04032025-ATR-01.qxd 3/3/2025 11:37 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY PHAGWARA MC URGED TO SHIFT DUMP YARD HOPE FOR SOCIALISM STILL EXISTS: YADAV ANORA, THE BRUTALIST WIN BIG AT 97TH ACADEMY AWARDS Members of the society said the dump yard had become a major nuisance for residents. P2 This year's 'Naad Pragaas Shabad Samman' award conferred on poet Vijay Vivek. P2 Sean Baker's Anora won the Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. P4 » » MAX 20°C | MIN 11°C YESTERDAY MAX 21°C | MIN 12°C SUNSET TUESDAY 6.22 PM SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 6.42 AM » TUESDAY | 4 MARCH 2025 | AMRITSAR Farmer unions hold meeting to mobilise support for ‘pucca morcha’ BKU (Sidhupur) protests delay in crop loss assessment Financial crisis surfaces as PMIDC has not granted funds to MC Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR Amritsar, March 3 The Bhartiya Kisan Union Sidhupur staged a protest outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office here on Monday. They were protesting against the failure of the government teams to reach out to farmers whose crops had been damaged by hailstorm two days ago. Accusing the state government of being indifferent towards the plight of farmers, the union leaders stated that the teams have visited selected villages only. They said the protest against the administration would continue till all the affected villages are covered. The union leaders stated that they would come back to the protest against the administration in the morning. Karamjit Singh of the union stated that the government employees visiting villages are harassing farmers for listing them in the list of affected farmers. — TNS Members of the BKU (Ugraha) during a protest outside the DC office in Amritsar on Monday. Amritsar, March 3 A meeting of the Kul Hind Kisan Sabha and the Vegetable Producers’ Organization was on Monday held at Nawan Pind near here. The purpose was to mobilise support for ‘pucca morcha’, the dharna scheduled to start from Chandigarh on March 5. Farmer leaders Bhupinder Singh Tirathpura and Lakhbir Singh Nizampur said the protest is a response to the Centre and the Punjab Government’s neglect of farmers’ demands. They said farmers had ended the protest in Delhi after the government’s assurance of minimum support price (MSP) and Purchase Guarantee law as well as justice for farmers who had died in Lakhimpur Kheri. The protesters are also demanding the withdrawal of cases registered against farmers during the farmers’ movement, loan waivers and implementation of crop insurance schemes for farmers, pension for farmers and farm labour- ers, a law to protect Punjab’s river waters and the rights of the Bhakra Beas Management Board and compensation and government jobs for families of martyred farmers. Lakhimpura said they demanded from the Punjab Government to fix MSPs for five crops — basmati, maize, pea, potato, and moong. The protest is expected to continue for at least a week to pressure the government to meet these demands, stated the farmer leader. — TNS CRACKDOWN ON DRUG PEDDLERS Cops seize 1.42-kg heroin, drug money, nab 10 PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, March 3 Continuing with the crackdown on drug peddlers launched by the Punjab Government, the city police have confiscated 1.42 kg of heroin, ~91,000 of drug proceeds, two luxury cars, a pistol, besides arresting 10 persons, including a juvenile, in eight separate cases. Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar on Monday said the seizures were made in Sultanwind, Gate Hakima, Islamabad, Sadar, Cantonment, Mohkampura, E-division and CIA staff -2 police stations. Among those arrested include Judge Singh of Sultanwind village, Karan of Lahori Gate, Hardayal Singh of Varyam Singh Colony, Ajay alias Lally of Kot Khalsa, Sukhwinder Singh of Pakka Killa, Jhabal (Tarn Taran), DRIVE TO CONTINUE, SAYS BHULLAR ■ Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar on Monday said the seizures were made in Sultanwind, Gate Hakima, Islamabad, Sadar, Cantonment, Mohkampura, E-division and CIA staff -2 police stations. ■ Bhullar said the campaign against the accused would continue in the future and whosoever is found involved in drug trafficking would not be spared and put behind bars. He said on the first day of the crackdown on Saturday, the police had seized 1.3 kg of heroin in five separate cases. Surjit Singh of Gurdwara Palah Sahib road, Gumtala, Gurpreet Sing alias Gora of Gumanpura village, Babbaljit Singh of Mohkampura and Aryan of Aliwal road, Batala (Gurdaspur) apart from a juvenile. Sharing details, the Police Commissioner said the Sultanwind police arrested Judge Singh with 266 gm of heroin and ~41,000 of drug proceeds from the outer periphery of the village. Following a preliminary probe, the police also nominated his accomplice Harpal Singh in the case. Similarly, the Gate Hakima police held Hardayal Singh of Varyam Singh Colony with 258 gm of heroin while