 |
|
|
Pandemonium in Assembly over demolition drive
Traffic snarl on Vikas Marg as BJP men protest
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Yamuna clean-up plan: MCD plays blame game
Land registration to be computerised
Fog disrupts air, rail traffic
Blast orphans get support from Red Cross Society
Inspection of Line 3 of Metro completed
Murder case solved, five held
CGHS scam: Builder remanded to CBI custody
Air Force School celebrates Annual Day
Comedy on at SRC auditorium tomorrow
|
|
Pandemonium in Assembly over demolition drive
New Delhi, December 22 As the legislators gathered this afternoon at the House, BJP legislators were up on their feet raising slogans against the government for failing to stop the demolitions. Leader of the Opposition Jagdish Mukhi said that despite Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit giving an assurance on the issue and the House passing a resolution for an immediate halt to the demolition, the MCD drive was still on. Mr Mukhi also asked the Speaker, Chaudhary Prem Singh, to direct the government to honour the resolution and demanded that Ms Dikshit give a statement in the House on the matter. BJP MLA Sahib Singh said if the Chief Minister could not stop the demolitions, she should step down. The Opposition legislators raised slogans and rushed to the well of the House. The Speaker urged them to go back to their seats and when they refused to comply he ordered that they be marshalled out. BJP MLA Mothi Lal Sodhi had to be forcibly carried out by the Assembly watch and ward staff when he and other MLAs refused to go out of the House on their own. Mr Sodhi later claimed that he suffered injuries in the process. Meanwhile, Chaudhury Prem Singh today asked MCD chief A. K. Nigam to reply to a privilege motion moved in the House by a Congress MLA as the civic body continued to bulldoze the illegal constructions in the Capital. Congress MLA Mukesh Sharma moved the motion against the MCD Commissioner for failing to stop the demolition drive despite the Assembly passing a resolution to the effect two days back. “(Even) after the passing of motion in the House, the MCD has not stopped the demolitions. The MCD is bound to follow the decision of the House,” Mr Sharma said while moving the motion. Admitting the motion, the Speaker asked the Commissioner to reply to the House by noon tomorrow. Several Congress MLAs joined Mr Sharma in criticism of the Commissioner over his reported remarks on continuance of the demolition drive. Ms Dikshit said the concerns expressed by the House had been conveyed to the MCD despite the fact that the MCD functions under an Act of Parliament (central government). She also asked the Mr Nigam to stop the demolitions immediately and concentrate first on the removal of encroachments from government land. The MCD should also move the High Court to seek more time for removal of illegal structures and also present to it a proper action plan for dealing with the matter, she said. Mr Sharma, however, appeared unimpressed by Ms Dikshit’s statement and said it gave an impression that the government was putting the ball in the MCD court and distancing itself from the issue. “I wonder whether there was any need for discussion in the House or whether the resolution has any value,” he said. Yesterday, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Lok Sabha MPs from the national Capital, senior MCD and DDA officials had met Union Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy over the demolition drive by the civic body in the Capital. However, Mr Reddy told the delegation that the MCD would proceed with its job without causing inconvenience to the public. “The problem has grown over the years and we cannot take a decision in one go. We have to appreciate the huge dimension of the problem first and the Centre would like to study the problem,” Mr Reddy said. Emerging from the two-hour long meeting, Ms Dikshit said that the MCD would go to the court on the contentious issue and the Delhi Government would support the civic body. “We would pray for removal of encroachments from government land and demolition of illegal buildings which are under construction,” she added. Sources said that the government’s present strategy was to seek more time to save neighbourhood shops running in residential areas till the implementation of the Master Plan.
|
|
MCD drive wanes: Only 32 structures demolished
New Delhi, December 22 Of them, 25 properties were commercial while seven were residential. Three commercial properties each in South, Sadar Paharganj and West Delhi were demolished while six properties were sealed. According to sources, Municipal Commissioner Ashok Kumar Nigam has directed his subordinates to focus on commercial properties first and take on residential properties later on. He was called by the Delhi Government today to a special meeting in which he was asked why he had not followed the proposal of the Delhi Assembly which proposed to stop the demolition of buildings. The Municipal Commissioner clarified the Delhi Government that the civic body had been directed by the Delhi High Court to take action against unauthorised buildings and encroached lands. Nothing could be done in this regard. It was the Delhi High Court which could give relief to the people, he said. He said that today that major action was taken in Narela in West district where BJP workers opposed the action taken by the MCD workers. In Preet Vihar and Madhuban Chowk, they almost stopped the traffic in protest against the demolition drive. The local BJP asked its workers to oppose the drive in their respective areas as with the demolition drive of the MCD only local people would suffer. Meanwhile, a large number of residents today protested against the demolition drive of the civic body under the aegis of the Confederation of All India Traders. They assembled at Chandni Chowk and staged an impressive show of strength condemning both the MCD and the Delhi Government.
