06092026-CT-01.qxd 9/6/2026 1:08 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune UT ADMINISTRATOR FETES 22 SCHOOLTEACHERS JUSTICE ALOK JAIN WINS LAW ALUMNI GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP ACTRESS NIMISHA SAJAYAN BREAKS NEW GROUND UT Administrator Kataria honours 22 schoolteachers at a special Teachers’ Day event. P3 Justice Alok Jain wins gold in Judges Individual Category (Gross) at Law Alumni Golf Championship. P3 Nimisha, who became a pan-India favourite withThe Great Indian Kitchen, talks about playing cop. P5 » » AIR QUALITY INDEX CHANDIGARH 38 PANCHKULA 40 401-500 301-400 201-300 101-200 51-100 0-50 SEVERE VERY POOR POOR MODERATE SATISFACTORY GOOD WHAT’S ON APNI MANDI Chandigarh: Sec 34 and Dadumajra Mohali: Sector 88, Phase 8 Please send information about events in Tricity at: whatson@tribunemail.com 8-yr-old sleeping with mom abducted, sexually assaulted Tribune News Service Mohali, September 5 An 8-year-old girl sleeping with her mother and siblings was allegedly abducted and sexually assaulted by a man in the Saini Mohalla area of Dera Bassi on Friday night. According to the girl’s family, the man opened the door through a broken grille around 3.30 am. He then abducted the girl and took a mobile phone before fleeing towards Barwala Chowk. The incident was captured on nearby CCTV cameras. After some time, the girl returned home crying. The family said they immediately took the girl to the police station. She was later taken to a government hospital in Dera Bassi where she underwent a medical examination. Family members said the girl had injuries on her body. They said the accused took the girl to a secluded space and sexually assaulted her. The police have registered a case against an unidentified person on the complaint of the girl’s mother under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 35°C | MIN 23°C YESTERDAY MAX 34°C | MIN 23.2°C SUNSET SUNDAY 6.39 PM SUNRISE MONDAY 6:02 AM » SUNDAY | 6 SEPTEMBER 2026 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST /THETRIBUNECHD FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE City loses 10 to 15 MGD of Kajauli water daily to leaks in old pipelines MC plans to replace two concrete pipelines with mild steel channels Ramkrishan Upadhyay Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 5 One-third of water supplied to the city from the Kajauli waterworks through two old concrete pipelines is lost due to leakage. The General House of the Municipal Corporation (MC) had recently declared null and void an agenda of Rs 227 crore for replacing the two pipelines following a controversy. Data received from the civic body revealed that around 10 to 15 million gallons per day (MGD) of the 35 MGD of raw water sent through the two pipelines from Kajauli does not reach the Sector 39 waterworks. Chandigarh’s canal-based water supply system caters not only to the city residents but also supplies raw water to Mohali, Panchkula and Chandimandir as per fixed shares. The city gets water from Kajauli through six pipelines of a capacity of 20 MGD each. Four of these are mild steel (MS) pipelines and the remaining two pre-stressed concrete (PSC) lines.The augmentation water supply scheme was commissioned in different phases. Phase I was commis- KEY FACTS ■ Before 1983, the city depended ■ Phase-I of the augmentation scheme primarily on groundwater extracted through tubewells ■ To meet the growing demand, the Kajauli Water Supply Scheme was commissioned in 1983 drawing raw water from the Bhakra Main Canal, located about 27.5 km from the city was commissioned in 1983, Phase ll 1988, Phase III 1994, Phase IV 2006 and Phase V & VI 2019 ■ 120 MGD of raw water is drawn from the six phases, with the UT’s share being 87 MGD, Mohali 15 MGD, Panchkula and Chandimandir 9 MGD each sioned in 1983, followed by Phase II in 1988, Phase III in 1994, Phase IV in 2006 and Phase V and VI in 2019. According to the agenda placed in the House meeting, the transmission mains of Phases I, II, V and VI comprised MS pipelines with protective lining/coating. Howev- er, the transmission mains of Phase III and IV comprised 1200-mm PSC pipelines. The pipelines laid over 30 years ago have become highly vulnerable to frequent leakages due to ageing, deterioration of rubber ring joints, pressure fluctuations and water hammer effects. The number of leakages has increased considerably in recent years, resulting in interruptions in raw water conveyance, pressure losses in the transmission system, damage to adjoining agricultural land, increased operation and maintenance expenditure and risk of disruption in water supply to Chandigarh, the MC claimed. Further, the existing 50foot-wide pipeline corridor between the Kajauli waterworks and the Sector 39 waterworks is already occupied, leaving no space for laying an additional pipeline. Therefore, acquisition of fresh land is neither practical nor feasible due to extensive development along the alignment. In view of this, it is proposed in the agenda to replace the existing 1200 mm PSC pipelines with MS pipelines. The proposed MS pipelines will substantially enhance the carrying capacity of the system and will be capable of conveying approximately 40 MGD of raw water against the existing capacity of about 20 MGD, thereby ensuring reliable and Continued on page 3 At walkathon, Kataria flags influx of drugs from Pak Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 5 Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria on Saturday flagged off an anti-drug and wellness walkathon at Sukhna Lake, appealing to citizens to join the fight against drug abuse and asserting that collective effort was key to building a drug-free India. Addressing mediapersons after the flag-off, Kataria invoked Punjab’s history of sacrifice for the nation’s defence and security, tracing it back to the pre-independence era. “Unfortunately, for several years now, there has been a massive influx of contraband from Pakistan. Smuggling of illicit goods occurs only when someone from within our own region facilitates it for trade purposes,” Kataria said, describing the drug trade as a reflection of weakness in society that was ruining the prospects of the next generation. The walkathon, organised by the Department of Social Welfare under the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, opened with participants taking a pledge to stay away from