11072025-LT-01.qxd 7/11/2025 12:39 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune LABOUR WOES PUSH FARMERS TO DIRECT SEEDING OF RICE ANNU KAPOOR ANSWERS ANY QUESTION POSED TO HIM HAPPILY Despite government efforts to promote DSR, only a limited number of farmers have adopted it this Kharif season. P2 Though the actor admits he sees no films, reads no newspapers, he answers any question posed to him happily. P4 » CHITRANGDA SINGH JOINS CAST OF BATTLE OF GALWAN Directed by Apoorva Lakhia, film is based on 2020 conflict between Indian and Chinese armed forces. P4 » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 32°C | MIN 26°C YESTERDAY MAX 30°C | MIN 26°C SUNSET FRIDAY 7.27 PM SUNRISE SATURDAY 5:30 AM FRIDAY | 11 JULY 2025 | LUDHIANA Three nabbed for killing woman, FoodSafetyTeamcracksdownon food adulteration in city areas dumping body in broad daylight Body in sack was thrown by father-in-law, another person on road divider a day before Mahesh Sharma Ludhiana, July 10 The police claimed to have solved the murder case of a migrant woman whose body was dumped in a sack on the pretext of rotten mangoes by two motorcyclists on a road divider near Aarti Chowk here on Wednesday. Three suspects, identified as Kishan, victim’s father-inlaw of Malha, Lucknow (UP), Dulari, mother-in-law, and Ajai Kumar, a resident Gadia village in UP were nabbed by , the police a few hours after the recovery of the body of the woman, who is identified as Reshma (25). Commissioner of Police, Ludhiana, Swapan Sharma, claimed that police personnel, supervised by Rupinder Singh DCP (City), ADCP Kanwalpreet Singh Chahal and ACP Guriqbal Singh, had solved the murder case within four hours of recovery of the woman’s body, which was stuffed in a sack, and all three suspects had been arrested on Wednesday. Though the investigating team, led by SI Amarjit Singh, is yet to ascertain the The suspects in custody of the Ludhiana police. TRIBUNE PHOTO: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN INFIDELITY SUSPECTED REASON BEHIND CRIME Though the investigating team, led by SI Amarjit Singh, is yet to ascertain the sequence of events leading to the murder, circumstantial evidence suggests that the couple suspected the character of the deceased, whose husband Ramesh Kumar was staying in UP. sequence of events leading to the murder, circumstantial evidence suggests that the couple suspected the character of the deceased, whose husband Ramesh Kumar was staying in UP . Investigation further revealed that the family had started staying at the house of the complainant, Manoj Kumar, of Maharaj Nagar near Circuit House, here, over a fortnight ago and Kis- han and his wife Dulari used to quarrel with their ‘daughter-in-law’ over petty issues. Acknowledging that he had noticed the sack lying outside the door on the fateful morning, Manoj said he thought the family was shifting their belongings to some other place. “It was after a video regarding the dumping of the sack containing the body near Aarti Chowk was circulated on social media that I sus- pected the murder and contacted the police to lodge a complaint,” he stated to the police, following which they tightened noose around the suspects and arrested them. The police are yet to ascertain the role of Ajai, who accompanied Kishan while they took the body on the motorcycle for dumping it. He is insistent on his stand narrated before the people that he was told the bag contained rotten mangoes. Though the police is yet to verify genuineness of marriage of the deceased with the son of the couple, it is not ruled out that the family could have conspired to get rid of Reshma after shifting to the present residence. ACP Guriqbal Singh said prompt and coordinated efforts by members of the special investigating team had resulted in expeditious arrest of the suspects, who could have succeeded in fleeing to their native state. “Though we have collected enough evidence to corroborate the whole story, we can’t divulge details now as it would hamper further investigation,” he said. Ludhiana, July 10 In a decisive operation to uphold food safety standards, the Food Safety Team of Ludhiana, under the supervision of Dr Amarjit Kaur, District Health Officer (DHO), carried out a series of early morning inspections on Thursday, exposing grave violations of food safety and hygiene norms. The crackdown began in the early morning with a naka (checkpoint) set up on Hambran Road, where officials intercepted milk carriers and collected four milk samples for quality testing. The team then proceeded to a dairy in Chet Singh Nagar, where 125 kg of paneer was seized due to its poor quality. Samples of paneer and ghee Seizes products, orders to shut down soya chaap unit operating in filthy conditions were also collected for laboratory examinations. Inspections were also conducted at a mozzarella cheese manufacturing unit, where samples of the same and ghee were taken to ensure adherence to the food safety regulations. A major violation was found at a soya chaap manufacturing unit in Lohara, which was found operating in extremely unhygienic and deplorable conditions. The facility lacked a mandatory