22042022-CT-01.qxd 22-04-2022 00:27 Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh TRIBUNE FRIDAY | 22 APRIL 2022 | CHANDIGARH SWIMMING POOLS TO OPEN 8 HOURS ON ALL WORKING DAYS PAGE 2 Pools will be opened under segregated slots for both professional and amateurs (members) in Chandigarh. FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY SUNSET FRIDAY 6:54 PM 3°C BELOW NORMAL It has decided to organise special camps for these children at various schools in the city on April 22 and 23. SUNRISE SATURDAY 5:48 AM TWITTER/THETRIBUNECHD FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE Slum-free city on UT mind; affected residents to meet Purohit today AIR QUALITY INDEX Dushyant Singh Pundir CHANDIGARH PANCHKULA 206 MOHALI Tribune News Service 144 162 401-500 301-400 201-300 101-200 51-100 0-50 PAGE 3 CASES RISING, UT FOCUSES ON VACCINATING 12-18 AGE GROUP Vacate Colony No. 4 by tomorrow, dwellers told 32.8°C P’KULA MOHALI POSITIVE 91,976 44,154 95,732 RECOVERED 90,789 43,729 94,563 NEW CASES 6 4 3 ACTIVE 22 11 21 CHANGE 3 4 3 DEATHS 1,165 414 1,148 NEW 0 0 0 PAGE 3 The MC has sought the dismissal of a petition challenging the mayoral elections with “exemplary costs”. MAX 36°C | MIN 24°C | YESTERDAY MAX 32.8°C | MIN 25.7°C TRICITY COVID REPORT CHD MC SEEKS DISMISSAL OF PLEA CHALLENGING MAYORAL POLL SEVERE VERY POOR POOR MODERATE SATISFACTORY GOOD INBRIEF BATTERIES OF DOC’S TWO CARS STOLEN Chandigarh: The batteries of two cars of Dr Raj Bahadur, parked near his house in Sector 38 (West), were stolen. Dr Bahadur is former DirectorPrincipal of the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32. According to the police, Dr Bahadur reported that someone stole the batteries from his Maruti 800 and Zen parked near his house on the intervening night of April 18 and 19. A case has been registered at the Maloya police station. TNS PURSE STOLEN AT RING CEREMONY Chandigarh: An unknown person made off with a purse from a function at a hotel in Sector 43. According to the police, Naveen Sharma, a native of Rajasthan, reported that the purse, containing documents, an ATM card and ~13,000, was stolen during the ring ceremony of his brother-in-law. The police have registered a case at the Sector 36 police station. TNS Recovery agent caught taking bribe of ~70,000 Chandigarh, April 21 A recovery agent posted at the Debt Recovery Tribunal, Sector 17, was allegedly caught by the CBI while taking a bribe of ~70,000 today. He has been identified as Sunil Kumar Tiwari. The complainant, a resident of Kaithal, Haryana, had approached the CBI, stating that the suspect was demanding a bribe of ~2 lakh and after negotiation, the amount was fixed at ~70,000. CBI sleuths verified the complaint and laid a trap. The suspect was nabbed from Sector 17 while allegedly taking the bribe. The suspect will be produced in a court tomorrow. CBI officials also carried out a search at the suspect’s house. —TNS A view of the cloudy sky from the Zirakpur flyover on Thursday evening. TRIBUNE PHOTO: RAVI KUMAR Mercury plummets 7°C in city Tribune News Service Chandigarh, April 21 Providing the much-needed respite from hot weather, the day temperature in the city fell by seven degrees today following a drizzle and cool breeze. The maximum temperature, which was 39.9°C yesterday, fell to 32.8°C today. It was after many days that the maximum temperature was below normal. It was three degrees below normal. On the other hand, the minimum temperature was 25.7°C, five degrees above normal. The maximum temperature is expected to rise in the coming days as per the Met Department forecast. The maximum temperature is again expected to touch 40°C by April 25. “The maximum temperature is expected to rise by 2 to 4°C during the next three days. A fresh feeble western disturbance is likely to affect the western Himalayan region from April 24 night,” said a Met Department official. ‘Drunk’ SUV driver hits Sec 8 house wall Chandigarh, April 21 A Toyota Fortuner, being driven by a youth allegedly in an inebriated condition, rammed into the boundary wall of a house in Sector 8 last night. Four youth, including two girls, were riding the SUV at the time of the accident. Bharat Singh, a caretaker who was present in the house, said he, along with other workers, was sleeping when they heard a loud noise around 12.30 am. Everyone rushed outside and found that an SUV had rammed into the boundary wall. The SUV was reportedly being driven at a high speed and was coming from Sector 5 when the accident took place. “The youth driving the SUV was allegedly drunk. The driver was trying to reverse the vehicle to move it out. However, he failed as the vehicle had got stuck,” Was accompanied by two girls, another youth; DDR lodged City logs 