02012025-LT-01.qxd 1/2/2025 12:52 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune YOUTH ARRESTED FOR CREATING 350 FAKE IDS ANUJA SHORTLISTED FOR OSCARS IN SHORT FILM CATEGORY Awards and rewards are byproduct of choices, say Guneet Monga Kapoor & her Sikhya Ent co-founder Achin Jain. P4 PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 18°C | MIN 10°C YESTERDAY MAX 16°C | MIN 9°C SALMAN KHAN’S SIKANDAR AMONG TOP PICKS OF 2025 Suspect was held for creating 350 fake Instagram accounts, sharing pornographic videos. P3 FORECAST The film landscape for 2025 is loaded with diverse content but expectations are high from Salman’s Sikandar. P4 » » SUNSET THURSDAY 5.33 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 7:18 AM » THURSDAY | 2 JANUARY 2025 | LUDHIANA police minor child New Year to bring new int’l airport, Dehlonparentsreunitefive weeks with after upgraded rly station, smart city tag Mahesh Sharma Manchester of India to don new look with major infrastructure push which had already been more or less completed, had failed to make any difference, the Centre-State joint action group, led by Director Environment and Climate Change Manish Kumar, and the public movement Kale Pani Da Morcha, spearheaded by a group of environmentalists, besides the stepping in of environmentalist-turned-parliamentarian Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal, are expected to free the water body of widespread pollution. Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 1 A new international airport, facelift for railway station, new and upgraded highways and bridges, smart city tag, 24x7 drinking water supply, better healthcare facilities with major upgrade and renovation of the district hospital and ESIC hospital, first public sector ESIC medical college and last but not the least the muchawaited rejuvenation of the Buddha Nullah are the major projects and developments that Ludhiana, popularly known as Manchester of India, is looking ahead in 2025. Besides, the major ongoing infrastructure development projects are also likely to be completed in the state’s biggest and largest district headquarters, in terms of area and population, during the New Year. Ludhiana Tribune brings to its readers an overview of what is expected to come up in the industrial hub of the north India this year. Ludhiana, which is reckoned as the financial capital of the state, will get an international airport in 2025. After remaining stalled for long, the work has almost completed with the interim terminal building and several other components already completed at the Air Force Station in Halwara, which is one of the oldest frontline airbases of the IAF , close to Ludhiana, at the cost of Rs 5,822.12 lakh. The big ticket project has been targeted to be completed by March 31 and the bidding process for operating commercial flights will commence shortly. Besides the terminal building, the work on the sub-station, toilet block and allied works have also been completed while the runway overlaying work by the IAF has also picked up pace and was scheduled to be completed by March 31. With all the pending nods having been procured, the work on all other components, which were stalled since long, has been done to ensure that the new international airport takes off in April. Following the intervention of Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora, the Union Civil Aviation Ministry had recently granted all pending approvals to the project and had assured to launch the flights from here once the airport gets operational. 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 also likely to be completed in 2025. The project, which was awarded at engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode to a local firm on December 19, 2023, has been targeted to be completed by August 2, 2025. Another railway station at Dhandari Kalan, located on the Ambala-Ludhiana-Amritsar line under the Ferozepur division in Ludhiana district will also get a new look this year. The work on the major revamp and upgrade plan at the cost of Rs 17.6 crore has reached an advanced stage of completion. worth Rs 3,394.45 crore in Ludhiana also got underway last year. While funds have already been allocated and land for the World Bank-funded project has already been acquired, the work will pick up pace this year as the RFP for the project had got the WB nod recently. The company for management of the project has been incorporated and the project implementation unit has been established. The MC has formally signed the contract with a Mumbaibased joint venture company (JVC), which has been awarded the work at Rs 1,546 crore. The MC has formalised the contract agreement with Kalpataru Projects International Limited (KPTL) Ohitan JV which has been mandated , to complete the project on the design-build services (DBS) basis within 36 months from the date of award on July 10 last, and undertake the operation and maintenance (O&M) services for the next 10 years. 