15012026-CT-01.qxd 1/15/2026 12:32 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune THOUSANDS THRONG DAUN TO ATTEND MAGHI MELA SEVEN YOUTHS HELD FOR RUNNING BETTING RACKET GET READY FOR COSMIC CHAOS THROUGH HUMOUR Thousands of people converged at Daun village to enjoy the rustic charm of Punjab. P2 The police bust a gang involved in online betting on WPL matches in a house at Panchkula. P2 Actors Pulkit Samrat and Varun Sharma are in Chandigarh to promote their film Rahu Ketu. P4 » » CHANDIGARH 401-500 301-400 201-300 101-200 51-100 0-50 156 SEVERE VERY POOR POOR MODERATE SATISFACTORY GOOD /THETRIBUNECHD FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE MC suspends Medical Officer, discontinues services of outsourced vet, workers; probe ordered Ramkrishan Upadhyay Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 14 A controversy erupted after several cow carcasses were found on the premises of an incineration plant located in Makhan Majra here today. An FIR has been registered. The MC has placed under suspension Dr Inderdeep Kaur, Medical Officer of Health (MOH), and discontinued the services of the contractual staff posted at the gaushala, including Dr Ravinder Singh Dhaliwal, veterinary doctor; Ramlal Singh, Sanitary Inspector; Lovely, Supervisor; and other multi-tasking staff. A magisterial inquiry has been ordered, which will be conducted by the Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADM). The Director, Animal Husbandry Department; Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) East; and Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of the area will assist the ADM in the inquiry. He has been directed to submit the report at the earliest. Municipal Commissioner Amit Kumar and Deputy WHAT’S ON CHANDIGARH CELEBRATIONS: An evening of music, tribute & unity to mark Army Day celebrations; Tagore Theatre, Sector 18; 5 pm onwards 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 POWER SHUTDOWN MOHALI 10 am to 4 pm: New Sunny, Old Sunny Colonies, Sectors 123,124 and 125; Hussainpur, Manana, Jhampur village, Jhampur colonies, Jandpur, Thaska, Behlolpur, Tadauli, Raipur, Desumajra, Fartullapur and Harlalpur. People gather at the gaushala in Makhanmajra village, Chandigarh, on Wednesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: VICKY Commissioner Nishant Yadav visited the site to ensure immediate remedial measures. To ascertain the exact cause of death, a postmortem examination of the carcasses is being conducted. The leaders of various political parties have demanded a high-level inquiry into the incident. The incident sparked outrage after the reports and videos of dead cows emerged on the social media. Several social activists and leaders reached at the carcass disposal plant. Vijay Pal Singh, president of the Chandigarh AAP who also , reached the spot, said the MC’s carcass disposal plant had been shut down for a long time, due to which the dead cows could not be disposed of in a timely manner. He alleged there was large-scale corruption in the management of the gaushalas and the incinera- MAX 12°C | MIN 7°C YESTERDAY MAX 8.9°C | MIN 3.8°C SUNRISE FRIDAY 7.19 AM Cattle carcasses at Makhanmajra incineration plant trigger outrage AIR QUALITY INDEX MOSTLY CLOUDY SUNSET THURSDAY 5.45 PM » THURSDAY | 15 JANUARY 2026 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST tion centre. The conditions of the cows at the gaushala is pathetic, he alleged. He said that a proper inquiry must be carried out into the expenditure of cow cess levied on common man. Chandigarh Congress president HS Lucky, along with party councillors and Deputy Mayor Taruna Mehta, also reached the spot. He demanded that an inquiry must be carried out to find out the truth behind the death of over 50 cows. He said that condition of the cows was not good in the gaushalas. The cows died due to the carelessness on the part of MC officials, he alleged. Lucky announced that the Congress would raise this issue in the upcoming House meeting to ensure the accountability be fixed and corrective action taken. Shashi Shankar Tiwari, state secretary of the BJP , along with many workers, also staged a protest. Tiwari demanded that the responsibility must be fixed for the death of cows. Continued on page 3 Auto driver held in Panchkula hit-&-run case Panchkula, January 14 Six days after Lieut Gen Kulwant Singh Mann (retd) died in a hit-and-run accident near Mansa Devi Complex here, the police today arrested an auto driver of Saketri, Om Prakash, a native of Churu, Rajasthan. The deceased’s wife had lodged a complaint with the Lt Gen Mann had died in the accident Mansa Devi police station on January 10, reporting that her 87-year-old husband, a