drugs and contribute to a safer, healthier Chandigarh. Boxer Gurseerat Kaur, fencers Yashkirat Kaur Hayer and Pranshi Arora, shooter Sainyam Vij and judoka Angel Yadav, who brought laurels to Chandigarh and the country, were felicitated at the event. Hayer, who is a gold medallist at the Commonwealth Fencing Championships 2026 and is set to compete at the Asian Games in Japan from September 19 to October 4, said sportspersons had a duty to steer clear of drugs and doping, which, she said, carried serious long-term sideeffects and set a wrong example for aspiring athletes. Vij, who won silver at the 2026 ISSF World Cup in the women’s 10m air pistol event, endorsed the Nasha Mukt Bharat initiative and urged people to adopt it. A day after a man died due to electrocution, a cable repair work underway in Nayagaon on Saturday. Electrocutionsparkspublicanger over PSPCL infra in Nayagaon Gaurav Kanthwal Tribune News Service Mohali, September 5 A day after the death of Nayagaon resident Mewa Lal, 48, near an electrified pole in Safeda Colony, residents are boiling in anger over the crumbling PSPCL infrastructure and two deaths due to electrocution in a month. PSPCL officials have launched a major exercise to remove unauthorised wires in residential areas of Nayagaon. Locals, however, said, it was too late and too little. Irate residents alleged that the area was rife with exposed electricity wires, illegal “kundis”, tilted power poles and a mesh of telecommunication cables. They also criticised the PSPCL for failing to address these issues. Public anger is brewing as it is the second death in a month’s time, allegedly due to electrocution and waterlogging. On August 8, an eight-year-old girl, Mansi, daughter of a migrant labourer, was electrocuted in a similar fashion near Kumaon Colony in Nayagaon. Residents alleged that cases of stray cattle getting electrocuted were common in the area as power meters were placed barely a foot above the ground level at several A web of wires in Nayagaon on Saturday. TRIBUNE PHOTOS: RAVI KUMAR AUTOPSY REPORT RECORDS ASPHYXIA AS CAUSE OF DEATH The medico-legal report and post-mortem examination report recoded the cause of death as asphyxia (lack of oxygen). Kharar subdivisional hospital SMO Sukhjeet Singh Bawa has recorded “asphyxia, which was ante-mortem in nature and sufficient to cause death” against the column ‘Cause of death’ in the medico-legal report. places. Recently, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had warned PSPCL officials that “personal responsibility” would be fixed if remedial steps were not taken. Meanwhile, the kin of the deceased Continued on page 3 Soon, ~20-crore digital museum to celebrate Le Corbusier’s legacy THE TRIBUNE SPECIAL Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 5 The Union Government may soon grant approval to fund a Rs 20.02-crore digital museum proposed at the Le Corbusier Centre in Sector 19-B here, paving the way for India’s first dedicated digital architectural museum on the legacy of the city’s chief architect. Speaking to The Tribune, Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria said he had taken up the project with Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and was assured of affirmative action. Once cleared, work on the project would be completed within a year, said the Governor, describing the museum as a landmark ini- tiative that would strengthen Chandigarh’s UNESCO heritage status while opening a new chapter in the city’s tourism and cultural profile. Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier (Charles-Édouard Jeanneret) was appointed chief architect of Chandigarh in 1951 after the original plan by Polish architect Matthew Nowicki and American planner Albert Mayer was shelved following Nowicki’s death. Le Corbusier redrew the city’s Master Plan based on the concept of the human body, with the Capitol Complex as its head, the City Centre as the heart and the Leisure Valley as its lungs. He designed the iconic Capitol Complex buildings — the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Secretariat and the Vidhan Sabha — besides envisioning the sector-based grid layout that defines the UT. Union Tourism Minister Shekhawat assures Kataria of central nod to project PROJECT AT A GLANCE ■ Location: Le Corbusier Centre, Sector 19-B ■ Area: 478.72 sq metres ■ Cost: ~20.02 crore ■ Scheme: Swadesh Darshan 2.0, Union Ministry of Tourism ■ Timeline: 12 months from approval The Le Corbusier Centre in Sector 19, Chandigarh. TRIBUNE PHOTO: PARDEEP TEWARI The Capitol Complex was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016 as part of “The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier”, and the Le Corbusier Centre, where the digi- c m y b tal museum is now proposed, was set up to document and showcase this legacy through ■ Galleries: 7 his original drawings, furniture and archival material. It is this legacy that the pro- posed museum seeks to reinterpret through immersive digital technology for a new generation of visitors. UT Culture and Tourism Secretary Dr Syed Abid Rasheed Shah said the museum was proposed under the Union Tourism Ministry’s Swadesh Darshan 2.0 scheme. It would come up on 478.72 sq metres of land at the Le Corbusier Centre, with the Society for Tourism & Entertainment Promotion in Chandigarh (STEPS) as the implementing agency. He said the project was aimed at establishing India’s premier digital architectural museum, celebrating Le Corbusier’s legacy. According to Dr Abid, the museum will house seven galleries — Early Life, Architectural Journey, Gaming Zone, Contribution to Chandigarh, Miniature Gallery, Contribu- tion to the World and a Digital Sketch Pad activity gallery modelled on Le Corbusier’s own sketching practice. Besides, it will have a library, workshop and conference room, souvenir shop and ticketing-cum-reception area. The visitor journey has been designed as arrival-ticketingorientation through the seven galleries to the library, workshop and souvenir shop before exit, with an average visit expected to last two to twoand-a-half hours. Among the key technologies proposed were AR and VR, interactive screens and touch tables, and holograms with projection mapping, officials said. The project also factors in universal accessibility, including barrier-free entrances, wheelchair-friendly seating, QR-based multilingual interpretation and audio guides.