6 fresh cases of Covid Four fresh cases surface in P’kula PANCHKULA: The district reported four fresh coronavirus cases on Thursday, taking the overall tally to 44,154. The active caseload stands at 11. The death count is 414. As many as 43,729 people have recovered from the disease so far. —TNS Three more found infected in Mohali MOHALI: The boundary wall of a house in Sector 8, Chandigarh, that was hit by a speeding SUV (top). TRIBUNE PHOTOS Three persons tested positive for Covid in the district during the past 24 hours. Neither any new fatality nor a recovery was reported on Thursday. Meanwhile, a total of 20,01,288 beneficiaries in the district have been given anti-Covid shots till date. As many as 11,33,367 people have been administered the first dose and 8,41,686 of them the second dose as well. — TNS Mohali, April 21 A 51-year-old man riding a motorcycle was killed after being hit by a rashly driven car on the National Highway21 at Balongi last evening. The deceased has been identified as Charanjeet Singh, a resident of Rupalheri village in Fatehgarh Sahib. He was working in a private company and is survived by his wife and two children. The police said Charanjeet Singh continued on page 2 TO BE DEMOLISHED SOON ‘NOWHERE TO GO’ The UT Administration had on February 15 pasted a notice in the colony, asking them to vacate the colony within two months. The DC, Vinay Pratap Singh, said the colony would be demolished soon. Slum dwellers said they had been living here for the past many years and now, they had been asked to vacate their shanties. They said they had nowhere to go and the Administration should accommodate them somewhere in the city, at least under the rental scheme of the Centre. They said the eviction would be contrary to the directions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on providing housing to all in the country. Pratap Singh said the colony would be demolished soon. Perturbed over the decision of the authorities, residents of the colony gathered at a place and decided to meet UT Administrator Banwarilal Sandeep Rana Tribune News Service Chandigarh, April 21 Despite being rejected earlier, the local Municipal Corporation will make another attempt to get the “mandatory” agenda items such as revision of rates for registration of pet dogs and disposal of properties on a freehold basis through in the coming House meeting on April 29. All seven agenda items were rejected after AAP and Congress councillors did not support these following a high drama at the House meeting last month. “All mandatory agenda items will again be brought in the House as we have no option,” said MC Commissioner Anindita Mitra. Interestingly, even after getting an approval from the UT Administration for the eauction properties on a freehold basis, the corporation still has to sell these on a leasehold basis as it is yet to get an approval from the House for the purpose. Naina Mishra ONLINE TESTS BEING CONDUCTED TOO are showing ❝Teacherscourage during remarkable war time. They are taking classes and conducting online tests also. However, when the sirens sound, they have to suspend the classes and hide in bunkers. Malika Kohli, PARENT OF A ❞ STUDENT AT LVIV MEDICAL UNIVERSITY of Kharkiv National Medical University, said the online classes were not being taken regularly as the classes were being taken by teachers while hiding in bunkers. “Only two They said they had nowhere to go and the Administration should accommodate them somewhere in the city, at least under the rental scheme of the Central Government. In continued on page 2 Was rejected earlier as AAP, Cong councillors were not in favour LAST MEETING SAW HIGH DRAMA All seven agenda items were rejected after AAP and Congress councillors did not support these following a high drama at the House meeting last month. Similarly, the construction of the Raipur Kalan gaushala and a cattle pound is set to get delayed further as the MC House is yet to give approval for various works. This agenda is also being brought again so that the construction work does not get affected. The House will also take a call on fixing rates for lifting of construction and demolition waste in the city. Besides, a challaning drive remained halted as the House rejected an agenda for reducing the pet dog bylaws violation fine from ~5,500 to ~500. Back from war-torn country, medicos attend online lessons; only two-three classes in a week Chandigarh, April 21 After weeks of Russian attacks halted classes throughout Ukraine, city students, who had returned from the war-torn country, have started attending online medical classes through Google classrooms. While some teachers have been taking classes while hiding inside bomb shelters, others have evacuated to