21072025-CT-01.qxd 7/21/2025 12:19 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune TEWARI SLAMS INCREASE IN POWER CHARGES PGI’S PRIVATE CHEMISTS ACCUSED OF OVERCHARGING MOTHERHOOD IS NOT DEFINED BY BLOOD, SAYS MANDIRA BEDI Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari listens to grievances of residents at a public meeting. P3 Fresh complaints emerge regarding inflated prices, allegedly exceeding the printed MRP. P3 Bedi, the mother of a biological and an adoptive child, said: “For us, adoption was never the last resort.” P4 » » PARTLY CLOUDY, RAIN MAX 32°C | MIN 25°C YESTERDAY MAX 34.2°C | MIN 28.3°C SUNSET MONDAY 7.23 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 5:36 AM » MONDAY | 21 JULY 2025 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST /THETRIBUNECHD FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE UT razes furniture market, reclaims ~400-cr land 116 shops in 40-year-old market pulled down, 12 acres freed |Admn acquired land in 2002 Congress, AAP Tribune News Service condemn demolition WHAT’S ON Tribune News Service APNI MANDI Chandigarh: Sectors 43 & 45 Mohali: Sectors 70, 78 & Phase 5 Panchkula: MDC, Sector 5 Please send information about events in tricity at: whatson@tribunemail.com INBRIEF CHAIN SNATCHED IN SECTOR 37 Chandigarh: Unidentified motorcycle-borne miscreants snatched the gold chain from a woman in Sector 37-D here on Friday. The polic have registered a case. TNS MAN ASSAULTED Chandigarh: A man was assaulted by a group of youths in Faidan village. Raj, alleged that Virat Thakur, Sher Singh, Jeewan, Kaku, Chirag, Prince, Jony and others attacked him near his residence around 1 pm. TNS Chandigarh, July 20 The UT Administration today pulled down nearly 40year-old furniture market in Sectors 53-54 here reclaiming 10-12 acres of government land worth nearly Rs 400 crore, which was under illegal occupation by the shopkeepers. As many as 29 shops in the illegal market were demolished on June 30 last year and the remaining 116 were razed to the ground today. The drive started around 9 am against the scheduled time of 7 am, after giving a two-hour window for the shopkeepers to remove their goods. To maintain law and order, nearly 1,000 police personnel were deployed at the site during the drive. The land upon which the shopkeepers were illegally running their business was acquired in 2002. “The reclaimed land, acquired for the third phase of Chandigarh’s urban expansion, has now been handed over to the Engineering Department for its planned development. The land holds significance for the city’s growth and future infrastructure projects,” said continued on page 3 A machine pulls down shops at the furniture market at Sector 53; and (below) workers remove chairs from a shop. TRIBUNE PHOTOS: VICKY 29 UNITS WERE DEMOLISHED IN JUNE LAST YEAR June 22, 2024: The Land Acquisition Department serves demolition notices on shopkeepers and ask them to vacate the government land within a week. June 25: Furniture Market Association meets Deputy Commissioner who asks them to file their individual replies before June 28. June 28: As many as 117 shopkeepers file replies. June 30: At least 29 shops were demolished after the owners failed to file their replies. LAND TO BE USED FOR URBAN EXPANSION The reclaimed land, acquired for the third phase of Chandigarh’s urban expansion, has been handed over to the Engineering Department. It holds a lot of significance for the city’s growth and future infrastructure projects. Nishant Kumar Yadav, DC ❝ ❞ Chandigarh, July 20 The Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) condemned the demolition of the Sectors 53–54 furniture market. City Congress president HS Lucky said the Administration razed the decades-old market, leaving hundreds of shopkeepers devastated and rendering a large number of workers jobless. Rather than pursuing a humane and consultative process, the Administration opted for abrupt demolition without giving the traders enough time for evacuation, and without making any arrangement for the protection or relocation of furniture. City AAP president Vijaypal Singh said, “The sudden demolition has shattered the traders who were paying taxes for decades. The government must declare immediate compensation and a structured rehabilitation plan for them.” Sunny Aulakh, AAP general secretary, demanded that all affected traders be allotted space in the proposed bulk market at Sector 56 and compensated for their losses. Panchkula cops help woman PGI nursing staff to 40-yr-old stabbed to death deliver child safely on roadside launch agitation today by neighbour at Pabhat Two-hour daily protest after duty hours Baby girl named ‘Durga’ in honour of police team Tribune News Service Panchkula, July 20 In a remarkable act of compassion and prompt action, Panchkula Police helped a pregnant woman deliver her baby safely on the roadside near Tawa Chowk late on Saturday night. The police team, led by the Women Police Station and the ‘Durga Shakti’ unit, reached the scene before the ambulance and assisted in the delivery, earning heartfelt praise from the family. The incident occurred around midnight when Lakshmi (22), a resident of Sector 21, was on her way to the hospital with her husband Anil on a scooter. She experienced sudden and intense labour pains, forcing them to stop near Tawa Chowk(Sector 14-11-4-5 roundabout). A passer-by alerted the police, following which a team comprising SHO (Women) Neha Sandhu, Durga Shakti incharge Usman, and lady constable Anjali promptly arrived on site. Without delay, the officers helped deliver the baby girl safely by the roadside and comforted the mother until the ambulance arrived. Shortly after, an ambulance arrived and transported both mother and child to the hospital, where doctors confirmed they were in stable condition. In a heartfelt moment, SHO Neha Sandhu suggested naming the new- born ‘Durga’ in honour of the police team that helped bring her into the world. The incident took place between midnight and 2 am. After the delivery, the police waited until family members arrived. Lakshmi’s husband Anil expressed deep gratitude, saying, “It’s hard to believe, but the police truly became angels for us in our time of need.” Commending the officers, DCP Shrishti Gupta said the team had set an extraordinary example of humanity beyond the call of duty. The incident highlights the police’s role not just in maintaining law and order but also as true protectors in times of crisis. Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 20 The PGI Nurses Welfare Association has announced a peaceful protest from July 21 to draw attention to their long-pending demands affecting the nursing staff at the premier medical institute. The protest, which will be held daily from 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm outside the office of the PGI Director, will be strictly conducted after duty hours to ensure uninterrupted patient care and institutional functioning, said association president Manjeek Kaur. In a formal communication to PGIMER authorities, Manjeek Kaur and association general secretary Rai Singh Thory noted that the demonstration is being organised in response to persistent administrative delays, policy inaction and a growing sense of professional, physical and mental exhaustion among nurses. Their main grievance centres around the prolonged delay in holding the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) meeting for the post of Senior Nursing Officer—pending for over three years. Although a hearing on the matter concluded before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) in April 2025, the judgment was reserved, resulting in career stagnation for many eligible officers. Other key issues include a delay in DPC proceedings for 10 sanctioned posts of continued on page 3 Attacked for objecting to obscene gestures made to wife Tribune News Service Zirakpur, July 20 A 40-year-old resident of Pabhat, father of four, was stabbed to death by his neighbour after he objected to obscene gestures he made in front of his wife while she was washing clothes. Pramod Kumar, a native of Sambhal UP was stabbed , thrice on the back by his neighbour Faizaan hours after the altercation over the issue. He was rushed to the GMCH-32 where the doctors declared him dead on arrival. The assailant, a native of Moradabad, fled the spot after the incident, but was nabbed by the police later. Pramod Kumar, a native of UP, was stabbed thrice in the back. On a statement of Malti, wife of the deceased, a case of murder has been registered against Faizaan at the Zirakpur police station. The complainant stated that she lived with her family on the first floor of a house for the past three years. She was washing clothes on the ground floor last night when Faizaan started making obscene gestures in front of her. When she complained about it to her husband, he had an altercation with Faizaan and his father. In the morning around 4 am, he came upstairs with a knife and attacked her husband from behind. Zirakpur SHO Satinder Singh said, “The suspect has been arrested and the police are trying to recover the knife used in the crime.” 7 years on, waste segregation at source still a distant dream Vehicle thief arrested Crores spent on sanitation project since 2017, but UT scored a dismal 14% in this category of Swachh Survekshan Tribune News Service Ramkrishan Upadhyay Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 20 Despite spending crores to ensure waste segregation at source and door-to-door collection, the Municipal Corporation (MC) has failed to achieve the 100 per cent target in the two categories of the Swachh Survekshan 2024-25. While the city scored 93 per cent in the “door-todoor waste collection” category, it was at a dismal 14 per cent when it came to waste segregation at source. The poor performances in the two categories was a big reason for the city failing to upgrade to the Garbage Free City 3-star certification. Efforts to ensure 100 per cent waste segregation at source began when the civic body purchased bins for segregation for over Rs 3 crore in 2017, but the target has not been reached yet. The MC also bought and later distributed over 5 lakh bins for 2.5 lakh households free of cost, aiming to commence segregation of the waste from source. Each house was given two bins — a bluecoloured dustbin for dry garbage, and a second green-coloured container for wet waste. It, however, faced criticism when segregation could not begin even a year-and-a-half after the distribution of the bins. The plan also came under fire when the audit department raised questions over the utility of the bins. The Under the solid waste management rules, the segregation of waste has been made mandatory from the source itself. Crores have already been spent on Sahaj Safai Kendras but the project failed to yield results. A huge amount of money had also been wasted on the dumping ground but the legacy waste still persists. Need for joint efforts Damaged garbage bins at the Sector 29 market in Chandigarh. TRIBUNE PHOTO: RAVI KUMAR audit report noted that the money was wasted due to the lack of segregation of waste by the door-to-door collectors. It added that the bins had either been dam- c m y b aged or were being used for other purposes by the time the segregation began. Chandigarh Beopar Mandal president Sanjiv Chadda said broken bins had been replaced in several city markets as well. He highlighted the need for cooperation from residents to ensure that the goal is reached. City Forum of Residents Welfare Organisations con- vener Vinod Vashisht echoed the sentiment, saying, “The bins installed in the markets are also broken and one can see the mixed garbage overflowing from them.” Vashisht said there was a need to work hard to ensure waste segregation at source, door-to-door collection and 100 per cent processing. “Without improving the waste management system, the city cannot upgrade to 5-star or 7-star Garbage Free Cities (GFC) star ranking,” he added. Addressing the issue, Deputy Mayor Taruna Mehta said there was a need to involve the residents and market welfare associations in waste management efforts to improve the city’s ranking. Panchkula, July 20 The Sector 26 police have arrested a habitual vehicle thief and recovered two stolen vehicles from him. The police arrested Sabir Khan, a native of Solan district in Himachal Pradesh, at present residing in Baltana, Zirakpur, in connection with a theft case. Roshan Lal had reported that his Activa scooter was stolen on July 5 from outside his shop in Majri village. Head Constable Suresh Kumar received a tip-off about the suspect on July 18, following which he was nabbed. He was produced before the court and remanded in one-day police custody. During questioning, he admitted to his involvement in multiple vehicle thefts.