Karan alias commando was arrested with 255 gm of contraband and ~2,200 of drug money by the Islamabad police. The Ismalabad police also nabbed Ajay aka Lally with 20 gm of heroin and ~44,000 of drug money. Bhullar said in another incident, the Sadar police seized 265 gm of heroin along with ~4,500 drug money from Sukhwinder Singh of Jhabal. He was arrested from Sri Chand gate bypass area during a naka. Likewise, the police arrested Surjit Singh and Gurpreet Singh from whom the cops recovered 100 gm of heroin and an SUV. They were arrested from a checkpoint at the Mahal village bypass. Babbaljit Singh was caught by the police with 265 gm of narcotics. Besides, the police arrested a juvenile and Aryan of Batala for allegedly possessing a country-made pistol of .32 bore calibre and a Mahindra Scorpio during the checking of vehicles in Hall Gate area. The Police Commissioner said the campaign against the accused would continue in the future and whosoever is found involved in drug trafficking would not be spared and put behind bars. He said on the first day of the crackdown on Saturday, the police had seized 1.3 kg of heroin in five separate cases. World Hearing Day calls for adopting some serious measures to check noise pollution Neeraj Bagga Amritsar, March 3 The Amritsar Municipal Corporation is facing shortage of funds which led to disruption of development work of the city. Contractors and construction companies have reportedly stopped several projects because the MC has not paid their dues. The municipal corporation (MC) has not received due amount from Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Corporation (PMIDC) for a long time. Though the MC sent the utilization certificate (UC) twice in the last two months, funds were not released. The municipal corporation used to get an instalment of about Rs 18 crore every month from GST, which Pak intruder neutralised by BSF at IB Tribune News Service Contractors and construction companies have reportedly stopped several projects because the MC has not paid their dues. used to meet the salary and other expenses of the employees. With the nonrelease of funds, only grade4 employees got salary, while grade-3, grade-2 and grade-1 employees have not received the salary for February yet. According to MC officials, the taxes deposited by the MTP Department to the Local Bodies Department, Chandigarh, is also not being given to the MC due to which the financial crisis has deepened. The government has not paid the due Constant exposure to honking on roads can cause deafness among humans. with breeding cycles and rearing. Traffic noise accounts for most polluting noise in cities. A car horn produces 90 dB and a bus produces 100 dB. Jagdeepak Singh, an ENT specialist, said noise above the permissible limits can damage the ossicles of the ear. DJ and factory noises are two other major examples. About 6 per cent of factory workers and two to three per cent of the owners suffer from noise pollution-related diseases. Constant exposure to traffic noise is trauma to ears, he said, adding its effects varies from damaging hearing, causing deafness, constant exposure to loud noise can damage human health in many ways, especially very young and very old people are vulnerable to it. Physical respiratory agitation, racing pulse, high blood pressure, headaches and in case of extremely loud, constant noise, gastritis, colitis and even heart attacks. Psychological noise can cause attacks of stress, fatigue, depression, anxiety and hysteria in both humans and animals. c m y b share to the MC against the payment of taxation and fee deposited by the MC in the state exchequer. Moreover, the MC is not receiving the sewerage and water supply bills paid on the state government’s M Seva Portal. The Municipal Corporation has repeatedly requested PMIDC on this issue, but no solution has been found yet. If funds are not received soon, the development work of the city may remain stalled for a long time, said an official. Mayor Jatinder Singh Moti Bhatia said, “Due to delay in the formation of MC house, there were some issues of funding. Now we have formed the house and funds would be released soon. The MC employees will get their salaries on time.” Lucky escape for 10 students as auto gets stuck at level crossing Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Amritsar, March 3 Border Security Force (BSF) troops shot dead a Pakistan intruder on the Amritsar border on Monday. During the morning hours, the BSF troops on duty observed suspicious movement of a Pakistani intruder, who surreptitiously crossed the IB (International Border). He started approaching towards border security fence taking advantage of undulating ground and wheat crops in the border area near Kotrazda village in the district. The BSF troops challenged the intruder, but he did not stop his advance and started running towards the border security fence. Noticing his aggressive gesture, the troops on duty fired at the advancing intruder in