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Outer Ring Road to have three new flyovers
Farmers opt for contract farming
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Land worth lakhs usurped
Lashkar threat in Capital
Missing kids’ parents held
42 criminals rounded up
‘HUDA to earn Rs 80-cr revenue’
DJB incurs avoidable expense: CAG
Anti-encroachment drive in Subzi Mandi
New proposal to clean Yamuna
RWA dharna against govt
Jilted lover held
Heroin worth Rs 33 cr seized
Boy gets 90 pc burns
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Outer Ring Road to have three new flyovers
New Delhi, May 9 The Chief Minister laid foundation stone of three flyovers on Outer Ring Road. “The three flyovers on a single road at short distances will make Outer Ring Road signal-free from Escort Hospital to national highway (NH) number 8, apart from providing smooth connectivity up to IGI Airport and Gurgaon,” Sheila said. The flyovers to be constructed at an estimated combined cost of Rs 248 crore will be commissioned within 21 months before the commencement of Commonwealth Games 2010. Sheila directed PWD to ensure the completion of the project in time to avoid escalation in cost. She said that Delhi road network was based on a ring and radial pattern. According to a survey on traffic movement, the two rings of the network, the Ring Road and the Outer Ring Road carry the maximum vehicular traffic. Delhi roads presently cater to 50 lakh vehicles and the figure is fast rising day by day. For the comfort of the users and to reduce the journey time, the Delhi government had decided to make the roads completely signal-free, the Chief Minister said. “The corridor improvement of the Outer Ring Road from IIT to NH 8 through the construction of the flyovers and vehicular underpasses is another step towards the same objective. As the stretch connects the city with the national and the international airports, it gains importance in view of the forthcoming Commonwealth Games,” she added. The project consists of construction of three flyovers on Outer Ring Road at Africa Avenue Marg-Vedant Diksha Marg, Vivekananad Marg-Nelson Mandela Marg-Poorvi Marg and Rao Tula Ram Marg-Benito Juarez Marg intersections. Four vehicular underpasses will be constructed for making right turn and U-turn on these roads. In addition to this, nine subways will also be constructed for pedestrians to cross the roads. Further, the entire stretch will be developed with proper bus bays, slip roads, service roads and modern street-lighting to provide comfort and safety to the fast moving traffic as well as the pedestrians. Sheila said that after the completion of the project, vehicular journey from Escort Hospital to NH 8 on the Outer Ring Road would be covered in just half an hour as against the current one-and-a-half hours. She further said that her government would initiate action for providing noise or dust barriers on major flyovers. Present on the occasion, Delhi finance, public works department and urban development minister A. K. Walia said that new flyovers would have provision for groundwater recharge structure and would have aesthetics ambience, greenery and landscaping. He added that foundation stone of three flyovers each in East Delhi and North Delhi would be laid very soon. A total of 27 new flyovers were expected to be commissioned by March 2009, he said. He added that a study was being conducted for provision of an underpass at Moti Bagh flyover, which would enable direct passage from Shanti Path to IGI Airport. Walia expressed confidence that the Delhi government would be able to provide world-class infrastructure in the Capital. Foundation stone of subway laid
Walia today laid foundation stone of a subway at Guru Harkishan Marg near Shakur Basti railway station. The subway would be constructed at a cost of Rs 1.65 crore and would become operation within a year, the minister said. Local MP Sajjan Kumar was present as chief guest, whereas local MLA S.C. Vats presided over the function. Walia said the Delhi government was committed to provide suitable infrastructure in Delhi to enable smooth movement of traffic and safe passage to pedestrians, which would go a long way in curbing accident cases. He added that the ambitious plan of action had been chalked out to commission around 37 new flyovers or road under bridges (RUBs) and foot over bridges (FOBs) before the commencement of Commonwealth Games 2010, which would change scenario of traffic on Delhi roads. He added that the new subway between Shakur Basti railway station and Rani Bagh Main Market would provide safe passage to pedestrians. The new subway would be disabled-friendly and senior citizens would also not feel any difficulty in making use of new infrastructure, he said. |
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Farmers opt for contract farming
