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TOI : PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation’s land acquisition department has created a record of sorts by acquiring as much as 6.15 lakh square meter land in one year (2007-08). This is much more that the 4.76 lakh square metre of land acquired by the civic body during the four-year period (2003-2007) before that.

In terms of the number of properties acquired, 159 were acquired in the four-year period and 421 in 2007-08.

Ironically, the PMC has always been criticised for slow land acquisition that resulted in the delayed implementation of the 1987 Development Plan (DP). The civic body has, however, spruced up its act now.

This feat is inspite of the poor response the civic body got from private agencies to its request to help it in land acquisition work. The PMC had invited bids from private agencies for large scale acquisition work.

Speaking to TOI, deputy commissioner incharge of land acquisition department K.C. Karkar said that one or two agencies had come forward but they did not prove to be very efficient.

“They were not efficient so we did not see any point in wasting money on them and continued with the work through the department itself. Most of the work is being carried out by department itself. Only five junior engineers have been roped in on a temporary basis,” Karkar said.

Karkar pointed out that most of the property owners have opted for Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) as compensation instead of cash.

“The exact figures for how much TDR has been granted is not available as yet. The process takes some time. However, property owners’ inclination is towards seeking TDR and we give them in writing that TDR will be granted in due course,” Karkar said adding that although the number of people seeking cash compensation are less, the…More

TOI : The Private Road in ward number 39 (Wadia college), which falls between Le Meridien hotel and Sohrab Hall — off Raja Bahadur Mill road, is troubled by illicit liquor and gambling dens.

The Private Road area has two illegally-run liquor shops and one gambling den, controlled by local anti-social elements. Residents say the ‘business’ is being conducted out of here for the past five years. They add that no action has been taken by the local police station to stop these activities, despite repeated complaints.

In fact, the agitated residents fear that their children may fall prey to the bad environment that prevails here. “My son is just 20 years old and has been drinking since he was 18 years. He smokes in front of me and does not give me any money to run the home,” says Kalpana Pawar, a resident.

Another resident Reshma Shaikh blames the illegal dens for children in the area picking up drinking habits from an early age. “Children in the age group of 14 to 15 years have started consuming liquor, as the den here sells one glass of liquor for just Rs 5. Moreover, when we try to convince them to give up the bad habit, the children don’t pay any heed,” she said.

The residents have even tried putting up messages against drinking and gambling, like ‘drinking is not good for health’, on the community notice board, but the efforts have been in vain. “We even approached the den owners to convince them to stop their business, as it was affecting the peace of the locality. However, the answer was that there was no way they would stop earning their livelihood. Moreover, their contention is that they are not inviting or forcing anyone to visit their dens,” says resident Seema Kale.

The women are the worst affected,…More

TOI : PUNE: In the wake of the recent mishap in which a schoolboy riding a bicycle was killed by a PMPML bus, the Pune Cycle Pratishthan (PCP) will distribute free booklets on ‘safe cycling’ to students of various schools in the city. The booklet contains guidelines on various aspects of cycling and the dos and don’ts to know when it comes to cycling in a city like Pune.

“The number of accidents involving schoolchildren riding cycles has drastically increased and the main reason behind this is the narrow roads and the increase in the volume of traffic in the city. Therefore, while these problems are being sorted out, from our end we are giving some useful guidelines for the cyclists,” said Dr Dilip Sarda, president of the PCP.

The booklet contains guidelines right from choosing a bicycle, its height, and main junctions where accidents take place and so on. “We have even included the maintenance aspects along with things like how pollution can be avoided while cycling and even times when and where cycling can be avoided. We will also stress the need for separate cycle tracks,” he said.

A survey, conducted by the Pratishthan in city schools in 2006, found the number of students going to school on bicycles has gradually declined over the years. Parents are reluctant to send their children on cycles in view of the increasing number of accidents.

“Children should avoid riding racer cycles on roads since the conditions on our roads are not suited for such cycles. Children are slow are reaching a judgement on what is to be done when they are in trouble. They panic and cannot really take decisions during such times. The best option is to dismount. Whenever they are in trouble, the best way out is to dismount. This way, major accidents can be avoided,” Sarda said….More

TOI : PUNE: Mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale on Wednesday ordered that statues in the city which create traffic congestion should be shifted to gardens and reinstated once an alternative place is located. The decision was made following the death of 10-year-old Atharva Dongre, who was crushed to death by a Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) bus last week.

In the general body (GB) meeting, corporators across party lines raised the issue of statues in city chowks causing major traffic problems. Some corporators wanted to know why the statue of Kakasaheb Gadgil, near the congested Shaniwarwada chowk where Atharva lost his life, had been shifted despite the Gadgil family giving its consent.

“Two alternative locations have been shown to the Gadgil family,” said Bhosale. “However, the family had not agreed to these locations. Hence, I have ordered that the statue be shifted to a garden and reinstate once a location is agreed upon.”

She added that a committee comprising party leaders and civic administration officials would be formed to locate other statues which caused traffic problems. “In the next three months all these statues will be shifted to gardens. Once family members of the person whose statue is shifted gives their consent, the statues will be reinstated at another location.”

Standing committee chairman Shyam Deshpande said that the committee would hold discussions with family members and convince them to agree to shift the statues.

There have been recent demands to move the Kakasaheb Gadgil statue opposite Shaniwarwada; the Keshavrao Jedhe statue at Swargate junction and the Vasantdada Patil statue at Abhinav College junction.

BJP corporator Ujwal Keskar said that five years ago the GB had unanimously passed a resolution that all statues in the city be shifted to a garden, which would be called a statue garden. “However the resolution remains on paper. Why is the…More

TOI : PUNE: Women employees of state government-run organisations and offices will now be able to leave work as soon as the sun sets. The state government has stipulated 6.30 pm as the deadline for office working hours.

“Women employees should not be made to work beyond 6.30 pm. Also, no woman employee should be asked to report to duty on public holidays and on her weekly off,” says the latest directive issued by the state’s general administration wing.

The directive, issued on March 7 and which is on the government’s website (www.maharashtra.gov.in), is applicable only to state government offices, not private organisations.

“It has been observed that women employees are made to wait in the office even after office hours. This usually happens during assembly sessions. Women employees of the Mantralaya (Mumbai) and other government departments are asked to wait in office till late in the evening during the assembly sessions,” the government directive says.

The directive, however, says that if the work is really ‘urgent’ then a woman employee can be called to duty on her holiday or can even be asked to work beyond 6.30 pm, provided this is done with the prior approval of the head of the department (HOD).

This means the immediate boss or supervisor cannot ask the woman employee to work late. Also, in such cases, the HOD has to take the responsibility to provide a safe mode of transport to the woman employee, the directive says.

Though state officials have argued that the directive has been issued to ensure the safety of women employees, it could create a bit of debate as this was the time imposed by many orthodox Maharashtrian families for years, particularly during the pre-independence era.

In those days, women were asked to return home before 7 pm. “Saat chya aat gharat”…More

TOI : PUNE: Renowned vocalist Pandit Bhimsen Joshi has been admitted to the ICU unit of a city hospital for treatment of pneumonia.

The 87-year-old doyen of Kirana Gharana was undergoing medication after he complained of breathing distress last week, hospital sources said on Wednesday.

Dr Atul Joshi, who is attending to the veteran singer, refused to divulge any further details of his illness.

The hospital sources, however, described the condition of Pandit Bhimsen as “stable”. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More