Sukhna water level up

Chandigarh: Water level of  Sukhna Lake has gone up by a foot (11 inches) following showers. It was recorded at 1,153. 25 feet on Thursday. The water level has been on the rise  since the onset of the monsoon. It had gone up by 3 inches after  the July  12 rainfall. It had reduced to 1152.15 ft, the lowest in the past five years. Reducing water level was a cause of concern for the Administration as the issue was under the scanner of the High Court.  CITCO had also restricted the area for boating. The water level was recorded at 1152. 90 ft on May 25, which further reduced to 1152.15. The High Court has already ordered to take required steps for increasing the water level. The court directed to clean the catchment area. GS Dhillon, former Chief Engineer-cum-Director, Irrigation and Power Research Institute, Amritsar, said after Haryana, the Government of Punjab should also start cleaning the catchment area at Kansal. TNS

Post-rain, garbage stinks

Chandigarh: While JP Associates accepted only 242 MT of garbage for processing on Thursday, heavy rain worsened the condition of the dumping site at Dadu Majra. Residents of the area said after showers, the garbage dumped  at the site has started stinking.  Narinder Chaudhary, a BJP leader, said as the dumping ground had no drainage  system,  the water flowing from it entered residents’ houses. He said if the things  did not improve, the condition might worsen further. He said despite orders of the  National Green Tribunal (NGT), no improvement  was  witnessed  at the dumping site. Long queues of vehicles were also  witnessed outside the garbage processing plant. The NGT, in its  order, had directed the firm to process 450 metric tonnes of waste every day. TNS

Trouble pours in at PU 

Chandigarh: As it rained cats and dogs on Thursday, water entered houses on the Panjab University campus, especially Block B. Due to the poor drainage system, roads were submerged under water. Residents with the help of the staff from the construction branch were seen draining out water from their houses. The president of the Panjab University Staff Union (PUSA) said, “This is a perennial problem and the residents are worst hit.” Newly constructed roads near Block E and Gate No. 3 were seen waterlogged. TNS 

Roads submerged at Kharar

Kharar: Though rain brought relief for Kharar residents from the scorching sun, it also resulted in innumerable problems with water accumulating at several places. Water was seen flowing like a small “choe” from a KFC outlet to Government High School, Desumajra. The roads leading to the village were submerged. Some residents of the village said the MC failed to make arrangements for the disposal of rainwater despite repeated requests. Water also accumulated at Shivalik City and Guru Tegh Bahadur Nagar. Waterlogging was also witnessed on Arya College Road and near Qila Complex. RS Heer, president of Sunny Enclave Residents’ Welfare and Health Care Society, said water had started accumulating in vacant plots. Surprisingly, the road outside the residence of Charanjit Singh Channi, Technical Education Minister, Punjab, was also seen waterlogged. Rajinder Aggarwal, president of the Aggarwal Sabha, Kharar, said two to three feet deep water accumulated in the anaj mandi. Sandeep Tiwari, Executive Officer of the Kharar Municipal Council, said he had directed the civic body staff to takes necessary steps. OC

Roads damaged in Kalka 

Kalka: Rain inundated parts of Kalka, Pinjore and Parwanoo. Overflowing sewage at Main Bazar of Kalka spelled trouble for pedestrians and two-wheeler riders. Water accumulated on the National Highway-22, which passes through Kalka and Pinjore. Waterlogging was noticed from the Kalka Kali Mata temple to the Kalka-Parwanoo barrier. The Pinjore-Mallah link road was too seen in a deplorable condition. The condition of the stretch from Gandhi Chowk, Kalka, to Tipra also deteriorated. The condition of the roads maintained by the Railways also worsened. “Most of the link roads have not been repaired for years,” alleged some residents. They alleged that the railway authorities had  started the maintenance of these link roads, which had been left in the lurch for more than six months.The deteriorating condition of these link roads is an open invitation to accidents. The link road connecting the National Highway-22 the broad gauge railway colony is in a state of neglect.  OC  

Two youths acquitted 

Chandigarh: Two youths walked free in cases of rape and eve-teasing after complainants turned hostile. A Sector 38 (West) youth was acquitted by a local court in a rape case.  The case was registered on February 22 this year. It was alleged he had raped the victim on the pretext of marriage and when she got pregnant, he refused to tie the knot. In another case, a Ram Darbar resident was acquitted in an eve-teasing case by the court. The complainant turned hostile in this case too. TNS

Youth convicted in rape case 

Chandigarh: A local court has convicted a Kishangarh youth in a rape case. The quantum of sentence will be pronounced on Friday. In August last year, the victim’s father had approached the police saying his daughter had left the house in the afternoon and had been missing ever since.  A few days later, he told the police that he had seen his daughter with Om Prakash, alias Billa, at the Chandigarh railway station. He then called up the police and the youth was nabbed.  TNS

6-yr-old’s rapist arrested

Zirakpur: The Dhakoli police  have arrested one Amit Kumar for raping a six-year-old girl. The accused, who is a labourer, confessed to committed the heinous act. Charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) have been slapped on him. The police constituted a team which laid a trap and arrested Amit Kumar. He will be produced in a local court tomorrow.  The victim revealed that she had been sexually abused by her  step-father-cum-parental uncle. She told the police that he used to beat her up. Her medical examination had confirmed rape,  the police said. OC

