27072025-JTR-01.qxd 7/26/2025 10:19 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune PHAGWARA MC ROLLS OUT POS-BASED TAX COLLECTION AKSHAY CLOSES FALGUNI-SHANE SHOW PAST USUAL BEDTIME TAYLOR SWIFT URGES FANS TO WATCH HAPPY GILMORE 2 The Municipal Corporation has launched a Point of Sale (PoS) machine-based property tax collection system. P2 Superstar Akshay Kumar is known for leading a disciplined lifestyle, which mainly includes hitting the bed early. P4 Taylor Swift took to her Instagram handle to promote the Netflix show among her 280 million followers. P4 » » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 33°C | MIN 29°C YESTERDAY MAX 34°C | MIN 28°C SUNSET SUNDAY 7.27 PM SUNRISE MONDAY 5:41 AM SUNDAY | 27 JULY 2025 | JALANDHAR INBRIEF ONE ARRESTED UNDER NDPS ACT Phagwara: The Shahkot police have arrested a drug peddler on the charge of selling intoxicant tablets. Investigating Officer (IO) Buta Ram said 20 intoxicating tablets (loose), were recovered from the possession of the accused, identified as Puneet Gupta, alias Popal, a resident of Khurmpur, Malsian village. The IO said a case under Sections 22/61/85 of the NDPS Act was registered against the accused. In another case the Nurmahal police arrested three persons on the charge of consuming heroin. Investigating Officer (IO) Gurnam Singh said the arrested accused were identified as Robin, Amarjit and Kuldeep Singh, all residents of Gorsian Peeran village. OC Surface water pipeline project spells trouble for residents, commuters Pipelines, potholes filled with water torment drivers on dug up Manbro Chowk Road Vehicles pass through a potholed Manbro Chowk Road; and (right) pipes cover almost half of the road in Jalandhar. TRIBUNE PHOTOS: MALKIAT SINGH MAN DUPED OF ~1.20 LAKH Phagwara: The Nakodar Sadar police have arrested a woman travel agent for duping a villager of Rs 1.20 lakh on the pretext of sending him abroad. Nakodar Station House Officer (SHO) Gurpreet Singh said the accused was identified as Seema, a resident of Kotla Jangan village. Sunni, a resident of Khiva village, complained to the police that he paid Rs 1.20 lakh to the accused for facilitating his migration to Italy, but the accused neither sent him abroad nor returned his money. The SHO said a case was registered against the accused woman in this connection. OC MAN LOSES CASH, BIKE TO SNATCHERS Phagwara: The Mehatpur police have booked unidentified miscreants on the charges of snatching cash and a motorcycle. Chandar Mohan, a resident of Mohalla Sudan, Mehatpur, complained to the police that the accused waylaid him at Adda Warra Salam village on July 24 late in the evening and snatched Rs 4,500 and his motorcycle at the point of sharp weapons. A case under Sections 304(2) (snatching) and 3(5) (committing a crime with common intention) of the BNS was registered against unidentified accused in this connection. OC Aparna Banerji Tribune News Service Jalandhar, JuLY 26 The work on laying the 98-km surface water pipeline project has left residents across the city harassed and gasping for breath in middle of the monsoons. It has turned various areas into living nightmares. One of the most sordid examples being the Mall road stretch, near Manbro Chowk, where work is in progress. Among the most scenic and posh areas of the city earlier — it is now reduced to an eyesore dotted with massive pipelines and potholes — making commuters a harried lot for the past over two months now. Earlier, irked over dust clouds during dry summers, monsoons have aggravated problems for residents as the stretch is dotted with potholes. At present, massive pipes for the surface water project have been carelessly laid around diagonally on the road, which block movement of vehicles, causing massive traffic jams. Areas formerly dug up OFFICIAL SPEAK The work on Mall Road was stopped due to rains. The work will start again tomorrow. It will take a month for the completion of the work on this stretch. The pipes lying on Manbro Chowk Road will be removed. Work will also start shortly on six new roads for which the project has been allocated. The construction of roads, dug up earlier, had to be stopped after the onset of monsoon. Despite this, we are working on the project with speed. The project work is expected to be completed in a record time if there are no further hurdles. Padamdeep Singh, SDO, DEPARTMENT OF WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION ❝ ❞ under the surface water project, include Nakodar Road, Workshop Chowk Road, Kapurthala Road, Mitthu Basti, Dhilwan, BSF Chowk and Lyallpur Khalsa Road. Six more roads in the district will also be dug up for laying the pipeline. The surface water project started in the year 2021. Roads dug up earlier under the project met the same fate as sewer pipelines burst and other development works got stalled. The