07042025-CT-01.qxd 4/7/2025 12:51 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune COULD HAVE USED BOWLERS WELL: PUNJAB KINGS COACH CITY’S SANDHU FINISHES 3RD IN INVITATIONAL GOLF C’SHIP A DELICIOUS SYMPHONY OF SUGAR AND STORYTELLING Sunil Joshi says could have bowled a couple of more spin overs with Maxwell and Chahal. P3 Chandigarh’s Yuvraj Sandhu finished third at Adani Invitational Golf Championship. P3 The City Beautiful witnessed an unforgettable affair with chocolate as Shivesh brought his new book. P4 » » MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 38°C | MIN 19°C YESTERDAY MAX 37.4°C | MIN 18.1°C SUNSET MONDAY 6.45 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 6.04 AM » MONDAY | 7 APRIL 2025 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST /THETRIBUNECHD FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE Solar energy now powers all Noendtoeateriesservingup unpalatable food in Mohali 6,624 govt buildings in UT Gaurav Kanthwal Tribune News Service WHAT’S ON CHANDIGARH Exhibition: ‘Pakiza’ to offer various lifestyle products at Kisan Bhawan, Sector 35, on April 7 APNI MANDI Chandigarh: Sectors 43 and 45, and Maloya Mohali: Phase V Panchkula: MDC, Sector 5 Please send information about events in tricity at: whatson@tribunemail.com POWER SHUTDOWN CHANDIGARH 6 am to 10 am: Parts of Sectors 32, 34 and 45 10 am to 2 pm: Parts of Sectors 2, 3, 4, 10, 15-C, 21, 24, 38 West, 41, 45 and 63, UIET Sector 25, Janta Rehri Motor Market, Morigate, Nagla Mohalla, Gobindpura, Mani Majra main market, Hallo Majra village, Badheri, Behlana, ITBP, Faidan and Bairmajra INBRIEF AGENT NABBED FOR IMMIGRATION FRAUD Chandigarh: The police have arrested the owner of an immigration firm for fraud. In a complaint to the police, Pankaj Kumar and others had alleged that they were duped of Rs 17.19 lakh by Sakeel Ahmed and Ashish, the owners of Wish Immigration, Sector 17-B. The duo had allegedly promised to send them abroad. A case was registered at the Sector 17 police station. While Sakeel had been arrested, hunt was on to nab Ashish, the police said. TNS HIT-&-RUN CLAIMS PEDESTRIAN’S LIFE Chandigarh: A pedestrian died in a hit-and-run near the Sector 43/44 light point on Friday. A car had knocked the pedestrian, who later died during treatment at the GMCH32. A case under Sections 281 and 106 if the BNS has been registered at the Sector 36 police station. TNS Panels to be installed on over 10 marla pvt houses by Dec this year Dushyant Singh Pundir Tribune News Service Chandigarh, April 6 All 6,624 government buildings in the UT have now been made net-zero in energy consumption with the installation of rooftop solar panels. These buildings have a combined potential capacity of generating 52.85 MWp of solar power. With the Union Ministry of Power including Chandigarh in the list of 34 cities to be developed as Solar Cities by 2030, the UT Administration has decided to achieve 100% rooftop solar panel saturation on all private buildings by December this year, amending building bylaws to mandate rooftop solar photovoltaic (SPV) systems on houses measuring more than 250 square yards. The UT Administration has planned to generate 224 MW of solar energy by the target year. According to officials of the Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science & Technology Promotion Society (CREST), under the National Solar Mission, the city has implemented a wide range of renewable energy projects Rooftop plants on government units have combined capacity of generating 52.85 MWp of power. aimed at reducing carbon emissions, cutting electricity costs, and expanding the use of clean energy. Since early 2010s, the Administration has undertaken various steps to harness solar energy through grid-tied rooftop solar systems. As of December 31 last year, a total of 89.69 MWp of rooftop solar power capacity had been installed across 10,988 sites. Officials said the combined power generation from these installations reached 270.26 million units. “This has helped the city reduce approximately 18,64,794 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, significantly contributing to climate change mitigation,” said the officials. Double whammy for residents of VIP Road in Zirakpur area Sewer work hangs fire, stretch narrowed by rubble Tribune News Service Zirakpur, April 6 More than a month after the Zirakpur Municipal Council and the district administration assured residents of laying a sewer line alongside the VIP Road, the work remains unfinished even as road users and those living in societies nearby continue to face inconvenience. The damaged road has become a major concern for area residents. Pits, debris and construction material lying on one of the sides where the sewer work is underway has made the road narrower. Residents