DPCC to serve notice on polluting units
New Delhi, May 13
Amid heightened concerns over Delhi being categorised as the most polluted city in the world by the WHO, Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung today directed the Delhi Pollution Control Committee to serve a notice on polluting units. "We cannot allow pollution to grow unchecked. It is our moral responsibility to provide a healthy environment to our citizens.

Lt Governor examines multimodel transport around Metro stations
New Delhi, May 13
Lieutenant Governor (LG) Najeeb Jung today reviewed the presentation regarding the multimodal transport in and around the existing and upcoming Metro stations. The presentation suggested connecting Metro stations with facilities like travelator, skywalks and elevators for decongesting and regulating both the pedestrian and vehicular traffic in the areas around the stations.

Child kidnapped, rescued
New Delhi, May 13
A four-year-old boy was allegedly kidnapped by a woman from the Lady Hardinge Medical College this morning. He was found by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police in the evening. The accused, Sunita (34), is allegedly a member of a gang involved in human trafficking. The police are interrogating her to ascertain her involvements in similar incidents of kidnapping.

SDMC online scheme on building plans 'useful'
New Delhi, May 13
The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has achieved a significant success in online scheme for sanction of building plans as more than 90 per cent of the applications submitted have been cleared through the process. A total of 3,423 applications under the online scheme were received by the corporation since its inception, of which 3,387 cases have been sanctioned.

Two killed in Dwarka accident
New Delhi, May 13
Two men were killed when a car rammed into their motorcycles in Dwarka this evening. The deceased have been identified as Sunil (34), who belongs to Bahadurgarh, Haryana and Sandeep, who is also in his thirties and belongs to Jhajjar, Haryana. "The car completely ran over one of them," said a police officer.

Two arrested for supplying arms
New Delhi, May 13
Two men, including a BSc student, have been apprehended for allegedly procuring arms from Madhya Pradesh for supplying them to criminals. They have been identified as Ramkishan, alias Tasso (35), who belongs to Bharatpur, Rajasthan and Jitender Jarman (24), who belongs to Dhar, MP. Jarman is a BSc final year student.

The two accused in the police net. (R) Pistols recovered from them in New Delhi on Tuesday. Tribune photo

Rain brings mercury down
New Delhi, May 13
The mercury took a welcome dip on the back of mild thundershowers in Delhi even as the MeT office suggested that residents of the national Capital would continue to experience pleasant weather as more rain is expected in the city.

DPCC to serve notice on polluting units
LG forms panel to check pollution in city
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 13
Amid heightened concerns over Delhi being categorised as the most polluted city in the world by the WHO, Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung today directed the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to serve a notice on polluting units. "We cannot allow pollution to grow unchecked. It is our moral responsibility to provide a healthy environment to our citizens. If we have to ensure health of our cities, we will have to take stern steps against pollution and polluting units," said Jung.

He asked the Secretary (Urban Development) to take action against inspectors for not acting on the DPCC orders. He also constituted a high-powered committee to address the issue of pollution at the earliest.

The committee will specifically look into two aspects-pollution caused by growing number of vehicles on the roads of Delhi and pollution levels in the Yamuna because of outpouring of industrial and sewer waste in the river.

The committee will examine all aspects of pollution, its causes, levels, and suggest both the long and short-term measures to tackle the issue.

Jung has asked for a comprehensive report with viable solutions to check pollution in the city which is to be submitted in a month.

The committee will be chaired by the Chief Secretary and will have Special CP (Traffic), Delhi Police, Secretary (Environment), Commissioner (Transport) and Additional Secretary (DPCC) as its members.

The committee has been empowered to co-opt members, both from the government and the private sector, including NGOs.

Jung had taken a meeting on May 9 at the Delhi Secretariat where too he had expressed concerns about growing levels of pollution.

The DPCC has recently issued closure notices to 112 stainless steel picking units in the Wazirpur industrial area for discharging untreated toxic waste into the Yamuna.

Lt Governor examines multimodel transport around Metro stations
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 13
Lieutenant Governor (LG) Najeeb Jung today reviewed the presentation regarding the multimodal transport in and around the existing and upcoming Metro stations. The presentation suggested connecting Metro stations with facilities like travelator, skywalks and elevators for decongesting and regulating both the pedestrian and vehicular traffic in the areas around the stations.

The presentation was made by United Traffic and Transport Infrastructure (Planning and Engineering) Centre (UTTIPEC) which envisages integration of multimodal transport around the existing and upcoming Metro stations to decongest them and regulate both the pedestrian and vehicular traffic in these areas.

In the meeting that was attended by the Chief Secretary, Vice-Chairman, Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Secretary, Urban Development, among others, the UTTIPEC presented detailed plans for the nine Metro stations which have been identified as having high footfalls and therefore require intervention to regulate human and vehicular traffic.

The LG has issued instructions to the DMRC to take up work related to five stations in Lakshmi Nagar, Nirman Vihar, Preet Vihar, Karakar Duma and Chattarpur. The work related to stations in INA, AIIMS, Green Park and Hauz Khas has been assigned to the PWD.

Both these agencies have been directed to initiate the projects in these stations and work out a strict time limit for their completion.

The LG also issued instructions to the UTTIPEC to complete its plan on the remaining 35 stations at the earliest. A meeting will be held in June to review the design plans of UTTIPEC for the third phase of DMRC construction.

