02052022-CT-01.qxd 5/2/2022 12:56 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh TRIBUNE MONDAY | 2 MAY 2022 | CHANDIGARH PATIALA POLICE HOLD FLAG MARCH TO ENSURE PEACE PAGE 2 Patiala police hold a flag march in Patiala city, Nabha, Rajpura and Patran areas to ensure peace. FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY TRICITY COVID REPORT CHD P’KULA MOHALI POSITIVE 92,069 44,184 95,799 RECOVERED 90,833 43,749 94,597 NEW CASES 9 3 7 ACTIVE 71 21 54 CHANGE 0 2 0 DEATHS 1,165 414 1,148 NEW 0 0 0 AIR QUALITY INDEX CHANDIGARH 183 PANCHKULA 236 MOHALI 203 401-500 301-400 201-300 101-200 51-100 0-50 SEVERE VERY POOR POOR MODERATE SATISFACTORY GOOD INBRIEF P’KULA RESIDENT DUPED OF ~10,000 Chandigarh: A Panchkula resident, Arvind Rana, has alleged that a person, Deepak Grover, allegedly cheated him of ~10,000 by way of an online transaction. A case in this regard has been registered at the Sector 31 police station. TNS MOBILE SNATCHED FROM WOMAN Chandigarh: A woman of Sector 70, Mohali, reported that a pedestrian fled away after snatching her mobile phone along with an ATM card and an Aadhaar card, which were kept in the cover of the phone. The incident took place near the government school in Sector 53. A case has been registered at the Sector 36 police station. TNS PASSERSBY NAB PHONE SNATCHER Mohali: Passersby nabbed a youth fleeing after snatching a mobile of a Lakhnaur resident. The suspect, Afraz Alam, is a Kharar resident. Lakhveer Kaur said she was going on a road near Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar when the suspect snatched her phone. Passersby nabbed him and handed him over to the police. TNS PAGE 3 GST COLLECTION JUMPS 22% THIS APRIL IN CHANDIGARH UT Administration registers an increase of 22 per cent in the gross GST collection in April this year. MAX 38°C | MIN 27°C | YESTERDAY MAX 37.6°C | MIN 27.7°C SUNSET MONDAY 7 PM A former contractual employee arrested for allegedly stealing five computer monitors from two wards of a hospital. SUNRISE TUESDAY 5:38 AM TWITTER/THETRIBUNECHD FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE Razes 2,500 illegal structures in Colony No. 4 | Drive held from 6.30 am to 3 pm sans resistance from residents Dushyant Singh Pundir PARK TO BE SET UP ON 35 ACRES: UT ADVISER Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 1 Amid tight security, the UT Estate Office today demolished nearly 2,500 illegal structures in Colony No. 4 in the Industrial Area, Phase 1. More than 2,000 police personnel and 10 executive magistrates were deputed to carry out peaceful eviction from the colony. Over the apprehension that people of the colony may cause obstruction during the demolition drive, the UT Administration had imposed Section 144 of the CrPC, prohibiting a gathering of five or more people in 500-metre periphery of the colony. The police also blocked roads leading to the colony. Vinay Pratap Singh, Deputy Commissioner-cumEstate Officer, said 65 acres of land, which was reclaimed today, was worth nearly ~2,000 crore and the land originally belonged to the Forest Department and the Estate Office. The whole operation was carried out peacefully and without any resistance from the residents, he said. He said special teams were deputed for helping colony residents in shifting and transporting their belongings. Free carriage transport service was also provided by the UT Administration for smooth eviction from the colony, he said. He said the drive started at 6.30 am and ended at 3 pm. The UT Administration gave seven-day time to the residents of the nearly 40-year-old colony last week to vacate it as EWS flats were allotted to the eligible residents. The drive was carried out with an aim to make the city slum-free. The next on the radar of the Administration was Sanjay Colony in the Industrial Area and Janata Colony in Sector 25 and subsequently, all other remaining slum clusters would be razed in the city, said an official. On development of the 65-acre reclaimed land, UT Adviser Dharam Pal said a beautiful park would be developed within three months on nearly 35 acres that belonged to the UT Forest Department. The remaining 30acre land could be utilised for setting up SMEs for IT-related products or the piece of land could be auctioned for setting up a hospital. He, however, said a final decision would be taken in consultation with the industry. 