01102024-CT-01.qxd 10/1/2024 12:49 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune WASTE MANAGEMENT KEY POLL PLANK IN PANCHKULA BJP POLL MANIFESTO FOR P’KULA PROMISES FILM CITY MITHUN’S NAME ANNOUNCED FOR DADASAHEB PHALKE AWARD Candidates promise long-term solution to the problem, put stilt+4 floor issue on the back burner. P2 In its manifesto for Panchkula, BJP announces to establish a film city equipped with modern facilities. P2 The Padma Bhushan recipient, ex-RS member has been chosen for the highest cinematic honour. P4 » » PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 33°C | MIN 23°C YESTERDAY MAX 33.3°C | MIN 23.2°C SUNSET TUESDAY 6.08 PM SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 6.16 AM » TUESDAY | 1 OCTOBER 2024 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST TWITTER/THETRIBUNECHD FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE Shorter route to int’l airport hits roadblock WHAT’S ON Punjab Govt yet to agree on land acquisition for project CHANDIGARH Dushyant Singh Pundir Tribune News Service National Silk Fest: An exhibition of handloom sarees & dress material, Himachal Bhawan, Sector 28, on till October 2 A show of collages titled “Contemplation”: By Mohinder Tuli, Government Museum & Art Gallery, Sector 10. The exhibition is open till October 1 from 11 am to 7 pm (Monday closed). Entry free Defence Minister Rajnath Singh lifts a mace presented by Shakti Rani Sharma, the BJP candidate from Kalka, during an election rally in Raipur Rani on Monday. The party's Panchkula nominee Gian Chand Gupta and Rajya Sabha MP Kartikeya Sharma are also seen. Will provide over 1.5 lakh govt jobs to youth in Haryana, says Rajnath Defence Minister addresses election rally in Raipur Rani Ravneet Singh Tribune News Service Bhajan Sandhya: Pracheen Kala Kendra to hold event by Rajinder Sagar at ML Koser Indoor Auditorium, Sector 35-B, on Gandhi Jayanti, October 2, 6:30 pm onwards. Entry on first come, first served basis APNI MANDI Chandigarh: Sectors 29 and 56, and Dhanas Mohali: Sector 71 Panchkula: Sector 15 Please send information about events in tricity at: whatson@tribunemail.com INBRIEF TWO BOOKED FOR ASSAULT Chandigarh: Two persons have been booked on assault charge. Complainant Jai Karan of Hallo Majra alleged that Krishna, Gopi and others assaulted him and his friends Bablu and Shubham near an auto stand outside Elante Mall. The complainant and his friends sustained injuries and were admitted to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in Sector 32. A case has been registered at the Industrial Area police station. TNS Kalka, September 30 Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today sought votes for BJP candidates while claiming that the Modi government stopped the UkraineRussia war to evacuate Indian students. Addressing a gathering in Raipur Rani, Singh said the Narendra Modi government played an important role in freeing Indian students stuck in Ukraine during the war. He said, “Modi made phone calls to the leaders of the two countries, following which the war was halted for four hours for evacuation of Indian students.” Seeking votes for Shakti Rani Sharma and Gian Chand Gupta, the party candidates for the Kalka and Panchkula Assembly seats, respectively, the Defence Minister said the BJP would provide more than 1.50 lakh government jobs in Haryana. “We have provided 1.5 lakh government jobs in Haryana and will provide even more in the next five years if brought to power,” he assured. “We will bring a bill for ‘one nation one election’ so as to cut expenditure incurred on separate polls,” he said. The Union minister said under the BJP rule, Haryana’s GDP increased to Rs 10 lakh crore. He said the BJP had announced revocation of Article 370 in 1991 and continued on page 3 Elante mishap: Girl, her aunt discharged from hospital, but unfit for statement Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 30 The 13-year-old girl, Maisha Dixit, and her aunt Surbhi Jain, who got injured after a large granite slab fell on them from a pillar at the Elante Mall, Industrial Area Phase-I were discharged on Monday night, but they remained unfit for the statement. The incident happened on Sunday. The incident occurred when they were celebrating birthdy of Maisha, who is a child artist with around 2.70 lakh followers on Instagram. While the family was having lunch at a restaurant inside the mall, Maisha and Surbhi were posing for photos when the granite slab fell on them, causing severe injuries. This has put a lot of stress on the Victimes Maisha Dixit and Surbhi Jain family members. The police