RO water plant and the manufac- turing environment posed a serious threat to public health. The authorities issued a challan and seized all manufacturing equipment. They ordered the closure of operations and 1.25 quintal of soya chaap found on the premises was destroyed by the team. “Our commitment to ensuring safety and wellbeing of Ludhiana’s citizens remains paramount,” said Dr Amarjit Kaur. “These inspections are essential for curbing adulteration and enforcing hygienic practices across food establishments. We will continue to take strict action against those endangering public health,” she said. — TNS Food Safety Team conducts an inspection at a eatery in Ludhiana. Ensure strict enforcement of cleanliness Notification on conversion of leasehold rules for street vendors, officials told to freehold plots evokes mixed response Ludhiana, July 10 Following strict orders issued by Municipal Corporation (MC) Commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal to ensure cleanliness across the city, tehbazaari and health branch officials of the civic body have been directed to ensure strict enforcement of cleanliness rules issued for street vendors. MC Joint Commissioners Vineet Kumar and Ankur Mahindroo conducted a meeting with health and tehbazaari branch officials in this regard at the MC’s Zone D office in Sarabha Nagar on Thursday. Assistant Commissioner Gurpal Singh, tehbazaari superintendents, corporation sanitation officers (CSO), chief sanitary inspectors (CSI) and sanitary inspectors were among others present. The officials concerned have been directed to ensure that the street vendors put up dustbins/receptacles for wet and dry waste around their vends and no garbage/waste should be dumped in the open, especially around their vends. They should hand over the garbage to waste collectors or dump the same at designated sites (transfer stations) only after closing down their vends at night. They must also refrain from burning waste, spitting, urinating in public spaces or using banned single- use plastic items at their stalls. Failure to enforce cleanliness in their respective areas would also invite action against the officials concerned. Recently, MC Commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal issued an order wherein the street vendors were directed to ensure dustbins/receptacles and cleanliness around their vends otherwise challan of up to Rs 2,000 could be issued against violators. Further, an FIR could also be lodged against adamant repeated violators. The officials concerned of the health and tehbazaari wing of the civic body had been directed to work in coordination and move to the field on a regular basis. Stern action should be taken against the violators. Intensify drive against illegal slaughtering Health branch officials have further been directed to intensify the drive against illegal slaughtering. Besides issuing challans and destroying illegally slaughtered meat, the officials had been directed to seal meat shops if owners fail to stop illegal slaughtering. The meat shop owners should be directed to get the meat slaughtered from the modern slaughterhouse of the MC on Hambran Road. — TNS Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, July 10 Punjab Industry and Commerce Minister Sanjeev Arora has brought a policy, regarding which a notification has also been issued, to convert leasehold industrial plots/sheds into freehold plots and sheds, by paying a certain amount to the PSIEC, which would not only foster the investor’s confidence and improving the ease of doing business but will also earn a good revenue to the state exchequer. However, the policy has evoked a mixed response. At the same time, the industry maintains that a much bigger relief was expected from the state government on the issue. Rahul Ahuja, convener, Apex Chamber, said though the industry got a relief, it was not as per expectations of the industry. “Till 2023, we used to pay Rs 450 per sq yard to the government the rate for the same work, then the government increased the rates to Rs 7,500 per sq yard. And now in the recent notification, the rates are imposed as Rs 1,500 per sq yard. Though we are happy that from Rs 7,500, the rates are reduced to Rs 1,500 but still rates are on the higher side,” he said. Another industrialist, SC Ralhan, who also served as the FIEO president, said it was an additional financial burden on the industry. “When banks have no problem in providing loans to industrialists, whether a property was freehold or on lease, and they (banks) only wanted NOC, why the financial burden imposed on the industry? “In case the state government wants to provide a relief to the industry, it should start issuing NOCs. When we are happy with plots on lease because we are getting loans on the basis of NOC by the government, why should we pay more for getting the same loans,” Ralhan said. The industrialists want government to provide more relief to the industry in the freehold plot issue. “Why the state government wants to earn revenue from it when there was nothing written about it at the time of allotting the industrial plots,” asked another industrialist, adding