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indianexpress:  In an effort to address all issues relating to mobility in Pune metropolitan region the state government has proposed a Pune Metropolitan Transport Authority (PMTA) to address the mobility of traffic in the city that will comprehensively look into improving all kind of public transport. It’ll primarily looking at ways to effect a total makeover of the almost absent public transport system in the region. Ithe PMTA, when set up, will act as the nodal agency to develop the diverse linkages - metro rail, monorail, BRTS - and the back-up infrastructure thereof.

Incidentally, there is no metropolitan transport authority elsewhere in the state, not even in Mumbai, and the setting up of such a body has become crucial in the absence of a Metropolitan Region Development Authority in Pune.

“The state transport department has proposed a unified PMTA to address all the mobility issues related to Pune metropolitan region to carry out all the strategic planning for all forms of transport in the metropolis,” said T C Benjamin, Principal Secretary (Urban Transport).

The committee will comprehensively look into all issues related to public transport, including the implementation of Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), he said.

It has been proposed that the State Urban Development Secretary will head the PMTA. Representatives from two municipal bodies and three cantonment boards along with those from the transport sectors - road, rail and - will be made members. Representatives from bodies such as MSRDC and various state departments from the traffic and transport sectors too are likely to be part of the authority.

indianexpress: At seven months, Shreya (name changed) was surgically given a thumb. Born with just four fingers on her left hand, the hand surgeon had no option but to transfer the index finger and convert it into a thumb on her left hand. Shreya is perhaps the youngest ever patient to undergo such a surgery. Dr Pankaj Jindal, hand surgeon at Jehangir hospital, says, “the surgery was rare but the significant factor was that the patient was young and hence receptive to a new thumb.

The surgery was conducted one and a half years ago before Shreya along with her parents migrated to USA. The couple is back in Pune, this time for a minor surgery as Shreya’s right thumb could not move due to the lack of muscles there. “It has been trying time for us,’’says Shreya’s father requesting anonymity but is grateful to the surgeon who identified the problem at an early stage.

According to Jindal, the condition medically is known as radial club hand where the baby’s radius was not formed properly which in turn causes the wrist to be in a fixed bent position towards the thumb side of the hand. There may be a deformity or absence of the thumb as well.

“Radial club hand is a birth defect. Scientists do not know why it occurs, but information indicates that it does not result from the mother’s lifestyle or anything the mother did during her pregnancy,” says Jindal. Problems with the thumb are extremely common in radial club hand, particularly in more severe cases.

“In many cases, surgery to reconstruct the thumb is recommended,” adds Jindal who performed Shreya’s both the left as well as right hand surgeries. “The age of the child is often crucial to correct deformities,” he adds.

indianexpress:  The state-level traffic committee set up by the state government to address the traffic issues of Pune on Wednesday chalked out an action plan for expediting the various development works, including a ring road skirting the city.

“The committee has prepared a plan of action to resolve the traffic problem of the city,” said Municipal Commissioner Praveensinh Pardeshi after attending the first meeting of the committee in Mumbai.

He said the committee, with city legislators as its members decided to set up a group led by Pune Divisional Commissioner and commissioners of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) to study the ring road proposal and expedite the project so as to divert the heavy traffic that presently cuts through the city.

Pardeshi, at the round table organised by The Indian Express on September 20 to find solutions to the chaotic traffic and transport in the city, had promised banning entry of heavy vehicles in the city, parking bays for private luxury buses outside the city and more staff for manning city traffic among many things.

When asked about these issues, Pardeshi said the state government has asked various government departments to provide their land in the outskirts of the city for parking bays for private luxury buses and other vehicles.

Similarly, the demand of additional manpower of 500 personnel has been made to the state home department for manning the city traffic as there was severe shortage of staff, he said.

indianexpress:   The ready reckoner for property prices in the district for the next year that has been readied by the town planning department and the Inspectorate General of Registration (IGR) is envisaging 30-40 percent price rise in 2008. The much-hyped ULCRA repeal does not translate into any slack in property prices, finds the ready reckoner, that is slated to be approved on December 20.

According to senior officers from the town planning department, the rise has come about with the SEZs, MIDC acquisitions and the huge townships coming up in the district. A preliminary meeting chaired by district collector Prabhakar Deshmukh that was conducted recently discussed the property rates. The second and final meeting is slated for December 20.

Last year, a 10-15 per cent rise in property rates was envisaged as per the ready reckoner estimates but the reality was that it actually rose by about 45 per cent.

This year, with a slew of townships in the district such as Amanora near Hinjewadi and the Bharat Forge SEZ in the Khed-Shirur areas as well as the international airport near Chakan, has led to the government departments pegging the rise much higher.

