21072025-ATR-01.qxd 7/20/2025 10:47 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST MAINLY CLOUDY DIRECTORS IMTIAZ ALI, MUKESH CHHABRA SHARE RAW ADVICE VIR DAS HIGHLIGHTS INDIA’S ‘AMAZING’ GLOBAL SOFT POWER MOTHERHOOD IS NOT DEFINED BY BLOOD, SAYS MANDIRA BEDI What do you get when two of Bollywood's most unconventional voices walk into a room full of young performers. P4 India is on the precipice of an "amazing, undeniable" global soft power, comedian and actor Vir Das has said. P4 MAX 32°C | MIN 25°C YESTERDAY MAX 34°C | MIN 28°C Bedi, the mother of a biological and an adoptive child, said: “For us, adoption was never the last resort.” P4 » » SUNSET MONDAY 7.33 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 5.39 AM » MONDAY | 21 JULY 2025 | AMRITSAR Drug peddler nabbed with 490-gm heroin Heaps of construction waste continue to choke city roads Tribune News Service Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 20 Despite the Amritsar Municipal Corporation’s tall claims and the establishment of a functional Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste plant in February 2024, heaps of construction debris continue to litter the city’s main roads, creating hurdles for traffic, besides turning key areas into an eyesore. Around one and a half years after the C&D waste plant on Jhabbal Road began operations, the situation on the ground remains unchanged. Builders continue to dump construction material on roadsides and streets, causing inconvenience to commuters. Piles of bricks, cement dust, and broken tiles can be seen lying along the city’s major roads, raising serious questions over the enforcement of the MC’s directions. After the C&D plan had become functional, MC officials had strictly directed builders to remove debris from public spaces. They had also warned that the building completion certificates would be withheld from those who fail to comply and challans would be Tribune News Service PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR Amritsar, July 20 The Lopoke police have arrested a drug peddler, identified as Gurwinder Singh, a resident of Boparai Khurd village, and confiscated 490 gm of the contraband from his possession. Maninder Singh, SSP, Amritsar (Rural), said the accused was arrested from near an under-construction highway falling under the Lopoke police station. He said he was intercepted by a police patrolling party after being found roaming suspiciously. During search, the police seized 490 gm of heroin. He was immediately arrested and a case under the NDPS Act was registered against him. “He was brought on police remand after producing him in a court for further investigations. Interrogation was on to ascertain his backward and forward links to bust the entire nexus,” he said, while adding that more arrests are likely to be made during the further course of investigations. The contraband was smuggled from Pakistan, it is learnt. School shifted to gurdwara as building roof starts peeling Debris lies scattered on the Mall Road in Amritsar on Sunday. issued to violators for keeping material in streets. Though the MC had promised to collect debris from city roads every Saturday, this initiative appears to have lost momentum. Initially, zonal officials along with ditch machines and tippers collected building waste from various areas of five city zones and transported it to the C&D plant. At the waste plant, the debris is recycled into kerbstones and other materials. However, despite this functional recycling process, the collection from city streets has nearly come to a halt. Residents and commuters complain that piles of debris are growing with each passing week. “Even though the plant is working, the waste is not being picked up from roads. Builders are openly dumping material outside construction sites, knowing that there is no enforcement,” said Jagjeet Singh, a local resident of Mall Road. “The MC should issue challans to the violators and it should be started from main city roads,” said Ravi, another resident. Amritsar, July 20 Aam Aadmi Party had advertised Sikhiya Kranti as the makeover of government schools with infrastructure development claims. Today, MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla reached Government Primary Smart School, Subhash Colony, Lakha Singh Plot, Sultanwind, where the school has been shifted to a nearby gurdwara and another building due to the dilapidated condition of the school building. A portion of the roof has started peeling and the problems of seepage and leakage of water visible after three days of rain. Seeing the condition, the MP gave Rs 20 lakh from MPLAD fund for building renovation and repairs while he interacted with the school head regarding other challenges face by the school. Notably, the school had held an inauguration function announcing the launch of tilelaying work inside the school in April this year under the Sikhiya Kranti campaign. MP Gurjeet Aujla inspects the school building in Amritsar on Sunday. MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla reached the school today and said several people of the area had approached him and the Education Department had also requested him that a grant be given for the school from MPLAD fund. “It is very sad to see that the education revolution is being brought only in name and no actual work on ground. There is a plaque with Ravi Dhaliwal Tribune News Service Wearing floral jewellery as a tradition, women pay obeisance at the Durgiana temple on the first Sunday of the Sawan month in Amritsar on Sunday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 20 In a first, two Central agencies — the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and the Border Security Force (BSF) — have raided several restaurants allegedly involved in serving hookahs to their clients in an illegal manner. During the raid, they recovered seven hookahs from there and asked the police stations concerned, including the Ranjit Avenue and Airport road police stations, to lodge FIRs against restaurant owners and managers. While the airport police have registered a case, the Ranjit Avenue police have also initiated action against the offenders. Confirming the raids, an NCB official, wishing not to be named, said during the raid, staff of restaurants fled the scene while the youngsters, who were puffing the hookahs, were allowed to go after a stern warning. He said the agency recently received a number of complaints regarding illegal hookah bars, which were running the restaurants in posh localities without any legal permission. Following this, teams of the NCB and the BSF raided three restaurants in Ranjit Avenue and on the Airport road here on Saturday night. This is the first such action by the NCB and the BSF in Punjab. The incident has baffled the local police. anonymity, confirmed that the building was in bad shape and that it was unsafe for conducting classes. With immediate effect, Rs 20 lakh will be given for the school, so that repair and maintenance can happen on time for students to resume