05022025-LT-01.qxd 2/5/2025 12:58 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune WORK ON BRIDGE NEAR CHAND CINEMA MOVES AT SNAIL’S PACE DEFEATED CANCER THRICE, ON A MISSION TO GUIDE OTHERS PRAJAKTA WANTS TO TOUCH HEARTS & CREATE MEMORIES Though work was scheduled to be completed in Sept, the construction is nowhere near completion. P2 Ludhiana-based Dr Surinder Gupta has triumphed over cancer not once, not twice, but three times. P3 Catering majorly to Prajakta’s young fan base, Too Good To Be True is witty, warm and deeply relatable. P4 » » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 20°C | MIN 9°C YESTERDAY MAX 19°C | MIN 8°C SUNSET WEDNESDAY 6.02 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 7:10 AM WEDNESDAY | 5 FEBRUARY 2025 | LUDHIANA Shelved Ludhiana-Bathinda highway project back on track 75.54-km greenfield corridor fifth major NHAI venture to be revived in state Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 4 In a major development, the Ludhiana-Bathinda highway project is back on track with the possession of almost the entire land taken, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has said. The NHAI had withdrawn the big ticket project for want of land last year. The 75.54-km six-lane access controlled Greenfield Highway was the fifth major NHAI project, besides the Centre’s flagship DelhiAmritsar-Katra expressway to be revived in the state after they were shelved/ terminated for want of requisite land. It was made possible after the physical possession of 72.04-km of the total 75.54km, which accounted for over 95 per cent of the total land required for both packages of the project, was handed over to the NHAI by the respective district administrations. The development assumes significance as the NHAI had shelved/withdrawn various highway projects after the contractors had left following non-availability of land in the state. It was after Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari took note of the matter and threatened to withdraw/cancel the shelved projects from Punjab and allocate them to other needy states that the state government had swung into action. On the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the then Chief Secretary Anurag Verma had engaged protesting farmers The NHAI had withdrawn the big ticket project for want of land last year. and held weekly meetings with the district civil and police officials concerned to ensure the possession of pending land for the revival of NHAI projects. The NHAI, on its part, has floated a tender to invite fresh bids from contractors to resume the work to construct the new highway. While 30.03-km Package 1 of the project would be built at the cost of Rs 906.51 crore, the Package 2 with 45.246-km length was estimated to cost Rs 1,555.13 crore. Deputy Commissioner Jitendra Jorwal told The Tribune here on Tuesday that of the total 33.043-km under Package 2 of the Ludhiana-Bathinda highway project falling in Ludhiana district, the possession of 29.5 km has been handed over to the NHAI while the remaining 3.5 km will also be provided to the NHAI as and when it appoints the contractor and starts the work. “Currently, the NHAI has not appointed any contractor as a tender has been floated for the same,” he said. According to NHAI officials, the entire land for 12.2km stretch of Package 2 falling under Barnala district and 30.3 km Package 1 falling under Bathinda (13.2 km) and Barnala (17.1 km) has also been made available following which the process to resume the stalled work on the project has been initiated. It has been over four years since the major infrastructure development project was awarded but in the absence of land, the previous contractors had left the work midway. The first component of the NH-754AD will comprise 30.3 km while the second part will run into a 45.243 km stretch. A total of 323.52 hectares of land was required to build the 45.243-km stretch of the highway in the jurisdiction of Ludhiana district, for which the total award amount of Rs 544.36 crore had been deposited and disbursed to the landowners. Much-delayed project The construction work on the two packages of the project was scheduled to begin in 2022 and was targeted to be completed by August 2025. But the non-availability of land had stalled the start of construction work. While the Package-1 of the 30.3-km-long Greenfield expressway to build six-lane access controlled highway will start from junction with Amritsar-Bathinda Greenfield road (NH-754A) near Rampura Phul to junction with Moga-Barnala road (NH703) near Tallewal village on NH-754-AD falling in Bathinda, Moga and Barnala dis- tricts, the Package-2 comprising 45.24-km stretch will take off from junction with MogaBarnala road (NH-703) near Tallewal village to junction with Delhi-Katra expressway (NE-5) near Ballowal village in Ludhiana on NH-754-AD. The highway will connect Ballowal village on the DelhiAmritsar-Katra expressway with Rampura Phul on the Amritsar-Bathinda expressway. Once constructed, the drive from Ludhiana to Bathinda would become smoother and faster as the project entails six-laning the 75.54-km-long national highway 754AD at the cost of Rs 2,461.64 crore. It was also a part of the Ludhiana-Ajmer economic corridor (EC-8), which was originally scheduled to be completed within 24 months under the Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase 1. The widening and strengthening of the highway had been taken up by the NHAI in two parts under the hybrid annuity model (HAM) mode. The total civil cost of the project has been estimated at Rs 2,461.64 crore, including Rs 658 crore for first part and Rs 981 crore for the second component, while Rs 754.71 crore was earmarked for the land acquisition, which included Rs 248.51 crore for Package 1 and Rs 574.13 crore for Package 2. The new Ludhiana-Bathinda expressway will pass through 36 villages falling in three districts of Ludhiana under Ludhiana and Raikot tehsils, Barnala under Barnala and Tapa tehsils, and Rampura Phul tehsil in Bathinda district. Two SoEs among 5 school buildings await completion Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 4 The AAP government always claims to uplift government schools to provide the best education to students. It also persuade teachers and parents to admit their wards in government schools only. Sadly, there are around five new government school buildings in Ludhiana, the fate of which is hanging in the balance for the past many months. The schools, including two Schools of Eminence (SOE), await completion of works while the Opposition takes a dig that after the Cong government’s tenure, the works at the schools are going at snail’s pace. Talking to The Tribune, former Congress MLA Sanjay Talwar said the fate of five schools is in doldrums. These will be come up at Puneet Nagar, Mahatma Enclave, These not going to start in near future due to lack of resources, says Cong leader Kidwai Nagar, Miller Ganj and on Tajpur Road near Dairy complex. “The Congress had brought proposals and spent crores of rupees on construction of the school buildings. When the AAP government took over, funds were available but the schools are not going to start in the near future due to noncompletion of works,” said Talwar, adding that not only the infrastructure was incomplete but the government has also no resources to appoint new faculty. No efforts are being made by the ruling government to start the schools,” said Talwar. Meanwhile, the district Kayakalp: Raikot hospital bags third spot in state Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 4 Sub-Divisional Hospital, Raikot, has achieved the third position across the state, securing 92.76% score in the Kayakalp programme. The achievement has been made possible under the guidance of Ludhiana Civil Surgeon Pardeep Kumar and Senior Medical Officer (SMO), Raikot, Mandeep Singh. On the occasion, the Senior Medical Officer, Mandeep Singh, said the feat was the result of dedication of hospital employees, support of the local community and government assistance. During the Kayakalp round, a special team from Chandigarh evaluated the hospital on various parameters, including cleanliness, dress code, greenery, biomedical waste management, eco-friendly systems, solar energy utilisation, staff behaviour with patients, and overall hospital management. The SMO appreciated the entire staff for the achievement, distributed sweets and assured that the hospital would continue to provide excellent healthcare services in the future. BJP raises questions over illegal Dy Mayor Johar takes charge, holds meeting hoardings welcoming Mayor minder Soma and Money Bhagat were among those others present during the ceremony. Before taking charge at the office, the Deputy Mayor and MLA Sidhu and took out a congratulatory march on Gill Road and thanked the public for their support. Thanking the public for the opportunity to serve them, Sidhu and Johar said they had already been working for the betterment of the public and this opportunity would further motivate them to resolve public grievances and ensure development in a big way. During the meeting, IDs of councillors were also created on e-sewa portal, which has been launched by the state government. Many services are being provided online through the portal. The officials stated that the process to create IDs had been initiated from Zone C and councillors would be able to recommend/approve applications submitted by residents online. Illicit liquor seized; man nabbed Mobiles seized from jail inmates Road cut and during checking, illicit liquor was recovered from the vehicle. The suspect has been sent on a police remand for further probe. In another incident, Police Division 4 have arrested Sahil Singh, Humesh Mehta and Jaswant Singh, with a banned drug, which they Ludhiana, February 4 During a checking at the Central Jail here, the authorities seized 10 mobile phones from nine inmates. Assistant Superintendent Kuldip Singh said the the phones were seized from nine inmates during a search. The jail authorities have registered cases against the suspects. — TNS Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 4 Recently elected Deputy Mayor Prince Johar took charge at the Zone C office of the Municipal Corporation (MC) on Gill Road here on Tuesday. Conducting a meeting with civic body officials and councillors, the Deputy Mayor stated that he would work as a bridge between the public and the civic body. The aim would be to take up development works, resolve public grievances at the earliest and work for the betterment of society at large. MC Zonal Commissioner Gurpal Singh, Superintendent Abdul