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TOI : PUNE: The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) announced a status quo in the load-shedding protocol for Pune city for Wednesday.

A statement by MSEDCL released on Tuesday said that cuts increased by 30 minutes on Tuesday will have no further changes. Accordingly, the group A areas will face load-shedding of 3 hours 15 minutes while that for the group B will be 3 hours 45 minutes.

Areas in Kothrud, Shivajinagar, Padmavati, Parvati and Bund Garden divisions fall in group A, while Pimpri, Bhosari, Ahmednagar road and Rasta Peth divisions come in group B.
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TOI : PUNE: With the rain playing truant and the water problem in the city turning serious, the civic body has prepared an emergency plan to tackle the situation. If the monsoon scenario remains the same until the month end, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) plans to dig about 500 tube-wells across the city to cater to the need of the population, municipal commissioner Pravinsinh Pardeshi said on Tuesday.

Responding to questions raised by all party members in the general body (GB) meeting on Tuesday, Pardeshi said, “The available water stock would be sufficient for the next six months. However, we are planning to set up a 1,000 HP pump at Khadakwasla to lift water directly, so that there is no need to lift water from canal, where 30 to 35 per cent water goes waste. Also, the groundwater survey and development agency (GSDA) surveys have revealed that underground water is available at 4 metres in October while in May the water level is 6.2 metres. We will use this water.”

Pardeshi added that if the monsoon showers fail to visit the city by the end of this month, the PMC plans to dig about 500 tube-wells. “With the help of hand pumps, water could be generated. This will also help to tackle the problem of electricity shortage,” he said.

The commissioner said in case of an emergency, the existing 399 wells and 4,820 tube-wells in the city will be acquired by the municipal corporation. He added that 1000 MLD water is lifted every day for distribution.

Commenting on the suggestion that the PMC should bring this water in closed pipeline, Pardeshi said, “With closed pipeline, only 700 MLD water could be brought for distribution.”

He added that the PMC is working on a project where water of the Pashan Lake will be made potable. “We are using a technology through…More

TOI : PUNE: Colleges that are high in demand for std XI seats are facing the dilemma of accommodating excess students allotted by centralised admission process (CAP) panel this year.

The question being raised by college authorities is: Will the government bear the burden for the additional (teaching) appointments made for addressing the excess students?

“Already, our existing per division strength has gone up steadily from 120 to 140 over the last two years,” the principal of a leading city college told TOI on Tuesday. “The resultant workload is not taken into consideration by the government vis-à-vis additional appointments and salaries.”

Excess allotments are seen as the government’s way of pushing the ’sought-after’ colleges to accept fresh divisions, mostly on a no-grant basis. An unusually high number of SSC students have passed this year.

Post-seat allotments on Monday, the process for confirmation of admission started on Tuesday with a heavy rush of students and their parents at the allotted institutions. At certain places, authorities found it difficult to manage the rush.

At Fergusson College, the process was held up for some time when some parents complained that the college was not issuing them admission forms despite their wards having been allotted a seat there.

It took an impromptu meeting between 50-odd parents and the college authorities besides a telephonic discussion with the divisional deputy director (education) G.K. Mhamane, to resolve the issue.

“We have decided for now that we will issue forms to all those students who have been allotted a seat in our college, irrespective of our official sanctioned intake,” said A.P. Pujari, officiating principal of Fergusson College.

The college has, nevertheless, despatched a letter to Mhamane asking the government to accept the burden for additional teaching appointments.

Fergusson has an overall sanctioned intake of 720 students for the science stream. “Initially,…More

TOI : PUNE: Jasmeet Kaur, a std X pass-out from the ICSE-affiliated Hutchings school, was expecting a ‘fair deal’ from the std XI seat allotment under the centralised admission process (CAP). Having passed her std X exam with 86 per cent, Jasmeet was confident about landing a seat at one of the ‘decent colleges’.

However, her hopes were dashed as the percentile formula (introduced this year to put SSC board students on a par with ICSE and the CBSE students) caused her to be allotted a ’so-so’ college at Erandwane, almost 8 km away from her residence at Camp.

“It’s just unfair,” said a distraught Rajwant Singh, father of Jasmeet, while speaking to TOI on Tuesday. “My
daughter was crying over the prospect of studying at such an institution,” he said.

Post-percentile formula, Jasmeet’s score rose to 88 from 86 per cent. “A two per cent rise in comparison to the four-plus per cent rise got by SSC students,” said Rajwant. How the state can justify such disparity, he asked.

However, Pune’s divisional deputy director (education) G.K. Mhamane claims that it is not much of an issue in the city.

Gaurav Kher, who passed with 93.6 per cent from a CBSE school, bagged a science seat at Fergusson College. Usually, few people would have complained but Gaurav said that the percentile system was ‘not workable’. “We are getting a maximum of two percent advantage, while the SSC students are getting a four per cent benefit. This system should be scrapped because our syllabus is way ahead of the SSC, there’s just no question of equalisation.”

Total 1,536 students from the CBSE board and 833 from the ICSE had sought admission through the CAP. The total of such students (2,369) pales in comparison to the overall 51,700 allotments in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, yet these students had a “genuine”…More

TOI : PUNE: The much delayed supply of compressed natural gas (CNG) to the city is expected to begin within a month, but all depends upon how early the work of laying of a three-kilometre pipeline in the Dehu road area is completed.

The CNG supply would be from the Chinchwad mother station initially to about eight to ten retail outlets (petrol pumps) in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. But for this to happen, the pipeline has to be laid. The work has been pending for want of necessary permissions from the defence authorities.

Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited (MNGL) authorities are optimistic that the work would be completed within a month, following which they would be able to charge the supply line.

The MNGL, a joint venture of Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) and Bharat Petroleum Company Limited (BPCL), has its mother station ready at Chikhali, near Chinchwad.

CNG would be transported in vehicles to the retail outlets. The names of the outlets have been finalized and work of installing the necessary compressors and dispensers at the outlets has already begun, MNGL authorities told TOI.

Significantly, the work of laying pipeline from the Chikhali mother station to Sant Tukaramnagar bus depot in Pimpri has been completed. The Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) would also be able to get CNG for its buses from this depot. The PMPML has already placed an order for 50 CNG-run buses for the Commonwealth Youth Games, which will be held in October.

According to MNGL authorities, the work of laying of the main supply line from Gatewadi (near Panvel) to Chinchwad, a distance of 64 km, has been completed, but for the three-km stretch in the Dehu road area.

The authorities said that the work of laying a pipeline from Pimpri to Pune (PMPML’s Narveer Tanaji depot at Shivajinagar) is expected to…More