10092024-CT-01.qxd 09-09-2024 23:38 Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune HEALTH SERVICES HIT AS DOCTORS GO ON STRIKE PANCHKULA AAP PRESIDENT RANJIT UPPAL JOINS BJP ~500 CR BREACHED, STREE 2 MOVIEAMONG TOP 5 GROSSERS Services in hospitals, dispensaries of Fatehgarh Sahib district affected as doctors strike work. P2 Says the party failed to announce any candidate and was seeking seat sharing with Cong instead. P2 Amar Kaushik, director of franchise Stree, hints at threequel, as he says ‘let us be just what we are’. P4 » » PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 35°C | MIN 26°C YESTERDAY MAX 35.5°C | MIN 26.2°C SUNSET TUESDAY 6.35 PM SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 6:04 AM » TUESDAY | 10 SEPTEMBER 2024 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST TWITTER/THETRIBUNECHD FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE Cash-strapped MC plans study tour for councillors Most previous trips had failed to serve purpose, drawn criticism over ‘wastage of public money’ WHAT’S ON CHANDIGARH Kathak dance performance by Sree Bandyopadhyay: Being organised by Pracheen Kala Kendra at ML Koser Indoor Auditorium, PKK Complex, Sector 35-B, September 11, 6:30 pm, entry on firstcome-first-served basis Exhibition ‘The Dreamland’: By Navpreet Kaur, Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi’s Open Hand Art Studios, Le Corbusier Centre, Sector 19, on till September 15 APNI MANDI Chandigarh: Sectors 29, 56 and Dhanas Mohali: Sector 71 Panchkula: Sector 15 Please send information about events in tricity at: whatson@tribunemail.com INBRIEF ~11 LAKH STOLEN FROM SEC 9 HOUSE Chandigarh: Prem Sharma has reported that someone entered his house in Sector 9 after breaking the lock and stole a case containing Rs 11 lakh cash. The police have registered a case at the Sector 3 police station and started an investigation. TNS Sandeep Rana Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 9 The Municipal Corporation has planned a study tour. However, this proposed visit seems unnecessary given the acute financial crisis in the civic body, which is struggling to release the salaries of its employees on time. The councillors are expected to leave for the tour by the end of this month. Surat, New Mumbai, Guwahati and Kerala are on the itinerary. Mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor today held a meeting with five councillors from different political parties in his office to decide on the tour. The MC has set aside Rs 50 lakh budget for study tour this fiscal. The civic body organises tours of popular locations every year in the name of studying various projects in those cities. Most of the previous tours had failed to serve the purpose and attracted criticism for wasting public money. After two BJP Mayors Sarbjit Kaur and Anup Gupta, the incumbent AAP Mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor is continuing with this annual study tour of councillors. Last year, a delegation of councillors and officers, led by Mayor Anup Gupta, Municipal Commissioner Anindita Mitra, visited the solid waste management plants situated in North and South Goa. In a first, residents of Dadu Majra were also made part of the tour. FILE PAST TOURS ■ 2023: Councillors and officers visit the solid waste management plants in North and South Goa ■ 2022:21 councillors and around three officials visit a biomethanation plant in Indore’s and NEERI in Nagpur’s, which cost the MC ~14 lakh ■ 2019: Five-day tour of Leh held to pay obeisance at Gurdwara Pathar Sahib (~10 lakh) ■ 2017: A visit by 32 councillors, officers to Mumbai, Pune and Visakhapatnam to study sanitation and water supply (~18 lakh) ■ 2014:Nine-day tour undertaken by a delegation of 39 persons, including 19 councillors and their kin, to Chennai, Port Blair and Kolkata to study projects (~28.50 lakh) ■ 2013: Six councillors and three officers visit Delhi to study water supply. Also, the then Mayor, commissioner and XEN During the tenure of former mayor Sarbjit Kaur in 2022, the MC had planned a tour of Goa and Mumbai, but then UT Administrator and Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit turned down the proposal and changed the loca- visit Israel at a cost of ~7 lakh ■ 2010:14 councillors and two officials visit Kolkata and Gangtok to study roads, horticulture, etc (~16 lakh) ■ 2007: 18 councillors and two officials visit Singapore and Bangkok (Rs 15 lakh) tions to Indore and Nagpur. Councillors had taken their families along on one such tour. Some pictures of them Submit traffic challans for In sync Lok Adalat in advance Ramkrishan Upadhyay Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 9 To avoid heavy rush, the District Courts here will start accepting