Jung also expressed concerns about the delay in planning and execution of these projects which, he said, are essential to decongest and regulate traffic around Metro stations. He directed all concerned to cooperate in the smooth execution of the project.

UTTIPEC is simultaneously working on the stations in the first and second phase where the work is over, but still requires planning to decongest traffic.

Child kidnapped, rescued
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 13
A four-year-old boy was allegedly kidnapped by a woman from the Lady Hardinge Medical College this morning. He was found by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police in the evening. The accused, Sunita (34), is allegedly a member of a gang involved in human trafficking. The police are interrogating her to ascertain her involvements in similar incidents of kidnapping.

The victim, Anshul, had arrived with his mother, Jyoti, at the hospital at about 8:30 am on Tuesday. The victim's family stay at the slums at Kali Bari in New Delhi. Jyoti's sister had delivered a child recently. Jyoti had come to the hospital to take care of her. She last saw her son when he was playing on the corridor of the hospital.

"Jyoti came out after a few minutes and noticed Anshul was missing. She thought he must have wandered away while playing and the family started searching for him," said a police officer, privy to the details of the case.

The hospital's security guards joined them in their search, but could not find Anshul. The police were informed about the incident at about 10:45 am. The CCTV footage of the hospital was checked and it was found that the boy was lured by a woman. But the footage was not clear enough to reveal the exact appearance of the woman.

The case of kidnapping was handed over to the Special Cell of the Delhi Police.

"The Special Cell knew about several elements involved in such cases and they questioned several people in this connection which led to the boy's rescue," said the officer.

The woman was apprehended in the evening from central Delhi's Jhandewalan area. She has allegedly claimed to the police that she had lured the child outside by promising to give him biscuits. She then fled with him in a cycle-rickshaw.

She has been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

SDMC online scheme on building plans 'useful'
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 13
The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has achieved a significant success in online scheme for sanction of building plans as more than 90 per cent of the applications submitted have been cleared through the process. A total of 3,423 applications under the online scheme were received by the corporation since its inception, of which 3,387 cases have been sanctioned.

"The SDMC has become the first privileged local body to introduce the online scheme for quick sanction of building plans," said a senior SDMC official.

"The remaining ten per cent cases consumed a little more time on grounds of unclear ownership or non-submission of requisite non-objection certificates and clearances from the departments like Delhi Fire Service, Delhi Urban Art Commission, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, Archaeological Survey of India, etc," he said.

This scheme automatically scrutinizes the drawings as per Building Bylaws-1983, Master Plan-2021, including calculations of all the applicable charges and deposition thereof. All the relevant details of the online system, with a list of architects, have been displayed on the official website.

Two killed in Dwarka accident
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 13
Two men were killed when a car rammed into their motorcycles in Dwarka this evening. The deceased have been identified as Sunil (34), who belongs to Bahadurgarh, Haryana and Sandeep, who is also in his thirties and belongs to Jhajjar, Haryana. "The car completely ran over one of them," said a police officer.

The officer said that the accused, Pramod, was driving a Toyota Etios car. "He was driving very fast. It rammed into other vehicles, a Honda Accord and a Maruti 800 cars as well as Apache and Deluxe motorcycles at the Dwarka Sector-13 chowk. Sandeep and Sunil were driving the two motorcycles," explained the officer.

The police were informed about the accident at 6.04 pm. A PCR vehicle took Sunil and Sandeep to the Ayushman Hospital in Dwarka, where doctors declared them dead. Their bodies have been shifted to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital in west Delhi.

Until late at night, the police were awaiting reports on the number of people injured in the accident.

Pramod was injured and taken to Ayushman Hospital. "He will be arrested after he has been treated," said the officer. A case under Sections 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way) and 304 A (causing death by negligence), IPC, has been registered.

Two arrested for supplying arms
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 13
Two men, including a BSc student, have been apprehended for allegedly procuring arms from Madhya Pradesh for supplying them to criminals. They have been identified as Ramkishan, alias Tasso (35), who belongs to Bharatpur, Rajasthan and Jitender Jarman (24), who belongs to Dhar, MP. Jarman is a BSc final year student.

On Monday, the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police was tipped off that a gangster involved in the distribution of illegal weapons would arrive at the flyover of ISBT, Kashmere Gate in north Delhi to deliver a consignment of pistols to another person. Accordingly, the police waited there and apprehended Ramkishan and Jarman.

"Seven semi-automatic pistols of 7.65 mm were seized from them," said Ashok Chand, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime).

The accused claimed that Jarman had allegedly brought the consignment from Dhar and delivered it to Ramkishan, said Chand. "Ramkishan was to deliver it to criminals. A pistol would have been sold at Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000," said the officer.

Rain brings mercury down
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 13
The mercury took a welcome dip on the back of mild thundershowers in Delhi even as the MeT office suggested that residents of the national Capital would continue to experience pleasant weather as more rain is expected in the city.

Moderate rain saw temperatures dropping significantly in Delhi with the maximum recorded at 30.6° C, or nine notches below normal. The minimum had come seven notches down from the normal to 18° C on a partially cloudy day in the city.

Humidity in air fluctuated between 94 and 52 per cent.

According to the weatherman, the city received 9.5-mm rain between 8.30 am yesterday and 8.30 this morning. The forecast is for partially cloudy skies with one or two spells of light rain or thundershowers likely in some areas.