New Delhi, May 9
The Delhi government will shortly come up with draft legislation—Property Title Act—to provide for greater transparency and accountability in the property transactions in National Capital Territory (NCT), said chief secretary Rakesh Mehta at an interactive session at PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“We have been working on this legislation for the last three and a half years and had several rounds of discussions with an institution in Washington. Amar Chand Mangaldas, a law firm, has been commissioned to draw up the draft legislation which will be announced in six weeks,” he added. Only Andhra Pradesh has a Property Title Act in India.

In Delhi there is only a provision of registration of property. Once the Act is enforced, it is easier for property transactions, he added.

Mehta said that in the next year or so, NCT would become power surplus since it has already contracted for the supply of 8000 MW of power. At present power availability has improved considerably in the current year due to the power reforms carried out by the Delhi government in the recent years.

There is also an overall improvement in the availability of water despite inter-state water disputes.

He wanted the participation of industries in resolving the deficit by better use of water focusing on recycling.

Referring to the transport sector, Mehta said that the only solution before the government is implementation of integrated multi-model transport system for speedy movement of over seven to eight million commuters every day in the National Capital Region. There are 50 lakh vehicles in Delhi and the road area accounts 21 per cent of the land mass.

“Carving out new roads is not a solution to the present traffic snarls. It has to be an imaginative policy taking into consideration the traffic needs of the country,” he added.

Mehta said that the information and technology backbone of the Capital has been strengthened with the laying of fiber optics across the states. There would be now three level of identification for streamlining the delivery systems and to reach out to the poor.

He also mentioned that the Delhi’s draft industrial policy would be ready soon and there could be an interface between the PHD Chamber and the Delhi government in this regard.

Referring to the efforts being made by the Delhi government in promoting education, Mehta said, “We are committed to promoting industry-university partnership and in this regard we are having regular interface with Sam Pitroda’s Knowledge Commission. We have also identified large clusters of land for setting up education system.”

New Delhi, May 9
The PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industries has proposed to the Delhi government to constitute an expert group to study the feasibility of metro line from Kirti Nagar to Lodhi Colony via Nizammudin along the Ring Road.

According to the PHD Chamber, the Capital needs an integrated public transport system to cater to the needs of the increasing population. The city government should formulate a long-term action plan to ensure hassle-free traffic and expand public transport system that would discourage cars and other private vehicles. It should create an expert group to plan and regulate traffic on the city roads and immediate ring towns in Haryana and UP.

The government should also ensure the safety of pedestrians and remove encroachments on footpaths. Construction of foot-over bridges and subways can ensure free vehicular flow and safety of pedestrians. It should formulate a policy for registration of hawkers, provide access to public spaces and identify hawking areas. This will lead to de-congestion.

Despite having 30 flyovers across the city, traffic situation remains chaotic. A study conducted by the PHD Chamber shows that 30 types of vehicles ply on the Capital’s roads. Besides, there is a constant rise in the number of vehicles on roads. This causes congestion, fuel wastage, pollution and accidents.

The population of NCT of Delhi as on March 1, 2008 was 169.6 lakh. It is expected to touch 230 lakh by 2021. This has mounted pressure on the transportation system.

New Delhi, May 9
The water crisis in the Indian capital is set to take a turn for the worse in the long term, leading perhaps to more water-related conflicts. In 2021, the city will face a deficit of over 1,000 million litres per day (MLD) - higher than the current figure of around 900 MLD.

“Providing adequate water supply to meet the city’s varied needs is an onerous task. It is going to be the biggest challenge before the city in the years to come, and what makes the job indeed tougher is the limited resources for water,” a top Delhi Jal Board (DJB) official told IANS requesting anonymity.

The DJB is an autonomous agency to cater to the city’s water needs for domestic and other purposes, and is headed by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

According to the city’s Economic Survey for 2007-08, Delhi will have a deficit of 1,608 MLD. In 2021, total water demand is estimated to be 6,272 MLD as against a supply of 5,259 MLD - which means a deficit of 1,013 MLD.

A city of over 16 million people, Delhi is fully dependent on neighbouring Haryana and Uttar Pradesh for water, except for ground water mining in its own territory.

Its water crisis is set to become acute despite efforts to increase supply.

The survey says that the capacity building target for water has been pegged at around 4,432 MLD for the 11th plan period (2007-12).

“The city’s current requirement is around 4,275 MLD, while we are able to supply only around 3,375 MLD. Since the city adds 300,000 to 400,000 people every year from different parts of the country, the burden on scarce resources will increase manifold,” the official said.

As per the norm set by the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO) of the ministry of urban development, the city’s per capita daily water requirement is around 274 litres.

The official break-up of daily water consumption is 172 litres for domestic, 47 litres for industrial and commercial purposes, three litres for fire protection and 52 litres for the floating population and special uses like hotels and embassies.

“We need to increase the water level in the city through rain water harvesting programmes,” a DJB official said requesting anonymity.

The government’s key water capacity building projects include recycling units at existing water treatment plants at Haiderpur, Wazirabad and others, which will add 180 MLD to the capacity, and the Munak and Haiderpur canals that will add another 360 MLD.

Efforts are also on to get water from Uttar Pradesh for the Sonia Vihar water treatment plant, which is currently producing around 495 MLD of drinking water as against a capacity of 630 MLD.

“The problem of water in Delhi is a serious social and economic issue, and needs to be handled effectively. The demand for water continues to rise, in view of the ever increasing population,” said J.P. Aggarwal, city Congress chief and member of the Rajya Sabha.