traffic challans from September 11 for the National Lok Adalat to be held on September 14. Residents can submit their challans from September 11 to September 13 during the working hours at the court. They will be asked to go directly to the court concerned on the day of the Lok Adalat. An officer of the court said these steps were being taken to avoid the rush on September 14. A list will be pasted at the entrance of the ground floor with details of the courts where the challans will be disposed of. Help desks will also be set up to guide the residents. merrymaking at famous tourist spots had gone viral. Councillors had claimed they visited those sites after the scheduled tour of the project sites during the day. Doubts have been raised time and again over the utility and productivity of such study tours. Residents even ask councillors to present a “utilisation” report after each study tour and share what projects have been implemented in the city based on knowledge gained after visiting projects in other cities. Slamming the MC on the proposed tour, Baljinder Singh Bittu, chairman, Federation of Sectors Welfare Association Chandigarh, said, “What kind of study is this? Have they been able to TRIBUNE PHOTO: VICKY District Courts to accept cases from Sept 11 to 13 The officer said a huge rush had been witnessed during the past National Lok Adalat organised by the District Legal Services Authority, Chandigarh. The number of people reaching the courts for the Lok Adalat is almost two to three times the courts that normally take up traffic challans. Criminal compoundable cases and those related to Section 138 of NI Act, bank recovery, accident claim, matrimonial disputes, arbitration matters, traffic challans etc, are usually taken up and disposed of with the consent of parties. The District Courts has already started virtual courts to dispose of the traffic challan cases. clear the dumping ground, remove illegal street vendors or resolve the parking issue in the past 10 years? They have turned City Beautiful into a rehri-fadhi spot. Panckhula and Mohali have become better than UT. They should name it an excursion tour instead of a study tour.” Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, Mayor Kuldeep Kumar said, “We are exploring different cities, which have fared well in Swachhata ranking, to learn about projects implemented there. Nothing has been finalised yet. These tours are purely to study projects or new initiatives taken in other cities and implement these here. It is not at all some excursion tour.” Body found near Sukhna, police suspect suicide Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 9 The body of a 34-year-old man was found in the forest area behind the Sukhna Lake today. The police claim the victim ended his life by slitting his neck with a chainsaw, which was found near the body. Around 7 am, a passerby alerted the police about a body lying in the forest area along the Saketri road. The victim, identified as Abhey, a native of Bhuntar in Himachal Pradesh, was residing alone in Kishangarh. His father had passed away last month. The body bore a fatal neck wound Chainsaw found at spot Students perform at the 33rd annual day function of the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, on Monday. P3 Covid sampling done at Plaksha University, classes resume near the ear inflicted with the chainsaw found at the scene. The mobile phone with its torch on and the briefcase, in which the victim had brought the chainsaw, were also found at the scene. The police said although no suicide note was recovered, initial findings indicated the possibility of suicide. “We scrutinised the footage of CCTV cameras installed near the victim’s rented house in Kishangarh. The victim is seen leaving the house around 11.57 pm with a suitcase,” said a police official. The body has been shifted to the mortuary of the Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16. Mohali, September 9 After a number of students of Plaksha University complained of cold, sore throat and fever over a period of three weeks, the Health Department began sampling for Covid on its campus yesterday. More than 38 students, out of a total of 500, had reported flu-like illness symptoms over a period of three weeks on the campus. The Mohali Civil Surgeon, Dr Renu Singh, said, “Covid sampling was done on the campus on Sunday. Nobody was found symptomatic. We are awaiting test reports now. The students have been asked to follow precautionary measures.” Students said rapid antigen test (RAT) were conducted a few days ago for the affected students. Later, a girl student was reportedly found Covid Haryana sends 3 names for DC post Cremation ground to get ~59 lakh facelift Snatchers target