08032023-CT-01.qxd 3/8/2023 12:21 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune JUVENILE AMONG 3 NABBED FOR AMBALA MAN’S MURDER CENTRE TO HELP FRAME ROAD SAFETY POLICY SET UP AT PEC CONTRACT STAFF OF SPORTS DEPARTMENT AWAIT SALARIES Three persons, including a juvenile, arrested in connection with murder of yoga instructor Mano Ram. P2 Chandigarh Centre of Excellence in Road Safety to study challenges and prepare a policy on road safety. P3 Contract staff with the UT Sports Department have not received salaries since January. P3 » » MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 29°C | MIN 13°C YESTERDAY MAX 28.9°C | MIN 13.2°C SUNSET WEDNESDAY 6.26 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 6.40 AM » WEDNESDAY | 8 MARCH 2023 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST TWITTER/THETRIBUNECHD FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE Five months on, 23 charging stations yet to power up EVs Will sign MoU with private firm to run facilities after Holi, says UT Dushyant Singh Pundir Tribune News Service COLOUR RIOT Students celebrate Holi at Student Centre in Panjab University on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: PRADEEP TEWARI Flu cases surge in city hospitals AIR QUALITY INDEX CHANDIGARH 171 PANCHKULA 79 MOHALI 401-500 301-400 201-300 101-200 51-100 0-50 83 SEVERE VERY POOR POOR MODERATE SATISFACTORY GOOD INBRIEF TWO HELD FOR STEALING BIKE Chandigarh: Two persons have been arrested by the UT police for stealing a motorcycle. Complainant Ajay Singh of Sector 47 alleged Arjun Shata (20) of Khuda Jassu and Rohit (18) of Nayagaon stole his motorcycle parked in Sector 47. A case has been registered at the Sector 31 police station. TNS CYCLIST INJURED IN HIT-&-RUN Chandigarh: A 58-year-old cyclist was injured after being hit by an unidentified vehicle on the road separating Sectors 7 and 8. Complainant Ajmer Singh, a resident of Kishangarh, claimed the vehicle sped away after hitting him. The victim was admitted to the GMSH, Sector 16. A case has been registered at the Sector 26 police station and an investigation initiated. TNS Couple, girl snatch chain in Kharar, held Mohali, March 7 A couple along with their female accomplice was nabbed after they allegedly snatched a chain from a local resident by pointing a toy gun at Micro Homes, Kharar, here this afternoon. Victim Sunita, 35, was returning home after picking up her child from school around 1.30 pm when the three came on a bike and stopped in front of her. One of the girls lunged at the victim and tried to pull away the chain, while the other waited nearby. The victim resisted, but the attacker pulled out a toy gun and threatened to shoot her. The girl pulled away the chain, which broke and fell down. She picked it up and the three fled the scene. The victim raised the alarm after which passersby reportedly nabbed the three suspects. While Kanwaljit Singh was continued on page 2 Chandigarh, March 7 As the H3N2 influenza virus spreads rapidly across the country, hospitals in the city are reporting an increase in flu cases. Patients are flocking to emergency wards with symptoms such as fever, body aches, cough and sore throat. The H3N2 influenza virus is known for its severity and can cause serious complications, especially in young children, elderly people and those with weakened immune systems. Health officials in the UT are urging people to take all necessary H3N2 INFLUENZA Virus is known for severity and can cause symptoms and complications more severe than general flu. It is particularly dangerous for kids, elderly people and those with weakened immune systems SYMPTOMS ■ Can be similar to general flu such as fever, body ache, cough, sore throat ■ More severe symptoms include breathing difficulty, chest pain precautions to avoid getting sick. A senior physician at the PGI said: “We have been see- ing an increase in the number of patients with flu-like symptoms for the past few weeks. It is important for people to take this seriously and take all necessary precautions to avoid getting sick.” Health officials say they are prepared to handle the situation and are taking steps to prevent the spread of flu. “We are closely monitoring the situation and are taking all necessary measures to prevent the spread of flu. We urge people to get vaccinated, practice good hygiene and continued on page 2 Chandigarh, March 7 Even after fixing the rates more than five months ago, the charging stations for electric vehicles are yet to be made operational in the city. The UT Administration had notified the Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy on September 20 and fixed the charging tariff at Rs 8 per unit for slow and moderate charging, Rs 10 per unit for fast charging and