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indianexpress: Of 244 sq km under Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) limits, at least 30 sq km is land that has been encroached upon one way or the other. While slums account for 15 sq km or about six per cent of the city land, other encroachments such as illegal religious structures, housing societies, commercial establishments and hawkers encroaching on city land, rivers and forestlands occupy the rest.

According the PMC figures, out of the estimated 35-lakh people in the city, there are nearly 14 lakh slum-dwellers. This means, there are about 93,000 slum-dwellers living in one sq km of slum land across 15 sq km.

“Not all people living in slums do so willingly. We need to create options for these people. Many migrants need a place to sleep and a locker to keep their belongings. But city has no such facility,” says Pratima Joshi, director and founder member of Shelter Associates, a city-based NGO working for urban poor. And as encroachments continue to mushroom under political patronage, PMC administration is under pressure not to act against this ill plaguing he city.

“It is becoming difficult to act against encroachments as political pressure is immense whenever the administration has decided to act against illegal structures,” admits a senior PMC officer. “Growing slums in the city is cause for concern but all efforts of incumbent municipal commissioners to eradicate slums has been opposed strongly by politicians from one party or the other,” he said.

With the PMC unable to develop reservations earmarked in the 1987 Development Plan (DP), many of the places are encroached upon. Of the 525 reservations spread over 770 hectares earmarked for various amenities, till date the PMC has developed only 150 reservations on 309 hectares. In other words only 35 per cent of the total reservations have been developed. Most of the land hitherto not acquired by the PMC is either encroached upon or there are land acquisition cases pending in the court against them.

indianexpress: Owing to some technical snags, several parts of the city witnessed power failures on Saturday. Power cut lasted for over 12 hours in Tulshibaugwale Colony under the Swargate subdivision of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited(MSEDCL).

When contacted, executive engineer Gorakhnath Chavan of the Padmavati division said the incident occurred following a snapping of electricity cables in Tulshibaugwale Colony during the wee hours.

“Efforts are on till afternoon to restore the power,” he said.

Power failures were faced in other parts of the city as well. In Ganeshkhind area, the breakdowns occurred in the morning hours for a few hours. Executive engineer Madhukar Bhokare of the Shivajinagar subdivision said fault in the supply line, which reaches Ganeshkhind through Chinchwad, was the reason for the power cut here.

“We have managed to sort that out promptly,” he however said.

indianexpress:  ‘‘Humne Gaadi Banaaya, Khatara Nahin,’’ said Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Motors in a rare speech in Hindi, addressing workers at the Tata Motors Chinchwad plant here on Saturday.

Tata said the company still had some distance to go in bringing the quality of the car up to international standards. Speaking at the rolling-out ceremony of the one millionth Indica car here, he said, “We are greatly aware that there is still some distance to go before saying that we have a car that is similar to the ones that are available in other countries,” he said.

He said the decision to go forward with a car company was met with scepticism when the company began in 1999 with critics saying that a truck making company could never make cars.

As part of its celebration, Tata Motors has planned several activities including free service check-ups and camps, discounts besides retail offers for new customers.

The company launched the Indigo in 2002, the Indigo Marina in 2004, and the Indigo XL in 2007.
 

indianexpress:  Despite the firebrigade museum complex being ready since long, the paucity of sample firebrigade artefacts and equipment, which are to be put on display at the museum, has compelled the Pune fire brigade authorities to postpone its opening by another few months at least. The fire brigade officials are in fact scouting for these artefacts and have contacted various authorities including the manufacturers and fire brigade services in other states to contribute for the same.

The idea of setting up a firebrigade museum came forth during the tenure of the former Pune firebrigade chief L N Raut.

A dedicated building was also constructed for the purpose on the Erandwane fire brigade office premises. However, since the fire brigade does not have sufficient sample artefacts with them to put on display, the building has been standing empty since long.

Speaking to The Indian Express on this, the Pune firebrigade chief Devendra Potphode said, “It is true that even though the building has been ready for long, we have not been able to open it as yet. The reason for this delay is that we are trying to garner a lot of equipment and objects. We have sent letters to manufacturers of fire brigade machinery about two months back. We have even requested fire brigade services in other states and cities like Tamil Nadu, Goa, Bangalore, Delhi to hand over necessary material to us. We have also contacted the National Fire Service College in Nagpur for the same.”

indianexpress:  A Two-Day workshop for parents of the mentally challenged will attempt to form a ‘pressure group’ to implement the National Trust Act for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act 1999. ‘Parivaar,’ the organisation of parents that organised the ‘Capacity-Building Workshop,’ said the legislation — which directs citizens to form local level committees in all districts to empower these special children — is not being implemented.

Organiser Bal Koregaonkar told The Indian Express that among the 27 organisations, 70 representatives came to the conference. “We want the local committees to be more proactive. Parents’ organisations along with NGOs should help spread awareness in the society,” said Koregaonkar.

The meet, to address the various issues parents have, will look at how they can take on a more proactive approach. A training programme too has been proposed in the first workshop. Vasant Thakar, president of the Maharashtra State Co-ordination Committee (Parents’ Association), and disability activist Samir Ghosh and W N Tungar were present at this workshop.

indianexpress: On Sunday, Marathi dramatist Annasaheb Kirloskar’s legendary musical Sangeet Saubhadra will come alive on stage at the University of Pune’s (UoP) Namdev Sabhagriha. Only this time, the play will be in English metrical verse instead of Hindustani classical songs.

In perhaps the first ever performance of the 1944 English translation of Saubhadra by S B Talekar, the UoP’s Department of English along with the Maharashtriya Kalopasak has organised a play reading of the same, aimed at both Marathi and non-Marathi audiences in Pune.

Saubhadra, written by Kirloskar in 1883, set the trend for the Marathi theatre form of ‘Sangeet Natak’ or musical plays. The play is a romantic comedy based on mythological characters from the Mahabharata. Focusing on the social theme of love marriage, the play depicts the story of Arjuna and Subhadra who get together despite her brother Balram’s efforts to get her married to his pupil Duryodhana, thanks to a little help from Krishna.

With performances by major names in Marathi theatre including Kirti Shiledar, Bhaurao Kolhatkar, Bal Gandharva, Savai Gandharva and Hirabai Barodekar, Saubhadra continues to captivate Marathi audiences due to its intricate plot that went beyond just the music.