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Time of India
9 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Commercialisation of residential areas concerns residents in Ludhiana West constituency.
Ludhiana: Once considered among the most well-planned and livable parts of this city, the West constituency is now at the centre of growing resident discontent as commercial activity intrudes into its residential streets increasingly. Despite being home to prime localities and benefitting from a substantial share of Smart City projects, residents say the area is losing its peace and character rapidly. The expansion of commercial outlets into residential zones, stray animals, parking shortages, and unchecked encroachment are driving frustration among citizens. "The very reason we chose Sarabha Nagar was for peace," said Rahul Verma, a long-time resident. "Now every street has shops or offices. Instead of stopping this, the authorities concerned are declaring residential roads as commercial zones." His concerns are echoed across other upscale neighbourhoods including BRS Nagar, Kitchlu Nagar, Udham Singh Nagar, Model Town, Model Gram and Club Road. Many of these were originally planned by the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT), which had demarcated residential and commercial areas clearly. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Wrinkles? No. Philips Garment Steamers Book Now Undo Over time, it handed over these localities to the municipal corporation for maintenance — and residents say that is when the balance began to tilt. "There's no difference now," said Kapil Arora of BRS Nagar. "The main road is so busy with commercial activity that I take interior lanes just to reach my own house." A municipal corporation official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, admitted the shift was often initiated by the residents themselves. "People open shops or clinics in homes and then apply to have roads declared commercial," he said. "Several of these proposals are under govt review currently." The rising commercialisation is not only disturbing residents' peace of mind but also undercutting the function and viability of market areas. Locals complain that mixed-use chaos deters customers and contributes to traffic bottlenecks. Adding to the concern is the lack of updated data with the civic body. It conducted the last official survey of commercial violations in 2019, revealing 7,053 violations across 73 town planning schemes — 2,683 of those concentrated in just 60 of those schemes. Since then, it has carried out no fresh survey, leaving citizens frustrated by the absence of regulatory oversight. With more LIT-developed areas now being transferred to civic authorities, residents fear the same pattern will repeat: peaceful neighbourhoods transformed into unregulated commercial zones, with little room left for families or silence. MSID:: 121706738 413 |
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
School land misuse case: Ludhiana court grants interim bail to Ashu, orders him to join probe
A court in Ludhiana Friday granted interim bail to Congress leader Bharat Bhushan Ashu but directed him to join the investigation in the school land misuse case in which he was issued summons Thursday by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau, leading to a political uproar. Ashu is Congress candidate for June 19 bypoll to Ludhiana West Assembly seat that he has represented twice in the past. 'The applicant (Ashu) was not named in the FIR, he has been subsequently named. The case of the prosecution is based on documentary evidence. So, the applicant is directed to join the investigation as and when called by the Investigating Officer and in the event of his arrest, the applicant shall be released on interim bail by the Arresting/Investigating officer,' read the order issued by court of additional sessions judge Jaspinder Singh. The court fixed June 11 as next date hearing. Ashu's counsel Vijay Mahendru said the Congress leader had submitted in the court that he was falsely implicated in the case 'only to sabotage his election campaign.' It was submitted in the court that the FIR in the case was registered on January 8, 2025 at Division Number 5 police station of Ludhiana on the complaint of Executive Officer, Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) for action against management committee of New Senior Secondary School. It was alleged that under the scheme of LIT, 4.7 acres of land in Sarabha Nagar was allotted to the committee for running a senior secondary school. As per the agreement, the land could not be used for any other purpose. However, in March 1971, a complaint was received from local residents that a college was being constructed at the site. However, as per the agreement, only school could be constructed on it Thereafter, a letter was issued to stop the construction of the college. Further, in 2023, several other complaints were received that private playway schools and other shops/businesses were running on the allotted land. After an inquiry, the current FIR was registered under the sections 420, 120-B, 467, 468, 471 and 409 of IPC against management committee members. Divya Goyal is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, based in Punjab. Her interest lies in exploring both news and feature stories, with an effort to reflect human interest at the heart of each piece. She writes on gender issues, education, politics, Sikh diaspora, heritage, the Partition among other subjects. She has also extensively covered issues of minority communities in Pakistan and Afghanistan. She also explores the legacy of India's partition and distinct stories from both West and East Punjab. She is a gold medalist from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Delhi, the most revered government institute for media studies in India, from where she pursued English Journalism (Print). Her research work on 'Role of micro-blogging platform Twitter in content generation in newspapers' had won accolades at IIMC. She had started her career in print journalism with Hindustan Times before switching to The Indian Express in 2012. Her investigative report in 2019 on gender disparity while treating women drug addicts in Punjab won her the Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity in 2020. She won another Laadli for her ground report on the struggle of two girls who ride a boat to reach their school in the border village of Punjab. ... Read More
