New Delhi, July 18
Allotment letters were handed over to 500 dwellers of resettlement colonies today. The flats are being allotted on leasehold basis for 15 years, thereafter they would be converted into freehold.

A senior official of the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) said that the allotment letters were issued in the name of husband and wife so that they could not sell the property. It is a general perception that jhuggi dwellers sell their plots or flats in a few moths after they are allotted to them.

The Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, handed over the letters to 40 dwellers while the rest got letters from the officials.

While handing over the allotment letters, the Chief Minister said that beneficiaries are required to make nominal payment of Rs 60,000.

The government is providing 100 per cent subsidy in case of Scheduled Caste allottees. They will get flats free of charge.

The flats are located at Bawana, Narela, etc. in a clean and green complex having facilities for a school, dispensary and shopping complex. Public transport is available just at the doorstep of the housing complex. It is also expected that the Metro service will become feasible in the third phase.

The flats have been allotted under the scheme of rehabilitation of slum and JJ dwellers. The scheme is being implemented as per the guidelines of the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation's JNNURM programme.

Minister of state for Urban Development A.K. Walia, who was also present on the occasion, said that a comprehensive socio-economic survey of all JJ clusters in Delhi was being conducted to map the entire slum population in the city. The document is being made ready to prepare the rise of strategies for making Delhi a slum-free city.

The flats are being allotted on a leasehold basis. Biometric authentication of beneficiaries is being conducted to prevent duplication and the practice of sale of flats, Walia said.

New Delhi, July 18
The Delhi government has made complete arrangements for presidential election tomorrow at Old Secretariat where all the 70 MLAs would cast their franchise.

A senior official said, "As we have only 70 MLAs, we have erected only one polling booth. The polling will start at sharp 10 am and will end at 5 pm."

He said that though there is no chance of mishappening, the polling will be done under tight security. The entire Old Secretariat complex would be changed into a fortress tomorrow and nobody would be allowed to enter the building without a pass.

Sources said that the 70 Delhi MLAs and 10 MPs, including three Rajya Sabha members, can vote in the Vidhan Sabha and Parliament House complex respectively.

In Delhi Legislative Assembly, the Congress has 41 MLAs while the BJP only 24. Delhi has seven Lok Sabha MPs and three Rajya Sabha MPs. All of them are of the Congress. The tally of MLAs and MPs shows that the Congress has a clear edge over its rival BJP in the poll.

Delhi has a vote value of 11,140 in an electoral college of over 10.98 lakh. The value of a Delhi MLA is pegged at 58 while an MP's vote value is constant at 708.

The BJP can bank on the votes of its 24 MLAs and their vote value is 1,276 and the rest of the vote value is 9,864.

There is only one observer for the polling. Besides, other officials and staff of Old Secretariat will be deputed for the election duty, a senior officer said.

New Delhi, July 18
The automated multilevel car park at Sarojini Nagar failed to live up to traders' expectations during an efficiency test conducted today by the Bhure Lal Committee following several complaints by the market association about the technical problems in the machinery.

Ordered by the Bhure Lal Committee, the test was conducted to check the speed and efficiency of the automated car park. The representatives of NDMC, DLF and Sarojini Nagar Market Association were also present during the test. The parking lot was built on public private partnership by DLF and inaugurated in November last year.

The traders of the market have claimed that the time taken for parking the cars as well as their retrieval stretches beyond three minutes, triggering long queues, especially during weekends. This badly affects their business.

The test comprised parking and retrieval of 160 cars in one hour. While DLF officials claimed that they were successful in keeping their efficiency up to the mark by exceeding the target and parking as many as 178 cars, the traders expressed their dissatisfaction over the performance.

"The company is trying to protect its image. But the ground reality is quite different. The customers are harassed as it takes 30 to 40 minutes on an average for them to park their cars," said Pramod Sharma, president, Sarojini Nagar Market Association.

