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TOI : PUNE: The city-based Sajag Nagrik Manch (SNM), on Saturday, submitted a memorandum to Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar requesting his urgent intervention for securing coal to fuel state’s thermal power plants that have not been dealing with an acute shortage of the fossil fuel.

SNM founder Vivek Velankar said that the memorandum was given to Pawar in the morning after he attended a function in the city.

“State’s thermal power plants are facing severe shortage of coal at present. As per the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) norms, thermal plants should stock enough coal to last for 14 days, but thermal plants in the state do not fulfil that norm,” the memorandum said.

When contacted Madhukar Shelar, director (operations) of the Maharashtra state power generation company ltd (MSPGCL) told TOI that the coal stocks were abysmally low. “Our thermal power plants have stocks that will last only for a couple of days. We have had to cut down on thermal power generation during off-peak hours in a bid to conserve coal and make the existing stock last longer,” he said.

Shelar said that the MSPGCL had to shut down a 250 MW generation set at Paras from Thursday because of coal shortage. “However we plan to re-start it from Sunday. We are also hopeful of a positive development about coal supply next week,” he said.

It may be noted that in an interview given to TOI last week, state energy minister Walse-Patil had expressed concern about the coal shortage. “There is no problem in coal supply to private power companies. Only state-owned thermal plants in the country are facing coal shortage and we have urged the Union energy minister to ensure that government power plants get coal on priority basis,” he had said.

Velankar said that state energy minister Dilip Walse-Patil has already sent a letter to…More

TOI : PUNE: A major fire gutted the Elkey Chemicals company in the J block of Bhosari MIDC on Saturday, injuring one worker and damaging property worth Rs 5 crore.

Over 15 workers were working at the factory when the fire broke out between 3.45 pm to 4 pm, but they managed to escape. However, a major mishap was averted as the fire brigade officials succeeded in preventing the fire from reaching an adjacent company where LPG tanks were stored.

The worker who received 25 per cent burn injuries was identified as Basavraj Kuchi. He was initially admitted to the Yashwantrao Chavan memorial hospital, but was later shifted to a private hospital.

After four hours of battle, the fire was brought under control at 8 pm.

As many as 21 fire engines of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, Khadki and Dehu Road cantonment boards and nearby companies like Tata Motors and Bajaj helped in extinguishing the flames. About 50 tankers of water was used.

A thick cloud of black smoke engulfed the area and was seen from far off places like Pimpri Chowk. The police had a tough time controlling the crowd that assembled at the spot.

Subhash Dumbre, the PCMC additional commissioner, told TOI, “The fire started when the workers were testing monomer a petroleum product. The company manufactures silicon oil and had received a big export order which was to be shipped on Monday. The fire brigade officials had a tough time controlling the fire and temperature in the adjacent unit where the LPG tanks were stored.”

Ganesh Sonavane, disaster management officer, Pune collector office said, “We had brought sufficient stock of foam and chemicals required to bring the fire under control.”

This is the second major fire in a chemical factory in Pimpri-Chinchwad after the devastating fire at…More

TOI : PUNE: The Shivajinagar police arrested seven persons, including a recovery officer and six recovery agents from a bank in Mumbai, for allegedly kidnapping a builder in the city for a ransom of Rs 10 lakh, early on Saturday morning. According to the police, the builder, who hails from Loni Kalbhor, was kidnapped to recover a loan taken by him and his brother from the bank.

After tracing the builder’s mobile phone, a police team led by sub-inspector Pramod Waghmare of the Shivajinagar police chased the suspects’ vehicle and nabbed them in Vashi in Navi Mumbai and rescued the builder.

The suspects were identified as Amarjeetsingh Niranjansingh, a recovery officer and resident of Panvel, and recovery agents Sayyad Hussain Nadaf and Zahir Bhatti (both from Bhandup in Mumbai), Atmaram Bansod (a resident of Ghodbandar road, Thane), Amarjeetsing Virk and Vishnu Latke (both from Dahisar in Mumbai) and Baspatrao Panappa of Mumbai.

They were booked under section 363 of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly kidnapping the builder, Umesh Kalbhor (30). The complaint in this regard was lodged by his brother Shivdas Kalbhor (33) at the Shivajinagar police station.

