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indianexpress:  The Pune Municipal Corporation has decided to set up a special unit of engineers and legal experts whose primary job would be to ensure smooth acquisition of land required for various projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The move — initiated by Municipal Commissioner Pravinsinh Pardeshi — is aimed at avoiding any delay in execution of development projects.

“The PMC has to complete various development projects under JNNURM in a limited time-frame. The basic necessity for all the projects is to make available the required land,” Pardeshi said.
 
The limited manpower in PMC’s land acquisition department, said Pardeshi, would make it impossible to acquire the required land for development projects in a short span and could delay the execution of projects. Every officer in the department is set a target of acquiring 3,000 plots annually. “With staff shortage, acquiring around a lakh plots for JNNURM projects will not be possible,” he said.

“A special unit is being set up especially to acquire the land for development projects under JNNURM so that the projects could be started after availability of the land,” Pardeshi said and added that there would be 12 more engineers appointed on contract basis in the land acquisition department.

With most of the land acquisition process having run aground due to legal hassles, the commissioner has also roped in two lawyers on contract basis — only for the purpose of resolving the issues at a faster pace. The Divisional Commissionerate has also come to PMC’s helping, sending a deputy collector to assist the land acquisition under JNNURM projects.

indianexpress: The Sassoon General Hospital is making news for all the wrong reasons. On Friday, the Bund garden police arrested Ashok Shrirang Mane, senior assistant with the Sassoon General Hospital, for issuing fake disability certificates. And on Saturday, Rajesh Sahadu Jathar, data manager-cum-accountant with Sassoon’s Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) Centre, was nabbed on the charge of misappropriating money.

According to the Bundgarden police, Jathar was appointed on a contractual basis on March 1, 2005 and was responsible for maintainance of accounts. He allegedly forged signatures on 23 blank cheques, deposited them in the bank accounts in his name as well as his father’s at Bank of Baroda on Station Road and withdrew over 1.71 lakh.
 
Meanwhile, Communication Officer, Udaan Trust, Dhirendra Rawat in a release issued on Sunday stated that the ART Centre was established with the objective of providing treatment to HIV-affected. “It is the duty of the centre to make available ART medicine to patients free of cost. The Central and the State governments are spending crores of rupees on HIV/AIDS care and treatment.”

He said it was shocking to note that the money which was supposed to be utilised for procuring medicine was being misused by Sassoon officials.

Activist Vijay Nair, one of the founder-member of Udaan, said, “When there are three doctors authorised to handle Sassoon ART Centre account, then how could one accountant withdraw the amount with his signature.”

indianexpress: Over 2,700 odd petrol dealers from the state, under the banner of Federation of All Maharashtra Petrol Dealers Association (FAMPEDA), are observing a 24-hour strike from Sunday midnight to protest against the “flawed deployment of the fuel marker system.”

The association, in a release, said that dealers in the state had conceptualised the idea of making Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) in the oil industry to use a marker system with the objective of isolating and identifying persons engaged in nefarious activities. The fuel marker system had raised hopes of dealers as they could check the quality of the fuel that they were receiving.

However, their hopes were dashed when the idea was rejected. “This system to check fuel quality with the help of a marker kit was denied for checking the quality of fuel that dealers are receiving in bulk,” the release said. It added that the checking of fuel by an independent agency was frought with corruption while a retest by any other agency is barred under modified marketing discipline guidelines with the penalty being termination of dealerships.

The FAMPEDA has demanded that the fuel marker testing kit be made available to all dealers before decanting fuel in the underground tanks.

The move will not only root out corruption and harassment by agencies but also instill confidence in dealers as they will be sure of the fuel quality being sold to customers, the release said.

indianexpress: The Bhartiya Kisan Sangh has threatened to launch an agitation against any moves to merge 20 villages surrounding the city, in the limits of the PMC. In a press release issued on Saturday, Narendra Ladkat, Pune district unit president of the sangh has said that after strong opposition from villagers a few years ago, the PMC had dropped the 20 villages from the merger process. However, the proposal has resurfaced and the villagers are once again opposing it.

Ladkat has alleged that the PMC has failed to provide basic amenities to these villages. “The PMC is full of corruption and has lost its credibility among the people. Villagers have already opposed the move for merger. If the State government and PMC imposes the merger on the villagers, they will lock horns with them,” he said in the press release.
 
The sangh has demanded that if the State government intends to develop villages around Pune city, it should establish a municipal council for the purpose. The sangh will also form an anti-merger committee under the chairmanship of Mauli Tupe, president of the sangh.

However, some villages are supporting the merger. Vandana Kodre, grampanchayat member of Keshavnagar-Munchwa said that villages should be merged in the PMC limits. She has alleged that the ruling party in the grampanchayat is opposing the merger for political purposes. “The grampanchayat has failed to provide basic amenities. If the merger happens, villagers will get relief,” Kodre said in a press release.

indianexpress: Continuing its anti-encroachment drive, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) squad on Sunday removed several encroachments in the busy Tulshibaug market. The squad demolished encroachments spread over an area of 2,570 square feet.

Deputy municipal commissioner Dnyandev Thube said that the hawkers and shop owners who are holding PMC’s licence should put up the required boards. PMC officials said the traders in Tulshibaug cooperated with the squad by themselves removing side and front margins of shops, sheds and partition walls. The PMC squad mainly targeted encroachments by New Poona Shoes, Akshay restaurant, Tulsi Jewellers and Cosmetics, Pradnya Footware, Sakhi and Ladli jewellers. The action was carried out with police security.
 
So far, the PMC has evicted 5,000 hawkers across the city. Thube said that the PMC will continue its action at different places. He said hotels and shops encroaching the roads will be demolished in coming weeks.

indianexpress: State Marketing Minister, Harshvardhan Patil, addressing a press conference on Sunday, said that Indian mangoes have carved out a place in the US, Japan and China and the Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board (MSAMB) plans to export about 2,000 metric tonnes of mangoes to these countries in the next season.

“The Board has already started discussions with mango exporters. Also we are working on improving the quality of the produce. We expect export of 500 metric tonnes to Japan, 1,000 metric tonnes to the US and another 300-400 metric tonnes to China,” said Patil.
 
Along with the existing four export oriented units in Jalna, Ratnagiri, Navi Mumbai and Devgad, the State government is planning two more units in Kudal, Sindhudurg and another in Aurangabad. “With two more units in place, exports are expected to rise to 5,000 metric tonnes,” Patil said.

He added that MSAMB plans to organise a mango festivals in Japan, with the help of local importers. With a view to encourage farmers to fetch a better price for their produce and implement finance schemes, the MSAMB has recently demanded Rs 100 crores from NABARD, Patil said.

Meanwhile exporters demanded that the MSAMB should put in more efforts to provide basic infrastructure like transportation. “The biggest hurdle in the export of mangoes is its transportation and the lack of facilities. All mangoes to be sent to the US have to undergo iradiation at a facility in Lasalgaon, which consumes time and money,” said exporter Parag Gandhi.