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MCD committee to identify roads for mixed land use
Khurana to oppose sealing of shops by MCD
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No new taxes proposed in NDMC budget
No water tariff hike in DJB budget
Three booked for cheating DLF of Rs 11 crore
EFC clears five projects worth Rs 216 crore
Demand for recognition of rights of children
RWAs demand low power tariff under private distributor
HUDA constitutes grievance redressal committee
Communication material to generate HIV-AIDS awareness
Ending misuse of sex determination tests
Delhi Transco gets new CMD
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MCD committee to identify roads for mixed land use
New Delhi, March 30 The committee consists of Leader of the House Mr Jitender Kochar, Chairman of Standing Committee Mr Mukesh Goel, Leader of Opposition Mr Subhash Arya, Town Planner Mr V. K. Bugga, Engineer-in-chief Mr Ravi Das and Additional Commissioner Mr K. D. Akolia. The committee’s report will be notified by the House tomorrow. Once the number of roads are notified by the House and the report is okayed by the LG, Delhiites whose shops are being sealed by the corporation in residential areas will get relief. Through a notification, the Union Urban Development Ministry has authorised the MCD to identify and notify the number of roads where mixed land use could be allowed, Leader of the House Mr Jitender Kochar said. The leader of Opposition Mr Subhash Arya, Deputy Leader of Opposition, Mr Onkar Singh Thapar and BJP Councillor Mr Vijender Gupta in a joint statement today said that mixed land use could be allowed on the roads of more than 18 metre width. Shopkeepers on a total of 229 roads may get relief. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has started sealing the commercial establishments after direction was given by the Supreme Court to stop misuse of premises where commercialisation of building is more than 50 per cent on roads having width of 80 feet or more. The direction was given on February 2 asking the owners to stop such activities on their own within 30 days of the direction. Meanwhile, acting on court orders, 194 business outlets were sealed despite protests in residential areas of the Capital today, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi said. Protests, including in the posh markets of South Extension and Lajpat Nagar, affected normal life in the city during the period. Sealing work could not be carried out in the Rohini, Civil Lines and Sadar Paharganj areas due to the protests. More than a dozen shops in the West zone of the city were re-sealed after the seals were tampered by the protestors. Leading commercial markets remained closed on a call by the Confederation of All India Traders for a 48-hour bandh to protest the move. In the MCD’s ongoing drive against unauthorised constructions, action was taken today against nine properties — five residential and four commercial. The MCD has taken action against 1,851 properties since the drive began on December 12 last year, the spokesman said. In another development, Delhi High Court has issued bailable warrant against MCD Commissioner Mr A K Nigam on a contempt petition for not complying with its order to demolish an unauthorised building completely in Moti Bagh village in South Delhi. Justice Pradeep Nandrajog issued the bailable warrant on March 28 returnable for Mr Nigam’s personal presence on April 18. “Presence of the MCD Commissioner through the bailable warrant be secured for April 18,” said the order. The warrant was issued after the MCD Counsel did not appear before the court as the lawyers were on strike expressing solidarity with the striking advocates of Tis Hazari district courts. Petitioner P C Chander, appearing in person, alleged that the MCD had carried out a cosmetic demolition on the building at plot no 171 in Moti Bagh village despite the order to raze down the building. He had even produced some photographs of the building before the court. On August 10, 2005, the court had issued a contempt notice on the MCD Commissioner for not demolishing the building despite issuance of the court order. The proceedings on the contempt petition was to be heard on March 28 and the counsel from both the parties did not attend due to strike.
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Khurana to oppose sealing of shops by MCD
New Delhi, March 30 He also announced that he planned to carry out a ‘Rath Yatra’ across Delhi to mobilise pubic support against the demolitions and sealing drive. He, however, did not disclose the schedule of the ‘yatra’. Addressing a press conference, Mr Khurana said that his priority was to stop the sealing drive in the Capital. He said that in order to save Delhiites from such actions being done at the behest of the Delhi Government, he could go to the extent of laying down his life because he had always considered Delhi as his ‘temple’. He said that politics should not be read into his new plans as he was simply working for the welfare of the general public. Regarding the Delhi Government’s plans to evict slum dwellers living along the
Yamuna, he said that he was not against the eviction because he had also been demanding the same since long. He, however, said that the ‘jhuggi-jhopri’ dwellers should not be evicted before making alternate rehabilitation arrangements for them. He claimed that had he completed his full five-year term as Chief Minister and not resigned in 1993 on the advice of Mr Lal Krishan Advani, such problems would not have cropped up in Delhi.
