26032026-LT-01.qxd 3/26/2026 12:48 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune DISTRICT ADMN RECOGNISES 11 RURAL WOMEN Nameplates installed at houses of 11 women in Makanwal under ‘Meri Yogyta Meri Pehchan’ initiative. P2 » HPV VACCINATION PROGRESSING AT A SNAIL’S PACE Only 100 girls vaccinated in district after nearly a month of the 90-day campaign. P3 » SAVOUR INDIAN COMFORT FOODS AT CHHOTA BANARAS FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 30°C | MIN 17°C YESTERDAY MAX 30°C | MIN 16°C SUNSET THURSDAY 6.37 PM Chhota Banarasin Sec 8, Chandigarh, offers channa bhatura, aloo puriand kachoriwith aloo sabzi and lassi. P4 SUNRISE FRIDAY 6:21 AM » THURSDAY | 26 MARCH 2026 | LUDHIANA Civic body bags ‘best Smart City award’ for canal-based water supply project Under scheme, treated surface water will be supplied to households across city WORLD CLASS WTP BEING SET UP AT BILGA Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 25 Achieving yet another milestone, the Municipal Corporation (MC), Ludhiana, has been conferred with the ‘Best Smart City Water Initiative Award’ during the Global Sustainability and Innovation Awards 2026, held in New Delhi. The award has been conferred for the World Bank and AIIB-funded canal-based water supply project. Mayor Inderjit Kaur and MC Commissioner Neeru Katyal Gupta said the award, organised by the Earth Water Foundation, was received by MC Joint Commissioner Vineet Kumar on behalf of the Municipal Corporation. The award was presented by former Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh Durga Shankar Mishra. Superintending Engineer (SE) Parul Goyal was also present during the ceremony. The civic body officials said the project had been The first phase of the project is going on. Besides upgrading the water supply infrastructure, a world class water treatment plant (WTP) is also being established at Bilga village, near Sahnewal. Civic body officials stated that the project includes all state-of-theart technological developments that have happened in recent years in the field of water management such as automation through SCADA, VFD operated valves, leak detection systems, digital twin, etc. MC officials receive the Best Smart City Water Initiative Award in New Delhi. recognised for incorporating advanced technology. Further, the speed of the ongoing project had also been appreciated. Under the project, treated surface water would be supplied to households across the city. The first phase of the project is going on. Besides upgrading the water supply infrastructure, a world class water treatment plant (WTP) is also being established at Bilga village (near Sahnewal). The civic body officials stated that the project includes all state-of-the-art technological develop- ments that have happened in recent years in the field of water management such as automation through SCADA, VFD operated valves, leak detection systems, digital twin, etc. Once the project is completed, it will mark a milestone in the history of the city and the Municipal Corporation (MC) remains committed to provide clean canal water to residents. The Mayor and the MC chief said it was a matter of great pride that the Municipal Corporation had been honoured and recognised during the Global Sustainability and Innovation Awards. They congratulated the civic body officials and residents for the achievement. Factory worker dies, 2nd deathdue to owners’ negligence in city in 5 days Incident raises serious concerns about workers’ safety at units Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 25 A worker at a iron factory in Focal Point here died under mysterious circumstances on Tuesday. As per information, the man fell down after feeling dizzy. He remained in the factory for a long time. Later, he was taken to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead. Delay in shifting the worker to the hospital reportedly became the cause of his death. Taking action in the matter, the Ludhiana police registered a case against the factory owner on the charge of causing death by negligence. The deceased was identified as 53-year-old Balister Mahto, who had been working at the factory for several years. Based on a complaint from the deceased’s wife, Usha Devi, the police registered a case against the factory owner of Sharu Special Alloys in Phase 7, Focal Point. The deceased’s family members said Mahto had gone to work on Monday morning as usual. Around 5 pm, his family received a phone call informing them that he had fainted in the factory. Allegedly, after falling on the ground, Mahto remained lying on the factory premises for approximately three hours. The factory management failed to take him to the hospital on time. When his condition worsened, he was taken to a nearby private hospital, where doctors declared him dead, his kin said. The deceased was a native of Bihar and stayed alone in Gobindgarh. His family includes his wife, three daughters and two sons who stayed in the village. The family members said the deceased had been working at the company since its inception. However, in times of crisis, the company adopted negligent attitude. SHO, Focal Point, inspector Kulbir Singh, said the police launched