27102024-ATR-01.qxd 10/26/2024 11:23 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY 3 OF FAMILY KILLED, 2 HURT IN ABOHAR ROAD MISHAP STATE'S ECONOMY DERAILING AS FARMERS' STIR CONTINUES PRODUCERS TAKE ME MORE SERIOUSLY: DIRECTOR PREETI A man, his son and nephew travelling in a car were killed in a head-on collision between two vehicles in Abohar. P3 With farmers continuing to block national highways, the state's already fragile economy is taking a hit. P3 Aliya Basu Gayab Hai director says she is happy that gender has now taken a backseat. P4 » » MAX 33 | MIN 17°C YESTERDAY MAX 33°C | MIN 17°C SUNSET SUNDAY 5.45 PM SUNRISE MONDAY 6.43 AM » SUNDAY | 27 OCTOBER 2024 | AMRITSAR New SSP assumes charge in Tarn Taran Who will clean Amritsar? Our Correspondent A mountain of garbage at the Bhagtanwala dump; (right) waste lies scattered along a road near Ram Nagar colony in Amritsar on Saturday. PHOTO: FILE/SUNIL KUMAR tarn Taran, October 26 Abhimanyu Rana, IPS, assumed charge as the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Tarn Taran, today succeeding Gaurav Toora. Rana was given a guard of honour by a police contingent. Later, in a meeting with police officials, the new SSP asked them to work in a fair and transparent manner to ensure justice to the public. SSP Rana called for zerotolerance against corruption and directed police officials to keep a close watch on the activities of drug traders. He said that the Punjab Police and BSF were keeping vigil on drone activities from Abhimanyu Rana across the border. The SSP said that the police was leaving no stone unturned to tackle gangsters and their associates who were acting at the behest of their masters from abroad. Law and order in the border district was a priority, he pointed out. He cautioned the farmers having their land across the border fencing to keep a close watch on the activities of drones. Bio-remediation yet to begin at Bhagtanwala Four snatchers held Successive govts in state failed to relocate the dump site, treatment of waste also hangs fire Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 26 For more than 10 years, local residents and social activists in Amritsar have been protesting against the 22-acre dumping ground where more than 20 lakh metric tonne (MT) of garbage is piled up since the 1990s but no relief is in sight. Around 500 MT of garbage arrives at the dumping site every day and the heaps are getting bigger. In summer, when methane gas produced from the legacy waste catches fire, the high flames force the MC officials and local politicians to reach the Bhagtanwala dump site. They often make tall promises to shift the dump away from the city, adopt modern technology to process the garbage and speed up the bio-remediation process. But the prom- ises are forgotten as soon as the flames are extinguished. The civic body had started dumping waste at Bhagtanwala in the 1990s, on around 20 acres of land, adjoining the grain market. Upset over air pollution and the stink, residents of Bhagtanwala have been demanding since 2006 that the dump yard be relocated. In 2014, a Sangharsh Committee formed by the local residents started demonstrations with a demand to shift the dump. But despite promises, the SAD-BJP government failed to shift the dump but vacated a few acres of land. Then senior Congress leaders assured the residents that the dump would be shifted if the party comes to power in state. Capt Amarinder Singh had assured at Bhadrakali Mandir that the dump yard would be shifted and it was also mentioned in the Congress election manifesto. Manpreet Badal promised to construct a hospital for chest and respiratory diseases on the vacated land of the dump. But during five years of Congress rule, no effort was made. The promise to shift the dump was not fulfilled but the proposal for bio-remediation of garbage did come up during the Congress rule, which proved to be mere eyewash. The solid waste management company installed the machines but did not operate them. Bio-remediation is one of the major components of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had also directed the civic body to initiate bio-remediation of garbage in 2019. Despite tall claims, the MC has failed to get any significant result from the process so far. The MC had started the bio-remediation of garbage at the Bhagtanwala dump in 2020 and installed Trimble machines and ballistic separators to segregate the waste. But nothing has been achieved till date. Sanjay Sharma, a member of the Sangharsh Committee protesting against the dump, said: “Instead of removing the garbage, the government has piled up more waste in the past years. Three governments have changed but no one came up with a