08092026-CT-01.qxd 9/8/2026 1:04 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune FACULTY FLAYS CHOPPING OF TREES AT MANIMAJRA SCHOOL AMRITSAR SOORMAS DEFEAT FAZILKA FALCONS BY 4 WKTS KHOSLA, JANI’S 40 YEARS OF CRAFTSMANSHIP & COUTURE Dozens of fully grown Ashoka trees chopped to nearly half their height at Manimajra school. P3 Abhishek Sharma-led Amritsar Soormas log a 4-wicket win over Fazilka Falcons in Sher-E-Punjab T20 League. P3 Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla mark four decades in fashion with a dazzling celebration of style & glamour. P4 » » AIR QUALITY INDEX CHANDIGARH 51 PANCHKULA 41 401-500 301-400 201-300 101-200 51-100 0-50 SEVERE VERY POOR POOR MODERATE SATISFACTORY GOOD APNI MANDI Chandigarh: Sectors 29 and 56, & Dhanas Mohali: Sec 68, 71 Please send information about events in tricity at: whatson@tribunemail.com INBRIEF ~1.86L STOLEN FROM SEC 47 ATM Chandigarh: Unidentified persons broke into a Canara Bank ATM in Sector 47 and decamped with Rs 1,86,500. A case has been registered at the Sector 31 police station following a complaint by Harish Sabotra, manager of the bank's Sector 47-C branch. TNS 2014-batch officer Rajesh Sharma new SSP (Cybercrime) Tribune NEws Service KHAKI REJIG According to orders issued on Monday, 2014-batch IPS officer Rajesh Kumar Sharma, who has been transferred from Jammu and Kashmir, has been assigned the charge of SSP/Operations and Cybercrime. He will also serve as Commandant, IRB, and Assistant Commandant General, Home Guards. The two portfolios were earlier held by 2015-batch IPS officer Geetanjali Khandelwal, who was recently shifted to Delhi. A 2018-batch IPS officer, Vinit Kumar, who has been transferred from Delhi, has been appointed SP/Headquarters and Communication and given the additional charge of Vigilance. The responsibilities of 2022batch IPS officer Anurag Daru have also been reshuffled. He has now been assigned the charge of SP/Crime, Economic Offences Wing, and Security and Traffic. Earlier, he was serving as Commandant, IRB, Assistant Commandant General, Home Guards, besides looking after Security and Traffic. DANIPS-cadre officer Vijay has been given the charge of SP/City, Women and Child Support Unit and Intelligence. He was earlier handling Headquarters and Communication. The SP/City portfolio was previously held by 2021-batch IPS officer KM Priyanka, who was recently transferred to J&K. As per the orders, DIG Rajiv Ranjan Singh will oversee the functioning of Headquarters, Continued on page 2 FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE for applicants Sector 17 multi-level parking, Relieftransfer,freeholdof property lease conversion 5 other paid sites made free Estate Office scraps separate no-dues certificate requirement Low occupancy, less revenue behind civic body move Ramkrishan Upadhyay Chandigarh, September 7 Facing losses, the Municipal Corporation has made six paid parking sites free facilities. An order issued to the Superintending Engineer (Roads) said a review meeting regarding the operation of paid parking sites was held on July 23 in the presence of the MC Commissioner. The issue of low revenue from paid parking sites and the need to improve the parking infrastructure were discussed. It was decided to make six parking sites free of charge and re-deploy the manpower at other paid facilities. The parking lots made free of charge are the Sector 17 multi-level parking; behind SCOs in Sector 9-D on Madhya Marg; front side of Code Gym in Sector 8; rear of SCO 1-16 in Sector 7-C on Madhya Marg; and two other sites in Sector 8. The city’s first multi-level parking in Sector 17, constructed at a cost of around Rs 48 crore, is not being fully utilised. Occupancy records of the past few months show that 4% of the area remained underutilised. Twenty-three employees were deployed at The multi-level parking in Sector 17, Chandigarh, on Monday evening. TRIBUNE PHOTO: PARDEEP TEWARI the facility. Now, only seven will be deployed there to take care of security and sanitation. Constructed on an area of 4.78 acres 11 years ago, the four-level parking facility has a capacity to accommodate around 760 cars in three basements and 240 two-wheelers on the surface parking area. The visitors were charged Rs 10 for four-wheeler and Rs 5 for two-wheeler. Officials said the six paid parking sites had been made free for now. However, the MC was exploring the option to hand over select paid parking sites, including the Sector 17 multi-level parking, to the respective market welfare associations (MWAs). MC