The Planning Commission has urged the government to reduce unaccounted for water in the drinking water pipeline network to 15 percent from 45-50 percent, and drastically reverse the trend of groundwater mining.

“The total distribution losses are of the order of 40 percent of the water supplied. It is quite high as compared to 10 to 20 percent in (other) developing countries,” says the survey report.

The distribution losses are due to leakages in a network of 9,000 km-long main water supply chains and theft through unauthorised connections.

“A leak detection and investigation (LDI) cell has been put in place, and around 1,200-km long old and damaged supply chains have been replaced in the last five years. The distribution loss is expected to come down to 20 percent in the near future,” the DJB official said.

The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is not convinced.

“The Sheila Dikshit-led Congress government could not improve the water situation in the last 10 years,” said city BJP unit chief Harsh Vardhan. — IANS

New Delhi, May 9
To prevent the power situation in the National Capital Territory of Delhi from snowballing into a major political issue in the run up to the assembly elections, the Government of the NCT of Delhi has started close monitoring of the situation and issuing a daily update for the benefit of the consumers as well.

The update includes the peak power demand for the day, the number of outages if any and instances of under frequency which may have caused disruption in some parts of the sprawling metropolis.

The average peak time power demand for May is normally around 3487 mega watts. However, as the heat and humidity increase in the subsequent summer months, so does the demand which can in some instances go up to even as much as 5000 MWs.

The decision to tackle the problem of power paucity

in the election year was taken last week after Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit convened the meeting of all the senior officers of the private power distribution companies (discoms) and told them in plain words that she will not tolerate any major power cuts during the scorching summer months.

She told the discoms that after several years of privatization, the transmission losses had come down and the infrastructure had also been strengthened. This was precisely why the government had relented to a marginal increase in the power tariff earlier this year despite criticism from the opposition. The Delhi Pradesh BJP has in particular been vociferous in its criticism of privation of power and the repeated attempts of the private players to get the tariff hiked still further.

In fact, the Delhi Pradesh BJP has threatened to launch agitations against continuing power and water shortages in the city in the coming weeks in an attempt to turn them into major political issues.

The Chief Minister told the discoms and other officials concerned that it was imperative to have a reserve to meet the peak power demand as there was enough generation and the Capital was getting its share from all other sources.

She said that she saw no reason why the Capital should face outages unless there were instances of major breakdowns or under frequency.

She reminded the discoms that her government had subsidised them heavily in order to enable them to modernize the infrastructure which they had claimed was in a state of disarray when they took over from the then Delhi Vidyut Board. During the last few years, a lot of modernization has taken place but there was still room for improvement.

Faridabad, May 9
Concerned about rampant pollution of environment, a non-government organisation headed by a former MLA from this district, Rajinder Singh Bisla, today decided to mobilise public opinion on the issue.

The organisation, called “Paryavaran Sanrakchaan

Samiti”, which was floated about a decade back,

expressed the view that the administration and thegovernment bodies concerned have been apathetic to the issue of environment in Faridabad. Consequently, the environmental standard of not only the entire city but the district has fallen far behind the acceptable norms. It is not without reason that Faridabad has been dubbed as a “sinking city” by many, it added.

Bisla lamented that large-scale poaching of land of irrigation department has taken place along the Gurgaon canal passing through the district. The area could be used for plantation of crores of trees and saplings. The government side, however, appears to be doing little to clear the land. The illegal occupation has resulted in a grave pollution to the environment caused by the occupiers of jhuggis erected along the sides of canal.

The organisation has also raised the alarm on the pollutants emitted by hundreds of brick kilns located in the villages. They have emerged as one of the biggest air pollutants as their owners use rubber tyres and other stuff to bake mud bricks.

It has also taken exception to the functioning of the thermal power station located in the city on the ground that it has lasted its shelf life.

Bisla said that the plant uses coal for generation of power. As it has completed its shelf life, it was emitting pollutants causing grave danger to the air.

Another point on which the organisation has decided to train its guns are the old and rejected vehicles which have come to Faridabad from Delhi.

Bisla said that such ncongruities were being enacted right under the nose of the administration and other government and civic agencies.

The result of the large-scale environmental pollution is that the public health has taken a severe beating. In many parts of Faridabad, people are suffering from diseases like asthma, cancer, skin problems, etc.

Bilas said that his organisation has already charted out a road map, including measures to put pressure on the administration on environmental issues.

New Delhi, May 9
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit yesterday inaugurated OPD services at the upcoming Dada Dev Mother and Child Hospital at Dabri. Dikshit announced that stone of 750 modern hospitals would be laid soon at Dwarka.

The hospital would be ready serve people in the next few months. It would have 64 beds and would be constructed with an estimate of Rs 22 crore.

The Chief Minister said that her government is striving hard to provide proper mother and child health care. She exhorted mothers to help in ensuring proper immunisation to their kids and ensure that due care is taken of the newborns. This will help in checking many diseases.

Anganwari workers have also been rendering substantial contribution in providing health care to mothers and children.

The hospital would become a model of maternity health care in Delhi.

The government is also concentrating on the proper maintenance of hospitals apart from making available the latest diagnostic infrastructure.

Delhi health minister Yoganand Shastri stated that hospitals in the Capital are not only catering to the health needs of the residents of Delhi but also providing health care to people coming from neighbouring states. The government has been upgrading dispensaries along with the hospitals.

It will release a huge amount for the development of 32 maternity centres to be run by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).