09042026-CT-01.qxd 4/9/2026 1:01 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune TWO MORE ARRESTED IN REALTOR’S MURDER CASE HC SEEKS 5-YR AQI RECORD AS PIL ALLEGES ADMN APATHY SAVOUR AUTHENTIC KASHMIRI FOOD AT SHIMLA’S WAZA CAFÉ UT police arrest two Lucky Patial gang operatives for their role in a realtor's murder in Sector 9. P3 Punjab & Haryana High Court takes up a public interest plea flagging ‘disaster-level’ air pollution. P3 Waza Café in Shimla offers Goshtaba, Rista, Kashmiri Dum Aloo, Tamar Paneer, Tabak Maaz, Rogan Josh. P4 » » AIR QUALITY INDEX CHANDIGARH 57 PANCHKULA 28 401-500 301-400 201-300 101-200 51-100 0-50 SEVERE VERY POOR POOR MODERATE SATISFACTORY GOOD INBRIEF HP NATIVE HELD WITH CHARAS Chandigarh: The police on Tuesday arrested a man with 540-gm charas near the ISBT43. The suspect was identified as Shivan Sharma, alias Sabi, a resident of Bagehra Buhla village in Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh. A case has been registered. TNS FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE At ~147.98 crore, lowest quote for Tribune flyover 31% below estimate Out of 12, eight bids cleared technical scrutiny, qualified for fiscal evaluation TOP LOWEST BIDS Tribune News Service APNI MANDI Chandigarh: Sectors 34, 56 and Ram Darbar Mohali: Sec 88 and Phase 8 Please send information about events in tricity at: whatson@tribunemail.com MAX 26°C | MIN 13°C YESTERDAY MAX 24.2°C | MIN 13.4°C SUNRISE FRIDAY 6.02 AM /THETRIBUNECHD Nitin Jain WHAT’S ON PARTLY CLOUDY SUNSET THURSDAY 6.46 PM » THURSDAY | 9 APRIL 2026 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST Chandigarh, April 8 The Tribune flyover is now firmly cleared for take-off. Financial bids of the eight technically qualified agencies for the flyover-rotary-underpass project on NH-05 at Tribune Chowk were opened in Chandigarh on Wednesday, with Singla Constructions Limited emerging as the lowest bidder at Rs 147.98 crore — a striking 31% below the estimated cost of Rs 214.66 crore. Of the 12 bids received for the project, eight cleared the technical scrutiny stage and were taken up for financial evaluation. Four bids were rejected at that stage itself after being found non-responsive to the prescribed technical norms. The financial bids were opened by the screening committee constituted by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), comprising Chief Engineers and other senior technical representatives of the ministry and the UT Administration. Senior officials privy to the proceedings confirmed that the minutes of Wednesday’s BIDDER AMOUNT Singla Constructions Limited ~147.98 cr T and T Infra Limited ~156.45 cr ~157.59 cr Gaaneshkartikey Construction Pvt Ltd Shree Riddhi Siddhi Buildwell Limited ~192.74 cr Ceigall India Limited ~207 cr ~208.95 cr Agrawal Infrabuild Private Limited Vidya Infrabuilt Pvt Ltd Traffic at the busy Tribune Chowk in Chandigarh on Wednesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: RAVI KUMAR VK Gupta and Associates ~210.99 cr ~213.67 cr SIGNAL-FREE CORRIDOR: GADKARI ❝ Tribune Chowk has long been one of the Tricity’s most critical traffic bottlenecks, and this flyover will finally unlock it. The signal-free corridor on the NH-5 will transform daily commuting for lakhs of citizens across the UT, Mohali and Panchkula. — Nitin Gadkari, UNION MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS ❞ meeting have been dispatched to MoRTH for formal approval. “The financial bids of eight eligible bidders of the Tribune flyover project were opened today. The lowest bid is Rs 147.98 crore against the estimated bid amount of Rs 214.66 crore. After issuing the minutes of the meeting, the case shall be sent to MoRTH for conveying their approval to award the work to the agency making the lowest bid,” an official said. The work will be formally awarded to c m y b the lowest eligible bidder, subject to MoRTH’s concurrence. “The opening of financial bids for the Tribune flyover marks a defining moment for Chandigarh. This project will not only decongest one of the city’s busiest and most choked junctions but also improve traffic safety and urban mobility for hundreds of thousands of commuters. We are committed to ensuring its swift and smooth execution,” Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria told The Tribune. Once awarded, the six-lane flyover, rotary and underpass — spanning 1.65 km with a 1,442-m flyover and 519-m underpass — will be built within 30 months. Over 1.5 lakh vehicles cross Tribune Chowk daily. The project, conceived in 2016 and sanctioned at Rs 183.74 crore in 2019, was stalled for nearly five years following a High Court stay on tree felling. After the stay was vacated in April 2024, the UT revived it with a revised cost of Rs 247.07 crore, including GST. Fresh tenders were invited in October 2025 and technical bids were finalised earlier this year. The 100% centrally-funded project, with the UT bearing Rs 35.54 crore towards utility shifting, is designed for a traffic speed of 80 kmph on a 25.5-metre carriageway with a 75-metre rotary. Congress councillors hold a protest over the alleged scam, during the MC House meeting on Wednesday. PHOTO: RAVI KUMAR MC House for CBI probe into ~116-crore fake FDs Ramkrishan Upadhyay Tribune News Service Chandigarh, April 8 The MC General House has recommended a CBI probe into the alleged Rs 116 fake FDRs of Chandigarh Smart City Company Limited (CSCL). Mayor Saurabh Joshi announced this after councillors of all parties demanded that the agency should investigate the scam. There was an uproar in the meeting over the alleged scam. Congress councillors protested while holding posters related to the scam. Congress councillor Taruna Mehta alleged that the scam was much higher than it was reported. AAP councillor Hardeep Singh said while the MC was facing financial crisis, a big scam took place right under the nose of officers. Meanwhile, the police have seized the computers used by MC accountant Anubhav Mishra, one of the accused in the Rs 116 crore fake FDR scam. This was revealed by civic body officials while presenting a white paper on the alleged scam. Giving details of the action taken so far, it was stated that when an alleged scam in Haryana surfaced, MC officials immediately approached IDFC First Bank, Sector 32, requesting encashment of FDRs as per the bank statement of April 22, 2025. Copies of bank statements were sought for scrutiny and examination. Besides, the bank was asked to transfer the entire balance, including updated interest, lying in the account to the MC’s Punjab National Bank account. On scrutiny of the record Continued on page 2