The company today deputed extra staff to support the whole process, which is not the case during weekends. And they calculated time after issuing the token," said Sharma.

The DLF staff parked 104 cars while taking three minutes per car and retrieved 74 cars at the rate of 2 minutes 40 seconds per car.

"They have removed surface parking to a large extent after the inauguration of this parking and now the NDMC is also trying to increase its rates," said Ashok Randhawa, president, Mini Market Traders Association. The parking problem has led to a drop in the footfall in the past seven months.

The association is opposing New Delhi Municipal Council's decision to increase the surface parking rates in order to promote multilevel parking.

Traders said that they want the civic agency to ease the parking mess before increasing the rates for surface parking.

"In the last six months, 94 per cent cars have been retrieved here in less than three minutes. Only 0.40 per cent cars took more than five minutes for retrieval. From January to June 2012, the number of cars being parked at South Square has risen from 4,206 to 9,225 cars," said a DLF spokesperson.

New Delhi, July 18
Computer education remains a distant dream in municipal schools after the trifurcation of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

The three corporations have put the issue of providing computer education to its municipal students on the back burner as the agencies do not have sufficient funds to implement the scheme.

The erstwhile MCD had decided to distribute computer tablets to all its students. However, the scheme had to be scrapped due to financial constraints after the trifurcation.

"It is not feasible for the newly formed agencies to start such a project as we don't have funds," said Rajesh Gehlot, Chairman of the Standing Committee, South Delhi Municipal Corporation.

As per the scheme to distribute computers, the corporation had decided to procure tablets priced at Rs 2,200 per piece.

"We found it to be of poor quality. Therefore, we decided to buy it from other contractor at Rs 5,800 per piece as it was better and had more features," said Mahender Nagpal, former Chairman of Education Committee and also the current Chairman Standing Committee. The new tablets had an inbuilt Internet support, WiFi and 8GB memory card.

The unified MCD had also passed a fund of Rs 45 crore in its annual budget for the implementation of the scheme. "Though, the funds were approved by the Commissioner, the municipal leaders got engaged in elections. And now after trifurcation, the officers don't have the idea about spending the money," said Nagpal.

However, the Education Committee of NDMC said that a resolution has been passed to initiate 'Gyan Dhara Abhiyan' in NDMC schools.

Chairman Rekha Gupta said that out of 179 Pratibha Vidyalayas, 30 schools would be developed as the leading schools and equipped with all the necessary facilities.

They would be selected on the basis of five best schools in a particular zone. "As per the campaign, 72 schools would be provided with a library comprising approximate 3,000 books on different subjects and a librarian to benefit the students studying in the schools. In the next phase, 80 more schools will be added," said Gupta.

New Delhi, July 18
Two persons were arrested during separate anti-power theft raids conducted by the enforcement team of BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) together with the Delhi police, here today.

In the first case, the BYPL enforcement team, accompanied by police personnel raided a premise in Brij Mohan Market, Chawari Bazar Hauz Quazi, Chandni Chowk and found M Turaf using 25kw of stolen power to illegally run an electroplating factory.

"The stolen power was being used for a charging tub and drums, heater, rectifiers, buffing equipment, compressor motor and a water pump.

“As there was enough evidence against Turaf indulging in power theft, the police made a spot arrest," said spokesperson for the BYPL.

In the second case, the residents of Main Idgah Road, Sadar Bazar, were caught using over 20 kw of stolen power for domestic purposes. Owner of the house S Parvez has been arrested. FIRs were registered at the respective police stations.

"Normally the arrests and FIRs in power theft cases are made after an order from the special courts. With these arrests the police is taking a serious view on curbing power theft in the city," said a police official.

"These spot arrests will send a message to the public and help free Delhi from the menace of power theft," he said. In the past 10 years, the BSES Yamuna Power Limited enforcement teams have successfully caught power theft of over 4.30 lakh kw and 440 persons have been sent to jail.