11032025-LT-01.qxd 3/11/2025 12:57 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune RAMANDEEP KAUR TAKES CHARGE AS CIVIL SURGEON EDU DEPT ANNOUNCES BEST SCHOOLS OF 2023-24 PERFECT 10 FOR LAAPATAA LADIES AT IIFA AWARDS The new Civil Surgeon said she was committed to enhancing medical services in the district. P2 Education Department recently announced best schools in each district for 2023-24. P3 Leading the pack of winners was Laapataa Ladies, which captivated audiences and critics alike. P4 » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 30°C | MIN 15°C YESTERDAY MAX 29°C | MIN 15°C SUNSET TUESDAY 6.27 PM SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 6:37 AM » TUESDAY | 11 MARCH 2025 | LUDHIANA Factory collapse: Owner booked, ...incident recalls memories of major past tragedies in city govt announces ~2 lakh ex gratia Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service RS MP announces ~1 lakh ex gratia; earlier four persons were booked THIRD BODY PULLED OUT OF DEBRIS Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 10 After registering a case against four persons in a factory collapse incident occurred at Phase VIII, Focal Point, here, that cost the lives of three workers, now the Ludhiana police have booked the owner of Kohli Dyeing, Naveen Kohli, as an accused in the already registered FIR. Earlier, four persons, including caretaker of the factory Neeraj Kapoor, was booked by the police on the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. On Monday, after the Focal Point police inquired about the real owner of the factory from the Industry Department, Kohli’s name was added to the FIR. Now, raids were being conducted by the police to nab the owner. Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Jitendra Jorwal on Monday stated that Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann had announced an exgratia amount of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of three individuals who lost their lives in the mishap at Focal Point. He visited the site and Fortis Hospital. Jorwal said the government would cover all medical expenses for the nine workers who were at present admitted to the hospital. He held discussions with doctors and assured comprehensive support to the families of the workers. Lallan Yadav (42), a native of Bihar, whose body was pulled out from the debris on Monday morning, had fixed his daughter’s marriage about four months ago and now, he was making plans to go to his native place for making preparations for the wedding. As per his kin, Lallan was also having a train ticket for Bihar for March 14. Earlier, two bodies were pulled out of debris. The rescue operation underway progress at the factory building collapse site at Focal Point; and (below) DC Jitendra Jorwal meets the injured workers at a hospital in Ludhiana on Monday. ASHWANI DHIMAN Jorwal said three teams from the NDRF had successfully rescued four workers, who were doing well. He not- ed that the NDRF would remain on a standby mode, if any additional assistance was required. There were current- ly no reports of any worker trapped under the debris. He said the teams were on the site to clear the area while adhering to all safety protocols. They had already removed drums containing sulphuric acid and acetic acid from the site, which will be disposed of as per regulations of the Punjab Pollution Control Board. The Deputy Commissioner also mentioned that a magisterial probe, led by Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of East, Jasleen Kaur Bhullar, has been initiated to determine the exact cause of the incident. Furthermore, the Commissionerate Police has filed an FIR against five individuals and strict action will be taken against them. The tragic incident occurred on Saturday and led to the deaths of three persons. Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora has also announced an ex gratia of Rs 1 lakh each to the families of three deceased persons. Hence, the kin would get Rs 3 lakh each as ex-gratia. Ludhiana, March 10 The latest tragedy of a factory collapse at Phase VIII, Focal Point, that cost the lives of three factory workers has recalled memories of city residents about past incidents that have also claimed several lives. The industrial hub has witnessed several incidents, mostly in industrial establishments in the past, killing industrial workers in a large number. In most of the incidents, the negligence of factory owners became the cause of major accidents. However, the authorities have not learnt any lessons to prevent such incidents in the future. Interestingly, some of the industrial mishap cases claiming deaths of workers could not reach the police as unit owners had reached a compromise with kin of the deceased. Whenever any incident occurs due to the negligence of the industrial units, the officials concerned would take strict action in the form of registration of FIRs and vow to enforce the implementation of laws mandating safety measures, including fire safety, building safety, but nothing would happen on the ground. Incidents occurred in past On November 20, 2017, a multi-storey building of Amarson Polymers, also known as Gola Factory, at Suffian Chowk, had collapsed after an inferno in Police personnel stand guard at a spot in Giaspura where gas leakage had claimed 11 lives in April 2023. FILE which as many as 16 persons, including nine firefighters, had lost their lives. The then Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had ordered a probe into the matter. The authorities even ordered a fire audit of the industries but years went on but nothing happened on the ground and incidents kept on happening. On March 13, 2023, three workers were killed in a major fire that broke out in a three-storey factory near Lakkar Bridge. Almost 12 workers were working in the factory when the fire started. While the workers tried to rush out of the factory, five of them got stuck inside. It was only when fire tenders reached the scene, they were taken out by firefighters in critical conditions. On April 30, 2023, eleven persons, including three children, died allegedly after inhaling toxic gas in the city’s thickly-populated Giaspura area.The incident came to light when some people who came to a local grocery store to buy milk started fainting. Four persons died on the spot while others were rushed to a hospital. Among the dead were three members of the family that owned the store and five from another family. Five females and six males were among the dead. On October 1, 2018, four workers died as a fire broke out at a hosiery factory in Kalyan Nagar. The workers died of asphyxiation as they could not find the exit