06042025-LT-01.qxd 4/6/2025 12:17 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune SEVEN MONTHS ON, SCD GOVT COLLEGE GETS PRINCIPAL ACTOR SAVI THAKUR SAYS FITNESS IS NOT A CHORE Prof Gursharn Jit Singh Sandhu has taken over as the principal of SCD Government College. P2 Despite his busy acting schedule, Savi maintains a healthy balance between work and wellness. P4 » » SOHA ALI KHAN ON BROTHER SAIF’S STABBING INCIDENT Soha says her brother has returned to work after recovering from injuries he sustained during knife attack. P4 » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 35°C | MIN 18°C YESTERDAY MAX 35°C | MIN 17°C SUNSET SUNDAY 6.44 PM SUNRISE MONDAY 6:05 AM SUNDAY | 6 APRIL 2025 | LUDHIANA Political temperature likely to soar as Cong names Ashu for bypoll Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 5 With Bharat Bhushan Ashu being declared as the Congress candidate for the Ludhiana (West) Assembly bypoll, the political temperature in the city is expected to soar further in coming days. His candidature was approved by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, according to a press release issued by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) late on Friday evening. Later, supporters celebrated Ashu’s candidature by distributing laddoos. At present, Ashu is working president of the Punjab Congress and has represented the Ludhiana (West) seat twice in the past. Ashu had won from Ludhiana West in 2012 and 2017 consecutively, and remained the Food and Civil Supplies Minister during the previous Congress government. After the announcement of his name, Ashu said the opportunity reflects the party’s faith in grassroots leadership and its unwavering resolve to champion aspirations of the people. “With blessings of our Cong leaders address mediapersons in Ludhiana. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN HIS POLITICAL CAREER ■ Bharat Bhushan Ashu elected municipal councillor from Ward 48 in 1997, Ward 54 in 2002 and Ward 54 in 2007 ■ Elected MLA from Ludhiana West Vidhan Sabha constituency by defeating Rajinder Bhandari of BJP in 2012 ■ Elected MLA from Ludhiana West by defeating AAP’s Ahbaab Grewal in 2017 ■ Became Cabinet Minister of Food & Civil Supplies, Punjab, in 2017 ■ Lost poll to AAP’s Gurpreet Gogi in 2022 Vidhan Sabha elections ■ Named as Cong candidate for Ludhiana West bypoll, to be held in May 2025 visionary leaders and the strength of the people, I pledge to serve with unwavering dedication, upholds the Congress legacy of integrity and fight for progress, justice and inclusive development in line with our party’s ideology,” he said. AAP has already named Rajya Sabha member Sanjeev Arora as its candidate. The 61- year-old has been a member of the Rajya Sabha since 2022. After Arora’s name was announced, it had sparked speculation about AAP preparing ground for its national convener Arvind Kejriwal to enter Parliament via Rajya Sabha. Meanwhile, Ashu has accused the AAP government of plunging Punjab into a governance crisis. He Coming up, ~244-cr lift irrigation projects at Buddha Nullah Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 5 In a major development, the state government has chalked out a comprehensive plan to install 22 lift irrigation projects at various locations of the Buddha Nullah, one of the most polluted tributaries of the Sutlej, passing through Ludhiana before it confluences with the river and enters Rajasthan, at the cost of Rs 244.45 crore. Govt prepares plan to reuse treated effluents of STPs, CETPs These schemes will provide treated water from STPs and CETPs for irrigation purposes to farmers in catchment areas of the Sutlej tributary. It was informed by Divisional Soil and Water Conservation Officer Nidhi Batta to the highlevel joint group of experts and senior officials from the Centre and Punjab, formed by the Union Government, for carrying out a time-bound action plan to clean and preserve the Sutlej tributary recently. The development assumes significance as the state government had in December 2020 launched an ambitious project to rejuvenate the Buddha Nullah at the cost of Rs 840 crore but even after spending almost the entire corpus and lapse of over four years, the Sutlej tributary still remains polluted. She said after the revival of the lower Buddha Nullah, treated water would be provided to the farmers through 22 different lift irrigation projects located at various locations, costing around Rs 244.45 crore. She said the work of revival of the lower Buddha Nullah would be carried out by the Department of Water Resources (DWR). The representative of the DWR said the project report of the revival of the lower Buddha Nul- alleged that law and order had deteriorated under the present government and people have lost confidence in the state administration. He also