New Delhi, November 9
A 14-year-old school boy was crushed to death by a speeding Blueline bus in Shastri Park around 8 am.

The bus plying on route no. 213 A from New Usmanpur to Old Delhi railway station hit Aditya Jain, a class IX student of Sarvodaya Vidyalaya at More Gate, head on.

Aditya, a resident of New Usmanpur, is the only child of his parents. His father, Subhash, works as an autorickshaw driver in the Capital.

Enraged with the incident, people bashed up the bus driver and the conductor. They also pelted stones on the bus and broke the window glasses of buses passing through the route. Heavy police force was deployed to bring the situation under control. The police had to resort to mild lathicharge to disperse the angry crowd.

“Aditya was on his way to school when a Blueline bus crushed him. After the accident, passengers of the bus and people on road manhandled the driver and the conductor. It was only when the police reached the spot that the two were saved,” said a police official.

A case of negligent driving has been registered against the driver. Aditya’s body has been sent to postmortem.

Anil Kumar, an eyewitness, said the accident was caused due to the bus driver’s negligence.

Following the incident, an angry mob damaged buses plying in the area. More than 12 buses were damaged. “The mob did not let the police take the boy’s body and started pelting stones on other buses moving on the route. Over a dozen DTC and one low-floor bus were damaged. It was only when the police resorted to lathicharge, the crowd was dispersed,” said a police official.

Despite the relentless media campaign against these buses, the Delhi government has been slow in fazing them out. The government had earlier assured the public and the court that these buses would be taken off the streets soon. 

New Delhi, November 9
With the Delhi cabinet’s approval today for award of work with regard to corporatisation of bus clusters, the government has started the process of replacing Blueline buses.

The cabinet has also approved creation of 12 additional posts of inspectors in the transport department and a revised policy of shifting of high-tension electricity lines. 

The additional posts of headquarter inspectors were necessitated because of the reorganisation of the transport department on the pattern of the Delhi police and revenue department. 

There are 14 zonal offices and there are only two sanctioned posts of headquarter inspectors; hence, 12 more inspectors are needed. 

The government has divided Delhi buses in 17 clusters. The work of replacing Bluelines with the corporate owned buses will start from Cluster I.  

Sheila Dikshit said it had been decided to award the contract for operation of private stage carriage services for Cluster-I buses in Delhi, in accordance with the request for proposal (RFP) documents to Star Bus Services Private Limited, being the successful lowest bidder. It has also been decided that the process would be implemented for 16 remaining clusters in a new scheme for operation of private stage carriage buses through corporate entities to replace the existing Blueline buses run by individual operators. 

The transport department has been authorised to issue request for qualification (RFQ) and RFP for the remaining clusters. 

Dikshit said the cabinet had approved the proposal for shifting of high-tension electricity wires from residential areas. The discoms had prepared 276 schemes for shifting these wires. As per the new policy, shifting would be done through the MLA land area development funds in 20-point programme colonies, Lal Dora and its extended areas. 

In regard to farmhouses, the cost of shifting would be borne by the affected consumers while in case of farmers other than farmhouse owners, 50 per cent cost would be borne by the affected consumers and rest from the MLA land area development fund. 

In case of regularised unauthorised colonies, 50 per cent cost would be borne from the MLA land area development fund and the rest from the power department’s budget. 

In case of government institutions, public authority buildings, schools, hospitals and colleges, 100 per cent would be borne by the department concerned. In case of private institutions of public nature like educational and health institutions, 20 per cent would be borne by the agency concerned and rest by the department concerned in whose jurisdiction the agency functions.

New Delhi, November 9
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has approved a plan of Rs 15 crore for the underground cabling of electric wires in the Chandni Chowk area.

The project is part of the Shahjanabad redevelopment plan and was put on the backburner for over three years.

“Along with the redevelopment of Chandni Chowk, underground cabling would be done in the area, for which we have approved Rs 15 crore,” said a senior MCD officer.

The areas to be covered in the early phases include the main road leading to Old Delhi railway station, Jama Masjid, Ajmeri Gate, Red Fort, Delhi Gate and New Darya Ganj.

“The areas of congested Chandni Chowk like Ballimaran, Dariba Kalan and Fatehpuri will be taken in the later phases,” said the officer.

The cost of the project will be shared among the Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Board, the Delhi government, BSES (discom) and international agencies.