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No new taxes proposed in NDMC budget
New Delhi, March 30 Moreover, a distinct sub-city plan for New Delhi is under preparation and would spell out a vision of the Capital for the Games, NDMC Chairperson Sindhushree Khullar said here today briefing the media about the civic body’s budget for 2006-07. NDMC will seek assistance under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) for the Connaught Place re-development project and the upgrade plan for the Central Vista, including Rajpath, she said. The Talkatora Indoor Stadium, which has been finalised as a boxing venue for the Games, will be upgraded at an estimated cost of Rs 30.45 crore and the work is expected to start in the coming fiscal and be completed by 2008-09. The beautification plans for New Delhi also includes resurfacing of 52 roads, while nine roads have been taken up for special streetscaping. The project for restoration Gole Market heritage area is likely to be completed by 2007. The street lighting system is also being upgraded in a phased manner and in 2006-07, the entire NDMC area will be made free of fluorescent tube lights. The disorderly and chaotic signboards in the shopping complexes in the area will be replaced by uniform signages. The work on bus shelters, a contract for which has been awarded to a private company on a BOT basis, is likely to be completed by 2006-07. The construction of a multi-level parking is likely to be awarded in 2006-07. The other projects envisaged for the coming year are electricity substations, renovation of parks, including Nehru Park and Talkatora Garden, redevelopment of the cinema complex at
Chanakyapuri, Momo market — a food plaza to be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 40.58 lakh — and a municipal waste processing complex. The NDMC’s budget for 2006-07, proposing no new taxes, has been estimated at Rs 1,060.44 crore, and 52 per cent of the expenditure is expected to be made on providing electricity supply. Targets for revenue receipts in 2006-07 are set at Rs 1063.16 crore.
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No water tariff hike in DJB budget
New Delhi, March 30 “The Board has no plans to increase water tariff in any category till additional water supply is made available in the Capital,” Chief Minister Ms Sheila
Dikshit, who is also chairperson of DJB, told reporters. Briefing the media about the budget, which showed a revenue deficit of Rs 852 crore, she said adequate funds would be made available to DJB for meeting the water requirements of the denizens. Delhi Government has made a provision of Rs 831.80 crore for DJB as plan outlay for the year 2006-07, she said. The Board is procuring sophisticated equipment for better leak detection and a comprehensive programme is being launched to repair and replace old and worn out pipelines, DJB CEO Mr Arun Mathur said. A 102-km parallel channel
from Munak to Haiderpur is likely to be ready by March 2007, which will result in saving of 80 MGD water. Recycling plants for utilising waste water from Water Treatment Plants at Wazirabad, Bhagirathi and Haiderpur will be ready by March-April 2007, likely to generate 37 MGD. The water authority has allocated Rs 498.45 crore for water sector schemes and Rs 249.45 crore for sewerage schemes. An amount of Rs 83.80 crore has been earmarked for water supply to unauthorised colonies and JJ clusters. It is proposed to provide piped water supply in 29 additional unauthorised colonies. A total of 85 km of new water ‘main lines’ will be laid and 227 km of old lines will be replaced. “The focus of the DJB in the coming year would be augmentation of water resources through re-cycling of the backwash water at the treatment plants, arresting leakages and giving incentives to consumers towards rainwater harvesting,” Mr Mathur said. DJB will also carry out an energy audit of its water treatment plants and pumping stations in order to reduce electricity consumption. To provide more facilities to the consumers, DJB is exploring the possibility of payment of bills through the various citizen service bureaus and to ensure that bills reach the consumer in time, a tie-up for distribution with the Department of Posts is being firmed up. The consumer will also have the facility of paying his bill at the nearest post office branch. Among the steps to cope with the coming summer months, control rooms have been set up in
DJB. The Chief Minister’s control room, which will have representatives from the electricity companies as well as
DJB, will be operational from April 1. An SMS facility has been launched for registering consumer complaints. A total of 25 chemistry graduates will be on the job from April 15 for picking up water samples from all over the city.
