27052022-CT-01.qxd 5/27/2022 12:50 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh TRIBUNE FRIDAY | 27 MAY 2022 | CHANDIGARH EDU SECRETARY CARRIES OUT INSPECTION AT FIVE SCHOOLS PAGE 2 Says infrastructure in schools should be upgraded before the start of classes after the summer vacation. FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY TRICITY COVID REPORT CHD P’KULA MOHALI POSITIVE 92,359 44,327 96,002 RECOVERED 91,100 43,888 94,809 NEW CASES 23 4 3 ACTIVE 77 25 44 CHANGE 17 8 5 DEATHS 1,165 414 1,149 NEW 0 0 1 AIR QUALITY INDEX 174 PANCHKULA 81 MOHALI 103 SEVERE VERY POOR POOR MODERATE SATISFACTORY GOOD MAX 38°C | MIN 25°C | YESTERDAY MAX 36.6°C | MIN 23.7°C SUNSET FRIDAY 7:16 PM INBRIEF PURSE SNATCHED IN SECTOR 44 Chandigarh: A motorcycleborne miscreant snatched a purse from a woman in Sector 44. She was returning home from a nearby market on May 23 when the suspect snatched her purse conatching a mobile phone, documents and ~2,000. A case was registered at the Sector 34 police station. TNS SUNRISE SATURDAY 5:23 AM MAN BOOKED ON CHEATING CHARGE Chandigarh: The UT police have registered a cheating case on a complaint of Japinder Singh Walia, who reported that he had purchased a car from Harish Mittu, alias Vicky, who resides in Sector 70, Mohali. The suspect told the victim that the car was in a good condition, but it later emerged that it was declared “total loss” by an insurance firm. The complainant asked the suspect to return ~9.21 lakh paid by him, but the suspect refused. TNS THE TRIBUNE SPECIAL Sandeep Rana Tribune News Service A file photo of an illegal PG in Sector 32-D, that had caught fire, resulting in the death of three students; and (right) a “to let” board installed outside a house in Sector 15, Chandigarh. WHAT PGS NEED FOR FIRE NOC ‘INSPECT SUCH PLACES’ the absence ❝ InillegalPGsareofany check, ISI-marked fire Automated Illuminated exit Exclusive terrace extinguishers sprinkler system signboards water tank for fire A hose reel system and manually operated electronic fire alarm system in the case of over 15 rooms ‘WILL CONDUCT SURVEY’ We will conduct a survey regarding the fire NOC and take necessary action. Anindita Mitra, MC COMMISSIONER ❝ PAGE 3 PCA witnesses a change of guard as it elects new office-bearers during its annual general meeting in Mohali. No lessons learnt, only 70 PGs have fire NOC Chandigarh, May 26 Even two years after the fire safety certificate was made mandatory for paying guest (PG) accommodations following the death of three girl students in a PG fire mishap, only 70 have bothered to procure the fire no-objection certificate (NOC). After several fire-safety violations were found by officials in the Sector 32 PG accommodation, an NOC from the Fire Department was made mandatory for the registration of any (PG) accommodation. However, of the hundreds of PGs which operate in the city, only a handful have done the needful. PGs have mushroomed in almost all sectors, but most of these are located in Sector 15, 21, 22, 32, 34, 35 and 36. During a random check in some sectors by a team of Chandigarh Tribune, PG boards were found missing outside houses. The PG boards have been replaced with “To let” or “on rent’ boards. Sector 15, where a number of houses used to have boards displaying “PG available”, had “To let” boards. On being contacted, Neeraj, who had displayed his phone number on a “To let” board, said, “We provide PGs and a have number of such facilities continued on page 2 GULZARINDER IS NEW PUNJAB CRICKET ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT Owners of electric vehicles to soon get a facility to exchange drained out batteries with fully charged ones in UT. Was made mandatory after 3 girls died in a fire mishap CHANDIGARH 401-500 301-400 201-300 101-200 51-100 0-50 PAGE 3 EXCHANGE BATTERIES AT 26 LOCATIONS IN CITY SOON mushrooming in the city. The authorities must inspect places where PGs are being run in the guise of rented accommodation. The authorities wake up only when some mishap occurs. ❞ Baljinder Singh Bittu, CHAIRMAN, FOSWAC TWITTER/THETRIBUNECHD FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE Newspaper vendor dies as speeding Thar hits scooter Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 26 A 50-year-old newspaper vendor, who was on his way to distribute newspapers, died after the scooter he was riding was hit by a speeding Thar at the Sector 17/18 light point on Madhya Marg this morning. The Thar was being driven by a 21-year-old youth, identified as Apram, a resident of Sector 33. He studies in Sonepat. He managed to escape from the spot, leaving the damaged vehicle behind. The victim has been identified as