News

indianexpress:  The Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), that came a cropper in its pilot form, is all set to undergo a major makeover with the state Urban Development (UD) and Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) going for a design change as some of the arterial roads in the city are to be brought under the JNNNURM fund umbrella to the tune of Rs 650 crore.

A meeting of the Union UD Secretary and Principal Secretaries for UD of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bihar and Gujarat on Thursday in New Delhi to discuss various projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) is expected to give a final shape to the way BRTS will be executed in Pune.

“A decision has been taken to ensure the safety of pedestrians by changing the design criteria of the BRTS in Pune. Traffic junctions where waiting time for pedestrians is more than 120 seconds will be identified and action will be taken to construct subways at these points,” State UD Principal Secretary T C Benjamin told The Indian Express.

As per this calculation, over 30 per cent of the crossings along the arterial roads identified for the BRTS may need subways, he said. The capital expenditure for the same will be funded under the JNNURM and this will come over and above the funds already allocated for the BRTS roads, he added.

PMC traffic planner Shrinivas Bonala said the PMC had prepared a comprehensive plan to make the BRTS routes more commuter friendly. After implementation of the 12.2 km long pilot on Hadapsar-Swargate-Katraj corridor, PMC plans to add more corridors under BRTS. The proposals forwarded by PMC to the central committee JNNURM include new signaling system and subways.

indianexpress: THE civic administration’s efforts to speed up the development work under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) came unstuck with the standing committee on Wednesday seeking the re-tendering of road development projects worth Rs 190 crore. These projects are to be completed before the commencement of Commonwealth Youth Games in October 2008.

The administration has decided to report the matter to the state government in the backdrop of a recent indication from the state urban development department that additional expenses incurred due to delay in the execution of JNNURM projects will have to be borne by the respective municipal corporations.

“The standing committees and general bodies of the municipal corporations have no business to hold up projects that are getting JNNURM funding. This is so as such cost overruns due to delays beyond the stipulated timeframe will have to be borne by the particular local bodies,” T C Benjamin, Principal Secretary, Urban Development Department had told The Indian Express on October 13.

“The decision to re-tender the proposals was taken after the Congress, MNS and BJP raised objections against the comprehensive work proposals for development of city roads,” Standing Committee chairman Bapu Pathare said.

“The re-tendering process will take time and there will be a delay. There will be a lack of coordination between the many contractors . We will report the developments to the state government,” said Municipal Commissioner Praveensinh Pardeshi.

The municipal corporations of Pimpri Chinchwad, Thane and Mumbai too had gone for the comprehensive work proposals to avoid the delay in execution of projects under JNNURM, he said.

indianexpress: IN order to avoid any undue incident during Diwali, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has appealed to the citizens to follow safety measures while bursting crackers.

The PMC has said that children should be supervised while lighting fireworks and it should be ensured they do not light fireworks on their own or without reading instructions on firework boxes.

No fireworks should be lighted in the house and the sparklers should be held away from the body, a press note issued by the PMC has said.

“Do not bend over a firework while lighting it. Light it from the side and quickly move away and also do not return to it after lighting, as it may explode in your face”, it said, adding, “while lighting flowerpots keep them on a flat ground and never light it holding in your hand”.

The PMC has also asked residents not to light fly-about fireworks when there is heavy wind and always light them in open playgrounds pointed straight up. It is safer not to light rockets and other fly-about fireworks in cities as their unpredictable, erratic behaviour often leads to fires and causes injuries or deaths of innocent victims, it added.

Never light fireworks under confinement in a metal container as the flying metal or glass pieces can be lethal after explosion of fireworks. The PMC has recommended wearing close-fitting clothes while lighting fireworks.

And in case of a burns? “Keep a bucket of water handy, as it will not only help put out small fires but also help cool burns. In case of burns, pour water till the pain subsides. Do not apply oil or greasy substances or ointments on the burn. Water helps cool the burn and reduces damage to the skin. In case of serious burn, consult the doctor”, the PMC statement says.

indianexpress: District collector Prabhakar Deshmukh has issued orders to all gram panchayats to convene a special gram sabha for children on November 14. The children will be given a hearing in two-hour sessions to be conducted by the gram panchayat members. “This day will be of the children and for the children and the sabha will cater to their issues,’’said Deshmukh.

Deshmukh says 1,850 villages will participate and ZP will monitor the proceedings.

“Let the children say they do not have a playground or that they have bad infrastructure in their schools, or they do not have a library. These issues will be heard and the members will take them up in the follow-up meetings,’’ said the Collector.

Notices have been sent to schools and teachers should encourage the children to participate, said Deshmukh.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has appealed to all schools in the country to spread awareness about child rights. “We should read the articles pertaining to child rights and there should be awareness in schools, hostels, orphanages, juvenile observation homes, children’s homes and shelter homes and other public institutions,’’ says the circular issued to district collectors by chairperson Shanta Sinha.

An initiative to explain the rights of the child in the Constitution too will be taken up, said Deshmukh. Sinha said only such initiatives can bring out the issues of the children from rural areas.

indianexpress: Pune Rural Superintendent of Police Vishwas Nangre Patil on Thursday clarified that the pick-up car driver Purushottam Borate (26), prime accused in the murder of Wipro call centre employee Jyoti Kumari Choudhary was not a serial killer.

Borate was not a hard core criminal nor involved in other crimes, Nangre Patil said. “Borate is a petty criminal and with no major criminal antecedents. Nothing more should be construed of his criminal history.

“A thorough background check has been carried out and we have come to know that Choudhary was brutally murdered after she was raped,” Nangre Patil said.

Meanwhile, the rural police are in the process of seeking a legal opinion on the issue of fixing the responsibility of the safety and security of the women staff working in BPO units and call centres. Nangre Patil said, ” We will soon hold discussions with BPO companies to fix the responsibilities. Our investigations have revealed that there are a number of security lapses on the part of the BPO companies pertaining to the ferrying of the employees.”

Meanwhile, the rural police will be sending a questionnaire to the BPO companies seeking their opinion about the security issue.

The rural police have advised the companies to beef up their security measures which includes use of buses instead of cars, cellphone numbers of women employees should not be given to the drivers at any cost, install a conferencing system whereby the communication between the woman employee and the pick-up driver can be heard, deploy armed security guards in the cars.

Meanwhile, the parents of Jyoti Kumari Choudhary who was done to death last Thursday met Director General of Police Dr PS Pasricha seeking an inquiry into the murder.

indianexpress: PIMPRI-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) will hold a special general body meeting after Diwali to discuss the audit report presented to municipal commissioner Dilip Band two months ago. “There will be no other issue discussed in the meeting, other than the audit report. The meeting will be held at the end of this month,” Mayor Vaishali Ghodekar said on Monday.
 
The Indian Express, quoting the civic audit report, had highlighted last week and on September 18, how Rs 218 crore have gone missing from the PCMC treasury since 1982-83. “I have gone through the reports…the issue is serious. So as a first step I have decided to hold a special civic general body meeting where the issue can be discussed. I want to know the corporators’ views before taking any action,” said the mayor who is the presiding officer at the civic general body meeting.

Ghodekar said she will hold a discussion with chief auditor Sudhir Rajdarkar to know the complete picture of the civic functioning, what can be done in this case and how public money can be saved in future.

“From what I have learnt, the auditor has raised serious objections to a number of transactions which only means rules are being violated. As a mayor, it is my duty to look into this issue,” she said.