13042024-ATR-01.qxd 4/13/2024 12:38 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST CLOUDY SKY STUDENTS OF GOVT COLLEGE CONFERRED DEGREES JALANDHAR DC ASKS OFFICIALS TO ENSURE 70% TURNOUT KARTIK AARYAN ON HIS ROLE IN CHANDU CHAMPION Students of Saroop Rani Govt College for Women were conferred degrees at its annual convocation. P2 DC Dr Himanshu Aggarwal has asked the officials to try to ensure over 70 per cent polling in LS polls. P2 Actor Kartik Aaryan transformed himself to get into the shape of his character in Chandu Champion. P3 » » » MAX 34°C | MIN 20°C YESTERDAY MAX 36°C | MIN 17°C SUNSET SATURDAY 6.58 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 6.02 AM SATURDAY | 13 APRIL 2024 | AMRITSAR Farmers want canal water supply to cut dependence on tubewells Air veterans want change for better in welfare schemes Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 12 Ahead of Lok Sabha elections, the Air Veterans Welfare Society, Amritsar, released a charter of demands regarding pension and other welfare facilities for the veterans and their dependents. The Society has been raising the demand over the last few years. Expressing a certain degree of satisfaction over various initiatives implemented over the past few years, Chairperson of the Air Veterans Welfare Society, Amritsar, Nirmal Singh called for abolishing the discriminatory behaviour being faced by veterans at the hands of officials during dissemination of financial and other welfare schemes. The veterans have pointed to some pertinent schemes in need of improvements such as One Rank One Pension (OROP), System for Pension Administration, (Raksha Sparsh) and the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), but also demanded inclusion of medical facilities and upgrade for officials of certain rank including nursing officers in continued on page 2 Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Debris dumped in Ranjit Avenue area; (right) the MC building in Amritsar. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR & FILE PHOTO MC to issue challans for dumping construction waste on city roads Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 12 After setting up a construction and demolition (C&D) waste plant at Jhabbal Road, the Municipal Corporation is now going to start a challan drive against builders and individuals who dump debris on the roadside. This was stated at the launch of a drive, ‘Mera Shahar Mera Maan’, by Municipal Commissioner Harpreet Singh to keep the city clean. Under the campaign, the MC will collect C&D waste from roads and markets in the city. During the last one week, a large quantity of C&D waste and garbage was found on the roadside and removed by MC with the help of ditch machines and tippers. MC Commissioner Harpreet Singh warned building contractors and residents who dump debris on the roadside to transport it to the C&D waste plant on Jhabbal Road. If people cannot transport it to C&D waste plant, then they have to inform the MC staff and ask them to collect the debris, he said. The MC will collect the C&D waste at its own level. The MC Commissioner stated that action will be taken against those dump- ing C&D waste on roads and a fine will be imposed to curb the practice. He also appealed to the city residents not to dump any kind of waste here and there. The municipal corporation has also urged the residents to keep the wet and dry waste separately at their homes. The residents should keep separate bins and not throw waste on roads and streets. Under the ‘Mera Shahar Mera Maan’ campaign, MC teams will visit main roads of the city in all the five zones regularly. A schedule has been prepared to give the city a facelift. Amritsar, April 12 Hundreds of farmers and labourers from the Majha region staged a protest in front of the office of the Superintending Engineer, Canal Department, Amritsar, demanding supply of canal water for their fields. The protest was staged following a call given by the Jamhuri Kisan Sabha, Punjab. The protesting farmers alleged that the government was forcing them to use groundwater by not providing canal water and this would turn their land barren. Jamhuri Kisan Sabha leaders including Mukhtar Singh Muhawa, Harjit Singh Kahlon, Manjit Singh Kot Mohammad Khan were among those who addressed the gathering. Speaking on the occasion, state vice-president of Sabha, Ratan Singh Randhawa said due to extraction of groundwater through tube-wells and use for agriculture, water level has depleted in the area. “Many blocks of Punjab have been declared dark Members of the Jamhuri Kisan Sabha during a protest outside the office of the Irrigation Department in Amritsar on Friday. VISHAL KUMAR LIST OF DEMANDS ■ Increase capacity of Upper Bari Doab Canal ■ Stop water being pumped into Beas river from Bhimpur ejector ■ New canal should be drawn from Ravi river - from Kakar Rani to Amritsar. ■ Kalanur distributary should be cleaned ■ 100% coverage of canal water supply ■ Babbehali pvt power firm should get water as per canal schedule zones and the crisis is getting deeper. The only solution is making available canal water for irrigation. The farmers demanded that canal water should be provided to 100 per cent of the area by repairing canals and tributaries. The capacity of the Upper Bari Doab Canal should be increased to 1,200 cusecs,” said Randhawa. The farmer leaders demanded that the water being pumped into the