28042025-CT-01.qxd 4/28/2025 12:33 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune SEVERAL TREES CHARRED IN MOHALI NATURE PARK FIRE ARYAN EDGES PAST ATHARAV IN THRILLING QUALIFIER KAMBAKHT ISHQ CHANGED EVERYTHING, SAYS FARDEEN A fire broke out in the heaps of leaves behind Nature Park in Mohali, leaving several trees charred. P2 Kerala’s Aryan Pradeep overpowers Atharav of UP at junior ranking badminton tournament. P3 The actor took a stroll down memory lane and shared how the song changed everything for him. P4 » » MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 42°C | MIN 21°C YESTERDAY MAX 41.5°C | MIN 20.9°C SUNSET MONDAY 6.58 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 5.42 AM » MONDAY | 28 APRIL 2025 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST /THETRIBUNECHD FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE Governor vows to rid city of drug menace Kataria announces zero tolerance policy, to launch war on drugs with mega awareness walk on May 3 THE TRIBUNE EXCLUSIVE WHAT’S ON CHANDIGARH Sangeet & Nritya Mahotsav: Bharatnatyam by Suchitra Mitra and her group, organised by Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademi, Rani Laxmi Bai Mahila Bhavan, Sector 38-C, 6:30 pm. APNI MANDI Chandigarh: Sectors 43 & 45, and Maloya P’kula: MDC, Sector 5 Mohali: Phase V Please send information about events in tricity at: whatson@tribunemail.com INBRIEF VALUABLES STOLEN FROM HOUSE Chandigarh: Thieves broke into a house at Mauli Jagran and made off with valuables. In a complaint to the police, Rakesh Kumar claimed that the unidentified burglars fled with gold ornaments and Rs 20 lakh. A case has been registered. TNS A GROWING CONCERN: UT CHIEF SECY Nitin Jain ❝ Tribune News Service Chandigarh, April 27 Chandigarh will soon be freed of drugs and made the first drug-free city in the country with zero tolerance towards smugglers and all others involved in the illegal trade, Punjab Governor-cum-UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria has announced. In an exclusive chat with The Tribune at Punjab Raj Bhavan here on Saturday, Kataria, who had already led a similar initiative in the border state recently, said a state-level war on drugs will be launched in the Union Territory with a mega “walk for drug-free Chandigarh” here on May 3. The sustained campaign to combat drug abuse and make the Capital of Punjab and Haryana free of drugs will involve awareness, education and strict enforcement with zero tolerance for smugglers and all others involved in the illegal trade. Kataria, 80, who is serving as Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator since July last, will lead the walk in which the chief ministers of Punjab and Haryana, Bhagwant Singh Mann and The menace of drugs in our society is a growing concern with deep social, economic, and health implications. The young are particularly vulnerable to the use of drugs due to peer pressure, stress, or curiosity and it leads to a loss of potential, school dropouts, and increased crime. — Rajeev Verma, UT CHIEF SECRETARY ❞ WISH TO ERADICATE MENACE: EDU SECY A tree ❝‘Tree ofwill beindesignated as Life’ schools. SAY NO TO DRUGS, LEAD BETTER LIFE: KATARIA ❝ By focusing on prevention, education, and rehabilitation, the initiative seeks to empower young individuals. The youth will be motivated to lead healthier and more fulfilling life by saying no to drugs. Our endeavour is to make Chandigarh the first drug-free city in the country by adopting awareness, education and enforcement as key elements of the war on drugs with zero tolerance for smugglers and all others involved in the illegal trade. — Gulab Chand Kataria, PUNJAB GOVERNOR-CUM-UT ADMINISTRATOR ❞ Nayab Singh Saini, respectively, and the entire top brass from both the states and the UT Administration have been called to take part. “The aim of the mega event will be to spread awareness Tourists ‘spark’ forest fire in Morni Hills, detained Two arrested for setting car afire A video grab of the fire in the Morni forests on Sunday. through the forest ground. Witnessing the fire intensify, the group fled the spot. However, two local residents, Anu Prajapati and Nirmal Kaur, alerted the authorities following which a checkpoint was set up before Panchkula, where the tourists were apprehended. Continued on page 2 ernment schools across the city would assemble at designated locations — GMSSS-16, 18, 22, and 23 — attired in proper school uniform and would march towards Tiranga Urban Park in Sector 17 here. 8 proclaimed offenders land in UT police net Sector-dividing roads in bad