self-defence and neutralized him on the spot. On searching the area carefully, a mobile phone was recovered from his possession. The legal formalities of handing over the body of the Pakistan intruder to the Ramdas police station are being carried out. Amritsar, March 3 About 10 school students travelling in an auto had a lucky escape after the autorickshaw they were travelling in got stuck in between the closed gates at a level crossing while a train passed the nearby railway track in Kot Khalsa area here on Monday. Going by a video of the incident which went viral on social media, it was clearly visible that the auto-rickshaw with 10 young children in school uniform and another empty e-rickshaw were standing on a railway line while the train passed the adjacent track. A political party leader, Sarbjit Singh Sonu Jandiala, who happened to pass the stretch, recorded the video. He said the incident took place about 12.15 pm and the auto-rickshaw driver was entirely responsible for the lapse. He said despite seeing the gates being closed down at the level crossing, the auto driver barged the vehicle onto A video grab of the auto-rickshaw that got stuck at the Kot Khalsa level crossing in Amritsar on Monday. the railway track. Even the lineman at the crossing shouted at the auto driver to alert him of the oncoming train, but he did not listen to him, rather he entered Legislative assembly committee reviews development projects Tribune News Service Amritsar, March 3 Even World Hearing Day, being observed across the globe on Monday, is not enough to wake up the authorities concerned from deep slumber and take measures to minimise, if not curb, the obnoxious noise of vehicles on city roads. Pressure horns are just painful for commuters. The honking of horns, the cacophony of vehicles, and the noise of drilling emanating from buildings and roads create a nuisance to commuters. Medical professionals quoting the World Health Organisation (WHO) define noise above 65 decibels (dB) as noise pollution. To be precise, noise becomes harmful when it exceeds 75 decibels (dB) and is painful above 120 dB. It is very harmful for human beings. They say not only does it hurt humans, it is bad for animals too. They say noise pollution can interfere Dev projects stalled as MC yet to release funds to firms Amritsar, March 3 The Punjab Legislative Assembly Committee on Local Government on Monday held a meeting at Bachat Bhawan in Amritsar to review ongoing development projects in the city. The committee also assessed the work undertaken by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL). The meeting was chaired by committee chairman and MLA Madan Lal Bagga and attended by MLAs Ashok Parashar Pappi, Inderjit Kaur Maan, Ajitpal Singh Kohli, Jeevanjot Kaur, Dr Amandeep Kaur Aroor, and Jasbir Singh Sandhu. Officials from the district, including Mayor Jatinder Singh Moti Bhatia, Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, MC Commissioner Gulpreet Singh Aulakh, Additional Deputy Commissioner Jyoti Bala Mattu and senior officials from various departments, were also present. The committee engaged in an in-depth discussion with officials on various developmental aspects, including street lighting, sanitation and waste management, traffic management and improvement in the sewerage system in Amritsar. Chairman Madan Lal Bagga emphasised that government departments must consult local MLAs before executing projects as they are closely connected to the needs of the public. He took a serious note of delays in the Amritsar Improvement Trust projects and instructed immediate corrective action. MLA Jeevanjot Kaur raised concerns about the maintenance of the seven-acre park and 40 Khoo Park as well as issues related to ongoing work at the Vallah bypass. She pushed for prompt action to resolve these challenges. Chairman Bagga appreciated the efforts of Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar in the fight against drug-related crimes and admired MC Commissioner Gulpreet Singh Aulakh for his well-prepared participation in the meeting. He directed all officials to personally review their department’s work before attending future meetings to ensure accurate and up-to-date reporting. — TNS into a verbal fight with him. Had the train passed the railway line the auto-rickshaw got stuck on, the consequences would have been disastrous, he added. BSF troops, police recover 533-gm heroin in Tarn Taran Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, March 3 A joint team of the Tarn Taran police and the BSF in a search operation recovered 533 gms of heroin here on Sunday. SSP Abhimanyu Rana said here on Monday that the Khalra police, on receiving a secret information, in coordination with the BSF launched a joint search operation in a field of Dall village and recovered the consignment. The SSP said it was brought from Pakistan using a drone. The police said a case under relevant sections of the NDPS Act and the Aircraft Act have been registered.