04092025-CT-01.qxd 9/4/2025 1:18 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune AFTER FRESH RAIN, ZIRAKPUR, BALTANA TEETER ON EDGE 5 HELD FOR VEHICLE THEFTS, 18 LUXURY CARS RECOVERED ALIA BHATT, SRK, SEND PRAYERS TO PUNJAB FLOOD VICTIMS Traffic halted on Chandigarh-Ambala highway, Sukhna choe unleashes fury in Baltana. P2 Group was active in Punjab and neighbouring states, would target newly purchased high-end cars. P2 Actress Alia Bhatt has joined several celebrities in sending prayers and support to those affected. P4 » » HEALTH & WELLNESS The Tribune is starting a Q and A column to address your health-related queries. Please mail your questions (not exceeding 40 words) at healthandwellness@tribunemail.com. The Tribune’s panel of doctors will answer all your healthrelated concerns. WHAT’S ON CHANDIGARH Art Show: The Tradition of Bat-Tala & Other Practices by the Printmakers, being organised by Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi in collaboration with Punjab Kala Akademi and Art Magnum, Delhi; at Gallery, Punjab Kala Bhawan, Sector 16-B, on till September 10 MOHALI INAUGURATION: Inauguration of Dr Chigurupati Centre of Excellence, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education & Research (NIPER), Sector 67, Mohali, Sep 4, 11:15 am APNI MANDI Chandigarh: Sectors 34, 56 and Ram Darbar Panchkula: Sector 5 Mohali: Sec 88 and Phase 8 Please send information about events in tricity at: whatson@tribunemail.com PUNJAB BJP LEADERS UPBEAT OVER PU WIN MAN HELD WITH FIREARM ON CAMPUS PAGE 3 RAIN MAX 32°C | MIN 24°C YESTERDAY MAX 29.4°C | MIN 21.6°C SUNSET THURSDAY 6.41 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 6.01 AM » THURSDAY | 4 SEPTEMBER 2025 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST /THETRIBUNECHD FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE Region’s heaviest rainfall leaves Tricity afloat Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 3 The Tricity today woke up to the region’s heaviest and highest-ever rainfall in the recent past, which threw normal life out of gear. People heading to their work places in the morning were the worst-hit. A majority of them could not make it to their destinations. The downpour, which started on Tuesday night, continued till the morning, leaving the tricity almost deluged. Intermittent rain continued till late evening. The Sukhna floodgates were opened for the ninth record time this monsoon after the water level breached the danger mark of 1,163-foot, leading to the flooding of Sukhna Choe, a seasonal stream taking excess lake water to the Ghaggar river. While the Ghaggar river was in spate, the seasonal rivulets Patiala Ki Rao, Jayanti Ki Rao and several nullahs in the tricity were overflowing. Areas nearby these water bodies, including Kishangarh, Bapu Dham Colony, Industrial Areas, Bhankharpur, Zirakpur, Dera Bassi, Morni, Barwala, Pinjore, Raipur Rani and other 133-mm rain batters P’kula; Chd logs 91.4-mm, Mohali 73.5-mm YELLOW ALERT FOR TODAY ■ The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for heavy rain coupled with thunderstorm at isolated places in Chandigarh and Haryana on Thursday, and normal weather thereafter till Tuesday. Another spell of heavy rain is likely after that. EDU INSTITUTIONS SHUT IN UT, MOHALI TILL SEPT 7 ■ Panjab University, its affiliated colleges, all schools and institutes of higher and technical education in Chandigarh and Mohali shall remain closed till September 7. PANCHKULA SCHOOLS CLOSED TODAY ■ Vehicles move at a snail's pace on a waterlogged Chandigarh-Ambala highway near the Patiala chowk in Zirakpur. PHOTO: RAVI KUMAR catchment areas witnessed flooding. Several roads, bridges and causeways were badly damaged. Periphery areas in Mohali and Panchkula were the worsthit. The stretches of 200-footwide road leading to the inter- national airport and several other major roads and busy junctions in the tricity