further investigation in the matter. The case was, however, registered on the complaint of the Two killed as cars collide head-on 13 awarded 5 years in jail, four Nikhil Bhardwaj get 4 yrs each in foodgrain scam Tribune News Service Rajneesh Lakhanpal Incident occurred near Sheikhupura village on Ludhiana-Ferozepur road Ludhiana, March 25 Two persons were killed and five others seriously injured when a Maruti Ritz car and a Maruti Swift car collided head-on near Sheikhupura village on the Ludhiana-Ferozepur road on Wednesday. The deceased were identified as Gaudin (35), driver of Swift, who died at the scene, and Sirajdin (30), travelling in the same vehicle, who succumbed to his injuries during treatment at a hospital. According to the police, the accident occurred when a rear tyre of the Ritz car, coming from the Moga side towards Ludhiana, burst near Sheikhupura village. The driver lost control over the vehicle and the car jumped the road divider and rammed into the oncoming Swift. Both vehicles were extensively damaged. Residents used rods to break windows of the vehicles and rescued trapped occupants. Harshdeep Singh and Cops inspect one of the vehicles involved in the mishap in Ludhiana on Wednesday. Devkaran Singh, residents of Ludhiana and occupants of Ritz, and Laldin, Mamusain and Shanu, residents of the Tajpur Road area, who were travelling in Swift, were injured. All were admitted to various hospitals in the city. The occupants travelling in Swift were on their way to Moga to attend a feast when the tragedy occurred. A resident of Khasi Kalan, Sipaiya, brother of deceased Sirajdin, said: “They were all going Five days on, 2 booked for attacking anganwadi worker Ludhiana, March 25 The police registered a case against two suspects under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for attacking a anganwadi worker, five days after the incident. Panic spread in a government school in Mahmoodpura village when a anganwadi worker was attacked on the school premises on March 19. The suspects not only entered the school and assaulted her but also forcibly took her to another village and tortured her. In her statement to the police, the victim, Kulwinder Kaur, stated that she works as an anganwadi teacher at the government school in Mahmoodpura village. On the morning of March 19, she was on duty at the school. The suspects, Gurjot Singh and Sukhwinder Kaur, residents of the same village, entered the school. Without any reason, the suspects began abusing and assaulting her. According to the woman’s complaint, during the assault, Gurjot began asking about the gold jewellery he had given her. When she told him that the jewellery was with her sister in Khanpur village, the suspects forcibly took her to Khanpur village. There, they severely beat her and threatened to kill her. Based on the statements of Kulwinder Kaur, the Ludhiana police registered a case against Gurjot and Sukhwinder Kaur and launched a manhunt to nab them. — TNS to Moga for a feast. My brother Sirajdin died in the accident. He is survived by three daughters and a son. We do not want to take any action against anyone. Gaudin, who was a milkman, has four sons and a daughter.” Kin try to take body without autopsy The family of deceased Sirajdin refused to allow postmortem examination and tried to take away his body from the Civil Hospital mortuary in a vehicle. The police, however, explained that in road accident cases, the body could only be released after completion of legal formalities, including the autopsy. Doctors had also arrived to prevent the family from taking the body without post-mortem. They said the kin forcibly tried to take the body and law could not permit the same. The police have seized both vehicles and registered a case. Further investigation is on. Ludhiana, March 25 The Court of Additional Sessions Judge Amrinder Singh Shergill has sentenced 17 persons, including ration depot holders and flour mill owners, in a high-profile foodgrain misappropriation and corruption case. Of the 17 convicted accused, 13 were granted five-year jail each with a fine of Rs 27,000 each. They include Subhash Chand, alias Subhash Chandra, Ashutosh Goyal, Prince Soni, Rajinder Kumar, Pradeep Kumar, Naresh Kumar, Javed Ali, Pargat Singh, Shakti Kumar, Parveen Kumar, Hardeep Kumar, Jatinder Kumar and Lalit Aggarwal of Ludhiana. Whereas Kulveer Singh, alias Kulbir Singh, Om Parkash, Chandra Kanta and Laxmi Gosain of Ludhiana, were sentenced to four years of imprisonment each. They were also ordered to pay a Six acquitted, majority of convicts are ration depot holders fine of Rs 21,000 each. Whereas, six suspects, namely Sanjay Garg, Rishu Singla, Anil Kumar Tandon, Surinder Goyal, Anil Kumar and Sanjay Kumar, alias Sanjay Kumar Attri, were acquitted of the charges framed against them by extending the benefit of doubt. However, Garg passed away on the same day following his acquittal. While delivering the verdict, the court observed that the prosecution had successfully proved the charges against the convicted accused beyond reasonable doubt, thereby holding them guilty of offences involving criminal breach of trust, forgery and corruption. The case was registered on