News

indianexpress: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has stopped the construction of the controversial pipeline on the Law College Hill, after the ILS Law College authorities claimed the work was not being done as per the permission granted by them.

The action came after a Pune Newsline report on May 17 which said that despite the PMC’s claims that the project was merely about replacing an old pipeline that was beyond repair, the new pipeline was actually at variance with the alignment of the old one.
 
The PMC has cut through a stretch of approximately 700 metres on the Law College Hill, which has resulted in the cutting of several trees. PMC Development Engineer Anil Talathi had said that due permission was sought from the Law College authorities for this purpose, since the land came under their jurisdiction.

However, while confirming that permission had been sought and granted, ILS Principal Vaijayanti Joshi had said that the ILS had specified that the pipes should be laid only in those areas where the old pipeline existed, and not in the areas proposed by the PMC.

After the Newsline report, Joshi undertook a site visit to the hill area. “I found that the new pipeline was being laid at least 50-60 above the space used for the original pipeline. While the old pipeline runs at ground level horizontally through the Law College premises, the new one was cutting through the Law College Hill. This was being done without our permission,” said Joshi, who then ordered the work to be stopped.

The issue gains significance, since the new pipeline as proposed by the PMC runs along the same area as the proposed Balbharati-Paud link road, which has been stayed by a Bombay High Court order dated December 6, 2006. Environmentalists had raised an alarm that the pipeline project was being undertaken on the assumption that the road too would be built. The PMC has, however, denied this claim, saying the two issues are not connected.

Meanwhile, a joint inspection of the pipeline site was conducted on Friday by Talathi along with activists from the Nagrik Chetna Manch, Pune Tree Watch, and other NGOs. “We pointed out to Talathi that the project would not only destroy many trees, including sandalwood trees, but could also cause greater damage, since the hill is composed of Deccan rock, which is brittle,” said environmentalist Dr. Uday Kulkarni.

indianexpress: Sakhrani, a student of St Mary’s Boy’s School has received 97.83 per cent in the Indian School Certificate Examination (ICSE) 2007, the results for which were declared at 3 pm on Saturday. Sakhrani has achieved the highest score (percentage calculated of six subjects) from among the city’s ICSE schools contacted by Newsline.

Head boy at his school and a topper throughout his school years, Sakhrani took an avid interest in quizzing and debates, and won laurels in various inter-school competitions for the same. Yet, Sakhrani says balancing extra-curricular activities with studies is important. “One should make sure not to lose touch with one’s studies, even during vacations,” said Sakhrani.

 Thanking his school for the rigorous practice right from the beginning, Sakhrani said paying attention in class and regular studies was majority of the work done. “By doing this and ensuring things are not left to the last minute, there is no need for tension at exam time,” said Sakhrani.

St Mary’s Girls School student Madhulika Chaudhury and Hutchings student Sania Singh both secured the second highest with 97.5 per cent (best of six subjects).

Among the schools contacted by Newsline, St Mary’s, Hutchings and Vidya Valley recorded 100 per cent pass percentages, while the Spicer Memorial High School had a pass percentage of 98 per cent. Repeated efforts to contact Bishop’s, St Helena’s, and Hume McHenry were of no avail.

In St Mary’s school, 32 of 51 boys and 106 of 162 girls secured above 90 per cent. Among 103 students of Hutchings School, 88 students secured distinction. Into its second batch of students, Vidya Valley had 15 of the total 18 students securing distinction, with Jay Thakur getting the highest percentage of 91.3 per cent.

In Spicer Memorial School, 70 per cent students got distinction, with Smita Salve scoring the highest 86.4 per cent

indianexpress: The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) has emerged the biggest driver in the 2007-08 budget for the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). With the city’s GDP growing at 10 per cent and construction activity put at Rs 6,000 crore a year, the PMC has been able to allocate only Rs 905 crore towards capital expenditure and development works out of its budget.