that because of the clause, the industry was not able to sell and purchase and do further expansions. Committee slams PPCB for ‘shielding’ polluting dyeing industry, files petitions Admn gears up to make Ludhiana a stubble burning-free district Tribune News Service Ludhiana, July 10 In a strong statement issued to the media on Thursday, members of the Public Action Committee (PAC) accused the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) of repeatedly colluding with the dyeing industry to shield it from legal accountability for the illegal and continuous discharge of untreated effluents from their respective Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) into the Buddha Dariya. Kuldeep Singh Khaira and Jaskirat Singh from the PAC stated that following appeals filed by the dyeing industry against PPCB orders to stop CETPs, the PAC submitted three separate applications before the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The Tribunal, in response, directed the PPCB to act in accordance with Environmental Clearance (EC) conditions Public Action Committee members address the media in Ludhiana on Thursday. INDERJEET VERMA and to stop effluents into the Buddha Dariya. Initially, the dyeing industry and the government claimed they did not understand the NGT orders, then the industry blamed the state government for failing to construct the lower Buddha Dariya drain, later it shifted their stance, claiming that environmental clearance was no longer required after a 2018 Central Government notification and then they claimed that their 2013 EC was not even theirs. Shockingly, the PPCB supported such shifting interpretations and kept changing lawyers to waste time and continue illegal discharge into the Buddha Dariya. Dr Amandeep Singh Bains, Er Kapil Arora and Gurpreet Singh highlighted that such an interpretation was misleading and against law. Ludhiana has been declared as one of the critically polluted cities in the country by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) — a fact publicly available on the CPCB’s website. Under the Environment Impact Assessment c m y b (EIA) Notification, 2006, any dyeing unit within 5 km of a critically polluted area must obtain an EC before receiving even a ‘Consent to Establish’ from the PPCB. It is worth noting that all three Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) managing CETPs had already received grants based on EC conditions outlined in 2013 and over 50 per cent of construction was completed before 2018. Interestingly, CETP directors themselves have now admitted that the NGT had issued closure orders to their plants. On December 23, 2024, the PPCB informed the Tribunal that compliance had been achieved — a claim PAC called misleading and factually incorrect. Based on contradictory statements from the dyeing industries and ground realities, contempt petitions have been filed against the Member Secretary and Chief Engineer of the PPCB along with directors of 40MLD and 50MLD CETPs. The PAC members also revealed that the PPCB, despite being fully aware of legal and environmental violations, has allegedly permitted ongoing contamination of the Buddha Dariya since the CETPs became operational. Even after NGT directives, the PPCB remains mute over the issue. Though criminal cases were filed against the CETP directors, the PPCB deliberately omitted full addresses in court complaints, making it impossible for courts to deliver summons. Despite being informed, the PPCB failed to rectify the error, which, the PAC claims, was a deliberate attempt to protect the violators. It clearly shows that the PPCB is acting like a puppet regulatory body, shielding polluters rather than protecting public health,” the PAC members said here on Thursday. Ludhiana, July 10 To make Ludhiana a ‘stubble burning-free’ district, the administration has launched a special campaign to distribute subsidised crop residue management equipment to farmers expeditiously in coming weeks. Presiding over a meeting, ADC Rakesh Kumar stated that burning paddy stubble was harmful to the environment and people. He emphasised that setting paddy stubble on fire was highly detrimental as it damages soil health and causes significant environmental harm. It also destroys essential nutrients and micronutrients in the soil. Kumar urged farmers to adopt modern in-situ management techniques, instead of burning stubble. To encourage the same, the administra- tion and the Agriculture Department were providing machines such as Happy Seeder, Super Seeder, Smart Seeder, Baler, Rake, Mulcher, Paddy Chopper Shredder and RMB Plough at subsidised rates. Individual farmers are eligible for a 50 per cent subsidy while farmer groups and cooperative societies can avail 80 per cent subsidy. So far, over 600 crop residue management machines had been approved and 315 farmers have already purchased them. Directing heads of the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department and procurement agencies to prepare for a smooth and uninterrupted paddy procurement season, starting October 1, ADC Rakesh Kumar ordered all necessary arrangements to be completed by September 15. — TNS