were severely waterlogged, taking a toll on the vehicular traffic. A large number of vehicles got stuck on the flooded roads. After several hours of ordeal, the situation started limping back to normal. Some roads, bridges and causeways were still under knee-deep water and closed to vehicular traffic when the reports last came in. Elsewhere in the Tricity, there were reports of rainwater entering houses, shops, godowns and even government offices, causing heavy loss of property. Standing crops, kutcha houses and sheds in villages were also damaged in the monsoon The Panchkula administration has ordered the closure of all schools, colleges and higher/technical education institutions till September 4. mayhem. No loss of life was reported from any part of the tricity region till the reports last came in. In Chandigarh, the situation was a bit better than Mohali and Panchkula, but almost all roads and roundabouts were submerged in rainwater. The record 133-mm rainfall in Panchkula followed by 91.4-mm in Chandigarh and 73.5-mm in Mohali, which the weathermen recorded during the past 24 hours, once again proved beyond doubt that there was a total collapse of the drainage system. Even as a few traffic cops were seen regulating the traffic in the city, all the major junctions — Tribune Chowk, Labour Chowk, ISBT-43, ISBT-17, JW Marriott, Press Chowk, Transport Chowk — Madhya Marg and southern pockets witnessed heavy traffic jams. While traffic signals were non-functional, hardly any traffic policemen were seen clearing the logjam. At several places, trees and poles got uprooted, damaging vehicles. Fallen trees snapped power supply besides telephone/Internet services. Several parts of Mohali and Panchkula witnessed a floodlike situation. Officials termed it as an “unexpected and unavoidable” situation, which, they claimed, was handled “timely and efficiently”. However, the residents were not convinced with their tall claims and sought their accountability. MC identifies 25 flood-prone spots in UT Sukhna floodgates opened again Ramkrishan Upadhyay Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 3 The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation has identified 25 waterlogging-prone spots in the city and deployed staff on 24x7 duty to drain out rainwater. As per a survey conducted by the MC teams, these spots are the area Near Sports Complex Sector 7, Sector 4-9 and 5-8 roads, Sector 29/30/31/32 chowk, Tribune Chowk, area near ITI in Sector 29-C; cremation ground area in Industrial Area, Phase 1; old Colony Number 4 area, CTU workshop underpass Gurdwara Chowk in Sector 20, Palika Bazar in Sector 19C, Sector 25 cremation ground,, Woollen Market in Sector 38-C, Sector 40-C, LIC Colony area in Sector 15-D, and Kajehri village near gurdwara, and others. The MC has deputed nearly 100 employees on round- Staff put on 24x7 duty to clear waterlogged areas Workers cut a tree that fell on a CTU bus on the Sector 22-23 road on Wednesday. PARDEEP TEWARI the-clock duty to keep an eye on all these hotspots. The subdivisional engineers and junior engineers will monitor the situation. The employees have been deployed in addition to 18 special flood control teams deput- ed before the onset of monsoon to ensure a swift response and redressal of waterlogging and rain-related emergencies. Meanwhile, the incessant rain, which began at night, left several sectors and the low-lying areas such as Industrial Area, Phase I, Ram Darbar, Manimajra, Hallomajra waterlogged. Passengers had a close shave as a tree fell on a bus when it stopped at the Sector 22 /23 traffic lights. No one Continued on page 3 All three causeways on Sukhna Choe remain closed Chandigarh, September 3 All three causeways on the Sukhna Choe at Kishangarh, Bapu Dham Colony and Industrial Area, Phase I, overflowed and remained closed to traffic since morning after the Sukhna Lake floodgates were opened today. Police