criticised AAP’s decision to field Sanjeev Arora in the byelections, calling it a politically-motivated move aimed at securing a Rajya Sabha seat for Arvind Kejriwal and flayed AAP for sidelining Gurpreet Gogi’s family, who, according to him, were initially promised the ticket but were later ignored in favour of Arora. The Ludhiana West seat fell vacant following the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Gogi in January. Gogi, a first-time MLA, had defeated Ashu in 2022 Punjab Assembly elections by 7,500 votes. The date for the bypoll has not been announced yet. Turn of events After AAP came to power in 2022, Bharat Bhushan Ashu was arrested by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau in the alleged multi-crore foodgrain transportation scam. He remained in jail for nearly seven months before getting bail from the High Court in March 2023. Later, he was Three land in police dragnet with illegal weapons Tribune News Service Utilisation of treated effluents was a crucial component in stopping discharge of effluents into Buddha Nullah. FILE lah was under consideration of the department and was yet to be finalised. “Separate schemes are also being formulated through the PMIDC for lifting treated water through the pipeline conveyance system, through which treated effluents from STPs/ CETPs can be avoided to be discharged into the nullah and directly bypassed to the lower nullah or irrigation catchment areas,” he said, adding that the cost of such project may be high. Representatives from both departments revealed that the quality of treated effluents from the CETP was not fit for irrigation and the farmers were apprehensive to utilise the same for irrigation. Regarding the in-house use of treated effluents within the city limits for parks and gardens of the civic body, MC Chief Engineer Ravinder Garg said the corporation was working on pilot projects at Leisure Valley for captive/ small STPs to treat and utilise domestic effluents in big parks/ gardens. “In case, the experiment is successful, such projects can be replicated in other parts of the city to utilise treated sewage in gardens and parks,” he said. The committee observed that the utilisation of treated effluents was a crucial component in stopping the discharge of effluents and wastewater into the nullah. It directed the Department of Soil and Water Conservation to suggest an alternative scheme in case the lower nul- lah was not revived and check whether the treated effluents can be utilised for other irrigation catchment areas. The MC was asked to share the progress regarding the pilot project to utilise the treated domestic effluents in parks/gardens to further explore its future upscaling. RK Ratra, Chief Environmental Engineer, PPCB, informed the committee that most of the small-scale dyeing units were connected with the three CETPs, whereas the electroplating units were connected to the CETP provided for such units. “Spent acid generating units are connected to the re-processors,” he said, adding that on the directions of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the PPCB had issued directions to all three CETPs of 15, 40 and 50 MLD capacity each, to stop their discharge into the nullah. However, the special purpose vehicle of the CETPs have filed appeals against the directions of the CPCB/ PPCB before the NGT. He said most of the large scale dyeing units have agreed to provide zero liquid discharge-based treatment systems and were likely to complete and commission their projects by December 31. Of the total 13 such units, two have already completed their projects whereas two others have stopped the wet/ dyeing process. “Small/ medium scattered dyeing units have also been issued notices and were being persuaded to stop discharges into the sewer network,” he submitted. Ludhiana, April 5 The Ludhiana crime branch claimed to have nabbed three criminals and recovered three .315 bore illegal weapons along with three cartridges from their possession. The suspects were identified as Ajit Singh (29) of Mahadev Nagar, Vaibhav Mishra (18) of Deep Singh Nagar and Jagpreet Singh Kaka (21) of Jaspal Bangar. ADCP (Crime) Amandeep Singh Brar in a statement issued said initially on April 3, the police arrested a suspect, Ajit Singh, with one .315 bore weapon and a cartridge. During his questioning, Vaibhav was also arrest- ed. A .315 bore weapon, along with one cartridge, was seized from him. The ADCP said during the questioning of Vaibhav, he confessed that he had sold one pistol to Jagpreet Singh. Following which, the police arrested the latter and seized one .315 bore pistol with a cartridge. Now, the police will investigate if the suspects had used the weapons to commit any crime in the past. “The police suspect that they might be involved in sale and purchase of illegal weapons, the police