Faridabad, May 9 The Haryana Agricultural and Marketing Federation (Hafed), a wing of the state government, has entered into an agreement with about 60 farmers of Ballabgarh, Palwal and Hodal subdivisions of the district for contract farming of ‘moong’, an important pulse crop in the present season. Hafed will be committed to buying the crop at a prescribed rate at the end of the season. Though the concept of contract farming has not been new to the farmers of the region, it is claimed that this may be strategy of the government to motivate the farmers to go in for such crops which have more commercial value and to get some kind of control over the supply of commodities after the prices of majority of the pulses have hit the roof in the past few years. This will also ensure better returns to the growers, claimed an official of Hafed here. He said while there had been an age-old crop pattern of growing wheat and paddy in a majority of the districts in the state, it would help tackle the problem of ‘poor’ procurement and inadequate returns for the traditional crops due to various factors, including the rising cost of production. As per the contract, Hafed will provide seeds, manure, weedicide, pesticide and the consultancy regarding the irrigation and care of the crop till it is ready, for which teams of agriculture experts would be made available to the selected farmers round the year. According to district officials of Hafed, the agency would procure the crop from the farmers at a rate of about Rs 3,000 per quintal, after it was ready. It is added that if the market rate of the crop is lower than this rate, the crop will be bought at the average price prevailing in two districts. The farmers would be paid the compensation of loss, if any, due to natural calamity or any other factor. “The moong pulse was available at a rate between Rs 60 and 70 a kilo to the consumer at present,” claimed an official. He said Hafed had been an ISO 9001:2000 certified agency which always helped the farmers. The agency had sold about 18,841 metric tonnes of DAP and urea to the farmers in the district during the past financial year. Hafed has also been involved in procuring wheat, paddy and other crops from the farmers across the state. |
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Land worth lakhs usurped
Greater Noida, May 9 The next step was to sell the land for which he is reported to have struck a bargain with a police officer in Agra. Like all criminals, he erred, which proved his undoing. Bali Ram
Jatav, 68, of Kanarsi village in Greater Noida, had 10 bighas land under khata no 168 and khasra nos 233, 274 and 304. Dharmveer
Prajapati, son of Sahib Ram, had his eye on his land. Bali Ram had shifted to a village in Bulandshahr some years
ago. Dharmveer conspired with lekhapal Brij Mohan Sharma and showed Bali Jatav dead in the records. Later, he posed as his descendant. On February 7, 2007, he got the entire land transferred in his own name with the help of the lekhapal and the
kanungo Dharmveer’s first priority was to palm it off to some buyer. Through a friend, he offered to sell this land in Greater Noida to a senior police officer in Agra. But, a friend advised the police officer to verify the land documents. The prospective buyer then contacted his friend, a former naib tehsildar in
sadar, Subash Yadav. Brij Mohan Sharma, by that time, had been posted out and new lekhapal Girveer Singh had taken over in his place. When police officer and Girveer Singh came to inspect the land, some one informed Bali Ram Jatav and the whole fraud was exposed. |
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Lashkar threat in Capital
New Delhi, May 9 The apprehensions are compounded by the fact that the Delhi Police has been unable to track down an accomplice of three LeT terrorists arrested here 11 days back from the popular shopping arcade, Dilli Haat, in South Delhi. The accomplice, identified as Raj, who gave the slip to the police, is said to be the contact person for the LeT in Delhi and had brought one of the three arrested terrorists, a Pakistani national identified as Abu Qasim. The police suspect Raj could be hosting more terrorists who may be waiting for an opportunity to strike, especially to disrupt the celebrations for 150th anniversary of the India’s First War of Independence. A hunt was on to nab Raj to prevent any terror attack, a police official said. He was tasked with hiding Qasim here after receiving the explosives from the two Kashmiri Laskhar operatives, Shafaqat Iqbal Mir and Shabbir Ahmed. Significantly, all of them were working on the instructions of Abu-al-Kaama, the key mastermind of the 2005 pre-Divali blasts in the Capital. Joint commissioner of police (special cell) Karnal Singh, when asked about the threat posed by the Lashkar operative who is still at large, said the police was working on the case. He refused to divulge further details. Police sources said security would be tightened across the Capital with a special eye on the main function on Friday, when the ‘Jang-e-Azadi’ march that has set off from Meerut will culminate here. The function at the Red Fort would be attended by President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and the country’s top political brass. Senior police officials had also not ruled out the possibility of a terror plot to target the Red Fort at the time of the arrest of the three militants. Special Cell sleuths had seized 2 kg of RDX, three electronic detonators, an electric timer and two hand grenades from them. Another worrying factor was the information received by the police that Raj knew the topography of Delhi well and could be here on a terror mission. |