Rs 11 per unit for battery swapping. However, it will take a few more days to make the facility available to the consumers. Debendra Dalai, Chief Executive Officer of the Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science & Technology Promotion Society (CREST), the nodal agency for the implementation of the EV policy, said the charging stations were ready and they would sign a memorandum of understanding with a private firm finalised to run the charging stations after Holi. Tenders were invited to run the charging stations and rates were fixed on the basis of bids received. The work to make the charging stations operational had been awarded to Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments Limited (REIL), a public sector under- An e-charging facility being used for parking of vehicles in Sector 24, Chandigarh. PHOTO: PRADEEP TEWARI REGISTRATION OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES IN UT YEAR 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2-WHEELERS 29 18 11 120 795 134* 4-WHEELERS 4 7 35 120 266 54 (*97 e-scooters registered since UT’s Feb 10 curbs) INFRA IN PLACE AT 9 LOCATIONS 37 charging stations planned by admn at 15 locations in city 23 already installed and are ready to use at 9 locations 92 fast-charging guns at 23 charging stations 44 more charging stations coming up in city, work allotted to firms 328 e-vehicles can be charged at a time at these locations 26 locations to offer battery-swap facility fast-charging sanctioned under ❝As many as 23and energisedstations of the 37 operational shortly.the FAME-II India scheme have been installed and will be made ❞ Debendra Dalai, CEO, CREST taking. The UT has already installed 23 charging stations at nine locations across the city. These stations will have a total of 92 charging guns, through which an equal number of vehicles can be charged simultaneously. “As many as 23 fast-charging stations, of the 37 sanctioned under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME-II) India scheme, have been installed and energised, and will be made operational shortly,” says Dalai. continued on page 2 GMADArakesinrecord~1,935 cr at e-auction Mohali, March 7 The Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) generated record Rs 1,935.88 crore at an e-auction of various properties that concluded late last evening. This was the highest-ever revenue earned by GMADA in a single e-auction, said Punjab Housing and Urban Development Minister Aman Arora. The properties auctioned included group housing sites, commercial land, nursing home, IT industrial plots, SCOs and booths located at different GMADA project sites such as IT City, Aerocity and other sectors of SAS Nagar. The e-auction had commenced on February 17. All six group housing sites up for auction found buyers. The highest bid of Rs 325.59 crore was received for 8-acre group housing site No. 7 located in Sector 83 Alpha, IT City. The group housing site No. 8, also measuring around 8 acres, at the same location was auctioned for Rs 293.49 crore. Similarly, group housing site No. 5 at Sector 88 went for Rs 301.21 crore, while site No. 4 in 6 group housing sites among 47 properties find takers GROUP HOUSING SITE GOES FOR ~325.59 CR LOCATION Sec 83 Sec 88 Sec 83 Sec 66 Sec 88 Sec 66 BID ~325.59 cr ~301.21 cr ~293.49 cr ~211.32 cr ~197.47 cr ~147.72 cr the sector was auctioned for Rs 197.47 crore. Another site measuring 4.40 acres in Sector 66 attracted a bid of Rs 211.32 crore, while a second site in the sector fetched Rs 147.72 crore. A commercial chunk of Aerocity drew a bid of Rs 203.80 crore while a nursing home site in Sector 69 was auctioned for Rs 13.94 crore. Besides, it had offered nine IT industrial plots in IT City, all of which were auctioned. Further, 19 SCOs and 38 booths in Sector 69 were put up for auction, of which two SCOs and 28 booths were disposed of. — TNS 2-bedroom flat fetches CHB ~1.03 cr Tribune News Service Chandigarh, March 7 The Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) has again failed to attract buyers for its commercial properties put up for auction on a leasehold basis despite reducing the reserve prices by 10 per cent. However, its two-bedroom flat has fetched a price of Rs 1.03 crore. The CHB had invited e-bids for the sale of its 44 residential units on a freehold basis and 92 commercial units on a leasehold basis. The bids were opened today as per the schedule and the board could sell only eight residential units on a freehold basis and two commercial units on a leasehold basis. The eight freehold residential units fetched Rs 4.26 crore against the total reserve price of Rs 4.11 crore. Similarly, the CHB earned a revenue of Rs 93.02 lakh with the sale of two commercial units on a leasehold basis against