12062026-CT-01.qxd 6/12/2026 1:18 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune DR ALKA RAO APPOINTED FIRST WOMAN DIRECTOR OF IMTECH ENUMERATION OF UT VOTERS UNDER SIR FROM JUNE 15 A QUIET BIRTHDAY, MOUNTING ANTICIPATION… Dr Alka Rao has been appointed the Director of Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh. P3 The enumeration phase under the special intensive revision of electoral rolls will begin in city on June 15. P3 Bollywood actor-singer Vedang Raina, who turned 26 on June 2, has a lot to be thankful for. P4 » » AIR QUALITY INDEX CHANDIGARH 82 PANCHKULA 112 401-500 301-400 201-300 101-200 51-100 0-50 SEVERE VERY POOR POOR MODERATE SATISFACTORY GOOD ~101-crore push for healthcare, education infra in Chandigarh Critical care hospital, AYUSH wellness centre, school block to come up Nitin Jain ~73.89cr ~20.88 cr ~5.88 cr Tribune News Service APNI MANDI Chandigarh: Sectors 24 and 46 Mohali: Sector 68 and Phase 5 Please send information about events in tricity at: whatson@tribunemail.com INBRIEF COUPLE INJURED IN HIT-&-RUN Chandigarh: A couple sustained injuries in a hit-&run. In his complaint to the police, Hardeep Kumar, a resident of Kishangarh, Manimajra, stated that the driver of a car (T1225PB3347H) sped away after hitting the auto in which he and his wife were travelling. The couple was injured and admitted to the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32. A case under Sections 281 and 125(A) of the BNS has been registered at the IT Park police station. TNS Chandigarh, June 11 In a major push to strengthen healthcare and education infrastructure, the UT Administration has begun work on three key construction projects worth a combined Rs 100.65 crore, with the lion’s share earmarked for two landmark health facilities. The biggest-ticket project — a 50-bedded critical care hospital at Sub-District Hospital, Manimajra — has been sanctioned at an estimated cost of Rs 73.89 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM). The second project involves the construction of an AYUSH Health and Wellness Centre along with an Administrative Block at Sector 28, pegged at Rs 20.88 crore. The third is a Rs 5.88-crore additional block at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 27-C. The critical care hospital — to come up on 2.88 acres — will be a five-storey structure, including basement, with a plinth area of 14,218 sq m. Of the Rs 73.89 crore total cost, Rs 16.63 crore has been sanctioned Estimated cost of 50-bedded critical care hospital in Manimajra; ~16.63 cr sanctioned under PM Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission, UT to bear remaining cost; completion in 24 months AYUSH Health and Additional block to Wellness Centre to be constructed at be located in Govt Model Senior Sector 28; will Secondary School, serve Sectors Sector 27-C; 10 new 26–30, Bapu Dham classes for 400 Colony; completion students; completion in 18 months in 12 months FILE PHOTO WHAT’S ON under PM-ABHIM. The UT Health Department will fund the remaining Rs 57.26 crore. The facility has been designed to address critical care gaps in the Manimajra, Mauli Jagran and IT Park belt — areas currently dependent on tertiary hospitals for emergency and intensive care. The project envisages 25 ICU/HDU beds, a 26-bedded isolation ward, two modular operation theatres, advanced triage with red, yellow and green zones, CT scan, MRI and X-ray facilities, a dialysis unit, maternity and newborn care unit, blood bank and a 75-car basement parking. The project is to be completed within 24 months of commencement. The AYUSH Health and Wellness Centre, to be built on a 0.88-acre site in Sector 28, will be a four-storey structure with a plinth area of 4,612 sq m. It will house ayurvedic, homoeopathic and Unani OPDs, along with dedicated yoga and Panchakarma therapy facilities, pharmacy units, a 40-seat conference hall, a yoga hall, library and a separate administrative block. The centre will be a green building, incorporating a solar power plant, rainwater harvesting system, and barrier-free architecture. The centre will serve residents of Sectors 26, 28, 29 and 30, as well as Bapu Dham Colony and adjoining areas. The completion timeline is 18 months. The third project provides for a two-storey additional block at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 27-C, at a cost of Rs 5.88 crore. The block will add 10 classrooms with a combined student capacity of 400, addressing the space crunch caused by increasing enrolment at the school. The building will incorporate solar power, rainwater harvesting, fire safety systems, and a barrier-free ramp. The project is to be completed within 12 months. continued on page 2 Dushyant Singh Pundir Tribune News Service Chandigarh, June 11 The UT Engineering Department has prepared a plan for the cleaning of the picturesque Sukhna Lake. The cleanliness drive will be carried out in about 2 lakh square meters area. Under the drive, lotus plant weeds and garbage, etc, would be removed from the lake manually at an estimated