08112024-LT-01.qxd 11/8/2024 12:39 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune ~ 2.2K CR PAID TO FARMERS FOR PADDY: PATIALA DC RIMA DAS SAYS SUCCESS IS NOT ALWAYS WHAT IS VISIBLE Rima Das, whose film Village Rockstars 2 won Kim Jiseok Award for Best Film, says success is not always what is visible. P4 MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 30°C | MIN 17°C YESTERDAY MAX 30°C | MIN 17°C BAD GUYS HAVE ALL FUN UNTIL THE END: DENZEL Deputy Commissioner Dr Preeti Yadav said 10,13,997 MT of paddy had arrived in Patiala's markets. P3 FORECAST Bad guys have all the fun, says Denzel Washington who turns antagonist for Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II. P4 » » SUNSET FRIDAY 5.30 PM SUNRISE SATURDAY 6:43 AM » FRIDAY | 8 NOVEMBER 2024 | LUDHIANA Concretisation of green belts: NGT appoints advocate commissioner BHADAUR HOUSE-I Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana, November 7 Encroachments at Bhadaur House continue to give a difficult time to the people coming to the area. With the AC market, one of the biggest and popular markets of North India located here, thousands of traders and businessmen descend upon the place every day but with both sides of the road encroached upon by rickshaws and rehris, it becomes a Herculean task to reach the spot. One can see roadside vendors with rehris lined up on both sides of the road, leaving almost no space for commuters to pass from the stretch. Rehris can be seen on the roads from Damoria Bridge to Bhadaur House and till Mata Rani Chowk and Chaura Bazaar. The worst affected is the Bhadaur House area where rickshaws are parked on both sides of the road and to add to the woes, there is hardly any parking space available in the area as shopkeepers pile up their stock in the parking area and in corridors of the market. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN Encroachments cause traffic to move at snail’s place,commuters face hardships Stock kept by traders in the parking area of Bhadaur House market, leaving no space to park vehicles. MC OFFICE LOCATED A FEW METERS AWAY Though the Municipal Corporation’s Zone A office is located only a few meters away from the place, no official ever bothers to clear the place of encroachments to ensure people visiting the area did not face any inconvenience. Harish Maini, who works at a bank located in the area, said encroachments give difficult time to those visiting the area. “It is not possible to come here in a four-wheeler due to which I started coming to my workplace on a two-wheeler. The situation becomes worse on weekends and on Thursday, when buyers in large numbers come to the market. The cor- poration should take strict action against the encroachments,” he said. Khushboo, a boutique owner and frequent visitor to the market, said she always hires an autorickshaw to reach the place as one gets usually stuck in a traffic jam and space for parking vehicles is also not available here. “The road is encroached upon by the rickshaw-pullers and goods to be delivered and the parking space is generally encroached upon by shopkeepers by piling up their stock. The market has big variety of clothes but reaching here is a difficult task,” she said. Amit, who works at an office located in the market, said many times shopkeepers keep sacks full of stock material on his two-wheeler. As a result, once his bike was found lying on the ground due to which it suffered damages and he had to shell out money to get the same fixed. The corridors of the market Spirit of Chhath are also encroached upon by shopkeepers. “It becomes difficult to find a way to walk in the corridors as stock is piled up here and rickshaw-pullers also sit here waiting for their customers,” said Bhavika, who came to a salon in the market. Ludhiana North MLA Madan Lal Bagga said he was aware of problems in the Bhadaur House area and now, when the festival season is over, they are planning to work on the issue of encroachments. “Many small roadside vendors came up during the festival season and we did not want them to bear losses. But now, encroachment drives will be carried out and we will make sure to clear the area of encroachments,” Bagga said. MC Commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal said the civic body would initiate the anti-encroachment drive and all encroachments would be removed from the area. Bhadaur House was one of the oldest markets in the city and they would make sure that people coming to the place have a pleasant experience. Those encroaching upon the road should also understand their moral responsibility and desist from the act. Woman dies in hit-&-run Devotees during the Chhath Puja celebrations at the Sidhwan Canal in Ludhiana on Thursday. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN REPORT ON P2 Ludhiana, November 7 The Shimlapuri police have registered a case under various sections of the BNS against an unidentified person on the basis of a complaint made by Barjinder Singh, who resides near a gurdwara in Shimlapuri. The complainant said when he was walking in front of his mother near the gurdwara on Wednesday. a rashly driven motorcycle hit her from the rear and she fell on the road, following which the motorcyclist fled the scene. The registration number plate of the vehicle fell on the ground. The complainant took his mother to Deep Hospital, where she succumbed to injuries. — TNS Ludhiana, November 7 In a matter pertaining to encroachments and concretisation of green belts on Lodhi Club Road as well as Old GT Road, here, the National Green Tribunal has appointed the advocate commissioner to verify facts regarding objections raised by complainants against affidavit submitted by the Municipal Commissioner of Ludhiana. Engineer Kapil Arora, president of the Council of Engineers, said regarding the issue presence of library building in a park near Dholewal Chowk, the Municipal Commissioner of Ludhiana had submitted an affidavit that the area of park was 1,124 sq yards and only 4 per cent of the area had been used for the construction of the library in it. “To this, we have submitted objections along with actual area of park, which comes out to be just 350 sq yards, and the same had also been mentioned by the MC in an affidavit filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Thus, the statement of the Municipal Commissioner was not only contrary to its own submission but also an act of trying to mislead the Tribunal,” said Arora. Further, besides library, the MC has also covered the park A library built in a park near Dholewal Chowk. area by constructing one statue and laying of interlocking tiles and cement concrete. The actual area of the park covered with concretisation comes out to be 55 per cent. Besides the impugned park, almost 50 per cent of the entire stretch of green belt on old GT Road has been concretised and the remaining part is also being used for illegal commercial activities such as repair workshops, illegal garbage dump and parking of vehicles, which had resulted into major environmental damage and loss of trees. Er Sanjay Verma, general secretary of Council of Engineers said parking in green belts and parks were prohibited as per notification issued by the state government in 2018 but despite knowing facts, the MC had deliberately ignored the parking of AQI shows improvement in city, better than last year Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, November 7 The air quality index (AQI) in the industrial city, as compared to last year, has shown a considerable improvement. Still, people are experiencing ‘moderate’ to ‘poor’ air quality conditions. The data taken for the first seven days of November 2024 shows there has been much improvement in the quality of air as compared to 2023, which remained “poor” for all seven days, starting from November 1-7. While this year in November, the conditions remained ‘poor’ and ‘moderate’ except for ‘very poor’ on November 2, after the bursting of crackers on Diwali on November 1. On other days, the air quality index recorded included 204 on November 1, 339 on November 2, 108 on November 3, 184 on November 4, 155 on November 5, 210 on November 6 and 173 on Thursday. While last year, the AQI was 245 on November 1, 219 on November 2, 228 on Novem- Dengue continues to sting, 301 confirmed, 709 suspected cases in dist Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, November 7 In what appears to be a season of diseases, not only one but at least four vector-borne diseases are spreading fast in Ludhiana. The dreaded dengue fever, a mosquito-borne viral disease occurring in tropical and subtropical areas, continues to sting as 301 confirmed and 709 suspected cases of the vector-borne disease have been reported in the state’s biggest and largest district, in terms of area and population, this season so far, official figures have revealed. The gravity of the situation could be gauged from the fact that at least 274 fresh dengue patients, including 98 confirmed cases, had been reported in the district during the past 10 days. While cases of malaria, a serious and sometimes fatal disease caused by a parasite that commonly infects a certain type of mosquito which feeds on humans, are also on the rise, no fresh case of H1N1 influenza, commonly known as swine flu, had been reported here during the past 274 fresh patients added in past 10 days; malaria cases too on the rise DENGUE BITES Year 2024 2023 Confirmed 301 1,098 Suspected 709 1,686 Deaths 0 8 (SOURCE: HEALTH DEPT, FIGURES TILL NOV 6) JOINT DRIVE UNDERWAY been regularly reviewing ❝I haveand have directed the the situation departments concerned to work in close coordination for undertaking a joint concerted campaign to check the further spread of such diseases in the district. — Jitendra Jorwal, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER ❞ A special ward dedicated for dengue patients at the Civil Hospital in Ludhiana. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN 10 days. With two fresh cases in the past 10 days, the tally of confirmed malaria patients has gone up to 23, while the number of swine flu cases remains 28. Another viral disease, chikungunya, which is transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes, has also made a comeback with one positive case reported in Ludhiana so far, the Health Department has confirmed. However, no death due to dengue, swine flu or any other disease has yet been confirmed in the district. This year’s dengue figures were almost one-third of the 1,098 confirmed dengue cases reported here during the corresponding period last year. Besides, eight persons had died due to dengue in the district last year. While 23 confirmed cases of malaria this year so far were less than 24 malaria patients reported during the corresponding period last year, the single case of chikungunya was also less than two such cases detected in the district last year. Reviewing the situation, Deputy Commissioner Jitendra Jorwal has instructed district officials of all departments concerned — Health, Public Health and Municipal c m y b Corporation — to work in tandem and take effective steps to check the further spread of the vector-borne diseases in the district. Civil Surgeon Pardeep Kumar Mohindra told The Tribune on Thursday that a massive test, trace and treat campaign was being undertaken by the Health Department to check the spread of dengue and malaria cases in the district. vehicles by Sacred Heart School as well as Lodhi Club. “We have produced photographs along with GPS location before the Tribunal as evidence of the same. Regarding restitution of park into original shape as per the previous orders of the Tribunal, ie for demolition of the library building, the MC submitted that books were being shifted from the building to comply with the orders,” Verma said. Arora said keeping in view of objections submitted by them in regard with the false affidavit submitted by the Municipal Commissioner, the Bench ordered appointment of Amit Shukla as the advocate commissioner to visit the locations and verify the facts and submit report before the next date of hearing, scheduled to be held on December 17. — TNS He said 98 fresh cases of dengue were confirmed in the district between October 26 and November 6, which took the tally to 301, including 197 patients from urban and 104 from rural areas. Besides, 709 suspected dengue cases, including 516 from urban and 193 patients from rural areas, had been reported till date. Dr Mohindra said as many as 951 samples had so far been tested for dengue while 30,65,338 houses and 56,02,081 containers had been inspected to check the dengue mosquito larvae. Following the detection of dengue larvae in 3,992 houses and 4,448 containers, as many as 1,578 challans had been issued against violators. Besides, 2,13,645 peripheral smears for malaria parasite tests had been done at government facilities so far. He said adequate arrangements had been made at all government institutions to test and treat dengue, malaria, swine flu, chikungunya and other viral patients with a special ward reserved for dengue patients at the Civil Hospital here. Urban-Rural Divide Urban areas were much more prone to dengue as compared to rural areas in the district. Of the total 301 confirmed patients of dengue reported till November 6, 197 patients were from urban areas while villages have reported 104 dengue cases. The 709 suspected dengue patients included 516 cases from urban and 193 from rural areas. ber 3, 289 on November 4, 243 on November 5, 282 on November 6 and 239 on November 7. Throughout the first week of November 2023, the AQI was ‘poor’. There is slight improvement in the air quality as compared to last year may be due to strict action against farm fires or awareness drives. In 2023, it rained in October which cleared the skies, this time there are no rains so far since October, still improved conditions are witnessed as far as the AQI is concerned. 68-year-old man thrashed to death Ludhiana, November 7 A senior citizen died after being badly thrashed by unidentified persons here on Wednesday night. As per report, the man was beaten and thrown at Dana Mandi, following which he breathed his last. A passer-by saw the man screaming in pain and called up 108 ambulance service, following which the victim was taken to the Civil Hospital. The police are looking into the matter. The elderly man has been identified as 68-year-old Narendra Kumar. Pradeep Kumar, son of the deceased, said they were residents of Santokh Nagar and his father was an electrician. In the afternoon on Wednesday, his father went out for some repair work at Dana Mandi. Later, someone informed his family that unidentified miscreants attacked his father. He said when he went to the Civil Hospital, he found a Rs 500 note in the hand of his father. Since the victim also received a head injury, he decided to take him to the CMCH. However, while arranging for the ambulance, his father succumbed to the injuries. — TNS