|
|
Traffic snarl on Vikas Marg as BJP men protest
New Delhi, December 22 At least 100 activists belonging to the Opposition party led by Delhi BJP chief Harsh Vardhan blocked the road this morning, shouting slogans against the Sheila Dikshit government and demanding an end to the demolitions. There was a minor scuffle between the police and the BJP activists following which, seeking to disperse the mob and clear the road, the police resorted to a mild lathi charge on the party workers. Dr Vardhan along with the BJP activists was later detained. The protest demonstration on the busy road also led to a considerable traffic jam during the morning office hours as the vehicular traffic had to be diverted to other roads. It took more than an hour for the traffic policemen to clear the traffic mess. The MCD was taking action against illegal constructions in the area today, which is an important shopping hub of the Capital with outlets of many famous brands. “We will oppose the demolition drive tooth and nail. We will not allow any demolitions to take place,” Dr Vardhan said. Holding the Congress government in the Capital responsible for unauthorised constructions coming up in Delhi, he claimed, “All these unauthorised constructions came up between 2000 and 2005 when the Congress has been in power in Delhi”.
|
|
Yamuna clean-up plan: MCD plays blame game
New Delhi, December 22 The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), in its affidavit filed in the apex court, has tried to shift the blame on the DJB, asserting that checking the discharge of sewage into the river was the responsibility of the board. The corporation also expressed its helplessness in shifting of several slum clusters from the river bank and alongside several drains flowing to it. The slum clusters, which were the major obstacle in implementing the action plan, had not only come up on Yamuna banks but had gone deep down into its beds, the court was informed earlier by amicus curiea Ranjit Kumar. The slum clusters comprising over 45,000 jhuggis were one of the main source of pollution in the river besides the industrial waste. The MCD said it had no land to shift the jhuggi dwellers. According to the affidavit, 4,300 and 12,000 jhuggis existed on the western and eastern banks of the river respectively, while 30,000 were alongside the major drains. To settle slum dwellers, a huge chunk of land was required, which was not available with the MCD or any other government agency, the corporation said, adding that in the past the slum dwellers could be shifted from Delhi Development Authority land only because the civic body was able to provide its land to them. Describing the cleaning of the river a Herculean task, the corporation submitted that it had a “negligible” role to play in the Yamuna Action Plan. The MCD said the implementation of the Yamuna Action Plan required the involvement of the Delhi Government and its agency, the DJB, was the main player. The court earlier this month directed the MCD Commissioner and the CEO of the DJB to appear personally before it in the second week of January to explain the apathy of the two agencies in putting in place the Yamuna Action Plan, approved by the Union Government four years ago to ensure that no untreated sewage water is discharged in the river. They were given 10 days’ time to file their affidavits. The Union Urban Development Ministry had formulated the action plan on the lines of the Thames river in London. Under the proposal, sewage treatment plants (STPs) had to be set up on each drain at a site just before they meet the river so that only treated water flowed into it. The existing STPs were far away from the meeting points and the treated water was polluted again before it was discharged in Yamuna. The action plan also provides for constructing a parallel drain to the river to ensure that whatever pollution was caused along the banks flowed in it instead of the Yamuna. The court had ordered setting up a monitoring committee under Urban Development Secretary Anil Baijal to see how the action plan could be put in place.
|
|
Land registration to be computerised
Faridabad, December 22 She said this was being done to bring transparency in the official work and check any irregularity. The orders have been passed on to all the offices of the revenue department, including the respective tehsildars, she said, and warned of strict action against any complacency in this connection. She asked the Sub-Divisional Magistrates (SDM) to keep a track record of the development and submit regular reports to her office. Describing the time of power supply of midnight to the rural areas as improper, she said it was very difficult for the farmers to irrigate their fields at night or perform power-related work during the odd hours. It may be recalled that there is an acute shortage of power supply in the district these days and the residents in both the urban and rural areas are facing great inconvenience due to long and frequent cuts for the past four weeks. The officials of the Public Health department were directed to maintain proper water supply to the residents and government schools in the district. The Food and Supply officials were asked to intensify the work of checking adulteration in petrol, diesel and kerosene.
|
|
Fog disrupts air, rail traffic
New Delhi, December 22 No flights were possible between 6.20 a.m. and 11 a.m. due to poor visibility and foggy conditions, Airport Authority of India sources said. While visibility was about 50 metres at 6.20 a.m., it continued to be around 200 metres till 8.00 a.m. which was not suitable for take-off or landing. Due to this, several flights, including international ones, were either diverted or delayed. The Air Deccan flight to Srinagar and Amritsar and Jet Airways flight to Mumbai were cancelled. Five other domestic flights were also diverted. A Lufthansa flight to Munich was also diverted to Ahmedabad. Meanwhile, Railway sources said eight trains, including G T Express (Chennai-New Delhi), Farraka Express (Malda-New Delhi) and Dakshin Express (Hyderabad-New Delhi), were running between 1 to 6 hours behind schedule. While outgoing trains from New Delhi were not affected much, incoming trains had been delayed by foggy conditions. Even on roads, foggy conditions led to traffic moving at a slower pace early in the day. Meanwhile, there was a slight rise in the minimum temperature in the
city today with the minimum temperature touching 6.2 degree Celsius which was one degree below
normal.