Poland or Germany. The classes continue till the time the siren sounds and when that happens, the lessons have to be discontinued. Anisha Gupta (23), a resident of Sector 19 and student Purohit tomorrow against their eviction from the colony. The slum dwellers said they had been living here for the past many years and now, they had been asked to vacate their shanties by Saturday. Key agenda to be tabled again at MC meet Ukrainian teachers take classes from bunkers Tribune News Service 51-year-old biker hit by car, dies A view of Colony No. 4, Industrial Area, Chandigarh, on Thursday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: PRADEEP TEWARI CHANDIGARH: The city logged six fresh Covid cases on Thursday. The active caseload has reached 22. The death count remained at 1,165. Meanwhile, three people were cured of the disease. —TNS Bharat said. Bharat said the youth driving the vehicle was caught. A PCR vehicle reached the spot. The police impounded the vehicle and took the youth to the hospital for a medical examination. A DDR has been lodged at the Sector 3 police station. — TNS Chandigarh, April 21 With an intent to make the City Beautiful slum-free, the UT Administration today gave a 48-hour ultimatum to residents of Colony No. 4, Industrial Area, Phase I, to vacate it. An official of the Estate Office said a public announcement was made today in the colony and the residents were asked to vacate it by Saturday. He said the occupants had been told to take away their belongings before the due day otherwise the Administration would not be responsible for damage to their belongings during demolition of the illegal structures in the colony. The UT Administration had on February 15 pasted a notice in the colony, asking them to vacate the colony within two months. “This colony is illegal and will be demolished within two months. It is hereby ordered to vacate it,” read the notice pasted on the wall of a house in the colony. Deputy Commissionercum-Estate Officer Vinay or three classes are being taken in a week by our university teachers, who are in bunkers. The duration of the class is not long and lasts only 45 minutes. The MBBS course is c m y b nothing without practical assessment of patients. During our stay at the university, we were shown surgeries and there was a chance to interact with patients. There is no guarantee whether that will happen again.” Simran Kaur, another Ukraine returnee and fifthyear student at Kharkiv National Medical University, said, “Even though teachers are trying hard, they have not been able to create an environment for classes. For two weeks, there has been no class. Teachers usually come and tell us to prepare on a topic and take tests. Sometimes, they apologise about the situation and say they are sorry. Sometimes when the network is good, they take classes from hospitals and at other times, they hide under the basement of hospitals.” continued on page 2 City Mayor Sarabjit Kaur and MC Commissioner Anindita Mitra at the Kanjur bioreactor and composting plant in Mumbai. MCteamvisitsbioreactor& compost plant in Mumbai Chandigarh, April 21 Sarabjit Kaur, city Mayor, and Anindita Mitra, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, along with a team, today visited the Kanjur bioreactor and composting plant in Mumbai. The team visited the plant where over 5,000 metric tonne waste is processed per day. The team also visited a bioremediation site where over 60 lakh metric tonne legacy waste is processed to produce RDF and bio soil. The team had a meeting with Iqbal Chahal, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Mumbai, and discussed various initiatives. The Mayor said it was a good learning experience and would help the MC in framing detailed project reports and tenders for successful execution. — TNS Brace for unscheduled power cuts in P’kula Tribune News Service Panchkula, April 21 Get ready for power cuts in the coming days. The district unit of the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) has alerted residents about expected unscheduled power cuts in the days ahead due to an “acute shortage of power” in the state and country and has sought their cooperation in the “tough times”. Power cuts could be imposed at any time of the day and the duration could not be fixed, said a senior official, adding that it would totally depend on the demand and supply. UHBVN XEN Sanjeev Sharma said, “Following a sharp rise in Water supply may be affected too SHORTAGE OF SUPPLY Due to a rise in the mercury & increase in power consumption, the state is facing a shortage of supply and Panchkula is no exception. ❝ ❞ Sanjeev Sharma, XEN, UHBVN the temperature and the consequent increase in power consumption, the state is continued on page 2