cost of Rs 29.64 lakh. Aquatic weeds, garbage to be removed For a long time, the lake has been struggling with the problem of aquatic weeds and filth, affecting its beauty and impacting the water flow and ecosystem. To enhance water storage capacity of the lake, the Engineering Department recently started removing earth from the regulatory end during the desilting operation after a portion of area dried up with onset of the summer season. Nearly 34,000 cubic metres of earth is proposed to be excavated. The last desilting was done more than four years ago. The regulatory end is the first to get dry with the rise in temperature during summer. To address the challenges continued on page 2 4 months on, Dubai flights back; fly Cool comfort to & fro Abu Dhabi from June 26 Gaurav Kanthwal Tribune News Service Mohali, June 11 After a gap of four months, the lone Chandigarh-Dubai flight has resumed daily operations from Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport Chandigarh this week. Passengers can now board the direct flight departing from the Dubai International Airport at 10.10 am and landing at the Chandigarh airport at 3.45 pm, a journey of four hours and five minutes (time difference factored in). The flight departs from the Chandigarh airport at 5.10 pm (IST) and reaches Dubai at 7.40 pm. While the one way economy ticket for the ChandigarhDubai flight before the Iran war was around Rs 13,500, it has now increased to around Rs 19,000. The one-way economy class ticket price from Massive spike in fare, return tickets now costing around ~40K Dubai to Chandigarh is Rs 24,000, almost double the price prevailing earlier. The airline has also started taking bookings for Abu Dhabi as the service is set to resume on June 26. The flight will depart from Chandigarh at 5.20 pm and reach Abu Dhabi at 7.40 pm. The fare for the four-hour journey is around Rs 19,000. “Given the tense geopolitical situation, it is not certain how long the flight operations will continue,” officials said. International flight operations had been halted at the Chandigarh airport since March 1 due to temporary closure of the UAE airspace FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE Mayor moots robotic parking for optimal utilisation of space Ramkrishan Upadhyay Tribune News Service Chandigarh, June 11 Mayor Saurabh Joshi has proposed robotic parking or automated parking system for the city. He, along with officials of the Municipal Corporation, on Thursday visited two such parking facilities in Delhi and examined the possibilities of using the technology in Chandigarh. In a video shared on the social media, the Mayor explained the features of the robotic parking. He said it was a fully automatic system and functioned without any manual intervention. The system helped parking more cars in less space, he added. Under the robotic parking system, drivers simply leave their cars in a designated entry bay following which sophisticated machinery — a combination of robotic arms, shuttles and lifts — transports the vehicle to a preassigned slot, often stacking cars vertically or horizontally in a dense, compact configuration. Retrieval is equally seamless, with the car delivered back to the driver, often facing forward for easy exit, typically within 2-3 minutes. TRIBUNE PHOTO: RAVI KUMAR restrictions amidst escalation in Iran-Israel conflict. All flights to the Middle East remained erratic since then with escalation in airfares due to a massive spike in aviation turbine fuel costs and severe flight rerouting. Connectivity on domestic routes has been enhanced with two more flights — one each to Pune and Bengaluru — added to summer schedule from June 1. Commuters travel amid rain on the Ambala-Chandigarh highway in Zirakpur on Thursday evening. REPORT ON PAGE 3 Chd Police @ 60 — from Kiran Bedi’s 40-day stint to fastest emergency response Nitin Jain Born of bifurcation Tribune News Service The Chandigarh Police came into existence on November 1, 1966, when the Punjab Reorganisation Act bifurcated the state to create Haryana and Chandigarh was designated a Union Territory. Prior to that, policing in the planned city was administered by the Punjab Police. The post of Inspector General of Police was created in 1981. The rank structure was elevated in 2017 when the post of Director General of Police was created, with Tajender Singh Luthra as its first incumbent. The Diamond Jubilee carries a particular resonance for the officer presiding over the force. A 1997-batch AGMUT-cadre IPS officer, Dr Hooda was posted as ASP in the Chandigarh Police in Chandigarh, June 11 In April 1999, one of India’s most celebrated police officers joined the Chandigarh Police as the new head in the rank of Inspector General of Police, rationalised VIP security, announced sweeping reforms and clashed with the Administration — all in 40 days, before being transferred out. Kiran Bedi’s tenure as the IGP Chandigarh, remains the , most talked-about episode in the force’s history. Twentyseven years later, the Chandigarh Police mark their