door. Even the main shutter of the factory was locked by the owner from outside. There was a gross negligence by the factory owner as exit points were locked, following which the workers could not escape. Alleging police inaction, dera head Expedite recovery of property tax, officials told creates ruckus outside CP’s office Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 10 A head of a religious dera in Bhamian Khurd, Bhupinder Singh, on Monday created a ruckus outside the office of the Commissioner of Police (CP) by parking his car in the middle of the road to express anger against the Ludhiana police. The traffic movement slowed down on the road due to the same. The complainant alleged Says he had been receiving obscene content on social media since 2020 that some miscreants had been sending him obscene pictures and videos on his social media accounts since 2020. He had also complained to the police several times in this regard but the police failed to take any action. He was upset and parked his car in the middle of of the road as a protest, he added After the matter reached senior police officials, personnel from the Police Division 5 reached the spot. Within one hour, they managed to convince the dera head by assuring him of taking action in the matter and the car was removed from the place. “Now I have been assured that the police would take action on my complaint within two days. I hope after registration of a case, the suspects will be identified and arrested,” he said. Ludhiana, March 10 Mayor Inderjit Kaur, Senior Deputy Mayor Rakesh Prashar, Deputy Mayor Prince Johar and Municipal Corporation (MC) Commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal conducted a meeting with zonal commissioners and officials of the property tax wing to expedite recovery of the tax from residents. In the meeting held at the MC’s Zone D office here on Monday, recovery targets have also been fixed for property tax inspectors and Mayor interacts with MC officials during a meeting in Ludhiana on Monday. they had been directed to move to the field on a daily basis for expediting the recovery of dues. MC Additional Commis- sioner Paramdeep Singh, Joint Commissioner Ankur Mahindroo, Zonal Commissioner (Zone A&B) Neeraj Jain, Zonal Commissioner (Zone C) Gurpal Singh, Superintendents and property tax inspectors were among those present in the meeting. Meanwhile, the Mayor Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor also appealed to residents to submit the pending property tax by March 31 to avoid any penalty. The civic body officials stated that a 20 per cent penalty and 18 per cent annual interest would be imposed, if the residents failed to submit the tax by March 31. They can pay dues at zonal suvidha kendras of the civic body. For avoiding long queues, the residents can also submit the tax online by visiting mcludhiana.gov.in. Unions flay ‘indifferent’ attitude of govt towards farmers Man found murdered Tribune Reporters Ludhiana, March 10 Various farmer unions under the banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Monday staged dharnas in front of residences and offices of Cabinet ministers of Punjab and Aam Aadmi Party MLAs in Ludhiana district. Stage dharnas in front of residences and offices of ministers, MLAs in district As per information, farmers protested outside the office of minister Hardeep Singh Mundian at Kohara and outside the residence of minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond in Khanna. While protests were held outside residences of all MLAs in the district. Farmers protest outside the residence of AAP MLA Jeewan Singh Sangowal in Ludhiana. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN SKM leaders alleged that the AAP government was showing indifferent, uncaring and apathetic attitude towards farmers, which they felt needs to be condemned at all levels. “It is a sheer murder of ‘just voices’ and ‘due rights’. The attempt of the government in thwarting the March 5 protest and detaining the farmers is condemnable and we shall continue to protest till the Punjab Government relents and gives us our right due,” said a farm leader, Harinder Singh Lakhowal. He said the farmers were collectively demanding implementation of the state’s agricultural policy, purchase of six c m y b crops at MSP by the state government, a legal framework for debt relief, ownership rights to land tillers and payment of sugarcane arrears. The agitation started at 11 am and ended at 3 pm. The protesters said: “No power on earth can deter us from achieving our ultimate objective. We have seen and experienced the worst, including shameless manhandling, inhuman treatment, insensitive regime, deaths of near and dear ones, inclement weather, Covid pandemic and what not. It has made us rather more determined and we can now fight with zeal and vigour.” “What we want at this stage is the support of the public since it is no more a fight of the farmers alone. It is only with such agitations that agriculture can be saved and the forces undermining democracy in the country be eradicated. Despite our repeated appeals, the state government has refused to lend an ear, thus blaming the Centre, in turn, for not implementing the farmers’ demands,” they said. Farmers of several villages participated in the protest. “On March 15, the SKM will meet at Chandigarh to plan the next course of action. No government, whether at the state or Centre can stop us from fighting for our rights. Moreover, we will continue to protest and take the agitation to a decisive stage where the government will be forced to relent and bow before our demands,” Lakhowal said. Meanwhile, farmers of the region falling under Ahmedgarh, Raikot, Payal and Gill subdivisions also protested outside premises of Aam Aadmi Party legislators. near Samrala Chowk Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 10 The body of an an unidentified man was found on a road near Samrala Chowk on Delhi Road here on Monday. The deceased had injury marks on his face, signalling a brutal murder. As per information, on Monday morning when passers-by saw the body lying on the road, they informed the police. Later, officials from the Moti Nagar police station reached the scene and took the body to the Civil Hospital. The people said the body was not there till 4 am. Later in the evening, the Cops launch investigation to nab suspects police issued a statement that a murder case was registered against unidentified miscreants and further investigation was launched by the police to identify them. CCTV cameras were also being checked by the police to get any clue about them. The police have also sent an alert to all police stations.