father of the boy was already in jail in a drug smuggling case. Earlier, Jatin was working at a garment shop in the Akalgarh market while the juvenile was working as a salesman at a shop in Gandhi Nagar. At present, the suspects were indulging into the drug smuggling trade only. Now, the police remand of the duo will be sought from court so that in further investigation, entire drug supply line can be busted and big players involved in the chain can be nabbed. The police would also probe about clients to whom they had been supplying heroin and legal action could also be taken against them. A case was registered against the duo on Saturday. — TNS Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 22 The Focal Point police today arrested a man who opened fire in the air after heated arguments with a security guard of Hampton Homes on the Chandigarh road in Focal Point here this morning. The suspect has been identified as Shubham Bansal, who is into some iron business. He used his licensed weapon to open fire. The police said on Sunday morning around 5 am, Shubham entered the residential society and on finding no parking space, he started arguments with the security guard. As the arguments get heated, the man opened shots from his licensed weapon. Meanwhile, the guard informed the police and the suspect was arrested. His weapon was also seized. Nobody suffered any bullet injury in the incident. Police sources said the suspect was under the influence of liquor. Now, the police will cancel his arms licence. A case has been registered against the businessman. Academic pressure City railway station revamp in full swing at ~529 crore pushes 13-year-old boy to end his life Nitin Jain PROJECT REPORT Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 22 In a heart-wrenching incident, 13-year-old Arman, a student of Class VIII from Sidhwan Kalan village in Jagraon, allegedly ended his life by hanging himself on Saturday. The victim, son of Sukhwinder Singh, was reportedly a bright and ambitious student. Family members alleged that the boy returned home from his school in the afternoon, had tea and took the extreme step around 4 pm. Sources said Arman’s family found him hanging from a ceiling fan and rushed him to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead. The police recovered the body and shifted it to the government hospital for a postmortem examination. A resident of the village said Arman was the only son of his family and his death sent Victim was a bright, ambitious student shock waves throughout the community. Arman, who was known for his academic excellence, had won medals in various competitions. He aspired to become a police officer. However, the pressure of ongoing exams and academic expectations seemingly took a devastating toll on the boy. Surjeet Singh from the Sadar Jagraon police station attributed the incident to burden of studies. “We have initiated inquest proceedings to further investigate the matter,” he stated. The incident highlights the pressing concern of academic pressure on students and the need for support systems to address mental health issues. Ludhiana, September 22 With the work on several components almost complete and the finishing job in progress, the redevelopment and upgrade of the Ludhiana railway station at the cost of Rs 528.95 crore is in the advanced stage of completion, the Northern Railway (NR) has said. The work on the big ticket central project has gained further steam as the architectural design for the new-look junction has already been approved, the geotechnical investigation, survey and relocation of existing structures have already been completed. The project, which was awarded at engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode to a local firm on December 19 last, has been targeted to be completed by August 2, 2025. The redevelopment work entails a host of new facilities and upgrade of existing services to give a new and modern look to the British era’s biggest Project cost: ~528.95 cr Contract value: ~472.94 cr PMC cost: ~4.56 cr Project awarded: Dec 19, 2022 Completion date: August 2, 2025 Work in progress to upgrade the railway station in Ludhiana on Saturday. PHOTO: ASHWANI DHIMAN junction in the Ferozepur division, officials have revealed. The total project cost of Rs 528.95 crore included the contract value of Rs 472.94 crore, project management consultant cost of Rs 4.56 crore and other allied expenditures. Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had approved the redevelopment and upgrade of the Ludhiana railway station in December 2022 following the demand raised by c m y b Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora. He had met the minister to demand major infrastructure uplift and revamp of the junction while highlighting its poor state. The development assumes significance as it was the first major revamp of the railway station established here, way back in 1860. A visit to the site on Saturday revealed that the structural work of the multi-level car parking has been com- pleted 95 per cent and its finishing job was in full swing. The east side main station building superstructure erection was in progress with the erection and launching of structure columns and beams in progress. With the relocation and utility shifting works on the west side station building completed, the foundation work was in progress. The construction of the ele- vated approach road was also in the advanced stage of completion with 183 of the total 193 piling work, 26 of 48 pile caps, 21 of 48 piers, and one pier cap as well already completed. The superstructure was under fabrication. The east side underground tank structure work has been done while the foundation work of concourse and foot overbridges at platform 1 has also been completed. Railways officials said island platform traffic blocks had been planned from October onwards. The foundations of through roof, cover over platform 1, structural work for construction of multi-storied quarters Type-II (A and B blocks) have been completed before initiating the finishing job. Other jobs already complet- ed included terrace floor of type-II C block quarters, fourth floor slab of type-II D block quarters, structural work and AAC block work of rest house and hospital building. The construction of type-III E and F blocks and type-IV multi-storied quarters was also in progress. This followed after the architectural design for the redevelopment and upgrade of the railway station was approved. Construction and allied works have been expedited on the ground after the geotechnical investigation, survey work and the work involving relocation of existing facilities were completed. Besides, 90 per cent of the approvals for the structural and 80 per cent of the MEP designs have also been granted so far. The railway station development work involved relocation of 130 existing quarters, rest house, hospital, main station building and railway offices for clearance of the site for construction of the main and secondary entry of the new station building.