Joint Commissioner Inderjeet held detailed discussion on the proposed participatory model for the operation AAP councillor Laddi booked for assaulting BJP youth wing leader Aanavi Singh Arya Chandigarh, September 7 After four senior officers were relieved last month, the Chandigarh Police have undertaken a major redistribution of responsibilities, assigning key portfolios to new officers. MAX 36°C | MIN 24°C YESTERDAY MAX 34.7°C | MIN 24°C SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 6.03 AM /THETRIBUNECHD Tribune News Service WHAT’S ON PARTLY CLOUDY SUNSET TUESDAY 6.37 PM » TUESDAY | 8 SEPTEMBER 2026 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 7 AAP councillor from ward number 21 Jasbir Laddi has been booked for voluntarily causing hurt and criminal intimidation after a BJP Yuva Morcha leader, Mohit Yadav, was allegedly assaulted near Faidan village on Sunday evening. In a complaint to the police, Mohit stated that he was on his way to attend a blood donation camp along with his associates when councillor Laddi arrived at the scene. He alleged that the councillor harboured a grudge against him since his appointment as the BJP mandal president. The two had a heated exchange before Laddi Jasbir Singh Laddi allegedly began hurling abuses at him, the complainant stated. Mohit further alleged that the councillor caught him by the collar, dragged him, snatched the BJP flag he was holding and threw it to the ground. Mohit said a video recorded by his friends captured the sequence of events. A case has been registered against Laddi at the Sector 31 police station. Officials said the video submitted by the complainant was being examined, along with CCTV footage from the area, to ascertain the sequence of events. Refuting the allegations, Laddi claimed that Mohit and his associates were the ones who initiated the altercation and used abusive language, and that he only reacted to it. He said the sequence of events required an investigation. Laddi claimed that he had filed a complaint against four persons, including Mohit, and demanded that an impartial medical examination be conducted to determine whether he had sustained any injuries. Continued on page 2 and management of select paid parking sites with the representatives of various MWAs. Sanjiv Chadha, president, Chandigarh Beopar Mandal, said the MWAs had no extra source of revenue and needed financial help from the MC to deploy the required staff, adding that if the MC was ready to provide financial assistance, they could consider running the parking lots. Nitin Jain Chandigarh, September 7 The Estate Office, Chandigarh, has done away with the requirement of a separate nodues certificate (NDC) for two key property services — NOC for transfer of lease rights and conversion from leasehold to freehold tenure — under a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) approved by the Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria. Speaking to The Tribune, Deputy Commissioner-cumEstate Officer Nishant Kumar Yadav said applicants earlier had to first apply separately for an NDC and, only after obtaining it, file a fresh application for the main service. This led to two applications for the same property, repeated scrutiny of records and delay in service delivery, he said. Under the revised system, applicants would apply directly for the main service through the online portal. Dues, which were earlier checked at the NDC stage, would now be verified and calculated during processing of the main application itself, Yadav said. The Estate Officer said the checklists and workflows for both services stood revised on the online portal, with the NDC requirement deleted and Tribune News Service An LED-lit road in Chandigarh on Monday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: PARDEEP TEWARI A CCMS with clock-based operation ensures lights are on only during required hours. The selected bidder will have to form ward-wise dedicated maintenance teams and set up 24x7 CCMS monitoring and citizen complaint management system. The new system will also sig- c m y b ■ Services covered: NOC for transfer of lease rights; conversion from leasehold to freehold tenure ■ Separate no dues certificate no longer required before applying replaced with a provision that dues would be assessed during processing and intimated through a single notice. The integrated procedure would initially apply to the two identified services and might later be extended to other Estate Office services where a separate NDC was presently insisted upon, he