24x7 water supply Smart city The work on the much-awaited 24x7 canal-based surface drinking water supply project Ludhiana will further inch towards becoming a smart city with as many as 61 projects worth Rs 688.81 crore already been completed, 22 more schemes costing Rs 237.2 crore have been put under execution and are under various stages of progress. Of the 22 under-execution projects, the work on 13 projects worth Rs 207.1 crore has already been awarded and is under progress while the remaining nine deposit works worth Rs 28.1 crore have been tendered out. With this, a total of 83 projects worth Rs 924.1 crore are being undertaken by the LSCL to develop Ludhiana, which was among 100 cities in the country and three in the state, selected under the SCM to be developed as a smart city in the first round of the selection by the Union Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) on June 25, 2015. Buddha Nullah With the Centre taking note following public outrage and media campaigns, residents hope that 2025 will witness the highly-polluted Buddha Nullah, a seasonal tributary of the Sutlej, which runs almost parallel to the river through most of Ludhiana district, including 14-km in the city, before merging with the river and entering Rajasthan, turning back to its clean and pristine state of the Buddha Dariya, a clean water body. While the ambitious Rs 840crore rejuvenation project, The district hospital would don a new look following a major revamp and upgrade, which was undertaken by RS MP and philanthropist Sanjeev Arora, who, in a first-ofits-type initiative, has adopted three district health facilities at Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar, to develop them at par with private hospitals. With this, patients, attendants, doctors, paramedics and other staff at the state’s one of biggest district health facilities, with daily OPD exceeding 1,100 patients, will avail better healthcare facilities. The ailing healthcare services at the district hospital were being overhauled at the cost of Rs 10 crore. A new 75-bed critical care unit and ICU at the district hospital would also start functioning in the New Year. It would help in cutting down the referral rate of patients. In a major reprieve to the 12-lakh odd industrial workers, their lone exclusive health facility — ESI Corporation (ESIC) model hospital will also undergo major advancement and revamp. This is the first-ever upgrade and overhaul of the ailing health facility for employees, especially industrial workers, most of whom are from the lower section of society, since its inception in 1969, at the cost of Rs 10.58 crore. The hospital was spread over 10.3 acres and was at present catering to 4.3 lakh insured workers. continued on page 2 Cold wave to persist for a few days, says Met Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 1 The intense cold wave will continue to persist for one or two days with the maximum temperatures hovering around 17-18°C while the minimum being recorded nearing 7-8°C. Despite chilly winds and biting cold conditions, the spirits of the New Year revellers were high on the New Year’s Eve. Whether it was much hyped Diljit Dosanjh concert or other par- ties and get-togethers, huge crowds were seen braving the chill, enjoying the New Year’s Eve, welcoming 2025 across the city. While about 40,000-50,000 fans were enjoying the concert of Diljit at the PAU grounds in foggy weather, hundreds of people were seen dancing to Cops hand over the missing child to his father at the Dehlon police station. Maximise field visits for better performance: DC to officials Ludhiana, January 1 Deputy Commissioner (DC) Jitendra Jorwal has instructed officials from all departments on Monday to increase their field visits to effectively review ongoing programmes, schemes and projects of the state government. While chairing a meeting with department heads at Bachat Bhawan here, the DC emphasised the importance of facilitating residents in their day-to-day activities and ensuring good governance. He mentioned that such visits would not only benefit the public but also allow officials to monitor performance of their subordinates in the field. Jorwal expressed that the visits should focus on provid- 35-year-old man dies in hit-&-run from other parts for the celebrations had to face fog in periphery areas. Shivani Bhakoo Chill failed to dampen spirits of revellers on New Year’s Eve edly remained stranded at the Khanna railway station for many days after which he somehow reached his grandparents’ place at Dadawali village in Muzaffarpur, UP . A team of police officials, led by Sukhpal Singh, brought the child to Dehlon on Tuesday night. He was handed over to his father Yogesh after completing formalities on Wednesday. Expressing gratitude to the police for the investigation on the basis of video footage of various places, Yogesh said no further action in the matter was required. Health The international airport at Halwara in Ludhiana is all set to take off this year. Railway stations International airport Mandi Ahmedgarh, January 1 The Dehlon police claimed to have solved a case of alleged illegal confinement of a minor child of a migrant family. The case was registered against unidentified persons over