Sattar, ATP Jagdeep Singh, Atam Nagar MLA Kulwant Singh Sidhu, Senior Deputy Mayor Rakesh Prashar, late MLA Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 4 Throughout the city, huge hoardings and banners are put up to congratulate newly elected Mayor Inderjit Kaur from AAP Raising questions . over ‘illegal’ boards and banners, BJP leaders said who would pay expenses as many of these were put up in areas, where tenders for the hoardings were not allotted to any company. Parminder Mehta, a BJP leader who was a Congress MC councillor, said AAP gives an impression that it was a common man’s party, attached to the grass-roots level, and it was totally clean. “If this is so, the new Mayor should have asked everyone to remove the banners and hoardings. The MC authorities should have asked the tehbazari wing to remove illegal hoardings and banners. Is it not a VIP culture, where the common man, shopkeepers, traders and other councillors have put up huge banners and hoardings to welcome the new Mayor? It’s an obligation where all will seek favours, later,” he said. At the same time, one of the officials of the MC said tenders were allotted to firms to put banners and hoardings in designated An illegal hoarding put up in Ludhiana. areas. “But banners and hoardings are put up throughout city area, where no tenders are allotted, such as in Daresi, Haibowal and other areas. To oblige the newly elected councillors and the Mayor, these posters are put up in many other areas too. In designated areas, the company can provide permission to any- one but areas where tenders are not allotted, these will be considered illegal,” the official said. Meanwhile, MC Commissioner Aditya Dachalwal said: “Most of the hoardings in the city are legal whose tenders were allotted to a company but if any illegal hoardings come to our notice, we will get the same removed soon.” Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 4 The Dholewal police have arrested Deepak Kumar, a resident of Ekta Colony, and seized three cases of Royal Stag whisky and one case of Signature whisky from his possession. The police stopped a car near the Kakowal-GT c m y b Deputy Mayor Prince Johar (second from right) being welcomed to his office in Ludhiana on Tuesday. Gurpreet Bassi Gogi’s wife Dr Sukhchain Bassi Gogi, councillors Yuvraj Singh, Sohan Singh Goga, Komal Preet, Jagmeet Singh Noni, Usha Rani, advocate Sartaj Sidhu, Kamal Kapoor, Par- were going to sell to their customers. On February 3, the police stopped the trio, who were riding a motorcycle, and seized 270 tablets of Alprazolam from them. They were nabbed from the rear of Kamla Lohtia College. The suspects were sent to police remand for further interrogation. administration conducted review meetings for the two SOEs to be started at Miller Ganj and Kidwai Nagar. But these projects have already missed several deadlines as works are yet to be completed. District Education Officer (Secondary) Dimple Madan said all efforts were being made to start the schools at Miller Ganj and Kidwai Nagar from the coming academic session. “A few works are pending, proposals for which are already sent for approval. But these will be completed soon and schools will be shifted in the newly constructed buildings,” the DEO said. However, during a recent review meeting on the progress of the works in the schools, Deputy Commissioner Jitendra Jorwal has confirmed that the deadline for the Kidwai Nagar SOE had been set for March 31. Civil Hospital to get another mortuary soon Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 4 Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, will soon get one more mortuary. It is one of the major government hospitals of the district and for the population of 40 lakh people, its mortuary was proving inadequate. All autopsies and medico-legal cases are handled at the Civil Hospital. With the new mortuary, the total capacity will be raised to 105. ~35 lakh to be spent on construction The existing mortuary can accommodate 55 bodies and the new mortuary will be able to accommodate 50 bodies, so the capacity will become almost double. The construction of the new mortuary will be undertaken by the Samvedna Trust and is expected to be completed in three months. The existing mortuary was also built by it. Subhash Gupta, chairman of the trust, said the planning had been done and the work for setting up of the new mortuary had already started and it was expected to be completed in three months’ time. “Many problems are being faced in the old mortuary and the same will be kept in mind during the construction of the second one. The old mortuary was also constructed by our trust in 2016. The foremost problem was the rainwater entering the mortuary. Not to let the new mortuary face the similar issue, we have kept the mortuary 6 feet higher than the ground level. A total of Rs 35 lakh will be incurred on the construction of the new mortuary,” Gupta said. Unidentified bodies will be kept in the old mortuary while corpses received by the hospital on a routine basis will be kept in the new mortuary. No fee is charged for bodies kept for autopsies while for others, a minimal amount of Rs 100 per day is charged. A doctor from the hospital said there was a dire need for a new mortuary as the existing was unable to bear the load of the entire district.