Laying stress on outsourcing of major projects and decentralisation of decision-making, municipal commissioner Pravinsinh Pardeshi on Saturday tabled a budget of Rs 1,681 crore for the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) for 2007-2008, up 35 per cent from Rs 1,253 crore last year. “Compared to the growth in population by 4 per cent each year, city infrastructure has not kept pace in the last two years,” the commissioner said.

One major proposal is a 15 per cent hike in water tax that will fetch the PMC Rs 137 crore, even as a water meter system has also been proposed. Though there is no hike in property tax, the estimation property tax for 2007-08 is Rs 300 crore (Rs 237 crore) while the octroi collection is estimated at Rs 645 crore (Rs 525 crore).

The PMC stands to receive government grant of Rs 265 crore, significantly higher than Rs 73 crore last year, while building permissions will fetch Rs 210 crore. The commissioner has proposed an outlay of Rs 250 crore for roads and traffic planning, while Rs 538 crore under JNNURM will be utilised for Bus Rapid Transit System in the city.

Ahead of the Commonwealth Youth Games 2008 PMC will undertake road works utilising funds worth Rs 268 crore allotted for the games. The formation of standing technical advisory committee is proposed to ensure good quality roads.

Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Limited and Engineers India Limited will be roped in for the implementation of the JNNURM projects, he said.

Property tax rates assessed as per ready reckoner will be frozen for five years. Those properties constructed before April 1 2005 and assessed at that time will not be reassessed during transfer of ownership.

indianexpress: Towards late Friday evening, as the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) carried on the process of cleaning up the overflowing sewage channel at the MG Road and Moledina Road junction, the situation became even worse with some two-wheelers skidding on the road that was full of filthy water.

“We witnessed at least six such incidents between 10.30 and 11.30 pm,” said the shopkeeper of a cigarette stall in the area on condition of anonymity. Although no riders were injured, what added to the woes was the power cut. In the absence of streetlights, several two wheeler riders unable to see, lost balance.
 
On Saturday, though the PCB had cleaned the clogged sewage by afternoon, the work appeared to be shoddy since water continued to flow out and generate stench. However, attempts to contact health superintendent of PCB, V S Kulkarni and PCB executive officer Brigadier S K Sardana failed.

This is the fourth day that the road is overflowing with filthy water.

indianexpress:  The Pune division of Central Railways has seen an upswing in card, season and reservation ticket sales over the last four years. With an increase in the number of passengers availing train facilities from Rs 4.81 crore in 2003-04 to Rs 6.39 crore in 2006-07, the revenue collection has jumped from Rs 203.95 crore to Rs 274.51 crore in the same period.

At ticket counters across 64 stations in the division, the card tickets sale has increased from Rs 1.94 crore in 2003-04 to Rs 2.83 crore in 2006-07. Sale of season tickets has increased from Rs 2.46 crore to Rs 3.04 crore in the same period. In 2003-04, around 41 lakh passengers had reserved tickets which increased to about 52 lakh in 2006-07.
 
The revenue collection for card tickets has also seen a surge from Rs 67.79 crore to Rs 91.36 crore in four years. Similarly, revenue from sale of season tickets has increased from Rs 7.30 crore to 8.73 crore in the corresponding year. Revenue from reservation has also increased from Rs 128.88 crore to Rs 174.42 crore in 2006-07.

indianexpress: Three people including two women were killed and four others injured when the Maruti car they were travelling in was hit by a speeding tempo outside the Khandala tunnel on the busy Mumbai-Pune Express Highway on Saturday morning.

The deceased included Siddhartha Rajendra Chavan (21), a resident of Vile Parle, Mumbai and two other Mumbai-based residents Kalpana Deepak Sampat and Jaywanti Handla.

According to the police, the Maruti car heading towards Mumbai was hit by a tempo coming from the opposite direction at about 9.30 am, killing the trio on the spot.

The tempo driver lost control over the steering wheel, broke the one-way lane and dashed the car, according to the highway police.

The four injured have been admitted to the Lokmanya Hospital in Nigdi where their condition is said to be out of danger. Meanwhile, the police have arrested the tempo driver Mukund Shaligram Jadhav (29), a resident of Jalna and charged him with rash and negligent driving.