07042021-CT-01.qxd 4/7/2021 12:51 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh TRIBUNE WEDNESDAY | 7 APRIL 2021 | CHANDIGARH PANJAB UNIVERSITY APPROVES SENATE ELECTION SCHEDULE PAGE 2 Four days after the High Court directed PU to hold Senate poll, authorities issue the schedule for the elections. PARTLY CLOUDY CHD SAMPLES TESTED POSITIVE RECOVERED NEW CASES ACTIVE CHANGE DEATHS NEW P’KULA 3,25,654 28,798 25,375 319 3,037 25 386 2 MOHALI 2,25,905 2,49,868 13,946 29,037 12,655 24,666 169 326 1,135 3,913 91 99 156 458 0 8 AIR QUALITY INDEX CHANDIGARH 127 PANCHKULA 167 MOHALI 140 401-500 301-400 201-300 101-200 51-100 0-50 SEVERE VERY POOR POOR MODERATE SATISFACTORY GOOD INBRIEF MAYOR’S FACEBOOK ACCOUNT HACKED Chandigarh: The Facebook account of Mayor Ravi Kant Sharma was hacked following which the hacker sent messages to his known contacts seeking financial help. One of the persons, who had got the message, contacted the Mayor. Ravi Kant told him that he did not send any message. The Mayor then checked his account to find it hacked. Later, he lodged a complaint with the local police. TNS GIRL HANGS SELF TO DEATH IN SEC 36 Chandigarh:A 19-year-old girl reportedly committed suicide by hanging herself form a tree at a forest area in Sector 36. The police said the victim, identified as Komal of Uttar Pradesh, worked as a domestic help at a house in Sector 35. Her friend said she was missing since Monday evening and the police were also informed about it. A passerby found her hanging on Tuesday. No suicide note was found from the spot. TNS SUNSET WEDNESDAY 6.45 PM To be in force from 10 pm to 5 am ■ No parties, non-essential activities ■ Eateries will have to shut by 10 pm ■ Chandigarh, April 6 Keeping in view the rapid increase in the number of Covid-19 cases, the UT Administration has decided to impose night curfew from 10 pm to 5 am to check the spread of the virus. During the night curfew, which will come into force from tomorrow, no gatherings, parties and non-essential activities will be allowed. Restaurants will also be required to close by 10 pm. The night curfew will be reviewed in case the situation improves. The decision to impose the night curfew was taken at a review meeting on the Covid19 pandemic presided over by UT Administrator VP Singh Badnore, who directed the police authorities to ensure strict implementation of the curfew. Expressing concern over the rising number of Covid cases, Badnore urged market associations to ensure that the staff engaged by them are tested and vaccinated, since both testing and vaccination are being done free of cost at government-run centres. The Administrator urged all residents above 45 years of age to get themselves vaccinated. He said walk-in facility had been provided at the GMSH-16 and three civil hospitals in Sector 22 and 45, and Mani Majra, where any resident could walk in and get tested free of cost. ~3.1L stolen from shop in Sohana Mohali, April 6 An unidentified youth stole ~3.1 lakh from a hardware shop in Sohana this afternoon. The shop owner, Jai Kumar Goyal, had gone for some work nearby when a bike-borne youth allegedly entered the shop after breaking its glass door and fled with a bag containing ~3.1 lakh. CCTV footage showed the miscreant sans a mask, fleeing the spot. A case has been registered. —TNS Naina Mishra Tribune News Service People without a mask in Sector 22, Chandigarh, on Tuesday. STRICTER MEASURES UNDER CONSIDERATION ■ Market associations to ensure that the staff engaged by them are tested and vaccinated ■ UT to consider stricter measures such as weekend curfew, closure of apni mandis and other crowded places if people fail to abide by the guidelines regarding Covid appropriate behaviour He said stricter measures such as weekend curfew, closure of apni mandis and other crowded places would be considered if people failed to abide by the guidelines regarding Covid appropriate behaviour. Badnore directed the hospital authorities to ensure that all health workers got themselves vaccinated at the earliest. The Administration might consider withdrawal of prior- ity to health workers and municipal workers. Hence, they needed to avail of the existing priority vaccination facility within a week. The Administrator directed all eligible government employees to take the vaccine. He also directed residents to avoid non-essential travel outside the city. Arun Kumar Gupta, Principal Secretary, Health, said there were 75 micro-containment zones in the city. Nature’s cool art TWITTER/THETRIBUNECHD FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE Chandigarh, April 6 The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Tuesday listed Chandigarh, along with Punjab and other states, as the “states of concern”, in a media briefing on Covid-19. According to the statistics shared by the Centre, there has been an increase in the average daily cases in the UT, from below 20 cases witnessed between February 10 and 16 to 287 during the period from March 31 to April 6. The positivity rate has climbed up to 14 per cent now from 1.50 per cent in the second