five weeks ago. The nine-year-old boy was handed over to his parents by a police team at the Dehlon police station on Wednesday. Sukhpal Singh said the police had registered an FIR under Section 127(6) of the BNS against unidentified persons on November 22. The complainant, Yogesh, a labourer working at a brick-kiln in the Dehlon block, had alleged that some miscreants had kept his minor son in illegal confinement at some unknown place. The child had gone missing after his parents gave him Rs 150 and asked him to bring some things from market. Preliminary investigations conducted under the supervision of SHO Kamaljit Singh revealed that the child had reached the Dehlon chowk on a bicycle on the day of the incident and later reached Sahnewal to catch a train to his native village in UP He report. Parents welcome extension of school holidays Women enjoy a party in Ludhiana on New Year's Eve on Tuesday night. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN his numbers on main roads outside the PAU. Giving two hoots to the biting cold, the fans were enjoying dancing and singing. Many were seen climbing on trees, giving tough times for security personnel to control the situation. After the concert got over at 12 midnight, a huge crowd of fans was seen on roads, troubling motorists. Vehicles were stranded for around 50 minutes, giving way to people, who were struggling to get back to their parked vehicles, much away from the venue. To avoid inconvenience while parking their vehicles, many fans braved the chill at night and reached the venue by walking from their homes. Besides, residents enjoyed and welcomed the New Year till the wee hours as till 4 am, movement of vehicles on roads was observed. Meanwhile, many homeless persons were seen getting warmth by burning waste, wood, etc in city areas. Outside temples and other religious places, a few Good Samaritans weer seen donating warm clothes and blankets to them. While inside the city, not much fog could be witnessed but people coming c m y b Seeing the prevailing weather conditions, the state government has announced to extend the winter vacations till January 7 and the step is well taken by parents, students and teachers, who feel that it was a good decision as the cold wave had intensified in the region. Mona Dogra, a homemaker, said even if schools were opened late at after 9 am or 9.30 am for students studying in primary classes, there will be no respite from cold. “Students can have a break for a few more days and we hope that weather gets cleared by the time schools are opened,” said Dogra, whose daughter studies in Class I at a leading school in Sarabha Nagar. Dr PK Kingra, head of the Met Department at the PAU, said the cold wave would continued on page 2 Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 1 The Dehlon police have registered a case under Sections 281 and 106 of the BNS against an unidentified person in a hit-and-run incident. According to the complainant, Jiya Lal, a resident of Model Town Extension, he got a call from somebody from the mobile phone of his 35-year-old son Krishan that the latter had met with an accident and was admitted to the Civil Hospital. When the complainant reached the hospital, he came to know that his son had died. He complained that on December 30, some unknown vehicle had hit his son, following which he received serious injuries and later succumbed at the hospital. The police are looking into the matter. DC Jitendra Jorwal chairs a meeting of department heads in Ludhiana. ing supportive supervision for implementing projects, rather than on fault-finding. The goal is to identify and address any shortcomings in departmental operations. He further noted that the field visits would enhance officials’ abilities to perform their duties effectively, improve departmental functioning and foster a better understanding of ground realities. ADCs Amarjit Bains, Rohit Gupta, Shikha Bhagat, Kulpreet Singh as well as all SDMs and heads of various departments in the district were among those others present in the meeting. — TNS Three snatchers land in police net Ludhiana, January 1 The Basti Jodhewal police have arrested three persons who used to snatch valuables from vulnerable targets from different areas in the city. When the police tried to catch them, they made an attempt to escape from the place due to which they fell and suffered minor injuries. Jasvir Singh from the Basti Jodhewal police station said during patrolling at Noorwala Chowk, the suspects, Hritik Mishra, Devinder Singh and Deepak Kumar, were nabbed near a sweetmeat shop in Kasabad. When the police questioned them, they admitted to committing the crime. The police seized five motorcycles, 12 mobile phones and a sharp weapon from them. Criminal history of the suspects was also checked by the police. The suspects were drug addicts and they snatched items of residents for buying drugs. Several cases are registered at Salem Tabri, Tibba and Meharbaan police stations against Hritik in the past. The police are seeking their remand for further probe. — TNS The suspects in police custody in Ludhiana.