normal functioning. MP Aujla said that since the school has a good strength of students, he will try to get land allotted for its expansion. Transformer inaugurated twice — once by BJP, later by AAP Seeking blessings In a first, NCB, BSF raid hookah bars names of Aam Aadmi Party officials in the school, but walls and roof are crumbling and not at all in good shape here,” said Aujla. Aujla said tiles had been fixed here in the month of April while the entire building of the school is in a dilapidated condition and can collapse anytime, so the children have been shifted somewhere else in this season. A school staffer, on condition of Gurdaspur, July 20 A newly installed electricity transformer in the Dinanagar assembly constituency was inaugurated twice, once by the BJP and later by the ruling AAP making the protago, nists of the incident a laughing stock among residents. Irked over the perennial problem of voltage fluctuation, residents of Chaunta village, 20 km from Gurdaspur, approached the Dinanagar AAP Halqa in-charge Shamsher Singh. A candidate belonging to the ruling party, who has lost the last assembly poll, is designated as the Halqa incharge (area chief). Consequently, he is given unbridled powers by the state government. When villagers apprised Shamsher of their problem, they were shocked by his “obstinacy and politically incorrect attitude”. He was not willing to help them and AAP leader Shamsher Singh re-inaugurates the transformer at Chaunta village in Dinanagar assembly segment. claimed that “since the entire village had voted against him in the 2022 elec- tions, they would not get the transformer.” The villagers lodged a com- plaint with the Deputy Commissioner (DC) requesting him to intervene. In their petition, they also mentioned that they had approached the Halqa in-charge but he was not willing to support them in any manner. A few days ago, PSPCL officials installed the electrical device in the village. Renu Kashyap, a local BJP leader, reached the village and inaugurated it. Later, a livid Shamsher too reached the village and virtually ordered the power officials not to make the contraption operational. The officials were already in fear of him because he had recently got a PSPCL employee transferred. It is another matter that the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed his transfer. The transformer remained uninstalled and the villagers could not derive any benefit from it. Their electrical appliances continued to get damaged because of power fluctu- ations. It was a double-whammy for the Halqa in-charge. He was infuriated not only because “people who had voted against him had got the transformer, but also because a local BJP leader got all the publicity.” Villagers were the ultimate losers as the leaders continued to play out the game of political chicanery. Sensing that the BJP would get a good chunk of votes from the village, Shamsher changed tactics and yesterday reached the village to inaugurate the transformer yet again. This time it was also made operational. The incident has become a hot topic of discussion among residents. The consensus among them is that ensuring public utility services like installation of transformers is the fundamental duty of the state government and politicians’ attempt to take credit by politicians is unethical. Stone laid for flyover outside New Amritsar ANTF, BSF nab father, locality, to connect East, South segments son with weapons Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 20 Minister for Public Works Department (PWD) Harbhajan Singh ETO today laid the foundation stone of a new flyover to be built outside Bhai Gurdas Ji Nagar (New Amritsar locality), connecting the East and South Assembly constituencies of the city. The flyover, to be constructed along the Amritsar-Jalandhar highway, will be developed at an estimated cost of Rs 39.85 crore. ETO stated that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann had given administrative approval for the project with a sanctioned amount of Rs 59.53 crore. However, after the tendering process, the project was awarded at a 28 per cent lower cost, saving nearly Rs 20 crore of public funds. “This is people’s hard-earned money and no misuse of it will be tolerated,” he emphasised. Appealing to the public, the minister encouraged citizens to report any irregularities observed during construction, asserting that negligence in development work would not be tolerated. The minister stated that the flyover had been a longstanding demand of local residents to resolve persistent traffic congestion. The project, which is expected to be completed within 24 months, will include a 540-metre-long and 21.5-meter-wide flyover, c m y b along with 10.5-metre-wide service roads on both sides. Proper drainage systems will also be installed to prevent waterlogging during rains. Additionally, the minister announced that construction of the fourth side of Bohru Bridge would begin soon, with Rs 61.50 crore already sanctioned for the project. Addressing the gathering, Amritsar South MLA Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar highlighted the government’s transparent approach. “Earlier, tender savings were limited to just 2 per cent, but our government has achieved 28 per cent savings, proving our commitment to honest governance,” he said. Meanwhile, Ajnala MLA Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal congratulated the minister and noted that the new flyover would ease traffic woes and benefit pilgrims visiting the city. Eastern constituency MLA Jeevanjot Kaur expressed gratitude to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for addressing the decades-old demand of the people, assuring that there would be no compromise in the development of the eastern region. Other dignitaries present included Amritsar West MLA Dr Jasbir Singh Sandhu, Mayor Jatinder Singh Moti Bhatia, Improvement Trust Chairman Karamjit Singh Rintu, Majitha constituency in-charge Talbir Singh, Baba Bakala MLA Dalbir Singh Taug, and others. Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 20 The Border Security Force (BSF) in a joint operation with the Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) arrested a father-son duo for allegedly possessing pistols with magazines here on Sunday. A BSF spokesman on Sunday informed that following specific inputs shared by the intelligence wing of the BSF, a joint team of the BSF and the ANTF raided a house at Dal village in Tarn Taran district. During the raid, they arrested the duo and recovered two pistols (one without upper slide), three magazines and two mobile phones from their possession. The seized pistols. They were later handed over to the ANTF for further investigation. A case under the Arms Act has been registered against them and a probe was on to find out the source of the weapons and their backward and forward linkages. The arrested duo were identified as Panjab Singh and his son Sukhchain Singh, alias Sonu, of Dal village falling under the Khalra police station in Tarn Taran.