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Three booked for cheating DLF of Rs 11 crore
Noida, March 30 After getting the fake letter, the Noida Authority has also filed a report in this connection. A group of commission agents with the help of the MP had reportedly taken the DLF management for a ride by offering to get them a big plot allotted in the institutional area. Surinder Singh Pahwa, an agent, had contacted certain property agents of Noida. Alok, a dealer, had assured the DLF managers in the presence of the MP that a plot would be allotted to them. The DLF officials and their agent, Pahwa, and Guddu Pandit and three others close to him had introduced them to another entrepreneur. This agent also runs a school on the Expressway. The DLF agreed to pay them Rs 11 crore on clinching the deal. On March 21, a fake allotment letter from the Noida Authority was handed over to Pahwa and the DLF authorities. Soon after, the amount of Rs 11 crore was delivered to the property agents. According to reliable sources, Guddu Pandit’s friend entrepreneur, pretending to be a DLF officer, tried to meet the Noida Authority chief at 9 pm on March 21 at his residence. Mr Sanjiv Saran had refused to meet him. At 11 pm, someone from the DLF reportedly called him up to thank him for allotting 15-acre land to the DLF. Reprimanding him, Mr Saran reportedly told him no such plot had been allotted. Later, the Noida Chief Executive Officer called the DLF advisor and acquainted him with how things stood. On learning the correct position, there was tumult and chaos in DLF. On March 22, DLF agent Surinder Singh Pahwa filed a case against Guddu Pandit at the Sector 24 police station. Three days later, one Joginder Singh also filed a report, naming Guddu Pandit and his two brothers. According to sources, the police, in a raid on Guddu Pundit’s house, recovered Rs 2 crore in cash. The Noida Authority has also filed a case on receiving the copy of the fake letter against unknown persons. Assistant GM Vipin Gaur had supposedly signed this fake allotment letter, whereas normally such allotment letters are signed by the Desk Officer. This fake letter was issued in the name of Arvind Khanna, Executive Director, DLF Info City Developers (Noida) P Ltd. Vipin Gaur has also filed a case.
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EFC clears five projects worth Rs 216 crore
New Delhi, March 30 Dr A.K. Walia, Minister of Finance and Planning, said that a Grade Separator at Mukarba Chowk would be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 195 crore within 30 months after award of work. Mukarba Chowk is one of the busiest junctions and is the entry gate for North Corridor to the national Capital. The Grade Separator would provide free-flow of traffic and prevent congestion of heavy volume of traffic coming from Haryana, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and rural area of Delhi on Ring Road. Another proposal of the PWD which received EFC’s nod relates to widening of bridge over Chirag Delhi Nallah on Outer Ring Road at an estimated cost of Rs 3.59 crore. The bridge would be widened within a year after award of work. The width of existing bridge is adequate only for six lanes with divided carriage way resulting in traffic jams over the bridge. With the extension of existing bridge, the problem would be mitigated. Talking to reporters, Dr Walia said that the PWD would construct a subway across road Number 43 near Shakur Basti, Railway Station, Rani Bagh at an estimated cost of Rs 2.83 crore within two years after award of work. The sub-way, once completed, would provide safe access to pedestrians approaching Railway Station as well as residential and commercial places. Dr Walia further said that the PWD would take up development of sites for bus queue shelters and bus bays along Ring Road from Dhaula Kuan to Safdarjung Hospital in an aesthetic manner to provide a better, safe and comfortable place for commuters at bus stops. The project, with an estimated cost of Rs 1.49 crore, would be completed within three months after award of work. Dr Walia disclosed that EFC has also cleared a proposal of Revenue Department to construct an office complex of Deputy Commissioner (South-West) at Nasirpur, Dwarka at an estimated cost of Rs12.78 crore within a period of 18 months after award of work. The new office would also be known as Mini Secretariat. At present, the office is functioning in the old Terminal Building of MCD at Kapashera which is far away from most of the colonies of the District.
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Demand for recognition of rights of children
New Delhi, March 30 Seeking recognition for the rights of children, Child Relief and You (CRY), which has been renamed as Child Rights and You, has put forth a charter of demands that seeks to provide and protect children with rights. The demands, which will be submitted to the President, seek universal definition of child to include all persons under the age of 18, increase government expenditure on children and raise the allocation for health and education to 10 and 5 per cent of the GDP respectively. From a complete ban on all forms of child labour including in agriculture to formal, full-time school education for all, the charter also seeks revision of the National Policy for Children to redrafting the free and compulsory education bill. The Child Rights Charter calls for formulating and implementing a comprehensive rights-based policy on food security for all within the existing legal safeguards so that no child goes hungry and no one stays undernourished. Taking into account the number and the plight of the out-of-school children, the charter seeks extension of the midday meal scheme to them as well and implementation of the Integrated Child Development Services to all children under the age of 6 as per the Supreme Court order dated November 2001. Speaking about the rights of children, noted economist Prof. Jean Dereze said there is a need for launching an effective campaign to drive home the message of child rights. He said like an effective campaign brought about a discernible shift in the education policy of the country, a similar effort could do the same for establishing child rights. Lamenting that society focuses the least attention on children, social activist Arun Roy called for a need to change perceptions.