deadline for the completion of the project is December 31. Harassed vendors and residents are at times forced to use buckets to flush out water from huge potholes, especially when heavy rain lashes the city. Earlier, frequent traffic jams due to work of the surface water pipeline project held up movement of vehicles on Nakodar Road, especially on the stretch near Ravidas Chowk, forcing commuters to opt for Mall Road route to reach their respective destinations. This caused a heavy traffic rush in the area, which relatively faced no such issues before. Shashi Chawla, a commuter, who regularly takes the Mall road stretch said, “Development projects are fine, but no one keeps record of the damage such works inflict in a certain area. From a beautiful, scenic stretch, the road has now turned into an eyesore. I drive daily in a cloud of dust or in ankle deep puddles on this road. Once it was among the smoothest road in the city. Now, my car requires fortnightly repairs. Residents are expected to put up with this trouble without any warning or plan, just at the whims of officials. On top of this, huge pipes block the road. Officials are actually destroying the city’s beauty in the name of development.” Mukesh, who has been running a golgappa stall right outside Manbro Supermarket for the past 22 years, says, “Our business has taken a nose dive due to this mess. People used to crowd my stall all the times. Now, no one wants to come to this road. An MC vehicle sprays water in summers so that dust remains settled on dry days. No one wants to eat golgappas on which dust has settled. We ourselves began spraying water on the road to encourage customers to come to this area. In monsoons, however, there is water everywhere. This is the worst time I’ve seen ever since I started business here.” Another vendor, who runs a corn cob stall on the Nakodar road, a stretch affected by the project, says, “Higher ups plan projects, but no one thinks of the impact these will have on the man in the street. For the past one month, the conditions on the Nakodar road have gone from bad to worse. Due to mounds of dug up soil accumulated on the roadside, many people have stopped using this stretch. The road has been levelled, but the ride is still bumpy. On certain days, the road gets dry and there is dust everywhere. And when it rains, the road is full of sludge, which hinders movement of vehicles and pedestrians.” Body of 25-year-old youth found in fields Our Correspondent Mukerian, July 26 The body of a youth from Abdullahpur village, missing for two days, was found in sugarcane fields near Babupur village. The Mukerian police registered a case against a person on the basis of statements of family members of the deceased. DSP Kulwinder Singh Virk said Happy, a resident of Abdullahpur village, told the police that his uncle Balwinder Kumar’s son Saurav Sharma, (25), left home on his motorcycle on Thursday around 11.30 am, after telling that he was going to meet his friend Sandeep Kumar, alias Sipi, a resident of Baupur village, for some work. When he did not return home till evening, his family called him on his mobile phone, but it was switched off. The family, along with villagers, started looking for Saurav. Someone told them that Saurav was seen with his friend Sandeep on the bike. On Friday, when Sandeep was asked about whereabouts of Saurav, he denied that he met him. When footage of the CCTV cameras in the village was checked, Sandeep was seen sitting behind Saurav’s bike. When they went to Sandeep’s house to inquire about Saurav, he and his family fled from home. Today, victim’s kin and villagers searched jungles and fields near Baupur village. They found body of the deceased in a sugarcane fields. His motorcycle was also lying at a short distance. Happy told the police that his brother was killed by Sandeep. The police registered a case against Sandeep and initiated probe into the matter. Six booked for assaulting school teacher Our Correspondent Phagwara, July 26 The Shahkot police have booked six persons, including four women, on the charge of assaulting a primary school teacher. Investigating Officer (IO) Sukhwindar Pal Singh said the accused were identified as Reshi, a resident of Chak Bahmannia village, his two sisters Kuki and Simri, Tikku, and his wife Sukhwindar Kaur, and Seema, wife of Dharamveer, all residents of the same village. Kulveer Kaur, a resident of Chak Bahmania village, complained to the police that the accused barged into the Government Primary school on July 15 morning, assaulted her, and deterred her from performing her duty. The IO said a case under Sections 333, 121(1), 132, 221, 74, 191(3) and 190 of the BNS was registered against the accused. No arrests had been made and raids were on to nab the accused, who were on the run, the IO said. *Approval Due c m y b