Beas river from the Bhimpur ejector should be stopped immediately and distribution of river water should be done on the basis of riparian rights. Water pollution should be stopped and waste water not dumped into rivers, canals, tributaries, distributaries and drains. A new canal should be drawn from the Ravi river, from Kakar Rani to Amritsar. The Kalanur distributary should also be cleaned, the Sabha demanded. “Water should be provided to Babbehali private electricity firm according to the canal schedule. The distributary at village Diaal Bharang should be resumed immediately. The Canal Department should prevent wastage of water and check dams should be built to prevent water misuse,” said Satnam Singh Ajnala, state president of Sabha. Other farm leaders including Sukhwinder Singh Lahorimal, Sardul Singh Barila, Virsa Singh Tapiala, Daljit Singh Dayalpura, Gurmej Singh Timmowal and Resham Singh Pheloke also addressed the gathering. Edu policy should check overseas Admn organises cycle Jeweller robbed of ~18K cash migration, says BJP’s Sandhu rally, mehndi contest at gunpoint near Gate Hakima to promote voting Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 12 Former Ambassador of India to the USA and BJP candidate from the Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency Taranjit Singh Sandhu has said that he would make such arrangements for the education of students and youth of Amritsar that they will not need to go abroad. Even if they leave, they should have the required educational qualification and skills so that they do not face any difficulty in getting jobs or employment there. He stated this while addressing a booth-level meeting of BJP Civil Lines Mandal organised by its circle president Sudhir Dhir on Friday. Sandhu advocated an education policy for Amritsar that will focus more on skills and vocational education to keep pace with the times. “It is the responsibility of all of us to Petrol pump staff robbed of ~7K cash Amritsar, April 12 Two unidentified persons looted two employees of a petrol pump of ~7,000 at gunpoint at Bhitewad village falling under the Lopoke police station area here on late Wednesday evening. Navtejpal Singh, owner of the petrol station, said he had deployed Shamsher Singh and Arjun Singh for filling petrol in vehicles. He said on Wednesday evening, two unidentified bike-borne persons arrived at the petrol pump and snatched the cash while pointing a pistol at him. They fled towards the Bhitewad side on their bike, which did not have the registration number plate. The police have registered a case and launched investigations to identify the accused. — TNS Tribune News Service BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate Taranjit Singh Sandhu addresses a gathering in Amritsar on Friday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR provide professional and quality education to children,” he said, and stated that in the last 10 years, India-US relations have taken the form of a strong partnership. India has established itself as a world power and in a few years, it will become the third largest economy in the world. Now, investment is coming to India. This investment will also be brought to the holy city which will create more employment opportunities,” he said. Former Rajya Sabha member Shwait Malik, in his address on the occasion, urged the BJP workers to go door-to-door and convey the message to the people that Taranjit Sandhu can help bring about significant changes for the overall development of the city. Amritsar, April 12 In view of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, a bicycle rally was organised with the support of students of school boys of Kot Baba Deep Singh area here on Friday. The aim was to exhort people to exercise their franchise their right to vote. On the occasion, principal Monika, Nodal Officer Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP), and election incharge Sanjeev Kalia said through the bicycle rally in the constituency people were encouraged to vote, especially people with disabilities (PWD), 85 plus and young voters were asked to participate more in the electoral process. On the occasion, Assistant SVEEP in charge Pradeep Kumar Kalia thanked every participant. Under the SVEEP in a separate programme, mehndi and painting competitions were conducted in schools and colleges. SVEEP activities are being conducted as per the central guidelines, said Barinderjit Singh, nodal officer, SVEEP Amritsar Central. He said mehndi and painting competitions were organised in all schools and colleges in which students showed great enthusiasm for the competition. Jagraj Singh Pannu, assistant nodal officer, SVEEP Amritsar Central, informed the students about the SVEEP activities and exhorted them to use their vote impartially, not considering caste, greed, religion, secrecy and under any pressure. Amritsar, April 12 An unidentified person robbed a jeweller of ~18,000 cash in Gate Hakima area here on Thursday. The police have registered a case and started a probe while the entire incident was captured on the CCTV camera installed in the shop. The victim, identified as Amritpal Singh, said he was sitting in his shop (Singh Jewellers) when the accused entered the shop. He was wearing a ‘parna’ (headgear) and a mask. After entering the shop, he took out a pistol, loaded it and threatened to shoot him. He was alone at the shop at that time. He