2,000 COPS 10 EXECUTIVE MAGISTRATES DEPUTED 10,000 rendered homeless, UT move draws flak Women watch as the UT Administration carries out a demolition drive at Colony No. 4, Industrial Area, Phase 1, in Chandigarh on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTOS: RAVI KUMAR (Left) Residents load their belongings in a truck; and (above) a child carries household items after the demolition drive in Colony No. 4, Industrial Area, Phase 1, Chandigarh, on Sunday. Based on a biometric survey of Colony No. 4 carried out by the Estate Office, a list of 658 residents was sent to the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) on April 29. A camp was organised in the office of the SDM (East) for provisional allotment of flats under the affordable rental housing scheme at the Maloya housing complex. Of the 658 residents, 299 came up for registration. Following that, a draw of lots was conducted and 290 residents were given EWS flats on a rental basis. Today, a camp was organised by the CHB at the Maloya Housing Complex for completing the remaining formalities/documentation and handing over of possession of the flats. About 125 officers/officials of the CHB have been deputed for early completion of the work and about 250 of the 290 successful applicants have been given possession. The Municipal Corporation and the Electricity Department are providing Admn allows unvaccinated children to attend exams, practicals in offline mode TRIBUNE PHOTO: PRADEEP TEWARI Tribune News Service Colourful lights put up on poles on the road separating Sector 14 and Sector 11 were on in Panchkula on Sunday. P’kula MC to keep fancy lights off to save power Panchkula, May 1 Facing public criticism, the Panchkula Municipal Corporation has decided to keep off decorative and fancy lights near roundabouts and electricity poles for “a few days” to conserve electricity in view of the severe power shortage. Due to the power crisis, cuts have become a regular feature in the city for the past couple of weeks. The Municipal Corporation has put up fancy lights across sectors under a beautification initiative. However, residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) had been condemning the MC PAGE 3 UT reclaims 65 acres worth ~2,000 crore TRIBUNE PHOTO: RAVI KUMAR Tribune News Service EX-EMPLOYEE HELD FOR STEALING FIVE MONITORS FROM HOSPITAL Decision taken after public criticism in the wake of power cuts for keeping these lights on at the time of the power crisis. Consequently, residents had been struggling to meet their daily water requirements as the cuts coincide with the water supply timings during the morning and evening hours. Haryana Speaker and local MLA Gian Chand Gupta yesterday spoke to the HSVP and the UHBVN about the resolution on the issue. Subhash Papneja, a resident of continued on page 3 Chandigarh, May 1 Unvaccinated students have been allowed by the UT Administration to attend exams or practicals in the physical mode with Covidappropriate behaviour. So far, only 53 per cent children in the age group 12 to 14 have been vaccinated with the first dose of Corbevax, while 96 per cent children from 15 years to 18 years have taken the first dose of Covaxin. The UT Health Department wants to achieve 100 per cent vaccination of all eligible children by May 15. Dharam Pal, Adviser to the Administrator, today reviewed the status of the Covid vaccination in detail with Yashpal Garg, Secretary, Health, UT. Dharam Pal said to protect unvaccinated children from the Covid infection, the Education Department should strictly follow the decision of restricting unvaccinated students in the age group of 12 to 18 from attending classes in the physical mode from May 4. However, unvaccinated students have been allowed UT WITNESSES NINE FRESH CASES Chandigarh: The city witnessed nine fresh cases of Covid on Sunday, taking the active case count to 71. So far, the virus has claimed 1,165 lives in the city. TNS THREE FRESH CASES SURFACE IN PANCHKULA Heavy rush at a vaccination centre at Sukhna Lake on Sunday. NO OFFLINE CLASS FOR THOSE NOT JABBED PVT HOSPITALS’ VACCINE STOCK TO BE REPLACED UT Adviser Dharam Pal said to protect unvaccinated children from Covid, the Education Department should strictly follow the decision of restricting unvaccinated students in the age group of 12 to 18 from attending classes in the physical mode from May 4. The UT Health Department