29062026-CT-01.qxd 6/29/2026 12:59 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune TELANGANA MAN HELD IN CYBER FRAUD CASE VADYA WINS GOLD MEDAL IN TABLE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP THE VIRAL TRAP FOR BOLLYWOOD CELEBRITIES The police arrest the third accused in the "digital arrest" case. A Pinjore resident was duped of ~80L. P3 Vadya Chawla of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Public School, Sector 35, wins U-17 title by defeating Ankush. P3 Celebrity baiting is a media tactic to rile up famous figures into giving headline-grabbing replies. P4 » » AIR QUALITY INDEX CHANDIGARH 401-500 301-400 201-300 101-200 51-100 0-50 56 SEVERE VERY POOR POOR MODERATE SATISFACTORY GOOD EXPENDITURE INCURRED ON LEGACY WASTE REMOVAL FIRM M/S SMB Limited M/S Aakanksha Enterprises M/s Braithwaite Bum & Jessop Construction Limited M/s Hindustan Steel Works Construction Limited AMOUNT ~33.98 cr ~64.08 cr ~2.11 cr ~1.43 cr WHAT’S ON CHANDIGARH 8 am to 11 am: Parts of Sectors 33 & 34 9.30 am to 12.30 pm: IT Park 10 am to 2 pm: Burail village A truck unloads soil at the Dadumajra dumping ground on Sunday, ahead of a major plantation drive. TRIBUNE PHOTO: PARDEEP TEWARI Ramkrishan Upadhyay Tribune News Service Chandigarh, June 28 The Municipal Corporation has spent over Rs 101 crore on the bioremediation and removal of garbage piles from the Dadumajra dumping ground in the past five years. The civic body will table this information before the General House meeting to be held on Monday. The entire 15.40 lakh MT of trash has been removed from the Dadumajra dump. The MC officials said during a meeting held on April 30, the General House had sought information about the expenditure incurred on the bioremediation of the legacy waste at Dadumajra. As per the expenditure details prepared by the officials, the MC paid Rs 33.98 crore to M/S SMB Limited, Rs 64.08 crore to M/S Aakanksha Enterprises, Rs 2.11 crore to M/s Braithwaite Bum & Jessop Construction limited and Rs 1.43 crore to M/s Hin- dustan Steel Works Construction Limited for the bioremediation of legacy waste. The House meeting held on April 30 had witnessed an uproar over the uncleared garbage at the Dadumajra dump. AAP councillors had demanded an inquiry, alleging that over Rs 200 crore had been spent on the removal of garbage from the dump. Kuldeep Kumar, former Mayor; Hardeep Singh and Yogesh Dhingra, both AAP councillors, while car- UT to crack down on illegal hotels, guesthouses in villages, says DC Tribune News Service Chandigarh, June 28 Deputy Commissioner (DC) Nishant Kumar Yadav has stated that harsher enforcement measures are underway against unauthorised guesthouses and hotels in UT villages. The DC was addressing a meeting of the Federation of Sectors Welfare Association Chandigarh (FOSWAC) at People Convention Centre, Sector 36-B, today. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Baljinder Singh Bittu. More than 94 representatives from various Residents Welfare Associations participated in it. The DC said all issues raised by the residents would be forwarded to the departments concerned and addressed on priority. The Estate Office has cleared pending notices and streamlined property registrations and mutations through its portal. The special intensive revision (SIR) process was simple and citi- FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE MC spent over ~101 cr on No let-up in heatwave as monsoon closes in, Tricity Dadumajra dump removal to bear brunt for 2 more days (15.40 LAKH MT OF TRASH REMOVED FROM THE DADUMAJRA DUMP) POWER SHUTDOWN MAX 41°C | MIN 28°C YESTERDAY MAX 41°C | MIN 28.6°C SUNRISE TUESDAY 5:24 AM /THETRIBUNECHD Officials prepare expenditure details |AAP had alleged ~200-cr scam in last House meeting APNI MANDI Chandigarh: Sectors 43 & 45 Mohali: Sectors 70, 78 & Phase 5 Please send information about events in tricity at: whatson@tribunemail.com PARTLY CLOUDY SUNSET MONDAY 7:28 PM » MONDAY | 29 JUNE 2026 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST From encroachments to poor sanitation, residents raise various civic issues during FOSWAC meeting Chandigarh DC Nishant Kumar Yadav being welcomed at the FOSWAC meeting in Sector 38-B on Sunday. zen-friendly, he said, requesting FOSWAC to educate residents on it. During the meeting, Bittu appreciated the DC for making the city slum-free and streamlining the property registration and mutation. He said there was an urgent need to review the newly announced Bed and Breakfast Policy by the Tourism Department, as it would lead to several problems. He demanded that illegal “rehris” and “phadis” be removed from footpaths immediately. Medical facilities for senior citizens are unsatisfactory and no permanent doctors have been appointed in several hospitals for over two decades, he said. The president of the RWA, Independent Houses (Sector 13), KL Aggarwal, highlighted