visited the private hospital today to take their statements, but they were unable to do so as the victims were still in trauma. “We are waiting for the victims’ statements before proceeding with further action,” a police official said. Atul Jain, Surbhi’s brotherin-law, said both Maisha and Surbhi have sustained serious injuries. Maisha suffered a hip-bone and rib injury, while Surbhi endured a head injury that required stitches. “Some tests, including a CT scan, are still pending to fully assess the extent of Surbhi’s head injury,” Atul explained. Atul recounted the chaotic moments following the accident, stating that after the incident both were taken to the mall’s medical room. “There was a delay in getting an ambulance and we had to wait for 15 minutes,” he said. Atul further said Surbhi was bleeding profusely and they only had a cloth to stop the bleeding. “There was a fatal mishap at this mall a few months ago continued on page 3 Chandigarh, September 30 The construction of a shorter route to Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport, Mohali, from Chandigarh, has been put on hold as the Punjab Government is yet to give its consent for acquisition of land for the project. The UT Administration had last year approved the construction of a shorter route to the airport for which a total of 51 acres, including 39.6 acres in Chandigarh and 12 acres in Jagatpura and Khandala villages of Punjab, were to be acquired. An official stated that the land was to be acquired by both the Punjab Government and the UT Administration. Since Punjab had not agreed on acquisition of land yet, the project had to be put on hold, the official said, while adding that they could not wait endlessly for acquisition of land in Punjab. Recently, the Punjab Government had informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that they were constructing a shorter route to the The Railways planned to build an underbridge near Faidan village to link Vikas Marg with the new road. TRIBUNE PHOTO: VICKY ABOUT THE ROUTE ■ The UT Administration planned the shorter route from near Sector 48. ■ The new road was to start from the T-point intersection of Vikas Marg (coming from the ISBT in Sector 43) and Purv Marg (coming from Tribune Chowk). ■ The current distance from this intersection to the airport is 11.5 km after traversing through Mohali. The shorter route would reduce it to around 3.5 km, thereby bringing the travel time down from 25 minutes to 5 minutes. ■ For the shorter route to airport from Chandigarh, the railways had chalked out a plan for the construction of a railway under bridge (RUB) connecting Vikas Marg with the new road. airport on their side at a cost of Rs 125 crore, which would reduce the distance by 5 km. In November last year, then UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit had approved completing the land acquisition process under the 2018 Negotiation Policy. After this, the UT issued a notification offering a compensation ranging from Hallo Majra boy’s body recovered from nullah, drowning suspected Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 30 The body of a 13-year-old boy, who had been missing since Sunday, was found under mysterious circumstances near a nullah at Makhan Majra. Alok Kumar, a resident of Hallo Majra, had left home in the afternoon to with two friends. According to police investigation, Alok and his friends reportedly went for a bath at the nullah where he drowned. Sources said the victim’s friends fled the scene without informing anyone, fearing that they would be scolded by his family. When Alok did not return home, his family reported him missing at the Sector 31 police station. A joint search by the police and the family remained unsuccessful. Local residents discovered the boy’s body in the nullah this morning and alerted the Had gone to take bath with two friends authorities. The police quickly arrived at the scene and took the body out of the nullah. The victim’s clothes were found hanging on a nearby tree. A forensic team conducted an investigation, including videography of the spot. The body was shifted to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in Sector 32. It was handed over to the family after autopsy. Police officials said there were no visible injury marks on Alok’s body. “While it is suspected that he died due to drowning, the exact cause of death will be determined after the postmortem report is received,” said an official. Alok and his family had moved to the city from Bihar just a few months ago. Rs 2.54 crore to Rs 3.34 crore per acre to landowners. However, they protested