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Missing kids’ parents held
Noida, May 9 The police had learnt a large number of people from Ghaziabad, Delhi, Faridabad and Gurgaon were likely to protest near D-5 in Nithari yesterday. The SP City, the CO Greater Noida, the SOs of Sectors 20, 39, 24 and 58 police stations along with a large force descended in Nithari to beef up the security. At noon, some people advanced towards the house of ill-repute and raised anti-CBI slogans. The police surrounded the people and arrested seven persons, including four women. People gathered there asked the police to trace their missing children. They said their children had neither been traced nor accounted for by anyone so far. It had not been confirmed that they were killed in D-5 in Nithari. The parents had not been paid any compensation by the government so far, they stressed. The arrested protesters were taken to Sector 24 where they were booked under Section 144 for breach of peace. The arrested persons included Fatch Khan and Narim Khan from Faridabad, Hajra Begum from Gurgaon, Noorjhan and Raj Kumari from Ghaziabad and Surinder and Shafali from Nithari. They said they were informed a large protest meeting would be organised in Nithari on Tuesday. When presented before the city magistrate, they realised that some people had misled them. Prahlad was identified as having misinformed the people. He is alleged to have collected a large amount of funds from foreign NGOs in the name of Nithari victims. The families of Nithari victims are also marking their time till a new government assumes office in Lucknow. With the new state government assuming office in Lucknow, the victims propose to streamline their strategy. |
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42 criminals rounded up
Faridabad, May 9 Booty worth several lakhs and weapons of various kinds have been recovered from the accused. Stating this, spokesperson of the police department claimed in a statement today that most of the criminals had been booked for various crimes in the area spread across in more than one state, including Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and Bihar. The recovered arms include two revolvers, four countrymade pistols, a 12-bore gun, 15 live cartridges, 20 knives, 15 iron rods. These gangs have looted a large number of vehicles and other items, including motorcycles, trucks, dumpers, cars and other valuables at gunpoint. The vehicles were normally disassembled before selling off their parts at various places. As many as eight luxury vehicles, 24 motorcycles, four Maruti cars and some cash have been recovered from the accused, besides the spare parts in large quantity. While it is suspected that certain parts of Mewat, Faridabad and Gurgaon districts have been the hub of such criminals, there is a continuous rise in theft of vehicles in the region over the past several years. Some accused have been on police remand, which could lead to the recovery of more goods and solving of a large number of cases in the region, said the department official. |
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‘HUDA to earn Rs 80-cr revenue’
Gurgaon, May 9 He revealed that public utilities, hoardings and various types of advertisements had been running unauthorisedly for a long time. Some advertisement agencies had even succeeded in getting the stay orders from courts at various levels. However, on the directions of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the case was taken up and all stays were vacated by the Supreme Court, informed Gupta. First time in Haryana, almost all public utility services were outsourced whereby expenditure will be borne by the private advertisement agencies and world-class facilities will be provided to the public at no cost to the department. Gupta recalled that a meeting was called under the chairmanship of chief secretary and HUDA administrators were authorised to allot the same on tender basis in their respective zones. |
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DJB incurs avoidable expense: CAG
