02112024-ATR-01.qxd 11/1/2024 11:11 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR NEHRU SHOPPING COMPLEX SANS FIREFIGHTING SYSTEM PROTESTING TEACHERS BURN GOVERNMENT’S EFFIGY AKSHAI HAS CREATED WORLD’S LARGEST MUSICAL INSTALLATION There is no operational firefighting system at Nehru Shopping Complex located on the Lawrence road. P2 Computer teachers in Sangrur have been agitating since September 1, with their protest intensifying on Diwali. P3 MAX 33°C | MIN 15°C YESTERDAY MAX 33°C | MIN 16°C Akshai Sarin has etched his name in history by creating the world’s largest musical installation — a playable cruise ship! P4 » » SUNSET SATURDAY 5.39 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 6:48 AM » SATURDAY | 2 NOVEMBER 2024 | AMRITSAR 39 farm fire cases in Tarn Taran dist Tarn Taran, November 1 Thirty-nine farm fire cases were reported from Tarn Taran district on Thursday. Farmers, who set their crop residue on fire, were booked under Section 223 of the BNS. The police said 26 cases were registered against unidentified persons and in the remaining 13 cases, FIRs were registered against names of the violators. At Alipur village falling under the Harike police station, two brothers identified as Jaljit Singh and Husanpreet Singh burnt paddy stubble in their four-acre field. Fire from their field spread to a nearby field of Baljit Singh, a resident of Thathian Khurd, in which paddy stubble was standing. Earlier in Gorkha village, sugarcane crop on four acres was gutted when a farmer burnt paddy stubble in his nearby fields. Dr Harpal Singh Pannu, District Agriculture Officer, said farmers had been made aware about not burning crop residue. The district magistrate had imposed ban on burning of paddy stubble, he said. — OC Inter-state arms smuggling module busted, seven held with 12 pistols Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 1 In a major breakthrough, the Amritsar Commissionerate Police have dismantled an inter-state weapons smuggling module linked to USA-based Dilpreet Singh with the arrest of seven operatives and recovered 12 pistols along with 16 magazines and 23 live cartridges from their possession. This was stated by Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav on Friday. Those arrested have been identified as Karanjeet Singh, alias Dhanni, Jashandeep Singh, alias Maya, alias Chillar, Ishmeet Singh, alias Rishu, Amritpal Singh, alias Spura, and Dilpreet Singh, alias Dil, all residents of Chheharta, Amritsar; and Varinder Singh, alias Ravi, The seven suspects in custody of the police in Amritsar. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR and Gurpreet Singh, alias Gopi, residents of Baba Bakala Sahib in Amritsar. DGP Gaurav Yadav said preliminary investigation revealed that the module was providing logistical support to various gangs by procuring weapons from Madhya Pradesh. Probe also revealed that suspect Karanjeet along with his brother Jashandeep Singh and Ishmeet Singh brought Religious fervour weapon consignments from Madhya Pradesh to further deliver these to different persons on the instructions of USA-based Dilpreet Singh, the DGP said. The DGP said further inves- tigation was on to trace other people involved in the module. He said more arrests were expected in the coming days. Sharing operation details, Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, Commissioner of Police (CP), Amritsar, said acting swiftly on a secret information about illegal weapons being smuggled from Madhya Pradesh and supplied to criminal elements in the state, teams from the Islamabad police station and the CIA staff-2 under the supervision of DCP (Investigation) Harpreet Singh Mander launched a special operation and apprehended the suspects from the Chheharta and Baba Bakala areas. In this regard, a case was registered under Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act at the Islamabad police station in Amritsar, the CP said. One crushed under wheels of tractor-trailer 2 drown in drain near Gaggo Bua village Tarn Taran, November 1 Three persons died here on Thursday in two separate incidents. In the first incident one person was crushed under the wheels of tractor- trailer on the Tarn Taran-Amritsar road near Gohalwar village. The deceased was identified as Kulbir Singh (42), a resident of Kot Dausandhi Mall. He was following his father Mehinga Singh (70) and his relative Anmoljit Singh on a bike, who were riding another motorcycle. When Mehinga Singh and