retired Lieutenant General, was hit by an auto driver while out on a walk near his home in the morning on January 9. He was seriously injured and taken to a hospital, where he died during treatment. The police have registered a case under Sections 281, 125(b) and 106 of the BNS. During the investigation, the police identified the auto driver on January 13 and arrested him next day. Inspector Munish Kumar, in charge of the Mansa Devi police station, stated that the MDC area was being regularly patrolled. The departments concerned have been contacted for the installation of CCTV cameras at traffic lights and key locations wherever necessary. — TNS City colder than Manali, Shimla, Srinagar Cold wave tightens grip on Tricity region as day temperature dips to 8.9° C INBRIEF Tribune News Service FREEZING COLD FOG TAKES TOLL ON TRAIN SCHEDULE Chandigarh, January 14 Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula reeled under cold wave on Wednesday as dense to very dense fog pushed the Tricity region into one of its coldest spells of the season. Chandigarh recorded a low day temperature of just 8.9 degrees Celsius, the lowest of the winter so far, plunging by a massive 6.3 degrees from Tuesday and settling 9.5 degrees below normal. The sun failed to make even a brief appearance through the day. In a striking contrast, Chandigarh remained much colder than popular hill stations, with Manali, Shimla and Srinagar recording significantly higher day temperatures of 15.2, 14.6 and 13.2 degrees Celsius respectively. The persist- Chandigarh: The prevailing foggy weather has hit railway operations in the region. The Agra Cantt-Hoshiarpur Express train had to be cancelled due to poor visibility on Wednesday. The Thiruvananthapuram NorthChandigarh Sampark Kranthi arrived at 11:20 am, late by 1 hour and 30 minutes. The New DelhiAmb Andaura Vande Bharat Express was late by 55 minutes. The New Delhi-Kalka Shatabdi arrived here at 11:38 am, late by 39 minutes. The Kalka- Delhi Shatabdi reached at 6:24 pm, 9 minutes behind schedule. The New Delhi-Daulatpur Chauk Jan Shatabdi Express was late by four minutes. TNS CITY Chandigarh Shimla Manali Srinagar MAX 8.9 °C 14.6 °C 15.2 °C 13.2 °C MIN 3.8 °C 7.2 °C 1.9 °C -5.2 °C ent fog severely reduced visibility and kept daytime heating at bay across the region. The night temperature in Chandigarh, which had dipped to a nine-year low of 2.8 degrees Celsius on Monday night, showed only marginal recovery, rising by one degree to 3.8 degrees Celsius on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday. Even this was 3.1 degrees below normal and almost half of Shimla’s comparatively warmer night temperature of 7.2 degrees Celsius. Relative humidity levels remained extremely high, ranging between 86 and 95 per cent, aiding the formation and persistence of dense fog. Weather conditions over the past 24 hours remained dry. Chandigarh witnessed prolonged spells of dense fog from late night through morning, followed by mist and haze during the day and again dense fog by night. Within the region, Chandigarh logged the lowest maximum temperature at 8.9 degrees Celsius, while nearby stations such as Ambala recorded around 9 degrees Celsius. Among minimum temperatures, Hisar in Haryana was the coldest at 0.5 degrees Celsius, while Chandigarh’s minimum stood at 3.8 degrees Celsius. The India Meteorological Department has issued an orange alert for Thursday, warning of dense to very dense fog and cold wave conditions at a few places in the region. This will be followed by a yellow alert for dense fog at isolated places from Friday through next Tuesday. While the weather is likely to remain dry till January 17, light rainfall is expected at isolated places between January 18 and 20. The forecast indicates a gradual rise in minimum temperatures by about 3 to 5 degrees Celsius over the next five days, with no major change thereafter. However, fog is expected to continue disrupting normal life, especially during night and morning hours, keeping the Tricity firmly in the grip of winter’s harshest phase. Students walk through dense fog at Panjab University on Wednesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: PARDEEP TEWARI 21 flights cancelled, several delayed by 3-5 hrs Mohali: As many as 21 flights had to be cancelled and several delayed by upto five hours due to fog and operational reasons at Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport here on Wednesday. Flight operations almost came to a standstill early in the morning and late in the evening. Twelve arrivals and nine departures were cancelled today. All flight arrivals after 9:20 pm had to be can- celled as a thick blanket of fog engulfed the Tricity. The