probe is on to bust the entire network” Brar said. Ajit has a criminal background as he is facing three cases, including of fraud and Arms Act, registered against him in the past and he came out on bail from jail on January 25 only, claimed ACP (Crime) Rajesh Sharma, under whose supervision the suspects were arrested. c m y b arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in August 2024 for alleged money laundering related to the same case. He got bail in December 2024. In the same month, the HC quashed FIRs registered against him by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau, calling the same as ‘pure vendetta’. Meanwhile, a meeting followed by the press conference was held by the Congress here after the declaration of Bharat Bhushan Ashu as candidate for the bypoll. Former Chief Minister Charanjit Channi and MLA Pargat Singh were also present in the meeting. They said they would keep a watch and ensure the elections were held in a fair manner and not let the ruling party do any injustice. Channi said he would be camping in Ludhiana till the elections were held. Congress secretary incharge for Punjab Alok Sharma while addressing the media said the party was confident that Ashu would win the seat. “People will remember development works done by him while the present government had only looted the people,” he said. continued on page 2 Badminton academy facing probe ‘received over ~10L’ in 2024-25 FY It also got ~6L as entry fees for state c’ships: Complainant Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 5 The 2024-2025 financial year bank account statement of the Ludhiana Badminton Academy available with The Tribune belied claims of its secretary Anupam Kumaria as the statement shows that the academy received more than Rs 10 lakh in the form of donations via cheque or cash. Even players, who were taking coaching, or adults who had been paying charges for playing at Shashtri Badminton Hall, from where the academy is being run, have also sent complaints to the Deputy Commissioner (DC), Ludhiana, as evidence of fee collection by it. A complaint signed by a number of players sent to the DC states: “We would like to bring it to your attention that approximately 200 adult players regularly play at Shastri Badminton Hall, which is allegedly managed by Anupam Kumaria. We too are regular players at the facility. For a long time, we have been paying a monthly fee of Rs 500 to Kumaria. However, despite multiple requests, we have never been provided with any receipt for our payments. Other members also pay their monthly fees in cash but do not receive any receipts. We believe the information could be significant for the ongoing investigation being conducted by the SIT. We appreciate your attention to the matter and look forward to a fair probe.” “Besides Rs 10 lakh received in bank account of the academy, it got more than Rs 6 lakh in the form of cash as entry fees. It had organised three state championships at Shashtri Hall without any permission last year. Additionally, the Ludhiana Badminton Association has been organising District Championship every year in which they get around Rs 4 lakh in cash and no receipts are issued to players who participate in championships. Importantly, the association gets free shuttlecocks from the Punjab Badminton Association to conduct state championships. Hence, the association was using the stadium free of cost, electricity bill is paid by the MC and shuttlecocks are provided free of cost by the Punjab Badminton Association,” said national badminton player and coach Anand Tiwari on whose complaint a SIT was formed by the Deputy Commissioner and separate investigation was being conducted by the Ludhiana police to investigate the allegations. Meanwhile, Kumaria said he appeared before the SIT on Friday and took a copy of the complaint having allegations against him. “I am studying the complaint, have done nothing wrong, will submit all evidences of the academy before the SIT. It is just politics being played by some quarters to defame me. People give donations at their will which we use for expenses of the academy but we never asked for money from anyone. Truth will prevail,” he said. The controversy Notably complainant Anand Tiwari in his complaint has alleged that Ludhiana’s prestigious Shastri Badminton Hall, a government-owned multi crore property facility, was being illegally controlled and misused by unauthorised Ludhiana Badminton Association. The association is led by Anupam Kumaria for the past 15 years. He has also been running the unauthorised Ludhiana Badminton Academy registered at his residence without government approval and he was operating his personal academy at Shastri Hall. Entry fees, donations and sponsorship money had been collected in cash, siphoning millions from innocent players and their families.