New Delhi, May 9 According to the Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) report for the year ended March 2006, the DJB had allotted 145 residential quarters of types one, two and three to its staff at the Special Treatment Plant (STP) Keshopur between January 1990 and 1996. The power connection for these residential quarters was derived from the main bulk connection at the plant meant for operating the STP for which DJB was effecting recovery from the allotees at flat rates of Rs 110, Rs 120 and Rs 140, which were fixed by the board prior to December 2002. However, the electricity charges were being paid by DJB on commercial rates, which ranged from Rs 2.40 per unit to Rs 4.90 per unit. Based on a monthly average consumption of 162 units per consumer, DJB sustained an ‘avoidable’ financial loss of Rs 86.86 lakh towards electricity charges paid to the power company for the period from April 1996 to April 2006, the report said. |
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Anti-encroachment drive in Subzi Mandi
Gurgaon, May 9 As many as 12 vendors were bodily lifted and an equal number of shopkeepers who had occupied space outside their shops had to bear the punitive action of the demolition team. The action is said to be at the behest of the district administration. The deputy commissioner of this district had yesterday visited Kamla Nehru Park, one of the oldest and biggest parks falling in the municipal limits of the city. The park skirts Subzi Mandi. The administration had received complaints from the public during the visit of the deputy commissioner. The executive officer of the municipality said the larger aim was to ensure smooth movement of the public and vehicles in the market and also beautification of the park. The park, which is a major green lung of the old city area, will get a facelift. The cost incurred on the project will be about Rs 20 lakh, according to official sources. A yoga centre will be set up in the park. Adequate lighting will be provided. A fountain will add to the beauty of the park. |
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New proposal to clean Yamuna
New Delhi, May 9 As per the proposal, the sewer treatment plants would be constructed just on mouth of drains where the sewer lines falls. The sewer from more than 1,432 unauthorised colonies and other areas would be trapped before it reached the main drains, the board officials said. The interceptor sewers would be completely independent and neutral to the time frame within which unauthorised colonies would be provided sewer lines. The DJB had estimated an investment of Rs 2,000 crore to construct the interceptor sewerage, a spokesman of the DJB said. |
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RWA dharna against govt
New Delhi, May 9 About 500 members of the RWA and the organisation participated in this day-long dharna. They criticised the Delhi government for its liberal approach towards prohibition. M K Gandhi, president of the organisation, demanded that the government should opt other better ways to collect revenue rather than to open more and more liquor shops in residential areas. Citing Article 47 of the constitution, he said that it empowered even the state government to take steps to bring about prohibition of intoxicated drinks and drugs, which were injurious to
health. — OC |
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Jilted lover held
New Delhi, May 9 In course of time, the girl, a graphic designer, started overlooking his advances. So in a fit of jealousy, he tried to plant fire-arms in the house of Anshu Bhatnagar, but this time he was caught. The police team noticed that two persons were allegedly trying to open the lock of the house of Anshu Bhatnagar. When interrogated, the person who was trying to unlock the entrance gate of the house was identified as a local key-maker, who had been hired by the second person standing near the house in suspicious condition, later identified as Rishi Chopra. |
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Heroin worth Rs 33 cr seized
New Delhi, May 9 The contraband was seized from two persons, identified as Gurdev Singh (22) and Mandeep Singh (35), yesterday after a tip-off, DRI sources said. Both of them are residents of Amritsar in Punjab. The drug, meant for supply in the national Capital, was concealed in the suit in which they were travelling and weighed around 33 kg, sources said. The two were intercepted near Trilokpuri in East Delhi. According to DRI officials, the heroin may have come from Afghanistan to India via Pakistan. Narcotics generally reached Delhi through the Afghanistan-Pakistan-Jammu-Punjab route, they added. |
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Boy gets 90 pc burns
New Delhi, May 9 Fire officials said Subham (12), a resident of Valmiki Colony in Shakarpur area, was playing when he accidentally touched the 220 kv high-tension wire passing through the roof of his house. The incident happened around 9.45 am in the morning. He was immediately rushed to LNJP Hospital where his condition is stated to be critical with 90 per cent burn
injuries. — OC |
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Vikas Yadav asked 10 questions
New Delhi, May 9 The court asked Vikas 10 questions related to the investigation. |
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Suspended DSP back
Ghaziabad, May 9 |
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