that parks maintained by the RWAs faced major issues. MOU renewal is cumbersome and maintenance of parks is being allotted to outsiders. Payments are being delayed intentionally to pressure the RWAs into giving up park maintenance, he alleged. Kamaljeet Singh Panchhi, from the Sector 18 RWA, opposed the Bed and Breakfast Policy, stating that it would lead to parking issues. Ranjit Singh, president of the Sector 45 RWA (Burail), stated that the roads in his area were in poor shape. Pardeep Chopra, secretary of FOSWAC, highlighted that Chandigarh’s three big hospitals were overcrowded by patients from the neighbouring states. He urged the administration to set up a Medicity and allow properly regulated nursing homes instead of the bed and breakfast scheme. VK Nirmal, from Sector 44 RWA; and DK Kapila, president of the Sector 36 RWA, said peak-hour traffic continued on page 2 rying placards, had demanded an inquiry into the unprocessed garbage. Meanwhile, the MC has started preparing for a major plantation drive on the reclaimed Dadumajra land before the onset of the rainy season. Soil is being transported from Patiala Ki Rao Choe to the dumping ground for the purpose. Sources said more than 12,000 bamboo and other trees would be planted along continued on page 2 Public hearing on UT Master Plan concludes Tribune News Service Chandigarh, June 28 The Screening Committee, constituted by the UT Administration for hearing public suggestions and objections on the draft amendments to the Chandigarh Master Plan-2031, today concluded the four-day exercise. The final public hearing was held at the UT Guest House from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm on Sunday. It was the last opportunity for those who had missed earlier hearings to appear before the committee and present their suggestions or objections. The public hearing began at the UT Guest House on June 25. Businessmen, industrialists and residents attended the hearing. The screening committee will submit its report to the Administration within four weeks. The nine-member committee was headed by Engineering Secretary Prerna Puri. CHB Chief Executive Officer D Karthikeyan, Chief Architect Rajeev Mehta, Chief Engineer CB Ojha and former Chief Architect Kapil Setia were among its members. Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Chandigarh, June 28 The wait for the southwest monsoon is almost over. But, before rain brings relief to the Tricity, residents must first brace for two more days of heatwave. Heatwave conditions will continue on Monday and Tuesday, followed by a stormy Wednesday. Heavy rain is likely on Thursday and the spell will continue through the weekend, as the monsoon makes landfall across the region. In Chandigarh, the maximum temperature settled at 41°C, 4.7°C above normal, making the city one of the hottest places in the combined Punjab-Haryana-Chandigarh belt. The minimum temperature was 28.6°C, a departure of 2°C above normal, while relative humidity swung between a high of 73 per cent and a low of 34 per cent. FIVE-DAY FORECAST FOR TRICITY According to the India Meteorological Department’s Meteorological Centre here, Monday and Tuesday will see a partly cloudy sky with thunderstorms and rain at isolated places. However, maximum temperature will be 41°C and 40°C, respectively, and minimum 28°C and 29°C. Wednesday and Thursday will see thunderstorms, lightning at isolated places. Heavy rain, accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning, is likely at isolated places from Thursday onwards, a pattern that extends through Friday and into the following week. The maximum temperature will remain around 39°C through the weekend. A two-wheeler rider covers his face to shield himself from the heatwave in Chandigarh on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: PARDEEP TEWARI MONSOON HEADING NORTH The southwest monsoon, which has been advancing fitfully since its delayed Kerala onset on June 4, three days behind its June 1 normal, is now gaining renewed momentum. As of Sunday, the monsoon’s northern limit had extended across parts of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, with conditions becoming increasingly favourable for its advance into Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. The IMD’s extended range forecast confirms that conditions are likely to become favourable for the monsoon to advance into some parts of Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi from July 2 to 8. THE DEFICIT The IMD’s Sunday evening media bulletin carries the number that underscores how severe the dry spell has been. Chandigarh’s seasonal rainfall from June 1 to 28 (till 8:30 am) stood at 40.1 mm, a staggering 71.6 per cent below the long-period seasonal average for this point in the calendar. Punjab’s seasonal deficit stands at around 25 per cent and Haryana’s at approximately 16 per cent, though these