|
|
Blast orphans get support from Red Cross Society
Faridabad, December 22 The two children, identified as Raina Nigam and
Hardik, are residents of Sainik colony in sector-49 here and are students of DAV Public School. The Red Cross Society has offered to deposit an amount of Rs 1 lakh each in the account of Raina and
Hardik, to be operated jointly with the Deputy Commissioner, who is also the chairperson of the Red Cross Society, and its Secretary till they attain the age of 18 years. Their parents, Rajiv and Beena, were killed in the blasts in Sarojini Nagar. Later, their grandfather could not bear the shock and died soon after, leaving the children alone. According to Mr
J.N. Gehlot, secretary of the Red Cross Society here, he met the guardians of the children and the schools authorities in this regard and they have accepted the offer. It may be pointed out that several organisations have offered to help the children after their case was widely reported in the media. The school has also offered to provide them free education till class 12.
|
|
Inspection of Line 3 of Metro completed
New Delhi, December 22 According to the DMRC spokesperson, the inspection conducted by the Commissioner for Metro and Railway Safety went off smoothly. Some minor observations, which are likely to be put up, will be rectified in the coming week. Although the section, which connects western parts of the Capital with its hub, is almost ready, there are no official inputs on its exact date of inauguration as of now.
|
|
Murder case solved, five held
New Delhi, December 22 The accused persons who were arrested have been identified as Asif, alias Raju (22), Salman, alias Sallu (18), Mohd Faim (19), Zaffar (19) and Hemraj, alias Bara, all residents of Madangir. On December 21, at around 8.10 pm, the police received information that one Imran, a resident of Madangir, was brought to AIIMS by his brother and upon examination by the doctors he was declared brought dead. A police team immediately reached the hospital and recorded the statement of the victim’s brother. During investigations, Furkhan stated that he along with his brother Imran went to meet one Wakil Salman and stayed there up to 7 pm. Later, two persons, identified as Mohd Farhan and Hemraj, called his brother Imran outside on the pretext of getting some flooring work. When Imran did not return, Furkhan along with Wakil came out and saw Imran was being assaulted by Farhan, Hemraj and their accomplices with iron rods and wooden sticks. When Furkhan and Wakil raised an alarm, the accused persons fled from the spot. Based on this information, a police team conducted raids at various places and arrested the accused from different locations of Madangir. During sustained interrogation, the accused persons confessed to their crime and disclosed that Imran used to tease one Reshma, cousin of Asif. The accused persons also threatened Imran not to meet Reshma and when Imran refused to oblige, Asif along with his accomplices decided to eliminate him.
|
|
CGHS scam: Builder remanded to CBI custody
New Delhi, December 22 Vinod Kumar Verma, a private builder, was arrested here yesterday and was produced before Special Judge I K Kochhar today. The court has sent Verma to custody till December 24. Six other persons were arrested on December 12 in connection with the multi-crore scam, including four builders and two government officials, and are presently in CBI custody. In the FIR, Verma is accused of colluding to “revive” the defunct UNI Group Housing Society with the Registrar of Cooperative Societies, and office-bearers of that society. The CBI told the court that the then society President Rakesh Kumar Gupta and Secretary Mahesh Chand Gupta gave photographs and identifying documents of society-members to Verma and to another person by the name of Kuldeep Goyal. Investigations by the CBI also found that the residential addresses of members furnished by the accused were fake. It is alleged that Goyal was introduced by Verma to one of the prime accused builders in the scam, Gokul Chand Aggarwal, who was one of the six arrested last fortnight, in a similar case related to the Taj Group Housing Society. Verma also allegedly provided the money for reviving the society and later sold the society to Goyal, as per the remand application filed in the court. CBI today requested the remand of the accused to probe into how the society “revived” by Aggarwal ended up in the hands of Goyal.
|
|
Air Force School celebrates Annual Day
New Delhi, December 22 Air Chief Marshal S. P. Tyagi in his address exhorted the students to face life’s challenges courageously and continue the great legacy of the school. He also released the golden issue of the annual school magazine, “The Aravalian”. The officiating Principal, Mr S. K. Aggarwal, emphasised that the examinations provided a tool to learn to manage stress and time
in life. The TAFSians put up a colourful and vibrant cultural programme. The Senior School presentation included an orchestra performance, ‘Krishna Ras’, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s famous tragicomedy ‘The Tempest’, and a dance drama, ‘Maha Shakti Durga’.
|
|
Comedy on at SRC auditorium tomorrow
New Delhi, December 22 AASTHA is a society that strives to promote and spread the message of peace, universal brotherhood and welfare of the society through powerful mediums like education and entertainment packaged with systematic and methodological programs. AASTHA is also engaged in activities like providing free counselling, organising camps and workshops for the economically depressed
population. — TNS
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
.jpg)