CBI turns down plea in graft case

Chandigarh: A special CBI court has dismissed a few applications moved by the defence in a graft case involving the then Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), RC Meena, and three others. A plea pertaining to the supply of certain documents from a supplementary challan filed against the accused was rejected. The defence had moved an application seeking permission for accused Sanjay Dahuja to go to Germany and Poland on a business trip. The defence had further sought details of the deleted emails, which too was turned down. The DSP was arrested by the CBI on August 13 in 2015, along with a sub-inspector (SI) and two businessmen Aman Grover, owner of KLG Hotel, and Sanjay Dahuja, owner of Berkeley Automobiles, for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 40 lakh. OC

2 held for robbery

Chandigarh: Two youths, who had robbed a pistol from a man in Dehradun on July 24, were arrested by the crime branch of the UT Police from the road dividing Sectors 11 and 15. The accused, identified as Pardeep Singh, alias Lucky (24), and Mandeep Singh, alias Manny (23), both residents of Ludhiana, had robbed a licensed pistol and keys of an Innova from one Taranjeet Singh at a hotel in Dehradun. “The accused is learnt to have messaged the complainant’s wife on WhatsApp that he wanted to be friends with her. The woman told her husband, who then called the accused to a hotel in Dehradun. The complainant pulled out his pistol which the accused snatched,” said police sources. OC

Drug peddlers held

Chandigarh: Two persons, including a 20-year-old girl, have been arrested for possessing drugs and injections. The girl, resident of Sector 27, was arrested with 8.11-gm heroin from.  In another case, one Vishal Waliya, a resident of Pitri, Panchkula district, was arrested  with 20 banned injections. OC

Gold recovered

Mohali: Customs sleuths nabbed two persons while attempting to smuggle gold at the airport here. The accused have been identified as Saleem and Amit Alan, both residents of Muzzafarnagar, and recovered 360-gm gold worth Rs 10.25 lakh. OC

Pehalwan brought on production warrant

Mohali: GMADA’s former chief engineer Surinder Pal Singh, alias Pehalwan, has been brought on a production warrant by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau in a case of fraud regarding his date of birth, here, on Thursday. Pehalwan was produced before a local court which sent him to a two-day police remand. The Vigilance had booked Pehalwan for fraud as he had given his false date of birth on his biodata while joining his job of junior engineer in the Punjab Mandi Board. The police said as per his Matric documents, Pehalwan was born on December 11, 1967, but in his biodata, he had mentioned his date of birth as December 11, 1971. TNS

Fire triggers panic at Sector 26

Chandigarh: Panic gripped Sector 26 after a few drums of chemicals lying in the open at a plot caught fire after coming in contact with water following a heavy downpour. The police said the fire spread as other drums, filled with chemicals, also caught fire. Police teams were rushed to the spot and the situation was brought under control without any major loss to property. Nobody was injured in the incident. — TNS

8 booked for beating up sarpanch

Kharar: The police have booked eight persons on the charge of attacking Sukhwinder Singh, sarpanch of Hassanpur village. The sarpanch complained to the police that on July 24, he was working in his fields when a servant of one of the accused was told by him not to touch the tubewell. Later, the accused came there and beat him up. The police have registered a case under Sections  323, 324, 148 and 149 of the IPC against Paramjit Singh, Harneak Singh, Harjeet Singh, Jagdish Singh, Gurdeep Singh, Navdeep Singh, Ranjit Kumar and Nek Chand, all residents of the village. OC

4 booked for demolishing wall

Kharar: The Kharar city police have booked four persons on the charge of  demolishing a wall around the land belonging to Ashok Puri, a retired police officer. Puri said he had the power of attorney of the land near Model Town in Kharar and had constructed a six to seven ft-high wall around it in 2011. On Wednesday, revenue officials demarcated the land adjoining his plot. Later, he was informed by someone that the accused were demolishing the wall. A case under Sections 447, 427, 506, 511, 148 and 149 of the IPC has been registered against Surinder Singh, Gyan Singh, Gurpal Singh and Dalvir Singh. OC

Bank guard hurt in accidental firing

Fatehgarh Sahib: Jasbir Singh, a security guard at Punjab National Bank, Nand Pur Kalour branch, near Bassi Pathana town, got seriously injured when his rifle went off accidentally while cleaning it. He was rushed to the Civil Hospital. Bank officials said about 10 am they heard a gunshot which panicked them. As they came out, they saw security guard Jasbir Singh, who was working with the bank for the past 28 years, was lying in a pool of blood. They took him to the Civil Hospital. OC

Drive against begging

Patiala: During a special assembly held at DAV Patiala, students and staff members were informed about drive against begging. Priya and Bhumica, members of the association, 'Har Haath Kalam', from Thapar University interacted with students. They shared stories of beggars who usually use alms given by us for drugs. A human chain will be made on August 12 near Kali Devi Temple to stop people from begging. — OC

Suicide bid by man

Chandigarh: High drama was witnessed at Sukhna Lake when a man entered the water to commit suicide. The police claimed that the man accidentally fell into the lake. On seeing him, visitors raised the alarm. Sources said the man resided in Bapu Dham. TNS

Bag snatched 

Chandigarh: A bike-borne miscreant snatched a bag from a girl in Sector 35.  It contained Rs 4,000 in cash, an iPhone and other documents. 

Theft at house

Thieves decamped with Rs 10,000 in cash and valuables from a house in Mani Majra. Rakesh Vishwkarma, a resident of New Indra Colony, said thieves entered his house on the intervening night of July 25 and 26 and fled with cash, two mobile phones and silver ornaments. — TNS