personnel were deployed at these causeways to caution people. Two of the three floodgates of the lake were opened after the water level crossed the danger mark of 1,163 feet. According to officials, one floodgate was opened around 7.30 am and the other around 8 am up to a height of three inches. The floodgates were opened for a record ninth time this monsoon. Earlier, the gates were opened on September 1, August 30, 29, Sukhna Choe flows over a bridge at Baltana in Zirakpur. RAVI KUMAR 19, 17, 15, 8 and 6. The floodgates were opened four times in 2023, six times in 2022, and five times in 2021. The opening of two floodgates in August 2020 caused a widespread ABVP pulls off maiden PU council prez post victory Gaurav beats Sumit of Students' Front and allies by margin of 488 votes Deepankar Sharda Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 3 In the 48-year-old history of Panjab University Campus Students’ Council (PUCSC) elections, the RSS and BJPbacked Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) won the presidential post for the first time ever. Its candidate, Gaurav Veer Sohal, a research scholar from the Department of Laws, won the post by a margin of 488 votes. The candidate of the ABVP , which fought the elections in alliance with INSO and HSRC, polled 3,148 votes in a close fight against Sumit Kumar of the Students’ Front and Alliance, who secured 2,660 votes. However, ABVP’s alliance partners lost on all other seats. Among the eight candidates in the fray for the top post, 9,613 Votes polled Gaurav Veer Sohal of the ABVP celebrates his victory after winning the Panjab University Campus Students' Council president's post. TRIBUNE PHOTO: RAVI KUMAR c m y b THE WINNERS OF OTHER TOP POSTS flooding in the low-lying areas situated alongside the Sukhna Choe in Zirakpur. On September 24, 2018, the floodgates were opened after a gap of 10 years. — TNS VOTES POLLED BY PREZ CANDIDATES Gaurav Veer Sohal (ABVP) Sumit (Student Front) Parabjot Gill (NSUI) Mankirat Mann (ASAP) Seerat (SOI) Ardas (SOPU) Jobanpreet (PSU, Lalkaar) 3,148 2,660 1,359 1,184 422 318 198 DEPT-WISE SHARE VICE-PRESIDENT SECRETARY JOINT SECRETARY Ashmeet Singh of the Sath party won with a mandate of 3,478 votes against Naveen Kumar from Students’ Front who bagged 2,828 votes. The ABVP alliancebacked Navdeep Singh finished third with 2,074 votes, followed by USO’s Jatin Kamboj (758). SOPU’s Abhishek Dagar dominated the election with 3,438 votes, followed by INSO’s Vishesh Anand Dhaka with 2,716. ASAP’s Komalpreet Kaur (1,735), ISO’s Jatin Dagar (660) and HAS’s Sahil Jangra (531) were the other candidates. Independent candidate Mohit Manderana won the post with 3,138 votes, followed HPSU’s Aryan Verma (2,280), Sagar Khatri (1,093) and Sidharth Boora (410). This was the only post for which just four candidates were in the fray. NSUI’s Parabjot Singh Gill and ASAP’s Mankirat Singh Mann also crossed the 1,000vote mark with 1,359 and 1,184 votes respectively. Seerat of SOI got 422 votes, Ardas of SOPU 318 and Jobanpreet Singh of PSU (Lalkaar) 198. Navneet Kaur of ASF secured 136 votes. Surprisingly, NOTA was opted by 188 students. political groups made the fight only between the ‘two’ groups. In the last election, the Students’ Front won the election by a margin of 303 votes. It was a repeat of the Continued on page 3 What worked for ABVP Infighting between major Out of the total 60 departments, Gaurav Veer Sohal trailed in 25. However, the margin was thin, which helped him maintain a lead throughout the counting process. In the departments having larger share of voters, Gaurav managed to maintain a good lead. From his own department, Gaurav led by just one vote, as his closest rival bagged 118, while he got 119 votes. DEPARTMENT UIET UBS Chemical Engg UIAM UILS Pharma Science GAURAV’S VOTES 446 146 205 149 449 135 AT 38, MOST NOTA VOTES WERE CAST BY UILS, FOLLOWED BY UIET (26) AND UBS (13).