What tricity is talking about | Winds of change at lake club and babu’s fancy
Now the authorities want to change the existing system and have offered club’s bar and restaurant on lease. The lessee can throw it open to the public like it’s in any other restaurant — of course at a price.
WINDS OF CHANGE AT LAKE CLUB
Chandigarh’s Lake Club is not affected by the SC order but it’s in the middle of another row. The club has a bar and restaurant which only members are allowed to use. Now the authorities want to change the existing system and have offered club’s bar and restaurant on lease. The lessee can throw it open to the public like it’s in any other restaurant — of course at a price. Some members haven’t appreciated the idea. They say it’s unfair to them as it’s meant to be exclusively for members. The authorities say it will all depend on whether any company or individual comes forward to run it.
BABUS’ FANCY
Residents are considering it a victory -- and rightly so -that the administration has been forced to put on hold the notification that gave bureaucrats a right to own fancy vehicle numbers by paying almost nothing. In times when the Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi is giving slogan of every person is important (EPI), UT babus were still living in their VIP age. Rollback is fine, but how did it come about? An official told HT that some officers demanded this new provision, saying: “We officers are able to own one or two vehicles in a lifetime, can’t we be allowed to have a number of our choice?” How logical is that? You decide.
NEW LEASE OF LIFE FOR MALLS
It’s been nearly a month and a half when the Supreme Court’s verdict banning sale and serving of liquor within 500 metres of the highways took effect. Hoteliers in Chandigarh have been impacted in a big way. There is prohibition in place now on either side of Madhya Marg and in the main markets of Sectors 35 and 43. One view is that it has taken life out of these areas. The latest information is that owners of bars and pubs in these areas are thinking of moving in a cluster to Industrial Area. This has given a ray of life to city’s malls-cum-multiplexes who haven’t been doing well.
A CIVIL CHAOS
Ever wondered why the parking lot of Mohali civil hospital, Phase 6, is suddenly bursting at the seams? Not even an inch is available for most part of the day. No, it has nothing to do with the improvement in quality of medication there. It’s actually become a parking place for the adjoining private hospital, which attracts huge crowd. So, people park inside the civil hospital, take its slip (obviously) and then check into the private hospital.
(arvind.chhabra@hindustantimes.com)