“During investigations, it was learnt that the brothers had taken a loan of Rs 50 lakh from the bank in Mumbai. As they couldn’t repay the loan, the suspects kidnapped Umesh to recover the loan,” Waghmare said.

According to the Shivajinagar police, Umesh was at his construction site near Mangala theatre on Friday night. At around 10 pm, seven persons came in a jeep and forced him into the vehicle. Using Umesh’s mobile phone, they called Shivdas and demanded Rs 10 lakh to release Umesh.

“Shivdas immediately lodged a complaint with us. When we traced the mobile phone, we found that the kidnappers were heading towards Mumbai. Our team immediately started chasing them. Meanwhile, we informed the Vashi police as…More

TOI : A patient in critical condition rushed to the Sanjeevan Hospital, off Karve Road, requires immediate help. What eases the tension when the ambulance reaches the hospital is a small desk just at the entrance. Senior citizens manning it not only help the patient get admitted, but also arrange for immediate blood and other medical requirements.

They are members of Rugnamitra, a voluntary help desk started by social worker, Ramakant Kulkarni on December 15, 2003. Its eight-odd members have been staying put during peak hours at the hospital, lending support to patients and visitors.

From providing instant information to needy patients, coordinating with the hospital and the blood banks for blood and other medical facilities, they do it all, free of cost, from 8 am to 1.30 pm and from 4 pm to 6 pm, six days a week.

Kulkarni, a former helper at the Hindustan Antibiotics, has been lending a helping hand at Niwara Old Age Home. Since 1987, Kulkarni has been admitting the inmates to Sanjeevan. “I came to know all the people in the hospital and I informed the hospital authorities of the need to have a help desk, especially during the hospital’s OPD hours, for supplying instant information to the needy,” says 77-year-old Kulkarni on the genesis of Rugnamitra.

A friend to a rugna’ or patient, is a rugnamitra,’ he says with a bright smile. And he’s been at his charitable best right since his youth. An experience then made him aware of the need to aid the sick.

When Kulkarni was 15-years-old, he had admitted his neighbour, an ailing grandmother, to a hospital during the last stages of her illness. She didn’t survive and Kulkarni had to arrange the money for her funeral since her family members were not available. “Money was short and I had to literally beg for the funeral expenses. That was…More

TOI : PUNE: The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation’s (PCMC) law committee on Friday expressed displeasure about the absence of many civic officials for its meeting and directed the municipal commissioner to be present during the next meeting on November 28 to give clarifications on objections raised by committee members to various proposals.

Yashwant Bhosale, member of the PCMC law committee and Congress corporator, said on Friday that the committee members were angry at the absence of civic officials. The civic officials concerned with the proposals tabled at the meetings remain regularly absent, he said, adding that officials also do not attend meetings of other panels like sports and slum rehabilitation and they only attended the weekly standing committee meets regularly.

Bhosale said that if the law panel kept any proposal pending, the civic administration bypasses the committee and tables it in the General Body (GB) meeting. “If the civic officials do not want to give due respect to the civic committees, then they should be dissolved and only the standing committee and GB should remain,” he said.

On Friday, the law committee members adjourned the meeting without approving any proposal. Kailas Thopate, the law committee’s chairman, presided over the meeting and directed the municipal commissioner to be present at the next meeting, which will be held on November 28.

Bhosale said that the panel members had kept some proposals pending at the previous meeting as they did not get clarifications from civic officials. Such proposals were again tabled at Friday’s meeting, but again there were no officials to give the clarifications.

He said that three different proposals of Rs 50 lakh each about asphalting roads in Wakad were tabled at the meeting on Friday. Though the committee had approved a proposal on the asphalting works, he did not receive any explanation as to why the proposals were tabled again, albeit separately.
…More

TOI : PUNE: The civic body, which has been focusing on multi-crore projects, including sky bus and metro, has turned a blind eye in providing basic amenities to the public. This is particularly true about the state of public urinals in the city. To begin with, the city has only 352 public urinals, this despite the fact that the city has crossed 30 lakh population mark.

Corporators, cutting across party lines, have alleged that proposals for construction of toilets were kept pending by the civic administration despite making provision of funds from the ward level budget.