“The property prices in the rural areas have risen by 100 per cent and we have assessed the prices after analysing the sales in these areas with the help of the IGR department. Almost 10,000 deals in the district were analysed by town planning department to formulate the “ready reckoner,” said a senior officer from the town planning department.

indianexpress: The Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) disbursed around Rs 50,000 as first monetary aid to the family of those killed in accidents involving civic transport buses. The issue of accident was discussed during the Pune Municipal Corporation’s general body meeting on Wednesday.

Managing director of PMPML S B Patil said the transport body immediately hands over Rs 50,000 as the first monetary aid to the family, without waiting to know whose mistake it was really. “Thereafter, as per the court’s decision, more amount could be handed over to the family in distress,” he said. He said that the amount of premium is much more than the medical expenses, hence not affordable. Patil also informed that transport authority is also planning to operate small buses on congested and busy roads.

Mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale on Wednesday said mayoral funds could well be utilised for constructing urinals, especially for women. “I have directed the Civic Health Department to take stock of the situation and use the money from my special fund for constructing urinals for women,” she said when the issue of lack of sufficient public urinals and toilets came up at the meeting. Despite the municipal corporation’s health norms, which say that there should be at least one public urinal per hundred people, in reality the number is one public urinal for every 9,000 people. What is even more shocking is that there is absolutely no public urinal for women and disabled people in the city.

BJP leader Vikas Mathkari said, “The civic administration has completely neglected the issue of public urinals and toilets in the city. Hence, the development control rules need to be amended.”

To leader of the house Anil Bhosale’s question whether the wi-fi internet facility, started a few months back, is in operation the administration said that due to technical snags the system was in operation only on a few designated spots like the J M Road and F C Road. But by the end of December, it would come up on more spots declared earlier.

indianexpress: Eyeing the number one position in the luxury car segment in the Indian market, BMW on Wednesday opened their ninth dealer outlet in Pune. With the proposed plan to extend the dealer network to 12 dealers covering all metropolitan centers of the country by the end of 2009, Peter Kronschanabi, president of BMW said that they were competing with the global BMW and Indian BMW themselves. “I did not find a benchmark here,’’ he said at the press meet of the opening of Bavaria Motors near Sadhu Vaswani chowk.

“BMW India, a 100 percent subsidiary of the BMW group, came in with an initial investment of 1.1 billion Indian rupees and have partnered with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance for motor insurance and with ICICI Bank to offer customised financial solutions to its customers hence making it convenient for the clients,” he added.

He said BMW hopes to be the leader in luxury car segment in the next three to five years.

With already 20 customers, managing director of Bavaria motors, Vishal Agarwal, said that “the luxury segment was looking up for Pune and he expects about 20 percent of the sales from outside Pune.

The BMW India had recently established an International Purchasing Office at its headquarters in Gurgaon focusing on the development of exports from India to the BMW group international production network and thus increase the sourcing share from India over the next years. He also mentioned that the IPO will explore procurement of production material as well as IT and engineering services from the country. All the BMW dealerships will display the 3 series and 5 series that will be produced at the BMW Chennai plant and 6 series, 7 series and X3 which are available in the country as completely built up units. “The 3 series, 5 series, 6 series, 7 series and X3 and X5 are presently available for sale in India,’’ he added.

indianexpress: Two proposals estimated to be over Rs 18 crore each, pertaining to a commercial market complex in the Khadki bazaar as well as an Astro Turf Hockey ground in the Khadki Cantonment area were mooted at the Khadki Cantonment Board (KCB) monthly meeting on Monday, even as the future of the proposed PMT bus stop at Khadki Bazaar remains uncertain.

The meeting, presided over by KCB President, Brig V K Bhatt, approved the plans after viewing the power-point presentations detailing the proposed development plans. Bhatt suggested that both the plans be carried out on a Build Operate Transfer (BOT) basis and directed that the credentials of architects be adequately examined before handing over the work.

A three-storeyed market complex is slated to come up in the place of Khadki Bazaar, which at present faces congestion problems, excessive billboards and parking. “The commercial market complex will make shopping experience more organised unlike the bazaar which has not undergone any upgradation over the years,” said KCB Assistant Engineer, Arun Godbole. “The ground floor will house the existing shops while the second floor will be for parking, the third floor will be leased out for shops,” he added.

While the market stands in Class C land of the Cantonment area, the Board had initially proposed to develop an Astro Turf ground at the Cantonment stadium, which was subsequently shifted to BEG, and C, which was rejected by higher authorities as it involved A-1 Defence Land. The Board will now submit a proposal for the re-classification of land from Class B4 to class C to the station headquarters, following which the proposal for the ground will be sent.