13112024-ATR-01.qxd 11/12/2024 11:15 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST DENSE FOG MAX 25°C | MIN 18°C YESTERDAY MAX 25°C | MIN 18°C BHANGRA-GIDDA CREATES BUZZ ON DAY 2 AT DAVC RULES TIGHTENED ON WEAPONS AMID WEDDING SEASON JUST STARTED TO WRITE MY STORY, SAYS WAMIQA The second day of the 65th Inter-Zonal Youth and Heritage Festival of PU was filled with joy at Hoshiarpur. P2 The directive follows tragic incident in which a bride was injured by celebratory gunfire. P3 Chandigarh girl Wamiqa Gabbi believes one needs to be good at one’s craft to avoid rejection. P4 » » SUNSET WEDNESDAY 5.32 PM » SUNRISE THURSDAY 6.58 AM WEDNESDAY | 13 NOVEMBER 2024 | AMRITSAR Aam Aadmi Clinic staff pulled up for shortcomings in hygiene Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 12 Teams of the district health department visited various Aam Aadmi Clinics in the city here on Tuesday for a surprise check. Senior officials of the department pulled up the health employees on the occasion for shortcomings in cleanliness, hygiene and other aspects. Civil Surgeon Dr Kirandeep Kaur who visited the clinics in Fatahpur and Bharariwal asked the health employees to speak to the patients politely and respectfully. She said that people come to government hospitals hoping that they would find cure for their ailments. Dr Kirandeep Kaur said that when someone talks to them rudely, the patients lose faith in the public health system. She said that every patient coming to any government hospital is a dignified and honourable citizen. The Civil Surgeon made it clear that she would not tolerate any misbehaviour with the patients or their attendants. Civil Surgeon Dr Kirandeep Kaur during surprise checking at an Aam Aadmi Clinic in Amritsar on Tuesday. Other programme officers of the health department also visited the clinics. Dr Rajinderpal Kaur, Assistant Civil Surgeon, visited clinics in Ram Bagh, Sakatri Bagh, Muslimganj and Chattiwind. District Family Welfare Officer Dr Neelam Bhagat visited Kabir Park, Sunder Nagar, Haripura, Putlighar and Ranjit Avenue. District Immunisation Officer Dr Bharti Dhawan visited Mustafabad, Ranjit Avenue, Guru ki Wadali and Basant Avenue. Dr Kirandeep Kaur said that the officials checked the attendance of employees, pharmacies, OPDs, laboratories and online diagnostic reports. She added that the officials also interacted with patients who had visited the hospitals after taking their phone numbers from the record registers to get feedback. Dr Kirandeep Kaur said that all programme officers have been asked to file detailed reports about their findings so that health services for the public could be made better. Hazy weather conditions prevail because of smog, says PPCB Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 12 Early risers in the city are finding it tough to describe the daily weather phenomenon in the shape of thick haze cover, causing low visibility and a little cold, giving the impression of smog or fog. This weather phenomenon has been visible for the past couple of days. Environmental engineers at the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) categorically stated that it is smog which is coming down in the morning and evening hours. Owing to cold in the morning and evening, it gives the impression of fog to the city dwellers, hinting that winter has set in with the early arrival of fog. But it is clearly smog which is not good for health. The fallout of the thick smog cover is that there has been no sunlight and only an overcast sky for the past nearly one week. Vinod Kumar, Assistant Environmental Engineer of the PPCB, said low tempera- Two ASIs suspended for beating up artiste Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, November 12 Two ASIs Gurbhej Singh and Sukhwinder Singh, posted at the Sri Goindwal Sahib police station, who thrashed a Punjabi artiste at his native village Dinewal here on Tuesday, have been suspended with immediate effect and shifted to the Police Lines. The artiste, Dharampreet Singh, alias Mukh Mantri, who belongs to a very poor family, has been seen performing during cultural programmes on local and national-level TV channels along with many other wellknown artistes like Gurpreet Singh Ghuggi and others. continued on page 2 City’s historic Chali Khoo park in need of urgent repair, renovation The covers of the control unit of power and lights are missing; and (right) no trace of light poles installed by the local administration at Chali Khoo park in Joda Fatak area in Amritsar on Tuesday. PHOTOS: VISHAL KUMAR Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 12 The Chali Khoo (Forty Wells) park near Jodha Fatak remains in a state of neglect despite a large amount having been spent on its restoration. The park lacks essential infrastructure, including iron grills and electricity poles, giving it a shabby appearance due to poor maintenance. Despite spending crores on its beautification, the park has become a haven for thieves and drug addicts. The bathroom fittings are missing from the washrooms and 'A SAFE HAVEN FOR DRUG ADDICTS' Shivam, a city resident, said, “The park was beautifully developed under HRIDAY, but due to lack of maintenance and security, it is now a safe haven for drug addicts. The lights are lying dysfunctional as wires and iron poles have been stolen by addicts. Mischievous elements enter the park easily as there is no check by the authorities. Effective maintenance and security measures are needed for proper upkeep of Chali Khoo park.” a material used to sniff drugs is lying inside the washroom. The authorities installed high mast lights, but the control panel is missing. Residents claim thieves stole the control panel, iron poles and grills. Initially, authorities deployed watchmen to oversee the park at night, keeping drug addicts away. However, after funds ran out, no alternative arrangements were made. Local residents avoid visiting the park due to safety concerns. Garbage is scattered everywhere and an overgrowth of grass deters visitors. “The park was beau- tifully developed under HRIDAY, but due to lack of maintenance and security, it is now a safe haven for drug addicts. The lights are lying dysfunctional as wires and iron poles have been stolen by addicts. Mischievous elements enter the park easily as there is no check by the authorities. Effective maintenance and security measures are needed for proper upkeep of Chali Khoo park,” said Shivam, a resident. Said Jeevan Jyot Kaur, MLA, Amritsar South, “I am aware about the condition of the Chali Khoo park. The pre- vious government didn’t provide a passage for it. An underpass was required at the railway overbridge near Jodha Fatak. I am