demanded cash from him. He took out two bundles of cash from the box and fled the spot on his scooter parked outside the shop. The entire incident was captured on the CCTV camera. A CCTV footage shows the robber committing the crime at the jewellery shop in Amritsar. TRIBUNE PHOTO On the statement of Amritpal, the police registered a case under Sections 379-B and 506 of the IPC and a further probe was on. The police said investigations were in progress and the accused would be arrested soon. Meanwhile, the Sadar police have arrested a snatcher while his two accomplices were still absconding. They had snatched a mobile phone from local resident Santosh Paswan. He said he works as a watch- man at an under-construction house in Pawan Nagar area belonging to Vinod Sharma. He said on Wednesday he went to buy milk and was returning when three youths snatched his mobile phone. During the probe, the police arrested Raju of Sandhu Colony and his two accomplices Man Sharma of the Batala road and an unidentified person was yet to be nabbed. A case has been filed. — TNS Man kidnapped, robbed of Traffic cops restrict movement of e-rickshaws cash, jewellery; five booked in various streets leading to Golden Temple Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 12 A man has lodged a complaint with the police that he was kidnapped by several persons and robbed of cash and jewellery. The victim has been identified as Ajay, a resident of Nag Kalan village falling under the Majitha police station here. Though the incident occurred around eight days ago, a complaint was lodged with the police on Thursday. An old enmity was stated to be the reason behind the incident, the police said. The police have registered a case against five persons identified as Jugal Kishor and Sandeep Singh, alias DC, both residents of Sabzi Mandi and Rori village in Majitha, respectively, Sky love of Rori village, Sunil of Ajnala and Akash of Majitha. DSP Ajnala, Jaspal Singh , said they were booked for illegal detention, kidnapping and extortion against the suspects who have been on the run since the incident. Raids were on to arrest them, he added. Ajay told the police that on April 4, he was going to Canara Bank for depositing the monthly instalment of his Chhota Haathi (goods carrier vehicle). However, he forgot to bring his bank account copy and was returning home to bring the same. He said as he reached near Baaz resort, the accused came in a car and stopped him. They thrashed him and bundled him into the car. They took him to Thariyewal canal and thrashed him. They took out ~14,500 (instal- ment money) and the mobile phone from his pocket. They asked him to call his wife and hand over all the cash and jewellery from the house. He said they called his wife on Instagram. She gave cash and jewellery to Vijaypal Singh and Wassan Singh. He alleged the accused took him to various places and asked him for more cash while threatening to kill him. He told them that his gold ring was with a goldsmith in Majitha and he would ask goldsmith to give some cash. He said their accomplices Vijaypal Singh and Wasan Singh took ~40,000 from the goldsmith. They again took him to a tubewell at Chawinda Devi village and later released him in an injured condition. c m y b Amritsar, April 12 In order to de-congest roads leading to the Golden Temple, the traffic police have restricted the movement of erickshaws in various lanes of Guru Bazaar, Karmo Deori, Katra Ahluwalia and others leading to the shrine. A huge number of batteryoperated rickshaws make an easy way into labyrinthine roads in the walled city. These vehicles are first choice of the people, devotees and tourists coming to pay obeisance at the holiest Sikh shrine. But, e-rickshaws had become a menace as these vehicles caused regular traffic snarls which the police was finding it difficult to resolve. Harpal Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP), Law and Order, said the police held meetings with Cops deployed at Petian Wala Bazaar restricting e-rickshaws from going towards the Golden Temple side in Amritsar. SUNIL KUMAR people and shopkeepers in the old walled city and ultimately decided to restrict the movement of e-rickshaws in narrow lanes. E-rickshaws carrying goods would be allowed inside the old walled city area from10 pm till 8 am, the ADCP said. “We have been receiving com- plaints about frequent traffic jams in congested lanes. Representatives of various market committees have approached the police to find a solution to the problem,” the ADCP said. He said, “We have restricted movement of battery-operated vehicles on roads heading from Agrasen Temple to Katra Ahluwalia to the Golden Temple, from Katra Jaimal Singh to Karmo Deori to Guru Bazaar, from Darshani Deori to Mai Sewa Bazaar, in Partap Bazaar and Papra Wala Bazaar on the backside of the Akal Takht and on the Atta Mandi road. Cops have been deputed to regulate traffic on these roads.” He said the traffic police had made certain changes in the movement of buses leaving from the interstate bus terminus for various destinations. He said, “Buses going to Chheharta, Attari, Ramdas, Ajnala, Loharka Road and the Fatehgarh Churian road leave for their respective destination from the loopline of Elevated Road. Earlier, buses headed from Rambagh Chowk to Chitra Cinema to the Bhandari bridge caused traffic chaos.” — TNS
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