week of February. “Although Chandigarh is a small place with low population, the number of cases and the positivity rate have gone up, which is a matter of concern.” Dr Amandeep Kang, Director, Health Services, UT, stated that they had conducted 31,394 Covid tests so far and the positivity rate was 12.7 per cent. In March this year, the positivity rate was 9.1 per cent, the fatality rate 0.5 per cent and the recovery rate 87.3 per cent. As many as 94,411 doses of the Covid vaccine have been administered till date, covering 60 per cent of frontline workers and 54 per cent of health workers. Vaccination was being done at 55 centres — 35 being run by the government and 20 by continued on page 2 Tags it as ‘state of concern’ with average daily count touching 287 THE STATISTICS WEEK AVG DAILY AVG DAILY AVG POSITIVITY AVG RT-PCR CASES DEATHS RATE TEST SHARE Feb 10 – 16 Feb 17 – 23 Feb 24 – Mar 2 Mar 3 – 9 Mar 10 – 16 Mar 17 – 23 Mar 24 – 30 Mar 31 – Apr 6 19 28 54 80 121 203 257 287 1 1 0 0 0 1 2 1 1.50% 2% 3.26% 4.62% 7.16% 10.66% 12.50% 14.02% 36.6% 40.2% 42.3% 38.7% 41.6% 49.0% 74.5% 81.4% TWO DEATHS, 319 CASES IN UT 8 more die in Mohali, 326 test positive MOHALI: Eight persons succumbed to Covid-19 in the district during the past 24 hours, taking the toll to 458. Earlier, the virus had claimed eight lives on September 14 last year. The district reported 326 fresh cases till Tuesday evening while 220 more patients have been cured of the disease. Among the new cases, 146 came from Mohali (urban), two from Banur, four from Kurali, five from Dera Bassi, seven from Boothgarh, 13 from Gharuan, 49 from Kharar and 100 from the Dhakoli area of Zirakpur. The district has so far seen 29,037 cases and 24,666 recoveries. There are 3,913 active cases. — TNS RAVI KUMAR Chandigarh: The city witnessed 319 Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, taking the number of active cases to 3,037. With two more deaths, the toll has reached 386. The total numA man aged above 45 gets jabbed ber of cases in the UT has at a hospital in Sector 22, reached 28,798. A total of Chandigarh. PHOTO: PRADEEP TEWARI 342 patients were cured. TNS MC restarts sanitisation drive, sets up 24 teams Chandigarh, April 6 With a spurt in Covid-19 cases, the MC has restarted its sanitisation drive in the city. The corporation is using seven automatic sanitisation sprinklers to sanitise public places and places from where cases are reported. “We have formed 24 teams and six of these are on a standby. Each team comprises two-three members. We are covering public places and places from where requests for sanitisation are being received,” said Dr Amrit Warring, MC Medical Officer of Health. — TNS 169 new cases in Panchkula PANCHKULA: The district reported 169 fresh cases of Covid during the past 24 hours. There was no new fatality due to the virus. So far, 13,946 persons have tested positive for Covid in the district and 12,655 of them have been cured of the disease. There are 1,135 active cases with 156 deaths in the district. — TNS Erratic tertiary water supply hits residents Tribune News Service Lightning during a storm at Dera Bassi on Tuesday night. TRIBUNE PHOTO: NITIN MITTAL Snatchers on the prowl, target 3 Tribune News Service Chandigarh, April 6 Three snatching incidents were reported from the city in the past 48 hours. According to the police, a motorcycle-borne miscreant snatched a purse from a woman in Sector 34 on April 5. The victim, a resident of Sector 85, Mohali, reported that her purse contained The suspect captured in a CCTV. SUNRISE THURSDAY 6.04 AM Centre flags Covid surge in city Tribune News Service Hit by ambulance, scooterist dies Chandigarh, April 6 A scooter rider was killed after being hit by an ambulance at the Sector 39/40/55/56 roundabout. According to the police, complainant Vishnu Dev, a resident of Sector 56, reported that the scooter, being driven by his neighbour Nairan Singh, was hit by an ambulance. The victim was injured and rushed to the GMCH, Sector 32, where doctors declared him brought dead. Darshan Lal of Mohali district was driving the ambulance. He was arrested and later released on bail. — TNS In view of Covid surge, Administration decides to set up a help desk at CHB office for patients in home isolation. Night curfew back in city from today FILE PHOTO TRICITY COVID REPORT MAX 36°C | MIN 19°C | YESTERDAY MAX 35.2°C | MIN 20.3°C PAGE 3 UT SETS UP HELP DESK FOR PATIENTS IN HOME ISOLATION UT Sports Department will reopen all 10 swimming pools under its control for the city’s professional swimmers. PRADEEP TEWARI FORECAST PAGE 2 SPORTS DEPT SET TO REOPEN ITS POOLS IN UT THIS MONTH ~7,000 and a mobile phone. The police were informed, who visited the spot. A case has been registered at the Sector 34 police station. In another incident, Mohit Sharma, a resident of Sector 47, reported that two persons riding an auto snatched his mobile phone and purse containing ~6,000, two credit cards and important documents from near the petrol pump in Sector 31 on April 5. A case has been registered at the Sector 31 police station. An