New Delhi, October 8
The Delhi government has planned to bring the entire city under the PNG pipeline connectivity as part of its smart city project which will add over 15 lakh new piped natural gas users to the network.

The consultant preparing a blueprint for the smart city project has outlined the target of hundred per cent PNG coverage of colonies in the city. Under the project, the government will make sure that every home in the region gets a piped gas connection.

It will be done in consultation with the revenue and food and supplies departments under phases spread over the next five years.

"Aiming to make Delhi a smart city, it will help the city take a big stride towards global practices. In most developed countries, there are no gas refill cylinders. Piped supply of cooking gas is the norm," said a senior government official.

The Consultant Pricewaterhouse Cooper, who has been engaged for the smart city project, is expected to give suggestions on the city's energy requirement and use of clean fuels like solar, CNG and PNG in the coming decades.

The expansion of PNG network is expected to be done in colonies like Anand Niketan, Vasant Vihar, Vasant Kunj, South Extension-I, Soami Nagar, Alaknanda, Saket, Sheikh Sarai-I, Sarita Vihar, Dwarka, Rohini, Pitampura, Patparganj, Yamuna Vihar, Adarsh Nagar, West Patel Nagar, Vivek Vihar, Vikaspuri, Shalimar Bagh, Shakti Nagar, Jungpura Extension, GTB Enclave and Green Park Extension.

"We have managed to make all kitchens in the city free from kerosene. All kerosene users were given LPG connections and gas stoves to prevent pollution," said an official of the food and supplies department.

PNG is mainly methane, CH4 with a small percentage of other higher hydrocarbons. The ratio of carbon to hydrogen is the least in methane and hence it burns almost completely making it the cleanest fuel.

The expansion of the PNG network is also being pushed by the Delhi government to introduce clean fuels. The plan is also to target domestic users along with commercial and industrial consumers in the national capital region, he said.

In Delhi, Indraprastha Gas Limited supplies gas in close to nearly 2,500 colonies and has about four lakh consumers. Nearly 75 per cent of the area in approved colonies is covered by the PNG network.

Officials said they would also approach the Central government to ramp up the gas quota for the city so that the growing network's demand could be met. The Delhi government holds five per cent stake in the IGL joint venture company.

New Delhi, October 8
Pointing out the "shortcomings" in the Central government's latest notification on e-rickshaws in Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal today demanded amendments to it failing which the party would launch a stir.

Batting for the rights of the section, the party wants the mandatory education clause for commercial licence (Xth pass) be relaxed and around Rs 5 lakh charged in testing and registration of e-rickshaws be waived off.

Addressing e-rickshaw drivers at Jantar Mantar, the former Delhi Chief Minister said until now the law has failed to provide any relief to the e rickshaw drivers and if the government doesn't take steps to resolve the crisis in the next 10-15 days, his party would be forced to go on agitation.

"Getting approval from the government agency has been very cumbersome. Not only the model requires sanction but one has to be Xth class pass for securing a driving licence and on top of that insurance and a registration number like any other commercial vehicle are too mandatory. The entire process for approval costs him nearly Rs 5 lakh that is too much," said Kejriwal while calling for removing the education ceiling for drivers who are illiterate.

Kejriwal suggested that a model may be selected after holding a meeting with e-rickshaw manufacturers over the next one week while government should ease the regularisation norms for the existing ones. "The Central government should call a meeting of e-rickshaw manufacturers within one week and ask them to submit one piece each of their models which can be tested. The best model may be approved," said Kejriwal.

Further, while asserting that e-rickshaw drivers should be allowed to ply on roads and government should ensure that the police don't harass them until a concrete solution is found out, he said that the government should start organising large-scale camps for providing licences, insurance and registration numbers as the process otherwise is likely to abet corruption in view of the fact that there are two lakh e-rickshaw drivers.

"We have been facing injustice and our needs have been neglected by the governments. It has been worse over the last eight months especially after the Delhi High Court banned us. The notification doesn't have any relief for us," said e rickshaw drivers.

New Delhi, October 8
For the implementation of Phase III of the Delhi Metro Rail Transit System (MRTS), the Centre government has sanctioned a loan of Rs 467.12 crore to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).

The amount will meet the expenditure under the "Pass through assistance" against the loan agreement signed between the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the President of India.

The funds are being released to implement the Phase three of MRTS incorporating Metro extension to Gurgaon (Qutub Minar to Haryana border), increased expenditure of Central Secretariat-Badarpur corridor etc.

Since the loan sanctioned by the JICA is made available on reimbursement basis, the DMRC has to file reimbursement claims with regard to expenditure incurred on a regular basis.

The JICA will transfer the money to the Controller of Aid Account and Audit (CAAA) so that the amount released by the Centre to the DMRC for incurring the expenditure is recouped from the loan sanctioned by the JICA as early as possible.

"The account of the payment made by every stakeholder should be maintained clearly showing the details of every transaction" said a senior government official.

The amount sanctioned is under the "Pass Through assistance" Scheme and the DMRC will have to submit a statement of account showing expenditure and usage of the loan sanctioned at the end of every financial year.

New Delhi, October 8
A 28-year-old woman was bludgeoned to death by a baseball bat allegedly by her husband, following an argument with him over his drinking habit, in east Delhi's Chilla Village on Tuesday night, police said.

The victim identified by the police as Priya stayed with her husband, Vinod Kumar, at a rented DDA apartment at Chilla Village near Mayur Vihar. The couple came to Delhi from their native home in Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh. Vinod works for a private company. He is absconding.

The murder was reported to the police by the couple's landlady, Zubeida Begum, at about 9 pm on Tuesday. A police team reached the apartment and found Priya lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

Priya was taken to the Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital in east Delhi, where the doctors declared her dead, according to the police.

The police registered a case of murder at the Mayur Vihar police station against Vinod, based on Zubeida's statement to the police. The police also seized the baseball bat and found it stained with blood.

Zubeida in her statement said that she had rented out the apartment to the couple about two months ago. "She told us that the couple often fought over Vinod's drinking habit. He would return home after drinking alcohol every night. Priya often scolded him for this habit," said a police officer.