Anmoljit Singh were taking over paddy-laden tractor-trailer, their two-wheeler was hit by the tractor-trailer and they fell down in a road side field. When Kulbir and Mehinga tried to stop driver of the tractor-trailer, he drove his vehicle over Kulbir. Kulbir succumbed to injuries while he was being taken to the civil hospital. Harmandeep Singh, driver of the tractor-trailer, a resi- dent of Pandori Ran Singh village, has been booked under Sections 105 and 281 of the BNS by the police. He was on way to the local grain market to sell his paddy. In the second incident, two real brothers drowned in a drain near Gaggo Bua village. They were identified as Raj Kumar (30) and his brother Mantoj Kumar (32), residents of Uttar Pradesh. They were living in a rented accommodation at Chabal village. The deceased used to do POP work in buildings. They were going back to their accommodation on a motorcycle on Thursday evening. When they reached near Gaggo Bua bridge, the bike driver lost control over the vehicle and the duo fell into the drain. The Chabal police reached the spot and recovered bodies from the drain. After initiating proceedings, the police handed over bodies to families of deceased. — OC Festive spirit fades as Diwali celebrations split into two days audible on Thursday night. It was expected that many residents of the district would celebrate Diwali on Friday. Sant Ram, a vendor selling terracotta idols and diyas at Khadoniyan Wala Bazaar, said unlike previous Diwali celebrations, when people jostled to buy earthen made idols of deities and lamps, this time much less people thronged markets for shopping. He said some people visited markets on Thursday and other on Friday, but it did not increase their sales. Their stocks remained unsold yesterday, he said. He said traders hoped to clear their stock of goods on Friday. Neeraj Bagga PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR Tribune News Service Devotees light lamps at the Golden Temple on the occasion of Bandi Chhor Diwas in Amritsar. Amritsar, November 1 Diwali celebrations split into two days has dimmed the festive spirit. A few residents celebrated Diwali on Thursday while others would be celebrating the festival on Friday. Unlike previous Diwali celebrations, there was much less footfall of customers in markets. The enthusiasm of celebrating festival of lights on one day was missing this time. The bonhomie witnessed while exchanging gifts in the neighbourhood after Lakshmi Puja was also missing as people were not aware which family was celebrating Diwali on which day. Sound of firecrackers being burst in moderate quantity was Residents light firecrackers during Diwali celebrations in Amritsar on Friday. VISHAL KUMAR Rlys to run special Amritsar to Katihar train from Nov 2 Firemen douse flames at 11 spots Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 1 During Diwali celebrations on Thursday, fire incidents were reported from 11 places in the city. The Fire Department of the municipal corporation (MC) received a fire call around 9.10 am from a factory near Khandwala Chowk where waste lying in the open in a nearby ground of the unit caught fire. The staff at the Beri Gate fire station rushed to the spot and doused the flames. In the second case, a major fire broke out in a vacant plot along Batala Road around 2 pm where waste was lying. In the third incident fire was reported in a house near Shivala Bhaiyan at 3.30 pm. Goods and appliances in the house were reduced to ashes. Three fire tenders from Hall Bazaar fire station, Beri Gate and Sewa Society reached the spot and brought fire in the house under control. In the fourth incident, fire was reported in vacant plot along Majitha Road. In the fifth incident, the authorities were informed about fire in a vacant plot along Batala Road yesterday evening. The waste lying in the plots had caught fire. In the sixth incident, a shop Amritsar, November 1 In view of the festival season, Railways would be operating a special train between Amritsar and Katihar from November 2. Officials said for the convenient movement of passengers and to control the extra crowd, the Railways would operate 04664/04663 Amritsar-Katihar-Amritsar train. Reserved festival special train would run from Amritsar to Katihar on November 2 (one trip). “This reserved festival special train 04664 will depart from Amritsar at 1.25 pm and reach Katihar the next day at 3 am. On the return journey, the reserved festival special train number 04663 will depart from Katihar to Amritsar on November 4 (one trip). This special train will depart from Katihar at 6 am and reach Amritsar at 8 pm the next day,” said officials. “En route, this special train will halt at Beas, Jalandhar city, Dhandarikalan, Ambala Cantt, Saharanpur, Moradabad, Bareilly, Shahjahanpur, Lucknow, Ayodhya Cantt, Akbarpur, Varanasi, Ghazipur city, Ballia, Chhapra, Hajipur, Desari, Barauni and Khagaria railway stations in both directions,” Railway officials added. Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Pollution increased considerably as residents burst firecrackers in Amritsar on Friday. PHOTOS: VISHAL KUMAR Air quality dips as AQI touches 350 mark Neha Saini Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 1 After two years of breathing a bit easy on Diwali, Amritsar once again turned into a gas chamber with air quality index (AQI) touching 360 mark during the celebrations of the festival of lights. As the festivities remained divided into two days this year, the unchecked bursting of firecrackers, coupled with farm fires and vehicular pollution remained major con- tributors to air pollution turning Amritsar into most polluted cities of Punjab during the week prior to Diwali. The city’s AQI ranged between “moderate” and “poor” category throughout the week, while on Friday evening it reached 350, shifting to an unhealthy category. The AQI is not expected to improve over the weekend as Diwali celebrations would further add to the air pollution. As per data available from the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), Amritsar district’s AQI was 350 (At 4 pm), with 2.5 particulate matter reportedly quite high. This is worse than last two years when the AQI for Diwali night was recorded in the range of 250 to 282. The PPCB had installed continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS) in Amritsar as part of its initiative to monitor air quality in six major c m y b cities of Punjab that had been recording worse air quality over the past few years during the Diwali celebrations. Overall, Punjab has observed an average AQI reduction of 7.6 per cent in the past few years. But this year’s spike is not a good news for all stakeholders as farm fires and violations of the two-hour window for bursting firecrackers worsened the environmental conditions in the holy city. ❝ Fire incidents have been reported from different areas in the city on Thursday. Teams from different fire stations doused the flames. We have made preparations for Friday night too. There is a confusion over the date on which Diwali is to be celebrated. We are expecting more fires on Friday. Our staff is on alert and ready to tackle any untoward situation. ❞ Dilbagh Singh, ADDITIONAL DIVISIONAL FIRE OFFICER near Sandhu Dairy in the Putligarh area was gutted in a fire around 10.50 pm. The staff and tenders from the Civil Lines fire station and Sewa Samiti reached the spot and doused the flames. In the seventh incident, the Fire Department received a call from a house in Anand Avenue on Maqbool Road at midnight. A fire tender reached the house and doused flames. In the eight incident, a bus heading from Ajnala to Fatehgarh Churian caught fire due to some technical snag. Firemen from Ajnala and another from Hall Bazar reached the spot and extinguished the fire. In the ninth incident, fire was reported from a shop near Arora Hospital, Chheharta Road, around 1 am. Two fire tenders brought fire in the shop under control. Goods lying inside shop were gutted in the fire. In the tenth incident, garbage lying in a vacant plot near Ratan Singh Chowk caught fire during the wee hours. To prevent the further spread of blaze, a fire brigade team reached the spot and doused flames at 2.30 am. In the eleventh incident, a fire incident was reported at Great Hotel and a nearby residential plot around 5 am. The Fire Department staff immediately reached the spot and brought the fire under control. Additional Divisional Fire Officer (ADFO) Dilbagh Singh said fire incidents were reported from different areas in the city. He said teams from different fire stations in the city doused the flames. He said, “We have made preparations for Friday night too. There is a confusion over the date on which Diwali is to be celebrated. We are expecting more fires today. Our staff is on alert and ready to tackle any untoward situation. Residents must burst firecrackers while taking precautions to prevent fire incidents.”