“The state government will bear one third of the total cost, while the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) will ensure that another one third is borne by the discom and the rest would come from an international fund, most likely from Japan,” the officer said.

A sum of Rs 600 crore was sought for underground cabling on the main stretches of the Walled City and Rs 350 crore for the inner lanes.

Earlier, BSES had refused to share the financial burden. But the DERC had now assured that one third of the cost would be borne by BSES, he said.

The officer said that many revenue generating services had also been incorporated in the underground cabling so that it could add to the government’s source of income.

“There are a host of services which will be incorporated in the project like laying of optic fibre for broadband services apart from using it to allow the passage of water and gas pipelines,” added the official. 

New Delhi, November 9
Demanding abolishment of toll tax, the All-India Motor Transport Congress also seeks a uniform pattern of diesel and petrol prices across India for the transporters.

“This uniformity will help us calculate approximate expenses when they travel from one state to another,” said GR Shanmugappa, the newly-elected president (AIMTC) in a meeting here yesterday.

Toll tax, which the transporters are required to pay every time while crossing inter-state borders, has been resented now. This has been one of the most debated issues in the past.

Hiteen Vasant, vice-president of AIMTC west zone, said: “These toll barriers charge “arbitrary” rates from truckers. This causes wastage of fuel as the trucks need to wait for hours at times. The government should abolish the toll tax to allow free movement of traffic in all states.”

“Any loss of revenue to the government can be covered by taking a one-time amount at the time of registration as the national commercial vehicle permit,” he added.

Development of a national permit system is one of the awaited demands of the transporters, for which the deadline is January 1.

The new council also chalked out an agenda that will affect over 17 crore people involved in the industry.

Shanmugappa said: “There are several critical issues that need to be taken up with the transport ministry. While some have been discussed, others need to be followed up for a quick redressal of problems.”

Another major concern for the truckers is the increasing number of highway robberies. “Former transport minister TR Balu had promised to deploy CISF personnel on the highways to check this crime, but even though this is the second term of the UPA, no steps have been initiated hitherto,” he said.

The association also awaits the amendment of the Police Act in order to lodge complaints of highway robberies and anti-social elements at the nearest police station, irrespective of the state they are in.

This amendment will put a check on rampant corruption in the police, RTO and commercial tax departments.

The organisation represents 3,400 affiliate associations and over 40 million vehicles. The new council demands an active recognition from the government while framing such policies and laws. 

New Delhi, November 9
Opposing the hike in prices of consumer goods, the Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called for Delhi bandh on Friday. The party aims to draw the attention of residents towards the anti-people policies adopted by the Delhi government.

Delhi BJP president Prof Om Prakash Kohli alleged that the city government had been imposing financial burdens on citizens in an arbitrary manner, after the Lok Sabha elections.

He added the UPA government at the Centre and the Congress government in Delhi had failed in controlling prices of basic commodities like flour pulses, sugar, fruits vegetables, ghee and vegetable oil. This would lead to black marketing and hoarding of daily necessities.

Kohli said this while addressing a press conference today.

He said that Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had crossed all limits as her government’s financial policies had crushed the backbones of residents.

Initially subsidy was withdrawn from power, bus fare was increased and, thereafter, milk prices were raised. This has affected people very much. People are paying electricity bill twice or thrice more than they used to pay earlier.

During the elections, the Congress had promised citizens of the national Capital to carry out better development work and control inflation. But it has raised the bus fare, power tariff and milk prices, Om Prakash Kohli alleged.

He termed Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s statement as ridiculous when she had said — if people wanted convenience they must bear its cost. 

New Delhi, November 9
Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president Jai Parkash Agarwal said that the BJP was trying to mislead people in the name of price rise.

The BJP has called for Delhi bandh in protest against rising inflation.

Agarwal said that the BJP leaders were hankering after power and the party was just trying to fool the people.

He said during the BJP rule, the farmers were exploited and were not given reasonable prices for their product. The poor became poorer and the rich got richer. Farmers, industrialists, shopkeepers, government and non-government employees were fed up with the corrupt BJP rule and they defeated the saffron party in the Assembly as well as Lok Sabha elections, he pointed out.

When asked about the bus fare hike, increased power tariff and milk prices, he said that he had written a letter to the government to make some changes in the bus fare. As far as the power tariff is concerned, it was increased after the government had withdrawn the subsidy given to discoms. The subsidy was given for a certain period.