has requested private hospitals to immediately review their vaccine stock. Covid vaccines, which are nearing expiry up to June 30, will be replaced within next week with a fresh stock of similar vaccines available with the Health Department. to attend the exams or practicals in the physical mode. Persons aged above 60 and health and frontline workers are being given the free booster dose at government health facilities. However, persons aged above 18 are being given paid booster shots at private health facilities. As on date, about 40,000 persons have been given the third dose in the city. “Though Covid-19 vaccination has picked up during last week, yet the coverage continued on page 3 c m y b Panchkula: The district reported three fresh coronavirus cases on Sunday. The active caseload now stands at 21. The death count is 414. As many as 43,749 people have recovered from the virus so far. TNS SEVEN MORE CONTRACT VIRUS IN MOHALI DIST Mohali:Seven fresh Covid cases surfaced in the district during the past 24 hours, taking the total number of positive cases to 95,799, while a similar number of patients recovered from the disease. No new death was reported from any part of the district on Sunday. There are now 54 active cases. The death toll stands at 1,148. TNS electricity and water connections at the camp itself. Yashpal Garg, Chief Executive Officer, CHB, said nearly 3,000 small flats had been allotted to residents of the colony in the past nearly three years. With the drive, nearly 10,000 persons have become homeless. People living in the colony started removing their belongings as soon as the drive was launched. Many residents broke down on seeing their houses razed to the ground. Many of them went to nearby colonies to take dwelling units on rent. Many of them decided to go back to their villages to make a living. Raman Kumar, a resident of the colony, said he had four children and no place to go. He said he was living in the colony for the past over 10 years and immediately, he would try to take a room on rent for the time being. Expressing similar sentiments, Ram Narayan, who was carrying his belongings on a rehri, said he would now look for a house on rent. He said he never thought that one day his house would be demolished like this. Deendayal, who was living in the colony for the past over 20 years, said suddenly the Administration bulldozed his house before his eyes and he, how, had to think whether to live in the city or go back to his native village in Barabanki continued on page 3 3 rob man of mobile, ATM card, withdraw ~40K, held Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 1 Three youths have been arrested by the local police for allegedly robbing a man of his mobile phone and an ATM card. The suspects later used the ATM card to withdraw ~40,000 and purchase three mobile phones worth around ~60,000. The complainant, Chhote Lal, a resident of Uttar Pradesh (UP), had hired an auto for Sector 17 from the ISBT, Sector 43, on April 27. In the meantime, three youths also sat in the auto. The suspects started arguing with the auto driver over the fare following which he dropped the three suspects and the complainant near the Sector 53 roundabout. The police said the three suspects started following the complainant and one of them fled towards Sector 52 after snatching his mobile phone. The other two suspects thrashed the complainant and robbed him of his ATM card and a bag containing clothes. The suspects then escaped from the spot. The police were informed Purchased three phones worth ~60,000 SUSPECTS WORK AS LABOURERS ■ The suspects have been identified as Sunil Paswan (23), Madan Paswan (23) and Rahul Kumar, alias Bittu Kumar Dass (24), all natives of Bihar who work as labourers and reside in Dera Bassi. ■ During the investigation, the robbed mobile phone, a bag and ~5,000 were recovered. The three mobile phones worth ~60,000 were also recovered. about the incident following which a case was registered at the Sector 36 police station. The police said the complainant’s bank statement was obtained and it was found that ~60,000 was transferred to Shruti Communication, a mobile phone store in Zirakpur. Further investigation revealed that the three youths had purchased mobile phones from the shop. The police then traced and nabbed the suspects, identified as Sunil Paswan (23), Madan Paswan (23) and continued on page 3