solution.” PS Bhatty, president, Pollution Control Committee, said, “There were two MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) dumps, one at Naraingarh and the other at Jhabal Road. Both happened to be near the landing and take- off runway at the Raja Sansi airport in Amritsar. Since Raja Sansi was to come up as an international airport, both dumps were closed and a vacant piece of AIT land, transferred to the Municipal Corporation, was started as municipal solid waste (MSW) dump without obtaining an NOC from the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB). The NOC obtained for Bhagtanwala from airport authorities was for three years but that too has now expired. The authorities have not renewed it since the site at Bhagtanwala was against the rules as the dump is on the same chunk of land on which Bhagtanwala grain market is situated. There was no wall or even a demarcation line in between. The authorities have failed to provide a green belt around it, rather there is no space to do that.” in two separate cases Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 26 The city police arrested four snatchers in two separate cases here on Friday. They were arrested within hours of the incidents. The Gate Hakima police arrested Nitish, alias Nikka, of Indira Colony and Himanshu of Shaheed Udham Singh Colony. The police recovered the snatched mobile phone, a sharp-edged weapon and a motorcycle from their possession. Working in a factory based on the Jhabal road, Ankit Kumar of Indira Colony told the police that he was returning home to have his lunch when two armed persons snatched his mobile phone and cash. Following a probe within hours of the snatching, the police identified and arrested the accused. Similarly, the Mohkampura police arrested Mandeep Singh, alias Rahul, and Suraj, alias Kali, of Pawan Nagar, Batala road, for looting a mobile phone and cash from Sukhmit Singh of Indira Colony on the Majitha road. The police also recovered a sharp-edged weapon used in the crime. The victim told the police that he along with his friend was going to pay obeisance at Gurdwara Shaheed Baba Deep Singh when the accused intercepted them in Mohkampura area and snatched their belongings. The accused were arrested within hours of the registration of the case. City police book kin of gangsters, MC chief assigns depts criminals for sheltering their aides to civic body officials PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 26 In an apparent move to tighten the noose around gangsters, including those who escaped to foreign shores, notorious criminals and drug traffickers, the police have booked their family members for allegedly harbouring and sheltering their accomplices. Three separate FIRs have been registered by the Rajasansi, Mehta and Beas police stations in this connection. According to the police, they had specific inputs that their family members were providing ‘hideouts’ to their associates after they have committed a crime. The Rajasansi police have booked Avtar Singh, a resident of Teda Kalan, for helping his drug trafficker son Rajwinder Singh in evading arrest by the police. ASI Baldev Singh said as per information that Rajwinder used to return to his house late at night and when a police team raided the house, his father Avtar Singh deliberately caused a delay in opening the gates letting the accused flee the house. Rajwinder, a notorious drug THREE FIRS REGISTERED According to the police, they had specific inputs that their family members were providing 'hideouts' to their associates after they have committed a crime. Three separate FIRs have been registered by the Rajasansi, Mehta and Beas police stations in this connection. peddler, was wanted by the police in a drug peddling case. His brother Dilawar Singh Bagga was recently arrested by the police in a case of arms smuggling. Similarly, the Mehta police have booked Balwinder Kaur, mother of alleged criminal Jobanjit Singh, alias Billa, and her daughter Lakwinder Kaur for a similar offence. SubInspector Balwinder Singh said duo used to provide shelter to Jobanjit’s accomplice Sagarpreet Singh, alias Sagar, of Udoke Khurd village and Varinder Singh of Saidoke. Jobanjit and his accomplice Dalip Singh of Arjanmaga were wanted by the police in murder, extortion and attempt to murder cases. In third FIR, the Beas police booked Jagroop Singh of Khanpur village and Kulwant Singh of Tangra. Jagroop was father-inlaw of gangster Balwinder Singh, alias Donny, while Kulwant was father of another gangster Gagan- deep Singh, alias Daddi. They allegedly used to shelter their accomplices, including Jobanjit Singh of Arjanmaga, Ravinder Singh, alias Joban, of Saidoke, Mandeep Singh, alias Mansi Mahal, of Nazafgarh (Delhi), Manpreet Singh, alias Mannu, of Ghanshampura, Gurkaranvir Singh of Nava Pind, who was wanted by the police in various heinous crimes. In the recent past, foreign based gangsters had become a major headache for the Punjab Police as they were involved in extortion rackets, targeted killings and terrorist activities and gang wars leading to serious law and order problems. A commission agent was killed by unidentified assailants at Sathiala village. Hours after the incident, foreign based gangster Satta Naushehra of the gangster-turned terrorist Landa Harike gang took the responsibility of the murder. The perpetrators were still out of the police’s reach. Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 26 Municipal Commissioner Gulpreet Singh Aulakh has assigned departmental responsibilities to officials of the Municipal Corporation. According to the MC chief’s directives, the departments including egovernance/GIS, Accounts (Financial approvals), Swachh Bharat Mission, Municipal Solid Waste, Sanitation, Health (including all government schemes), auto workshop, MTP wing, civil wing, operation and maintenance wing, Urban Mission works, Smart City and accounts branch will be directly under the Municipal Commissioner. Additional responsibilities have been assigned to departmental officers with Superintending Engineer Sandeep Singh overseeing the Civil Department, O&M Cell, Horticulture Department and Street Light Department. He will report directly to the MC Commissioner. Assistant Commissioner Vishal Wadhawan will handle NOCs, Citizen Facilitation Centre (CFC), Birth and Death Certifi- c m y b cate Department, Library, Guru Nanak Bhawan, Census, Estate and Land Department, General Branch, Property Tax Department, Municipal Press, Licence branch, RTI Department and swimming pool. Secretary Sushant Bhatia will manage Medical telephone bills, Establishment branch bills, Complaints, Old Age pension, Night shelter (Nodal Officer) and Property tax (Central and South Zone). Secretary Rajendra Sharma will oversee Water Supply Sewerage Bill Department, Water Supply Project (Nodal Officer), AMRUT, Election cell, Computer cell and Agenda branch. Secretary Daljit Singh will handle Fire Brigade, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, NULM, Pradhan Mantri Sav Nidhi Yojana, Government references, Law branch, Advertisement department and Property tax (North East and West Zones). All department heads will be responsible for egovernance in their respective departments, stated the MC Commissioner. Six of the eight swindlers in custody of the police in Tarn Taran on Saturday. PHOTO: GURBAXPURI Police bust gang of swindlers Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, October 26 The Sadar police arrested eight members of a gang of swindlers from Pandori Gola village on Friday. The gang members were impersonating as Central Government officials and duping gullible people by promising to resolve their long-pending grievances. The gang members allegedly posed as the secretary, chairperson, director and vice-chairman of various commissions. The gang included two women members. The swindlers came to Pandori Gola village in two vehicles on which stickers of their ‘designation’ were pasted. The swindlers, with the help of their designation, assured the villagers that they were here to redress long-pending problems of the public. Station House Officer (SHO) Surinder Singh said that as soon as the police noticed the matter, a team led by ASI Sawinder Singh reached the spot and found their activities to be suspicious. Bikramjit Singh, District Welfare Officer and Gagandeep Singh, District Social Security Officer, were called by the police to interact with the swindlers to ascertain their designations technically. The swindlers failed to give a satisfactory reply to the officials of the administration. SHO Surinder Singh said that the swindlers have been identified as Raghbir Singh, a resident of Bath village (Tarn Taran), Sandeep Kumar, a resident of Chanan Wala, Fazilka, Lali, a resident of Hothian (Verowal), Kadir Alam, a resident of Kundraki in district Moradabad, Chaudhari Irfan, a resident of Mohanpur district in Moradabad, Virsa Singh, a resident of Panjukulal (Bhindisaida, Amritsar), Sania, a resident of Pokhar Hall, Model Town, Delhi and Vaishnavi Tiwari of Laxmi Nagar, Delhi. The swindlers had been assuring the residents of getting their problems resolved and calling them to Delhi to get their matters resolved. A case under Section 318 (2), 319 (2), 318 (4) and 61 (2) of the BNS has been registered against the accused. The accused were produced in court here today and sent to three days of police remand.