two residents Chandigarh, September 9 The Haryana Government has sent a panel of three IAS officers to the UT Administration for the post of Deputy Commissioner, which will fall vacant in November this year. Incumbent Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh, whose tenure ends in November, has also received an NOC from the administration to apply for Central deputation. The government has proposed three names: Nishant Kumar Yadav, a 2013-batch IAS officer serving as the Deputy Commissioner of Gurugram; Ajay Kumar, a 2013-batch officer at present Rohtak DC; and Manoj Kumar, a 2014batch officer posted as Sonepat DC. — TNS Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 9 Two incidents of snatching were reported in the city. The snatchers took away the purse of a woman and the mobile phone of another victim. A woman of Mani Majra reported that a pedestrian snatched her purse near the Sector 19 market. It contained Rs 2,000 and documents. The police have registered a case at the Sector 19 police station. They are scanning footage of the CCTV cameras installed in the area to identify the accused. In the other incident, Amrish Kumar, a resident of Burail, reported that three motorcycle-borne snatchers took away his mobile phone in Sector 32. A case has been registered at the Sector 34 police station. — TNS Tribune News Service 38 students had reported flu-like symptoms in 3 weeks: Health Dept positive at her home in Gurgaon. According to the university authorities, classes were held in the online mode from Wednesday as a precautionary measure, after which some of the students had gone home. Today, physical classes resumed. A majority of the students have returned to the campus. No official of the university was willing to come on record about the situation. Additional Deputy Com- missioner (ADC) Viraj C Tidke has asked the authorities to submit a report on the happenings in the university since August 21. Set up in 2021, Plaksha University, situated in Sector 101 here, is one of the emerging universities in the region with focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). It offers interdisciplinary courses at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. CYSS presidential candidate Prince Chaudhary takes out a march barefoot to convey gratitude to students. AAP-backed student wing to run parallel PU council Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 9 After defeat in the Panjab University Campus Student Council elections this time by 303 votes, the Aam Aadmi Party-backed Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS), today announced to run a ‘parallel student council’ in the university for welfare of students. According to party leader and presidential candidate Prince Chaudhary, this council will function just like the student council without assuming any formal office and work for student interests. The party will also issue helpline number for students to convey their issues and grievances. “As presidential candidate for this year PUCSC polls, I will be the member of the parallel council being established by us. Apart from me, three other position holders from the CYSS will be the members. We will be working to address student grievances through legit means and will act as their representatives. This will also keep the elected council in check,” said Chaudhary. According to other party leaders of the party, this is an attempt to remain relevant amongst the students by addressing their issues. “We lost by a small margin and we are doing everything to ensure that this does not get repeated in future,” said a CYSS campus leader. Chandigarh, September 9 The Municipal Corporation is going repair and renovate the cremation ground in Industrial Area, Phase I. The civic body has prepared an estimate of Rs 59.82 lakh for the renovation and floated a tender for the same. The work includes disposing of old plaster, cleaning the surface for plaster, putting up doors, windows at rooms and glazed shutters, painting roof, laying paver blocks etc. Earlier, the MC House had cleared a proposal to upgrade the Sector 25 cremation ground at a whopping Rs 7.08 crore. However, the UT Administration halted this project after criticism over the huge amount being c m y b Stagnant water and wild growth at the cremation ground in Industrial Area, Phase I. PRADEEP TEWARI spent on it. In a presentation given in the MC House by a consulting firm, it was shared that fancy white and lilac flowers would be grown on the premises of the Sector 25 cremation ground. Mounds would be built and landscaping of the area done. There was a plan to put up leaf- shaped roof and ambience lighting. However, it was felt these things were not required at the cremation ground.