the reserve price of Rs 86 lakh. In MAKES ~5.19 CRORE BY SELLING 10 UNITS total, the board earned Rs 5.19 crore from the sale of the 10 units against the reserve price of Rs 4.97 crore. A two-bedroom flat in Sector 51-A went for Rs 1.03 crore against the reserve price of Rs 95.34 lakh. Similarly, a two- bedroom flat in Sector 51-A went for Rs 97.01 lakh, against the reserve price of Rs 95.34 lakh. Another two-bedroom flat in Sector 51-A went for Rs 93.52 lakh against the reserve price of Rs 92.78 lakh. Most of the residential units put up for auction were located in Sectors 51-A, 49-B and 38 (West) and Mani Majra. Yashpal Garg, CEO, CHB, said during the past 11 months (April 2021 to February 2022), the board sold 170 units and netted a total of Rs 115.46 crore. Garg said though the response was good for residential properties, despite slashing the reserve price of commercial properties by 10 %, people had not shown interest in commercial properties due to the leasehold factor. He said the highest bidder was required to make 25% payment by March 15 to avoid forfeiture of earnest money deposit and blacklisting from future tendering processes. MC mulls buying leachate machine MC to spend ~2.39 cr on DUMPING GROUND 5 months on, finds hiring one a costly affair shamlat land fencing Sandeep Rana HALF THE UPKEEP COST Tribune News Service Chandigarh, March 7 Five months after the Municipal Corporation hired a leachate suction machine to lift and clean liquid discharge from manholes/road gullies at the Dadu Majra dumping ground and move it to the Sewage Treatment Plant, Maloya, the civic body has now realised buying the equipment costs nearly half the amount. “It has been found the cost of procuring a machine is less than that of hiring. The annu- ■ In Nov, MC hired a suction machine for six months to lift and clean leachate from dump site and discharge it at treatment plant ■ It realised while the annual cost of operation and upkeep of machine was ~31L, purchasing cost half the amount i.e. ~17.50L al expenditure on operation and maintenance of the machine i.e. tractor with a suction machine comes to around Rs 31 lakh, while the cost of tractor with the machine is Rs 17.50 lakh,” said an MC report. Keeping this in mind, the MC now proposes to purchase a leachate suction machine. A final call continued on page 2 c m y b Chandigarh, March 7 With the UT Administration deciding to transfer shamlat land in all UT villages to the Municipal Corporation, the civic body has prepared an estimate of Rs 2.39 cr to fence off the property to avoid encroachment. An estimated length of the proposed periphery of shamlat land is 6 km. The proposal for providing and fixing fencing around various vacant lands will be tabled at the next MC House meeting for approval. At present, different open grounds or various shamlat lands are being encroached upon or are in a state of neglect with people throwing debris and garbage, leading to insanitary conditions in the neighbouring residential area. The MC had fenced off its area and even raised the matter with the UT Administration regarding the same about its land. Since all villages were with the corporation now, the administration continued on page 2 The suspect arrested by the Anti-Narcotics Cell was cultivating opium in the backyard of his house at Tipra village of Kalka, Panchkula. After Morni seizure, 720 poppy saplings found at Kalka house Tribune News Service Panchkula, March 7 A day after the Chief Minister’s flying squad seized more than 1,500 plants of opium poppy at Thandog Badiyal village in Morni block, the Anti-Narcotics Cell of the Panchkula police today arrested a man for cultivating opium at Tipra village in Kalka subdivision on Tuesday. The suspect has been identified as Mahipal, a resident of the village. According to information, the suspect was cultivating opium in the courtyard of his house. In view of a rise in drug trafficking cases in the district, the police had been put on alert. Following yesterday’s bust, the police had received a tip-off that a huge quantity of opium had been cultivat- Tipra village resident held for cultivating opium ed at a house in Tipra village. The team led by Surendra Pal, in-charge of the Anti-Narcotics Cell, raided Mahipal’s house and found more than 720 saplings planted there. On seeing the police, the suspect tried to flee, but the police nabbed him after a brief chase. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered against the suspect at the Kalka police station. The police interrogated him about the cultivation besides his involvement in drug trafficking. The police also interrogated him about his network in Kalka and Pinjore. The suspect was produced in a local court, which remanded him in judicial custody.