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
VB summons Congress' Bharat Bhushan Ashu in ₹2,400-cr school land misuse case
Congress' Ludhiana West candidate and ex-minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu has been summoned by the Ludhiana unit of the vigilance bureau in connection with a ₹2,400 crore scam involving misuse of school land in Sarabha Nagar. The summons, issued on June 4 by deputy superintendent of police Vinod Kumar directs Ashu to appear for questioning on Friday (June 6) at 10 am. The case dates back to January 8, 2025, when an FIR was lodged at police station division no 5 under Sections 420 (cheating), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 467, 468, 471 (forgery), and 409 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The case revolves around 4.7 acres of land allotted by the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) decades ago to run the New Senior Secondary School in Sarabha Nagar. The land was given at a subsidised rate strictly for educational purposes. However, investigations revealed that parts of this land are being illegally used for commercial activities. Multiple private playway schools and businesses are operating on the premises, with the school management allegedly collecting hefty rents, a serious violation estimated to involve ₹2,400 crore in financial irregularities. The police on January 8 this year, had already lodged an FIR against the school following the complaint filed by chairman, Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT). Following his complaint, the case was transferred to the vigilance bureau after alleged financial irregularities surfaced during the probe. Ashu who remained minister of food, civil supplies, and consumer affairs during previous Congress government in the state was embroiled in the 2022 ₹2,000-crore foodgrain transportation tender scam. He faced allegations of awarding contracts to fraudulent contractors submitting fake vehicle registrations, inflating transport numbers, and misusing public funds. He was arrested in August 2022. In December 2024, the Punjab and Haryana high court quashed two criminal cases registered against Ashu. While one FIR was registered on August 16, 2022, in Ludhiana by the vigilance bureau, the second FIR was registered by the vigilance bureau on September 22, 2022, in Jalandhar. Reacting to summon, Ashu said, 'I am busy with my campaigning and have not received any such summons. After campaigning, I will respond accordingly.'
Time of India
3 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
VB summon in cheating case for today, Ashu says will go only after Ludhiana West bypoll
Ludhiana: As campaigning for the Ludhiana West assembly byelections intensifies ahead of the June 19 polling, the vigilance bureau (VB), Ludhiana unit, has summoned Congress candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu for questioning in a cheating and fraud case at its office on Friday at 10 am. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Ashu, however, called the summons a bid to derail his campaign as AAP could sense defeat. "It is again misusing VB, as it did in the foodgrain tender case," he said. "I was not at home when VB officials came. My family received the summons. I will appear before VB only after June 19," he added. The case pertains to allegations against the management of New Higher Secondary School, Sarabha Nagar, where an FIR was first registered on Jan 8 at Division V police station. The complaint alleges that the school management was involved in cheating and illegally conducting commercial activities on land allotted by Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) for educational purposes. The deputy commissioner's office, citing the complaint, has alleged a Rs 2,400-crore fraud linked to these unauthorised commercial ventures on the school premises. Alumni of the school have long demanded action against the management, taking up the issue with Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora. After these representations, the administration took notice, and the LIT filed the FIR. On May 12, Division 8 police registered a second FIR accusing the school management of renting out staff quarters and classrooms as paying guest (PG) accommodations. This complaint was filed by the superintendent at DC office. In response to the second FIR, LIT revoked the land allotment. On May 19, VB launched a probe into the matter. The trust managing the school is chaired by a longtime friend of Ashu.
Hindustan Times
27-05-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Allot reserved plot in Transport Nagar to us: Truckers body to Ludhiana Improvement Trust
To discuss the allocation of a reserved plot in Transport Nagar under the 114-acre Truck Stand Scheme, delegation from the Ludhiana Goods Transport Association met with Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) Chairman Tarsem Singh Bhinder on Tuesday. The delegation, led by president Darshan Singh, general secretary Ashok Pahwa and vice-president Ajit Pal Rinku, presented their claim over a 2000 square yard plot originally reserved for the Truck Union office. Earlier this month, the association had formally written to the LIT chairman, emphasising that within the 114-acre Truck Stand Scheme, various plots were allocated for different institutions, including religious sites, petrol pumps, telephone exchanges, said the press secretary of the association Jagdish Jassewal, Currently, approximately 550 square yards of this reserved plot is being used as a public toilet, while the remaining area is fenced and locked, with the key held by the Ludhiana Goods Transport Association. However, the plot has not yet been officially allocated. Jassewal underlined the urgent need for this space, citing plans to build a proper office and rest house for truck drivers, facilities that the area is currently lacking, to improve the working conditions of truckers here. Confirming the development, LIT Chairman Tarsem Singh Bhinder stated, 'The truckers had previously requested the allocation of this land. We will conduct a thorough inspection to verify their claim, and following the proper procedures, the land will be allocated accordingly.'