September 1, 2012, at the Vig- ilance Bureau police station. According to the prosecution, four trucks carrying 370 bags of foodgrains were dispatched from the Machhiwara godown of a government agency. The consignments were meant for distribution to ration depot holders, who had already deposited advance payments for the same. However, the trucks were intercepted en route and were found to be diverted towards flour mills for sale in the open market. The prosecution alleged that the diversion was carried out in connivance with depot holders, flour mill owners and certain government officials. During the course of the trial, three suspects, including an inspector of PUNGRAIN and another official, died, following which proceedings against them were dropped. Whereas one women depot holder was declared a proclaimed offender. deceased’s wife that the factory owner adopted dilly-dallying attitude in taking her husband to the hospital. Notably, it is the second death of a factory worker within four days in the industrial city. On March 20, a shocking incident occurred at Vital Steel Bars Limited (Buddewal Road) in the Jamalpur area of Ludhiana when 26year-old Sachin Gautam fell into an iron furnace. His body was got completely burnt in it. An FIR was filed against the factory owner, Aseem Agarwal. The deceased’s brother, Manu Gautam, had made serious allegations against the company management and the police. They alleged that there were no proper security arrangements in the night shift due to which the deceased could not be saved. They alleged that they were not even handed over Sachin’s remains due to which they could not even perform his last rites in a proper manner. Man suffers serious burn injuries as diesel stove explodes Ludhiana, March 25 A 22-year-old man suffered severe burns when a stove exploded while he was cooking near Purani Chungi in the Kanganwal area here. The man was undergoing treatment at a hospital. According to reports, Chandan Kumar (22) stays with his uncle Mithun in Kanganwal and works with him. On Tuesday night, when the cooking gas ran out, they resorted to using a diesel stove to cook. When they lit the stove and began cooking, a massive explosion erupted. The explosion was so powerful that Chandan, who was standing nearby, was caught in the flames. His uncle, Mithun, who was also present at the spot, raised the alarm and, with the help of locals, doused the flames and rushed Chandan in an auto to a hospital. After providing first aid, doctors referred him to another private hospital due to his critical condition. — TNS Ludhiana, Mandi Gobindgarh among most polluted cities in state Shivani Bhakoo Most parts of the city continue to face severe pollution, says activist Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 25 Mandi Gobindgarh and Ludhiana continue to remain among the most polluted cities in the state, with the former ranking first and Ludhiana third, based on the annual average particulate matter levels recorded in 2025. Environmentalists attribute the alarming pollution levels to the lack of stringent enforcement of laws, alleged connivance between officials and violators, traffic congestion and poor recovery of imposed penalties. Speaking to The Tribune, Kuldeep Singh Khaira, a member of the Public Action Committee (PAC), said barring the Ludhiana West area, most parts of the city, includ- Ludhiana remains at number three in state in terms of increased levels of pollution. ASHWANI DHIMAN ing Focal Point, Dhandari, Giaspura, Jugiana, Sanwal and Gill Road, continue to face severe pollution. “Choked sewerage system, dairy complexes and industrial units remain major con- c m y b tributors to pollution. The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has miserably failed to curb pollution levels, for reasons best known to them,” he alleged. Meanwhile, Mandi Gob- indgarh — often referred to as the ‘Steel Town of Punjab’ — continues to top the pollution charts due to intense industrial activity, particularly in steel production. Shubham Kapila, an indus- trialist dealing in scrap and moulds, pointed out that the city houses hundreds of steel furnaces, rolling mills and foundries that regularly emit smoke, dust and toxic gases. “These industries release significant particulate matter, deteriorating air quality. Since industrial emissions are inevitable, pollution remains a continuous challenge,” Kapila said. An official of the PPCB, requesting anonymity, revealed that while notices and penalties were issued to non-compliant industries, the recovery process remains slow and largely ineffective. Efforts on to control pollution levels: DC Commenting on the poor rankings, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Himanshu Jain said monitoring teams were actively working to control pollution levels. “The improvement in the water quality of the Buddha Nullah is evidence of joint efforts. We are now in the process of issuing recovery notices to industries violating norms. Adequate time is given for compliance, but strict action will follow in cases of continued violations. In coming days, penalty recovery will be intensified and units found guilty of severe violations may face shut down,” the DC said.