added. Single-window process Under the SOP all documen, tary deficiency, dues and service charges will be consolidated and communicated to the applicant through a single “Discrepancy Memocum-Demand Notice”, rather ■ Dues to be verified during processing of main application ■ Deficiencies and dues clubbed in one “Discrepancy Memocum-Demand Notice” than in a piecemeal manner. Yadav said the notice would list all deficiencies in documents, the government dues, applicable conversion, transfer or service charges, the total amount payable, the mode of payment and the time allowed to the applicant for compliance. The application would be disposed of within 15 working days of its receipt, he said, adding that the period during which compliance by the applicant was awaited would not be counted, and the clock would resume from the date of complete compliance, including payment of dues. TRIBUNE PHOTO: PARDEEP TEWARI Farmers return home after a seven-day protest was called off in the wake of the Punjab Government’s acceptance of their demands. MC floats request for proposal for LED upgrade, smart monitoring, 10-year infra upkeep The company will deploy new central control and monitoring system (CCMS) feeder panels across all light points with timer-based operation, along with individual light controllers, fully integrated with MC’s Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC). SALIENT FEATURES Heading home Street lighting system in city all set for overhaul Chandigarh, September 7 The Municipal Corporation (MC) is going to modernise the street lighting in the city. It has issued a request for proposal (RFP) inviting bids for the purpose. In its meeting in May this year, the MC General House had decided that the existing lights needed to be replaced with high-efficiency ones having better and centralised control systems. According to the RFP the , MC needs a single, accountable private sector partner to take over the entire public street lighting system for a defined period, replace existing LED luminaries with current-generation units, restore centralised smart monitoring and control and provide professional operation and maintenance. FILE Tribune News Service nificantly reduce CO2 emissions through savings in electricity consumption resulting from lower wattage. The selected bidder will be responsible for the supply, installation, testing and commissioning of all smart LED luminaires and CCMS feeder panels. The cost of the project will be determined through competitive bidding. The firm will strengthen infrastructure, including poles, cables (overhead and underground), earthing and junction boxes. It will also be responsible for operation and maintenance of the infrastructure for a 10-year concession period. In 2018-19, the MC had partnered with Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) to install energy-efficient LED street lighting infrastructure across the city. As many as 45,871 LED light points and 681 CCMS panels were installed, supported by a multi-year operation and maintenance (O&M) contract. With the expiration of the EESL O&M contract, the corporation is now independently managing the infrastructure. Continued on page 2 Man found dead in car at Manimajra motor market Chandigarh, September 7 The body of a man was found in a car at the Manimajra motor market on Monday afternoon. The deceased has been identified as 41-year-old Iqbal, a resident of Indira Colony. On receiving information, the SHO of the Manimajra police station reached the spot along with a police team. A forensic team was also called to examine the scene. The police said the man died of suspected drug overdose but the exact cause of death would be ascertained after the postmortem examination. The body was shifted to the Government Multi-Speciality Hospital in Sector 16. The police are scanning the footage from CCTV cameras installed in the surrounding area to ascertain how Iqbal reached the car. During initial investigations, the police did not find any suspicious circumstances. — TNS Man awarded 20-year jail in rape case Panchkula, September 7 A fast-track POCSO court here has convicted a man in a case involving the rape of a minor and threats to circulate her private photographs, and sentenced him to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the convict. Additional Sessions Judge Manish Dua awarded the sentence under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. In case of failure to pay the fine, the convict will undergo an additional six months of simple imprisonment. Continued on page 2