of Penta Homes, a housing society along the VIP Road, lamented that overflowing sewers led to sewage stagnating on the roadside. The already narrow An unrepaired stretch of VIP Road near Penta Homes. RAVI KUMAR road had become narrower with heaps of earth, construction material lying on the road, worsening the traffic situation on the stretch, they added. Paver blocks on the stretch from Dominos Chowk to Skyline Park were removed to replace the sewer line and were kept on the roadside. The VIP Road is already riddled with potholes. The task of laying a 2-km long pipeline by the Punjab Water Supplies and Sewerage Department at a cost of Continued on page 3 Historians, admirers fondly remember PL Varma, who shaped City Beautiful Tribune News Service Chandigarh, April 6 In a heartfelt tribute to one of the foundational figures of the City Beautiful, the MN Sharma Architectural Society hosted a commemorative evening in the honour of PL Varma, the Chief Engineer of the Punjab New Capital Project. Held at the Le Corbusier Centre in Sector 19, the event brought together architects, historians, students and admirers of the city’s architectural legacy. The evening began with a presentation titled “PL Varma: The Maker of Chandigarh – From Vision to Reality” by researcher and curator Udayan Sahgal speaks during an event organised in the memory of his grandfather PL Varma at the Le Corbusier Centre in Sector 19, Chandigarh, on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: VICKY Deepika Gandhi. She highlighted Varma’s crucial role in transforming Le Cor- busier’s radical vision into a tangible reality, bridging creativity with engineering pre- cision to shape one of India’s most iconic cities. Following the talk, a panel discussion on “The Man, The Work, The Legacy” featured Rajnish Wattas, former Principal of Chandigarh College of Architecture, Kapil Setia, former Chief Architect of Chandigarh, and senior advocate ML Sarin. Each speaker shed light on Varma’s legacy—not merely as an engineer but as a linchpin of one of the most ambitious urban planning projects of the 20th century. “There is a lot of symbolism today,” said Wattas, while adding, “Chandigarh was literally created in this very building. Continued on page 3 c m y b Out of 114 government schools, 108 were found technically feasible for solar installations and rooftop solar power plants have been commissioned in all of them. In the previous year, these schools consumed 6.1 million units of electricity and now, they generated 7.32 million units, exceeding their total Continued on page 3 Zirakpur, April 6 In less than two weeks, the joint inspection-cum-surveillance drive initiated by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau and the food safety wing of the Health Department in Mohali district has lost its steam. Horrific scenes of unhygienic momo-making unit in Mohali had still not faded from the public memory when another instance of playing with consumers’ health has surfaced. A Zirakpur-based eatery, ‘Sethi Dhaba’, allegedly served a bare chicken bone in a vegetarian plate to a family on the Ashtami night. Aggrieved customers Amandeep Kaur and Kanika, residents of VIP Road, recounted the Saturday’s incident: “When we called up the owner, he said, it’s Ashtami today, the fasting period has just ended. Look at their attitude. On the one hand they are playing with the health of customers without any fear of authorities, while on the other they have the cheek to hurt the sentiments of a paying customer. Later, he agreed to replace the food items without apologising. It shows that the MC and the Health Department do not check the eateries at all.” Eateries across Mohali, Aggrieved customers outside Sethi Dhaba in Zirakpur where they were served a bare bone in a vegetarian meal (below). BIZZARE INCIDENTS Oct 5, 2024: A customer in Dhakoli spotted two human teeth (molars) in his food ordered from Hotel Saanwara March 16: A video showing food being prepared in unhygienic conditions, dirty utensils in Mataur village goes viral. Workers seen taking a bath right next to food items. Stale and rotten vegetables stored in unclean containers. Severed body parts of goat meat recovered in unhygienic conditions Zirakpur, and Kharar continue to serve up substandard, adulterated, unhygienic eatables in utter disregard to food safety regulations with no fear of health authorities. There is now a talk of religious sentiments being hurt but the food safety wing of the Health Department and the Mohali Municipal Cor- poration (MC) are apparently just not bothered. Customers have reported bizzare incidents. A man in Dhakoli had in October last year complained of spotting two human teeth (molars) in his food ordered from an upscale restaurant of Hotel Saanwara in Continued on page 3