Agarwal refrained from making comment on milk prices as the Mother Dairy is union government’s body.

Addressing a conference, he said instead of supporting the government at the time of financial crisis, the BJP was tying to mislead people. Instead of raising the inflation issue, the BJP should solve its internal differences.

The Congress government in Delhi as well as at centre has created more employment opportunities in education and health sectors, Agarwal added.

New Delhi, November 9
A day after a power failure in a Metro train sparked a stampede-like situation, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) today said it was passengers who led to the stampede.

DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal said the passengers did not follow the instructions.

“The rescue operations got delayed as some did not follow the instructions given by the train operator. The operator made announcements repeatedly to calm the situation, but some passengers opened the emergency exit doors. This hampered the relief and rescue operations,” said Dayal.

It was yesterday when the brand new Metro train, inducted into the service just weeks back, got stuck between Rajiv Chowk and Ramakrishna Ashram Marg stations. Panic-gripped passengers opened emergency doors and started walking on the tracks despite announcements by the train operator to remain calm.

There were reports that some people were injured due to a stampede-like situation, but neither the police nor the DMRC confirmed the incident.

Passengers said they got scared as some part of the train was inside a tunnel and the remaining on the ramp. They also said there was no power inside the train. 

New Delhi, November 9
With 30 more diagnosed with dengue here today, taking the tally to 585, emergency of the government and private hospitals in Delhi will operate round-the-clock for dengue patients.

This was decided during a meeting attended by senior officials of the Delhi health department, municipal corporation of Delhi (MCD) and medical superintendents of public and private hospitals.

Delhi health minister Kiran Walia cracked the department concerned for its alleged irresponsible attitude and inadequate measures to eliminate mosquito breeding in the city.

She said the civic body had not been sharing information with the government on the status of the vector-borne diseases that further creates problems in combatting diseases like dengue, malaria, chickengunia and cholera.

However, MCD officials said the body had been involved in drive against dengue, and over 10 lakh houses had been fogged so far.

While warning violators, Kiran urged the Delhiites not to wash their cars, bikes and scooters on streets and pits as it adds up to the accumulation of water.

To avoid crisis of blood platelets, the government will identify two hospitals in each district that would have licence for blood banks.

The principal health secretary said seven hospitals, including Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital, Deen Dayal Upadhyay, Lok Nayak, G B Pant, Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Headgewar, Rishi Valmiki, Sanjay Gandhi Memorial hospital, have the licence.

Sanjay Gandhi Memorial hospital, Baba Saheb Ambedkar hospital and Headgewar Hospital would prepare and formulate the blood. 

Gurgaon, November 9
The house rent allowance (HRA) of the Haryana government officials serving in different departments within the municipal limits of Gurgaon has been cut from 20 per cent to 10 per cent.

While enforcing the cut, the authorities concerned ignored the high rents being paid by the employees residing in Gurgaon.

They also overlooked the fact that the central government employees based in Gurgaon are getting 30 per cent HRA.

The reason behind the move cited by the state authorities is also questionable.

The state government maintains that its employees posted in Gurgaon cannot be given 20 per cent HRA as the population of the city was less than 5 lakh as per the 2001 census.

However, while the HRA of the state government employees serving in Gurgaon had been increased to 20 per cent with effect from January 1, 2009, the city population taken into account pertains to the 2001 census.

As per the new government circular, the HRA of the Gurgaon employees was reduced from 20 to 10 per cent.

The resentful employees point out that Gurgaon already has a municipal corporation, which is set up only in those cities which have a population of more than 10 lakh.

“Still, for the reasons best known to the state authorities, different yardsticks are being used to ascertain the population of the same city for different matters,” says Amar Singh Yadav, general secretary of the Haryana Karmchari Mahasangh.

The employees assert that even if the population of the Gurgaon city as per the 2001 census is considered in accordance with the present municipal limits of the city, it would be much more than 10 lakh.

To register their protest against the discrepancy, the employees of different state government departments and owing allegiance to different associations staged a token dharna in front of the mini-secretariat here today.

They also submitted a memorandum to the local deputy commissioner to get the discrepancy removed.

The protesters also warned to intensify their stir if their grievance was not redressed at the earliest.