Diamond Jubilee and unveil a specially designed logo on 60 years of service, holding the distinction of recording the fastest emergency response time in the country. The 6,000strong force is now headed by DGP Dr Sagar Preet Hooda. eral of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). First to adopt new criminal laws The UT police recorded an average response time of 5.6 minutes last year against the national average of 18.61 minutes; and (right) DGP Sagar Preet Hooda awards a winner of the Diamond Jubilee logo design contest in Chandigarh on Thursday. August 1997 — his first assignment after joining the service. Twenty-eight years later, he returned as the DGP , having served as Joint Commissioner of Police, Special Commissioner (Law and Order) and Special Commissioner (Intelligence) in Delhi Police, and having complet- Joshi, MC officials examine two such facilities in Delhi Saurabh Joshi, Mayor The Mayor had recently written to the UT Administration for constructing more underground parking and revamping the defunct and underutilised subsurface facilities. Joshi had pointed out that several underground parking lots of the civic body, currently lying defunct and underutilised, had effectively become “white elephants”. He emphasised that with strategic planning and private participation, these spaces can be turned into “gold mines” for revenue generation. The Mayor listed four major defunct underground parking sites — three located in continued on page 2 Kataria lists UT feats at NITI Aayog meet Tribune News Service Flight cancelled Meanwhile, bad weather at night forced the cancellation of a Jaipur-Chandigarh flight (6E7413). The flight was scheduled to depart from Jaipur at 9.25 pm and arrive here at 10.50 pm. Departures to Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Delhi, and arrivals from Lucknow, Goa and Delhi were delayed in the evening. MAX 36°C | MIN 25°C YESTERDAY MAX 36°C | MIN 26.3°C SUNRISE SATURDAY 5:21 AM /THETRIBUNECHD Dept to carry out Sukhna clean-up at over ~29 lakh PARTLY CLOUDY SUNSET FRIDAY 7:24 PM » FRIDAY | 12 JUNE 2026 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST ed a master’s in public policy from Harvard University. He turns 57 on August 30. A launch pad The Chandigarh Police also served as a posting that preceded higher national assignments for several IPS officers. Parag Jain, a 1989- c m y b batch Punjab-cadre IPS officer who served as the SSP Chandigarh, was appointed Secretary of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) in June last year, having played a key role in Operation Sindoor. Punjab cadre’s Gaurav Yadav, also a former SSP Chandigarh, is present- ly the DGP of Punjab. Another Punjab-cadre officer, Sumedh Saini, who had served as the SSP Chandigarh, superannuated as the Punjab DGP On the . AGMUT side, Praveer Ranjan, who served as the DGP Chandigarh, is currently posted as the Director Gen- Chandigarh was among the first jurisdictions in the country to implement all three new criminal laws — the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, which replaced the IPC, the CrPC and the Indian Evidence Act on July 1, 2024. In the first year, 3,154 FIRs were registered under the new laws, with a conviction rate of over 91% and average time to conviction dropping from 300 days to 110. Quickest emergency response On emergency response, the Chandigarh Police recorded an average response time of continued on page 2 Chandigarh, June 11 UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria showcased Chandigarh’s achievements in education, healthcare, sports, sustainability and urban governance during the 11th meeting of the NITI Aayog Governing Council chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Thursday. In his address, the Administrator said Chandigarh had been declared a fully literate UT with a literacy rate of 99.93%. He noted that the Class X pass percentage improved to 88.25, while 475 students scored above 90% marks in the academic session 2025-26. Kataria highlighted initiatives such as Project Udaan and Shikhar-26 for free JEE and NEET coaching, expansion of skill education in government schools and implementation of future-ready courses in Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, cyber security and data analytics. He informed that Chandigarh’s gross enrolment ratio in higher education stood at 64.8%, well above the national average. In healthcare, he spoke about the Project SARATHI, under which over 2,671 NSS volunteers are assisting patients in major government hospitals. The model has now been adopted by more than 1,400 hospitals across the country. On sustainability initiatives, Kataria said Chandigarh ranked 8th in the Swachh Vayu Survey-2025, all government buildings had been solarised and the city was honoured with the National Energy Conservation Award-2025. He also noted that Chandigarh became the country’s first UT with 100% privatisation of electricity distribution and strengthened clean mobility through the induction of electric buses. continued on page 2