Balbir Singh Rana, a resident of Kishangarh, who was on his way to Sector 22 to collect newspaper bundles for distribution when the Thar coming from behind hit the scooter. The police received information about the accident at 4.54 am following which a PCR vehicle was rushed to the spot. The victim was shifted to GMSH, Sector 16, where doctors declared him brought dead. The police have registered a case The Thar that hit the scooter (below) at the Sector 17/18 light point on Thursday morning. TRIBUNE PHOTOS: MANOJ MAHAJAN YOUNG DRIVER ESCAPES The Thar driver, Apram (21), managed to escape from the spot, leaving the damaged vehicle behind. The victim has been identified as Balbir Singh Rana, a resident of Kishangarh, who was on his way to Sector 22 to collect newspaper bundles for distribution when the speeding Thar coming from behind hit the scooter. under Sections 279, 337 and 304-A of the IPC at the Sector 17 police station. Balbir worked as a newspaper ven- Mohali sees Covid death after 84 days, 3 new cases Tribune News Service Officer caught taking ~30K bribe for fire NOC Mohali, May 26 After nearly three months, a person succumbed to Covid in the district during the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 1,149. The last fatality in the district was reported on March 2. Meanwhile, three fresh Covid cases surfaced in the district during dor for the past over two decades. He is survived by wife and three children, including two daughters. UT reports 23 cases CHANDIGARH: The city witnessed 23 fresh Covid cases on Thursday, taking the active caseload to 94. While there was no fresh fatality, six patients recovered from the disease. — TNS Mohinder, a resident of Gandhi Colony, shows the bill issued by the Electricity Department outside his shanty at the MDC, Sector 4, in Panchkula on Thursday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: RAVI KUMAR Power shocker for jhuggi dweller Runs from pillar to post to get inflated bill of ~3.18L rectified Sanjay Bumbroo Tribune News Service Panchkula, May 26 An inflated electricity bill of ~3.18 lakh has been giving sleepless nights to a jhuggi dweller for the past several months at Gandhi Colony in the Mansa Devi Complex here. Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, Mohinder, who has blurry vision in one of his eyes, said his ordeal began in October last year when he received a bill of ~3,18,837 while the units consumed were shown as 36,732.82 during the period for which the bill was raised. Mohinder said he had been running from pillar to post for the past seven months to seek the redressal of his grievance, but to no avail. He said besides taking up the case with the Chief Engineer, Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN), he had also uploaded his complaint on OFFICIALSPEAK Executive Engineer Bhupinder Wadhawan said there could be some fault in the billing process or in the electricity meter. The consumer should submit his complaint to his office. They would get the electricity meter checked and get the bill rectified after checking the records. the UHBVN site for which he had to pay ~200. Mohinder said he used to receive an average electricity bill between ~2,500 and ~3,000 after every two months. He was prompt in paying the bills. He was shocked to receive the bill of ~3.18 lakh. When he contacted the officials concerned in this regard, they said he would have to pay the entire amount and the bill would be corrected after checking the records. He said he was eking out a living by whitewashing houses on a daily-wage basis. As he had blurry vision in one of his eyes, he was unable to get work most of the time. He only had a TV set, a fan, a refrigerator and a bulb at his house. He was making rounds of the electricity office till April this year, but failed to get any resolution. His wife Rupwati, who works as a housemaid in flats in nearby societies, said she had to work to earn a living for a family of seven, including five children. She, along with her husband, had visited the house of the local MLA to inform him about their grievance, but the security person did not allow them to meet the legislator. The suspect has been identified as Surjit Singh, who was posted at the Sector 11 fire station. Sources said Surjit had demanded a bribe to give the fire NOC to a showroom. The complainant approached the CBI follow- ing which a trap was laid and the suspect was nabbed while taking the bribe. The CBI has registered a case against the suspect. A search was carried out at the suspect’s house. He will be produced in a court tomorrow. — TNS Now, pay property tax with rebate in city till July 31 Chandigarh, May 26 A fire officer