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RWAs demand low power tariff
Gurgaon, March 30 The DLF Qutab Enclave Residents’ Welfare Association (QERWA) and the People’s Action have cautioned HERC on various issues before granting the distribution rights of power to the private DLF company for DLF city, Gurgaon. The tariff of the private agency should be less, as the DLF would not have to subsidise power to the farmers, said R S Rathee, president of the QERWA. As a pre-condition for granting the licence, the DLF should upgrade the electricity distribution system in the colony to meet the peak demand for the next five years, stated the president of QERWA. It has been pointed out in the letter that the DHBVN had failed to ensure adequate supply in DLF city despite collecting crores of rupees as revenue from the residents. Appreciating the private-public initiative, the QERWA welcomed deregulation and competitive pricing along with efficiency in services. The People’s Action, an umbrella body representing various RWAs in the city stated that the residents must have the option of choosing the DHVBN or the DLF company. It has sought a second player to prevent the creation of monopoly in the services. It has pointed out that lessons must be learnt from the ‘Delhi experiment’ before granting the licence, added the NGO. The Executive Director, DLF City, Gurgaon, Mr K K Bhattacharya, informed ‘The Tribune’ that they would “certainly improve the system if granted the licence” to distribute electricity in the city.
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HUDA constitutes grievance redressal committee
Gurgaon, March 30 A meeting of the committee with the local officials of HUDA, headed by the Department’s Gurgaon Zone Administrator, Mr S.P.Gupta, took place today. Such committees will be formed in all the four HUDA zones in the State. During an interaction with the mediapersons, Mr Gupta and members of the committee said that two nodal officers of the committee have already been appointed. The committee will meet once a month. Mr Gupta has directed that all heads of units in the department here will hold a ‘durbar’ every week on Wednesdays to redress the grievances of the public. Mr Gupta has also directed the strengthening of the field inspection mechanism. Demand for bringing uniformity in the building bye-laws of the ‘Licensed area’ and HUDA area were raised in the committee’s meeting, he said. There was also a demand for granting more power to the local units so that many of the problems do not have to be referred to Chandigarh. Mr Gupta said that his office will pursue both the issue with the government. He said that a survey of illegal commercial constructions in residential places, especially in the zones falling under ‘Licensed’ area of the city was being done.
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Communication material to
New Delhi, March 30 FHI and USAID have collaborated with three local NGO partners, the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), the Salaam Balaak Trust and Sharan to develop materials to address the information and learning requirements of street and slum children and youth. These materials have been prepared with the idea of helping to prevent the spread of HIV-AIDS among vulnerable children. These NGOs are using innovative games and participatory methods for providing HIV information to children. These messages advocate abstinence for adolescents and delaying sexual activity below the age of 14 years. On this occasion, USAID mission director, George
Deikun, said that, “USAID carries out HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment activities in India on behalf of the President’s emergency plan for AIDS relief. At the highest level of both our governments, we have committed to work together to stop the spread of HIV-AIDS in India. President Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently affirmed this commitment during the former’s visit to India earlier this month. “To meet the challenge of HIV/AIDS at the global level, we are encouraging greater corporate participation in the struggle and have worked with India to establish the Indo-US corporate fund for HIV/AIDS,” he said.
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Ending misuse of sex determination tests
Faridabad, March 30 According to sources in the Health Department, there has been no new case detected after four cases were booked under the Act between August 2001 and April 2002. It was pointed out that in two cases, the accused could not be punished, as officials did not follow the cases seriously. The first such case was booked in July 2001 against one person conducting sex determination tests through a mobile ultrasound machine. The second case was that of Dr Anil Sabhani, who was booked after a raid on November 5, 2001.
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Delhi Transco gets new CMD
New Delhi, March 30 Mr Mehta had served Delhi government in various capacities. During the initial years of his career he was SDM for Jama Masjid and Kingsway Camp. He also held the post of Commissioner, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, CMD Delhi Transport Corporation and Development Commissioner, Delhi.
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