auto driver allegedly snatched a mobile phone from a man on April 4. Complainant Kailash, a resident of Sector 4, reported that the miscreant snatched his phone on the road separating Sector 8 and 9. The police have registered a case at the Sector 3 police station. Chandigarh, April 6 Erratic tertiary-treated water supply has inconvenienced city residents. They said the supply was not being provided as per the scheduled timings and at some places, it was irregular. This had forced many to use drinking water for watering lawns. “It is a matter of concern for the city. The supply gets disrupted continuously for a number of days, resulting in withering of grass and plants. Parks give a shabby look,” said Joginder Singh, a local resident. “Due to non-supply of tertiary-treated water, residents are forced to use drinking water to water plants. This causes loss of precious drinking water. When someone opens the drinking water tap to water plants, it reduces the pressure of water and residents staying on the first or second floors are badly affected,” he said. Some residents have also complained of smell in the tertiary-treated water. “When Say forced to use potable water for watering lawns ‘MATTER OF CONCERN’ It is a matter of concern for the city. The supply gets disrupted continuously for a number of days, resulting in withering of grass and plants. Parks give a shabby look. Joginder Singh, ALOCALRESIDENT ❝ ❞ the water is used in our lawns, it creates foul smell. Something needs to be done about it,” said Manjeet, a resident of Sector 33. Hitesh Puri, chairman of the Chandigarh Residents Association Welfare Federation (CRAWFED), said, “We will take up the issue with the MC as RWAs have complained about it.” Get e-token for ‘darshan’ at Mansa Devi temple NAVRATRI FEST Panchkula, April 6 In view of the surge in Covid cases, the Shri Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Board (SMMDSB) has decided to issue tokens online to enable devotees pay obeisance at the shrine during Chaitra Navratra fest beginning April 13. This was decided during a meeting of the board chaired by Deputy Commissioner and Chief Administrator Mukul Kumar. The fest will be organised from April 13 to 21 at Mata Mansa Devi, Panchkula, and Kali Mata Mandir, Kalka. Kumar said devotees would be required to fill certain details on the board website www.mansadevi.org.in following which an e-token would be sent to their mobile number. Devotees willing to have a preferential ‘darshan’ at Mansa Devi temple could register themselves on a payment of ~50 per person. A devotee could make registration for maximum 10 members at a time, he added. The DC said ‘bhandara’, cultural programmes and other entertainment activities would be prohibited during the fest. continued on page 2 HC applies brakes to door-to-door waste collection through motorised vehicles Saurabh Malik Tribune News Service Chandigarh, April 6 In a major embarrassment for the Municipal Corporation (MC), the Punjab and Haryana High Court today applied brakes to its ambitious project of door-to-door garbage collection through motorised vehicles. Taking up the matter, a Division Bench of the High Court stayed the operation and effect of the Solid Waste Management Bylaws, 2018, and a resolution dated December 13, 2019, passed by the MC to purchase garbage collection vehicles. The orders by the Bench of Justice Jitendra Chauhan and Justice Vivek Puri will remain in operation at least till the next date of hearing. The matter was brought to the notice of the Bench after a petition was filed against the UT and other respondents by Pappu Kumar and other petitioners through counsel APS Shergill and Harmanjit Singh Sethi. One of the contentions before the Bench was that the 2018 bylaws and the resolution were contrary to the letter and spirit of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, which con- c m y b templated the need to empower the garbage collectors and help ensure their employment. Elaborating, Shergill and Sethi referred to the minutes of the MC special meeting held on December 13, 2019, to contend that a middleman had been introduced for the job of garbage collection through the impugned resolution. They added that a clause in the guidelines issued by the ministry made it clear that it was the duty and responsibility of the local authorities to establish a system to recognise the organisation of waste pickers or informal waste collectors. It was also their responsibility to promote and establish a system for integration of these authorised waste picker and collector to facilitate their participation in solid waste management, including door-to-door collection of waste. A subclause even provided for formation of self-help groups. Sethi and Shergill also submitted that approximately 2,300 workers had been earning their livelihood through garbage collection, while only around 800 workers were likely to be employed for the task. “In the process of decision making, the viewpoint of the real stakeholders, the petitioners working as garbage collectors for the past so continued on page 2