of the Fire and Emergency Services, Municipal Corporation (MC), Chandigarh, was today arrested by the CBI for allegedly taking a bribe of ~30,000 for giving a fire NOC. Nagla road gives residents a bumpy ride Chandigarh, May 26 The last date to deposit property tax with rebate has been extended by two months i.e. up to July 31 in the city. Despite the rebate, 68 per cent building owners have failed to pay property tax so far. According to the MC, there are 1.06 lakh house tax payers in the city. Of them, only 38,000 owners have cleared it so far. Of the 30,000 commercial tax payers, only 10,000 have paid the levy. A sum of around ~24 crore has been collected as the tax for the current fiscal from April 1 till now. Now, residential property taxpayers will get a rebate of 20 per cent and commercial property taxpayers 10 per cent till July 31. After that, there will be a penalty of 25 per cent and 12 per cent interest on the tax dues sans rebate. — TNS Gaurav Kanthwal 4 cases in Panchkula the past 24 hours, taking the tally to 96,002. Seven more patients recovered from the disease in the district. PANCHKULA: Four fresh Covid cases surfaced in the district in the past 24 hours, taking the tally to 44,327. No new death was reported during this period. — TNS STATE OF CIVIC AMENITIES Tribune News Service Zirakpur, May 26 Residents of several major housing societies such as Maya Garden City, Escon Arena, La Prisma and Altura located on the Nagla road are facing the daily inconvenience of commuting on a bad stretch of the Nagla road. The single-lane road with oversized craters, broken tiles and uneven surface poses a safety hazard to them day in and day out. The manholes jut out on the one side of the road, damaging vehicles daily. At great risk are buses of several educational institutions, which ply on this road ferrying children of the vicinity. The stretch from the Singhpura chowk to Manav Mangal School remains risky even though it has been partially widened and repaired. The deplorable condition of continued on page 2 A potholed Nagla road at Zirakpur. TRIBUNE PHOTO: NITIN MITTAL CHAOS ON ROAD ‘NOT IN MY PURVIEW’ COUNCILLORSPEAK ❝A 600-metre stretch ❝I will look intoasthe in front of the housing issue and revert the of the ❝Office-bearersallow civic body do not societies is in bad shape. During the day, there is chaos on the potholed road. VP Arora, president, development works of the civic body in the area are not in my purview. development works here because it falls in my (Opposition) ward. Girish Verma, ZIRAKPUR MUNICIPAL Dharminder Sharma, ROYALE CITY HOUSE OWNERS WELFARE ASSN COUNCIL EXECUTIVE OFFICER WARD NO. 18 COUNCILLOR ❞ ❞ ❞ No CAT-III for city airport; shorter route proposed Chandigarh, May 26 Nearly seven years after a petition was filed in public interest claiming that the Chandigarh international airport had failed to take off to the desired heights even after spending ~1,400 crore, the UT Administration today told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that two of its proposals would bring the airport closer to the people by nearly 8 km. The Bench hearing the mat- c m y b ter was also told by the Union of India/India Air Force that the issue regarding the installation of instrument landing system “CAT-III B” at the airport had been “rested” and the issue stood closed. Appearing before the Bench of Chief Justice Ravi Shanker Jha and Justice Arun Palli during the hearing of the petition filed in public interest by the Mohali Industries Association, UT senior standing WHAT THE UT TOLD HC ■ The UT told the HC that two of its proposals would bring the airport closer to people by nearly 8 km ■ The Bench was told by the Union of India/IAF that the issue regarding the installation of instrument landing system “CATIII B” at the airport stood closed counsel Anil Mehta submitted that two “alternative shorter routes” had been pro- posed by the Administration for approaching the airport. As of now, city residents had to travel 11 km to reach the airport. One of the proposed routes to the airport would reduce the distance to just about 2.85 km. The other proposed route would mean travelling for just about 3.32 km. Mehta also told that a joint meeting between the UT Administration, the Union Ministry of Defence, the air- port authorities and the state of Punjab, among others, would now be held to finalise one of the two routes. The Bench, during the course of the hearing, was also told that the requisite working permission for timely construction of the Southern Taxi Track (STT) was accorded by the IAF “The construction . work had been completed by the Airports Authority of India continued on page 2