fighting to provide a passage to the park. Then we will go for the beautification of park and make it state-of-the-art.” Chali Khoo was initially dug up by the British in 1904 for tap water supply and was later restored under the National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) in 2018. The government spent Rs 5 crore on the project, aiming to attract tourists. Ministerial staff to hold 4 drones, heroin seized by BSF protest in Dera Baba Nanak constituency Tribune News Service Commuters drive with headlights on in Amritsar on Tuesday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR ture at night was causing the smog to become dense and come down. He said this smog was harmful for human beings and they should avoid inhaling it. “All our hopes rest on wind velocity to disperse the pollutants gathered in the air and rain to clear the air in the immediate future. There is no other alternative but to wait for one of these two phenomenons to occur.” Shashank Verma of the Meteorological Department said visibility has been found to be between 200 to 400 meters in the morning and evening. These days, humidity is more than 75 per cent at night. As a result, temperature falls at night and the capacity to hold humidity also decreases. It results in saturation of air. Last year, 10 days after Diwali, AQI in the city was 231 and this year, it was around 200. There is a visible fall of over 30 in AQI, yet dense smog is causing concern among the residents. Amritsar, November 12 Ministerial staff members of the Education Department have announced to use the assembly bypoll in Dera Baba Nanak constituency of Gurdaspur district to their advantage by holding a flag march against the state government on November 12. District president Malkeet Singh Randhawa said a meeting of the state executive body held here has decided to hold the protest march against the government to highlight that promises made to government employees remain unfulfilled. Randhawa said the arrears of dearness allowance of the employees are pending but the government is spending money on advertisements. The government had also promised to revive the old pension scheme. “Despite making statements in media and political rallies, the government has still not issued any notification in this regard,” said Randhawa, adding that the Punjab Government had even issued advertisements in other states claiming that the old pension scheme for government employees in Punjab has been revived. — TNS Amritsar, November 12 Continuing its hunt for rogue drones, the BSF on Tuesday seized four more drones and heroin consignment. The recoveries took place from border areas of Tarn Taran, Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts. Based on reliable information of BSF intelligence set up, one drone, DJI AIR 3S, was jointly recovered by BSF and Punjab Police after a search operation at about 13.30 pm from a farming field adjacent to Wan village in Tarn Taran district. In another incident, another drone, a DJI Mavic 3 Classic, along with one packet of suspected heroin (gross weight 550 grams) was recovered by the BSF after a search operation, based on information of BSF intelligence wing, at about 14.15 pm, from a farming field adjacent to Rattankhurd village in Amritsar district. Both the drones are presumed to have been knocked down due to timely activation of technical counter measures deployed on the border. This morning, vigilant BSF troops on duty intercepted a drone movement in Gurdaspur. Immediately, troops fired at the drone and activated technical counter measures to neutralize it. Subsequently, a joint search operation was launched by the BSF along with Punjab Police in suspected dropping zone, which culminated at about 8.20 am with the successful recovery of one China made DJI Mavic 3 Classic drone along with one packet of suspected heroin (gross weight 563 grams) in the area adjacent to Agwan village in Gurdaspur district. Similarly, another drone, a DJI Matrice RTK 300, was recovered by BSF after a search operation, based on information of the BSF intelligence wing, at about 11.20 am, from a cauliflower field adjacent to Haruwal village in Gurdaspur district. Police nab three with 4 pistols City rly station grapples with staff crunch Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 12 The Amritsar Rural Police arrested three miscreants and recovered four pistols of .30 bore, six magazines and nine cartridges from their possession here on Tuesday. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Amritsar Rural, Charanjit Singh stated that a team led by SP (Detective) Harinder Singh along with the Crime Investigating Agency (CIA) in-charge got secret information that a member of a gang led by Prabh, who currently resides in Canada, made ransom calls and extorted money from people in Punjab. Three members of the gang — Simarjit Singh, alias Simar, Gursevak Singh, alias Sewak, and Paras Muhammad — gathered at the bus stand in Khurmania village. Amritsar, November 12 Many departments of the railways at the Amritsar station are grappling with staff shortage, hampering train operations. The local station is battling a shortage of officers and staff due to which even the movement of trains is getting affected. The posts of five station masters (SMs) have been lying vacant for the past three months and the washing line also has to manage with inadequate staff. Five out of 22 posts of station masters (SM) fell vacant at the station about three months ago, bringing down their number to 17. In this scenario, the railway administration prolonged the shift of SMs from 8 hours to 12 hours. Around 50 employees from The accused in custody of the police in Amritsar on Tuesday. Following the secret tip-off, the police raided the bus stand and nabbed them. The accused had gathered to make a seal of arms, claimed police officials. SSP Charanjit Singh claimed that the police recovered four pistols of 30 bore along with six magazines and nine live cartridges. The police also recovered a continued on page 2 c m y b The Amritsar railway station on Tuesday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR the washing line were deployed at other places, facing a severe staff shortage, about two months ago. Consequently, several trains, especially those connecting the holy city with peripheral towns like Dera Baba Nanak, Khemkaran, Attari and others are getting delayed daily. The daily passengers using these trains are facing extreme difficulties due to the delay in plying of these trains. Baljit Singh, a resident of Khemkaran, said he comes to Mandi to work as a daily wager. However, delay in train operations forced him to shift to the costly bus service.