shape, cash-strapped civic body clueless Tribune News Service Chandigarh, April 27 The UT police have arrested eight proclaimed offenders (POs). Among those arrested was Amanpreet Singh from Ropar, Punjab, who was wanted in a 2019 theft case. The court had declared him a proclaimed offender. He has been sent to judicial custody. Another accused, Maksood Ansari from Uttar Pradesh, was arrested for offences linked to public disturbance in 2019. Santosh, a resident of Bhaskar Colony, Chandigarh, was arrested in connection with a 2017 theft case. She was produced in court and remanded to judicial custody. Other POs who have been arrested are Baljit Singh of Mohali, Sanjiv Kumar of Khuda Lahora, Vinod Kumar of Fatehabad, Himashi Chopra of Paonta Sahib and Parvin Kumar of Mani Majra. They were booked in separate cases registered under the Negotiable Instruments Act. In solidarity Tribune News Service Mohali, April 27 Over 10 days after a car was set on fire, the police have arrested two of the four youths involved in the incident. Those arrested were identified as Mundi Kharar residents Ashu, 21, and Chandan, 19. Two other suspects are Kaithal resident Kapil and Jhanjheri resident Kirpal Singh. On the complaint of Sector 78 resident Mandeep Singh, a case was registered Continued on page 2 ❞ — Prerna Puri, EDUCATION SECRETARY the march in their respective areas while carrying placards against drug abuse on the coming Saturday. “All students, thereafter, will assemble in their respective schools and colleges to watch the live webcast of the main event to be held at Tiranga Urban Park,” informed the Governor-cum-Administrator, while stating that arrangements were being made to screen the main event in different parts of the city with an aim to enable more than 1 lakh persons to virtually witness the event, which would also see a performance by the Military band. Taking a significant step towards eradicating drug abuse and safeguarding the future of the youth, Kataria had on Saturday flagged off a state-level week-long campaign titled, “VADA” (Victory Against Drug Abuse). This initiative, aimed at fostering a drug-free society, was launched from the PM SHRI GMSSS in Dhanas, where a ‘wish tree’ was also installed on the campus. The campaign represented a joint effort by the government bodies, educational institutions, and community organisations to tackle the growing menace of drug abuse among the youth. against drug abuse and engage the community, particularly the youth, in the campaign against drugs,” said the UT Administrator. Kataria said around 2,500 students from different gov- Tribune News Service Panchkula, April 27 A major fire broke out in the Morni forests near Balag Ghat on Sunday. The blaze, triggered by the alleged negligence of a group of tourists, quickly spread through the dry pine needles, creating towering flames visible from afar. Officials from the Sector 5 Fire Department said they received an alert around 6 pm and immediately dispatched a fire tender. Additionally, fire tenders from the Forest Department and a fire station in Alipur Barwala were also deployed to douse the flames. The fire could not be brought under control till the time of filing of this news report, causing substantial damage to forest resources and posing a serious threat to wildlife in the area. A group of four friends — two men and as many women — who arrived in a car with a Punjab registration number, reportedly ventured into the forest for a stroll. Shortly after, the fire was seen racing The students and teachers shall write and hang a wish on it for the eradication of the menace of drugs from the society. Schools shall decorate the tree just like in GMSSS, Dhanas. students will assemble at the Chandigarh Secretariat building in Sector 9 here. He divulged that the mega event will also see the participation of eminent sportspersons, ex-servicemen, members and office-bearers of the Residents’ Welfare Associations, and employees and officials from the UT Administration, Chandigarh Housing Board, Education and Engineering departments, and the Municipal Corporation. “With this, over 5,500 students and people from all age groups and walks of life will take a pledge to shun drugs and not let anyone sell, stock, or consume the contraband with a resolve to make Chandigarh a drug-free city soon,” Kataria said. He revealed that a “tree of life”, a theme-based activity, had already been initiated to make Chandigarh drug-free. Under it, several competitions and activities involving the students like essay, slogan writing, and poster making contests have already begun