02062025-CT-01.qxd 6/1/2025 11:58 PM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune MC TO FLOAT NEW TENDER FOR CLEANING SOUTHERN SECTORS LOCALS CELEBRATE SUCCESS OF OPERATION SINDOOR MOTION POSTER OF DILJIT'S SARDAAR JI 3 UNVEILED Civic body has prepared an agenda, likely to be tabled in the next House meeting on June 3. P3 The event featured a 100-foot-long National Flag carried by participants at Sector 17 Plaza. P3 Singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh on Sunday unveiled the motion poster for his upcoming film Sardaar Ji 3. P4 » » WHAT’S ON APNI MANDI Chandigarh: Sectors 43 & 45 Mohali: Sectors 70, 78 & Phase 5 Panchkula: MDC, Sector 5 Please send information about events in tricity at: whatson@tribunemail.com INBRIEF MAN, NEPHEW ASSAULTED Panchkula: A man and his nephew were allegedly assaulted by SUV-borne persons in Sector 17 here on Sunday evening. According to eyewitnesses, the assailants rammed the motorcycle the victims were riding and hit both with sticks and rods. They reportedly abducted one of the victims and later abandoned him a short distance away. A police team from Sector 14 arrived at the scene shortly after being informed. An investigation is underway to identify the assailants and determine the motive behind the attack. TNS MAX 38°C | MIN 24°C YESTERDAY MAX 40.1°C | MIN 22.4°C SUNRISE TUESDAY 5.21 AM /THETRIBUNECHD MC moots tenfold hike in fee for standby fire tender service PARTLY CLOUDY SUNSET MONDAY 7.20 PM » MONDAY | 2 JUNE 2025 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE Cycling for good health Event organisers to pay ~5,000 per hour for each vehicle Ramkrishan Upadhyay Tribune News Service Chandigarh, June 1 The cash-strapped Municipal Corporation (MC) has proposed a tenfold increase in charges for providing standby fire tender service at private functions. The agenda in this regard will be tabled at the general house meeting scheduled for June 3. The MC has also proposed to forfeit fire safety certificate charges of the owners/occupiers of buildings who do not complete the required formalities within a period of six months. The proposal says fire vehicles are stationed at the venues of private functions such as mega exhibitions, live shows/programmes/events, fairs, matches, social and religious ceremonies on the request of the organisers on standby duty. At present, the MC fire wing charges Rs 579 per hour/per fire vehicles for this service within Chandigarh, and from Rs 2,205 to Rs 3,308 per hour/per vehicle for deploying these outside the city. Now, it has been proposed that the charges be increased from Rs 579 per hour/per vehi- A fire tender during an event at Sector 17. PRADEEP TEWARI FIRE SAFETY CERTIFICATE MC has also proposed to forfeit fire safety certificates charges in case the owners/occupiers of the buildings do not complete the required formalities and remove shortcomings within a period of six months. cle to Rs 5,000 for five hours only, subject to a minimum of Rs 25,000 fee along with GST as applicable from time to time for “high value” programmes, and Rs 3,000 per hours/per vehicle for other functions in the city. For providing this service outside Chandigarh, the proposed rates are Rs 7,500 per hours/per fire vehicle for five hours only, subject to a minimum of Rs 37,500 along with GST. It has also been proposed that the charges be increased by 10% every year with effect from April 1. The proposal says the hike in charges is necessary as the rates of petrol and diesel have been increasing day by day and also, the salary of the fire staff has to be revised from time to time, after the implementation of the 7th CPC in the Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh. Fire officers and other staff are deployed along with tenders on standby duty on the request of organisers or firm owners/distributors as per their requirement. One fire tender costs from Rs c m y b 60 lakh to Rs 1 crore. These vehicles, along with advanced equipment and staff, are put on standby duty at mega events. The rates of the standby service need to be increased as per the requirement of event organisers, says the proposal. With regard to the proposal to forfeit fire safety certificate charges, the MC says it has been observed that after applying for the certificate, numerous applicants never pursue their cases despite being duly informed about the need for removing the shortcomings, thus compromising fire safety in the buildings. In order to address this issue, it is proposed that a period of six months may be fixed for application validity for completing the required installations and obtaining the fire safety certificate. Failure to do so will result in automatic cancellation of the application and fee forfeiture. Thereafter, the owner or occupier will have to submit a fresh application along with the prescribed fee. However, the new measures will be undertaken after upgrading the online portal and issuing a public notification. Participants take part in an event organised by the MC to mark World Bicycle Day in Chandigarh on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: PRADEEP TEWARI 2 convicted of cyber fraud NRIs residing in Singapore, US, Ireland lost ~8.5 lakh Sheetal Tribune News Service Panchkula, June 1 The Special CBI Court here has sentenced two Indian nationals for orchestrating a scam duping several non-resident Indians (NRIs) in Singapore, the United States and Ireland by impersonating immigration officials. The victims were made to transfer Rs 8.5 lakh through 14 transactions. The convicts — Aditya Bhardwaj, alias Bhanu; and Deepak Jain — were sentenced to simple imprisonment of two and a half years each by Special Judicial Magistrate Anil Kumar Yadav. Besides, Bhardwaj was fined Rs 5,000 and Jain, considered the more financially implicated party, Rs 20,000. Both have been granted bail until June 28 to appeal against the ruling. The case was prosecuted by Jaswinder Kumar Bhatti, Senior Public Prosecutor for the CBI from Chandigarh. The accused were represented by advocate KP Singh (for Bhardwaj) and advocate K Kaushik (for Jain), who sought suspension of sentence pending appeal. The court granted temporary bail under the statutory provisions applicable to sentence under three years. The two accused operated through a travel agency in Continued on page 3