DC marks probe

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 22

Deputy Commissioner Mandeep Singh Brar has ordered an inquiry into the fire incident which claimed lives of three girl students here today.

The DC has directed SDM (South) Satish Jain to conduct a thorough probe into the incident and submit the report at the earliest. UT Adviser Manoj Parida said strict action would be taken against those indicted in the probe.

UT Estate Officer Manish Lohan said from time to time, they had been issuing notices to the PG owners to get their accommodations registered. If any RWA or an individual comes forward with a complaint about illegal PGs being run in their areas, they would definitely take action as per the law.

Condemning the incident, Chandigarh Residents’ Associations Welfare Federation (Crawfed) chairman Hitesh Puri said, “Chandigarh is a hub of education and more than 50,000 students are staying in PG accommodations in the city. Safety comes first. All norms must be strictly followed at the facilities.”

Only 5-10 per cent of the total PG accommodations being run in the city seem to be registered faciliites, he added. Baljinder Singh Bittu, chairman of the Federation of Sector Welfare Association of Chandigarh, said more than 1,000 PG accommodations were running in the city and their owners hardly adhered to the norms laid by the UT Administration. According to information, most of these PG accommodations are being run in Sectors 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 31, 32, 34, 35, 36, 37 and 38. With limited number of hostels in educational institutes and coaching institutes, PG accommodations have emerged as a preferred choice for students coming here from the neighbouring states to pursue higher education.