against the policy. As 80 of the 110 landowners refused to give their land under the 2018 policy, the UT decided to switch to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, for acquisition. Two operatives of Lawrence Bishnoi gang arrested Mohali, September 30 The police arrested two operatives of of the Lawrence Bishnoi and USA-based Goldy Brar gang. The suspects, identified as Nitish Kumar, alias Nikku Rana, and Gurqirat Singh Bedi, were arrested in the follow-up to the September 19 firing incident at an immigration office in Dera Bassi. While Nikku Rana was out on bail, Gurqirat worked with foreignbased handlers like Goldy Brar, executing plans of gangsters lodged in Tihar Jail. Two pistols, nine live cartridges and a jeep were recovered from them. On September 20, the police had arrested three persons, including a juvenile, for a Rs 1 crore extortion bid and firing at an immigration-cum-coaching centre in Dera Bassi. Those arrested were identified as Mohit, a resident of Lakhnaur village in Ambala, Jagdeep Singh, alias Jaggu, of Dera Bassi and a juvenile. Two pistols, three live rounds and the bike used in the crime were recovered from them, the police said. — TNS Take measures to combat drug Shot at, I pushed ahead... had to finish task: Kargil hero menace in prisons: High Court Tribune News Service Saurabh Malik Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 30 In a stern direction aimed at curbing the flow of narcotics into jails, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has ordered the deployment of drug detection kits across all prisons in the UT and the rest of the region while stressing the need for immediate and effective measures to combat the menace. The direction came as the Division Bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Sudeepti Sharma raised Asks authorities to submit affidavits on compliance, tighten surveillance serious concerns about the escalating incidents of drug trafficking within prisons, particularly in the states of Punjab, Haryana, and the Union Territory of Chandigarh. The Bench asserted that drug trafficking inside prisons was not an isolated or occasional problem, but a widespread menace causing significant harm to the integrity of the prison system and the broader societal effort to rehabilitate inmates. Expressing alarm over the gravity of the situation, the court asserted: “There are rampant incidents of drug trafficking taking place inside jails, whereupon, through deployment of drug detection kits, an endeavour can be made to reduce the incidents of drug trafficking happening inside jails.” Addressing the broader ramifications of drug trafficking in the prisons, the Bench continued on page 3 Mohali, September 30 Kargil war hero and Param Vir Chakra (PVC) recipient Subedar Major Sanjay Kumar of the 13 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, today shared his experience of the war with students of Paragon Senior Secondary School in Sector 71 here. In an engaging session, the war hero captivated the students with stories of valour of the Indian armed forces. “It was our training in the Army that won us the Kargil war,” he said. He spoke of the critical capture of Flat Top, a strategic height fiercely defended by c m y b Param Vir Chakra recipient Subedar Major Sanjay Kumar presents a Tricolour to a student at a Mohali school on Monday. the enemy forces. “Our victory was incomplete without it,” he emphasised, recalling the intense moments when he volunteered to scout enemy posi- tions, facing formidable challenges head-on. With excitement in the room, he narrated how, under heavy fire, he crawled towards enemy bunkers, undeterred by the injuries. “Despite being shot in the chest and forearm, I pushed forward. I had a job to do,” he stated, embodying the spirit of resilience. His gripping account included moments of fierce combat where he neutralised enemy positions with unyielding determination, even after sustaining serious injuries. “I cleared the first bunker, and even while bleeding, I pressed on, taking out the next stronghold,” he shared, his voice in a mix of pride and humility. “Only after securing that critical ground did I allow myself to be evacuated.” The event commenced with a well-orchestrated guard of honour given by the school’s NCC cadets. In a heartfelt gesture, he was welcomed with a traditional ‘pahari’ greeting, celebrating Kumar’s Himachali roots and recognising his prestigious PVC award. Students electrified the atmosphere with patriotic songs and performances. Over 50 students who are training at Mohali Defence Academy were also in attendance.