state-level figures mask sharper local deficits at the district level. METEOROLOGIST’S TAKE “The sustained heavy rainfall the region has been waiting for is now clearly visible in the forecast for the first week of July, when monsoon conditions are likely to establish themselves across the region in earnest. The heat over the next two days is an unavoidable feature of this transition phase. The monsoon’s advance is pushing warm, dry continental air ahead of it before the moistureladen system arrives. Once the heavy rain spell begins from Thursday, we expect a marked and sustained drop in maximum temperatures by five to eight degrees. The seasonal rainfall deficit is large and will take an active July and August to meaningfully recover. The atmospheric signals for the coming fortnight are more encouraging than they have been at any point this month,” a senior meteorologist said. Pulse Polio campaign launched, 34,835 kids administered drops Tribune News Service Chandigarh, June 28 Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria today inaugurated the Model Immunisation Centre and launched the Pulse Polio campaign at the Urban Community Health Centre, Sector 22, here. As many as 34,835 children were administered polio drops across the city. The Health Department has appealed to all parents and guardians to ensure that their children get the polio drops during a house-to-house drive on June 29 and 30. The Health Secretary, Dr Syed Abid Rasheed Shah, highlighted the Administration’s sustained efforts towards achieving universal immunisation coverage. The Model Immunisation Centre is the fifth such facility established in Chandigarh. Designed to provide a childfriendly, safe and comfortable vaccination environment, it features dedicated vaccination areas, a play zone and a breastfeeding corner. The Governor also inspected healthcare facilities at the health centre. Dr Sadbhavna Pandit, Officiating Director, Health Services, briefed the chief guest on the ongoing activities under the Universal Immunisation Programme. Addressing the gathering, Kataria emphasised the importance of achieving 100 per cent immunisation coverage. As many as 478 Pulse Polio booths have been established to administer polio drops to children aged 0-5. Besides, 1,078 vaccination teams have been deployed across the UT. 34K cubic metre of silt removed from Sukhna Lake Dushyant Singh Pundir Tribune News Service Desilting underway at the regulator end of the Sukhna Lake on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: PARDEEP TEWARI Chandigarh, June 28 To enhance water storage capacity of the Sukhna Lake, the UT Engineering Department has achieved the target of removing nearly 34,000 cubic metre of earth from the regulator end. A large portion of the lake had dried due to the prevailing heatwave. According to UT Chief Engineer CB Ojha, the work is in progress. The target of removing approximately 34,000 cubic metre of earth has been achieved, but exca- c m y b vation will continue till the arrival of monsoon. The Engineering Department started the desilting of the lake’s portion at the regulator end over a month ago following detailed consultations and technical recommendations received from the IIT Roorkee, World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature and the Forest Department. The earth removed from the Sukhna bed is being used to strengthen the embankments and pathways around the lake. The work was awarded through the tendering process, said Ojha. Work at regulator end to continue till monsoon arrival “Excavation is being carried out up to an approximate level of 351 metre at the regulator end. The excavated material is being scientifically utilised for strengthening and raising the existing embankments and pathways,” he said. Four chain-mounted excavators, backhoe loaders (JCBs) and tippers have been pressed into service, he said, adding that the ongoing desilting and embankment strengthening works are expected to enhance the ecological health of the lake, improve its water retention capacity and reinforce the existing infrastructure around the lake for the benefit of visitors. The last desilting was carried out more than four years ago. The UT Administration last year prepared a five-year integrated management plan (IMP) for the overall development of the lake. The plan, formulated in collaboration with knowledge partner WWF focuses on conserva, tion as well as enhancing the lake’s capacity. The five-year plan includes initiatives such as maintaining its water level, preserving aquatic life and keeping the water body’s vicinity clean. Increasing facilities for tourists is also part of the plan. The Sukhna wetland covers nearly 565 acres with a catchment area of nearly 10,395 acres. The lake was declared a national wetland by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests in 1988, emphasising the need for its conservation.