international flight to Abu Dhabi scheduled for 2:40 pm, departed at 4:32 pm. The Dubai flight (4:50pm) departed at 5:38pm. — TNS With a little help from Guv Kataria, Chandigarh MC emerges from the red THE TRIBUNE SPECIAL Higher grants, better recovery of dues, controlled spending help UT corporation stabilise its finances Nitin Jain YEAR-WISE UP & DOWN ( RECEIPTS VS EXPENDITURE) Tribune News Service Year Receipts Change 2020-21 768.11 — 2021-22 842.00 +9.62% 2022-23 894.00 +6.18% 2023-24 888.00 –0.67% 2024-25 903.64 +1.76% 2025-26* 1,160.00 +28.37% TRIBUNE PHOTO PARDEEP TEWARI Chandigarh, January 14 After facing serious financial problems for more than five years, the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (MC) has started moving towards financial stability. Support from the UT Administration, higher grants, better collection of its own revenue and tighter control on spending have helped the civic body improve its position. During the first nine months of the current financial year (April to December 2025), the MC’s total receipts increased by over 28 per cent to Rs 879.16 crore. This improvement came mainly due to a 34 per cent rise in grant-in-aid, a 19 per cent increase in own receipts and a nearly 5 per cent cut in expenditure. MC Commissioner Amit Expenditure 710.61 760.30 943.25 1,005.82 968.28 1,160.00 Change — +6.99% +24.06% +6.63% –3.73% +19.80% (AMOUNT IN ~CRORE) (SOURCE: MC; 2025-26 FIGURES TILL DECEMBER 31) MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS ■ Ranked second in Super Swachh League 2024-25 by MoHUA ■ Topped State of India’s Environment 2025 green rankings with a score of 89.09 Kumar recently informed Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria about the improved financial situation. Official figures show that an additional Rs 150 crore grant approved by the Administrator played an important role. With this, the grant-in-aid during the period rose to Rs 593.75 crore from Rs 487 crore in the same period last year. The MC also got relief after the Chandigarh Administration took over the recarpeting and repair of V3 roads, reducing the corporation’s expenditure by nearly Rs 50 crore. At the same time, the MC stepped up recovery from defaulters and collected Rs 39.57 crore from pending property tax and water charge arrears of Rs 333.16 crore. Steps were also taken to reduce avoidable expenses. About 450 posts were cut through manpower rationalisation, saving around Rs 25 crore c m y b every year. Changes in working arrangements saved another Rs 10 crore, while handling sanitary waste in-house reduced costs by nearly Rs 3 crore. The MC’s own receipts rose to Rs 285.41 crore, which was more than 23 per cent higher than Rs 231.74 crore collected during the same period last year. Property tax collections improved, with Rs 53.28 crore collected from commercial properties against a target of Rs 58 crore and Rs 31.06 crore from residential properties against a target of Rs 32 crore, after changes in tax rates. Expenditure during the nine-month period was limited to Rs 712.70 crore. Savings were made in salaries (Rs 23.23 crore), minor works (Rs 13.49 crore), electricity (Rs 5.55 crore) and fuel (Rs 1.49 crore). For the full year, both receipts and expenditure are expected to be around Rs 1,160 crore. Year-wise figures show the scale of improvement. Total receipts, including grants, which were Rs 768.11 crore in 2020-21, are expected to cross Rs 1,160 crore for the first time in 2025-26. The MC has already received Rs 750 crore as grant-in-aid till December 31 and expects another Rs 310 crore by the end of March. If this amount is received, total grant-in-aid will reach Rs 1,060 crore and, along with own receipts, total income may touch nearly Rs 1,470 crore this year. Unlike the previous financial year, when the MC had to take a Rs 56 crore loan to meet its expenses, it has not taken any bank overdraft so far this year. Total expenditure this year is expected to reach Rs 1,160 crore, which includes pending liabilities of Rs 188.75 crore from the previous year. Kataria said the aim was to make the MC financially independent by increasing income from its own sources, cutting avoidable spending and ensuring timely grants. He said there would be no shortage of funds for basic civic services and infrastructure. Mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla said the focus would remain on improving own revenue, reducing unnecessary expenditure and continuing support from the Chandigarh Administration. Chandigarh ranked second in the Super Swachh League 2024-25 of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and topped the State of India’s Environment 2025 green rankings with a score of 89.09.