in schools across the city. He said the students of all government and private schools and colleges in Chandigarh would participate in the walk against drugs with 100-150 pupils from each school and college taking out Kashmiri students hold a march in the memory of the Pahalgam terror attack victims, at Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: PRADEEP TEWARI c m y b “Around 1,500 students, including NSS volunteers from different colleges, will assemble at designated locations and participate in the main event,” the UT top boss disclosed, while sharing that around 500 Councillors reluctant to hand over charge of V-3 stretches to Administration Ramkrishan Upadhyay Tribune News Service Chandigarh, April 27 The local Municipal Corporation (MC) has found itself in a Catch-22 situation over the maintenance of V-3 roads, the stretches separating sectors, under its jurisdiction. While the councillors rejected an agenda for handing over these roads to the Chandigarh Administration, the MC has failed to get funds for their maintenance, leaving the residents in the lurch. With the MC facing a scarcity of funds, an agenda was brought before the General House in a meeting on March 25 to hand over V-3 roads to the UT Administration, but the councillors rising above the party lines rejected it. When the agenda was discussed in the General House, MC Commissioner Amit Kumar apprised the members that V-3 roads had not been recarpeted for the past three years. He said earlier too, the maintenance of V-3 roads was transferred to the Administration and later given back to the MC. He said the civic body had to work on two aspects — generate revenue and reduce the expenditure for which best efforts were being made. He said the V-3 road network should be transferred to the Administration in view of the financial condition of the civic body as it was very difficult for the MC to incur such a huge expenditure. On the other hand, a majority of councillors were of the view that the MC should not transfer its rights to the UT. A councillor said the MC would have to transfer its staff if the work of recarpet- A broken road in Sector 29, Chandigarh, on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: PRADEEP TEWARI WHY SHOULD RESIDENTS SUFFER condition roads has been deteriorating ❝Theday. The UTofAdministration must release its day by dues to the MC. However, if the Administration is not releasing funds, the roads should be given to it. Why should people suffer? — Baljinder Singh Bittu, PRESIDENT, FOSWAC ing of V-3 roads was transferred to the Chandigarh Administration. He said earlier, the staff had not received their salaries for the past four months due to financial crunch in the MC. Later, the civic body arranged funds on its own and paid the salaries. They were totally dependent on the MC for their bread and butter, the councillor said. Councillors are of the view that a dedicated fund should be demanded from the Administration for these roads. Hardeep Singh, a councillor, said the Chandigarh Administration must release funds to the MC for the road ❞ MAYOR HAD SOUGHT FUNDS Mayor Harpreet Babla had raised the issue before the UT Chief Secretary and demanded funds for road recarpeting. She had stated that the MC was responsible for maintaining nearly 1,860 km of roads, which came to almost 60% of the total road length in the UT. Besides, the MC was also maintaining roads and streets in 22 villages under the MC limits. recarpeting work. Saurabh Joshi, another councillor, said the recarpeting of roads was not carried in his ward even as a tender was floated two years ago. Mayor Harpreet Babla has already raised the issue before the Chief Secretary of the Chandigarh Administration and demanded funds for road recarpeting. She had told the Administration that the MC was responsible for maintaining approximately 1,860 km of roads, which came to almost 60% of the total road length in the UT. Additionally, the MC was also maintaining roads and streets in 22 villages under the MC limits. Baljinder Singh Bittu, president, Federation of Sector Welfare Associations (FOSWAC), said the condition of roads had been deteriorating day by day. He said the UT Administration must release more funds to the civic body. He added, “However, if the Administration is not releasing funds, the roads should be given to it. Why should people suffer?” RK Garg, president, Second Innings Association, criticised the decision of the councillors for not handing over V3 roads to the Administration. He said the councillors must take decisions in the interests of the city residents.