Wadgaon Dhayari corporator Akrur Kudale alleged in the general body (GB) meeting on Friday that a city builder had offered him Rs 5 lakh to cancel the proposal of a public urinal as it was located near his new construction. “When I opposed, the builder approached the civic officials and within a few days the plan was cancelled without any satisfactory reasons,” said Kudale. Mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale ordered that the allegations by Kudale is probed into and a report is presented in the general body meeting.

BJP corporator Seema Sardeshpande said women are facing major problems due to lack of public urinals in the heart of the city. “There are no public urinals for women at all and the civic body is not taking the problem seriously,” she said.

Leena Pansare of the Shiv Sena said she had proposed a public urinal for women on Paud road and the provision for funds was made, but the civic administration has not started the work yet. “The budget is diverted, and despite repeated requests, the work is postponed without offering any reason. This reflects the civic administration’s attitude towards the problem,” said Pansare.

This newspaper, in a series of reports, had highlighted the lack of public urinals in city and the pathetic condition of existing ones. The…More

TOI : PUNE: Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said here on Saturday that the process of merging Shree Suvarna Co-operative Bank with the Indian Overseas Bank (IOC) would be completed within the next ten days.

He was speaking in the backdrop of the 10th Women Literary meet at Balgandharva Rangmandir. On the issue of the arrest of Dyaneshwar Agashe, former director of Suvarna, Pawar said, “I have had discussions with IOC bank officials. The process of the merger will be expedited and completed within the next ten days.”

Merger talks between Suvarna bank and IOC have reached the final stage and the official decision is likely to be announced soon. This would end the speculation over Suvarna’s future, which was put under a moratorium by the Reserve Bank of India in September 2006, following reports of financial irregularities. B…More

TOI : PUNE: Though the depositors and account holders of the Shree Suvarna Sahakari Co-operative bank on Saturday expressed satisfaction at the arrest of the bank’s former chairman Dnyaneshwar Agashe, the action committee of the depositors said this would not lessen their hardships and the bank’s speedy merger was the only solution.

Speaking to TOI, Shrikant Limaye and Vilas Lanke of the Shree Suvarna co-op bank account holders, depositors and members action committee said the Reserve Bank of India must speed up the merger to end their 27-month long misery. The action committee will hold a meeting on November 23 at Sambhaji park at 9.30 am to decide the future course of action. The bank has 12 branches nine in Pune, two in Mumbai and one in Shripur.

A sustained agitation by the action committee and the administrators’ efforts have resulted in the recovery of over Rs 400 crore worth of outstandings.

It may be noted that the board of directors (BoD) of the Pune-based bank was superseded in September 2006 by the commissioner for co-operation and an administrator was appointed. This action was taken as per section 110 (C), following receipt of the moratorium order issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on September 9, 2006, restricting withdrawals to Rs 1,000 per customer.

Officials at the co-operation department said the net non-performing assets (NPA) of the bank rose to about 43 per cent and there were also irregularities in sanction of loans. Big loans were given to builders who never repaid the amount, said officials.

Though Dnyaneshwar Agashe, founder-director of the Suvarna bank, had announced a merger plan with another city-based co-operative bank to pre-empt any move by the RBI to put restrictions on them, depositors and account-holders had panicked leading to large-scale withdrawals. The RBI moratorium was viewed as a measure to stem further withdrawals, which would land…More

TOI : PUNE: The future of about 1,200 small, medium and big irrigation projects under the Maharashtra Krishna Valley Development (MKVDC) hangs in balance with the Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority (MWRRA) putting question mark on the privatisation of the Neera-Devghar irrigation project on BOT basis.

The MKVDC had invited private developers to participate in the project, to which city-based Prayas organisation had raised objections and filed a with a petition before the MWRRA. On November 10, the regulatory authority ordered the MKVDC to withdraw its advertisement for privatisation of the project and asked the MKVDC to approach the government for clarification on the contradictions in its laws regarding irrigation.

With the MWRRA order, all future privatisation projects in irrigation sector will be regulated by the MWRRA Act and the Maharashtra Management of Irrigation Systems by Farmers Act (MMISF).

The MWRRA has also asked the MKVDC to determine whether the Neera-Devghar project is covered under the backlog regime prescribed by the governor’s directives. “The governor has issued directions to remove regional imbalances, putting restrictions on distribution of government funds in the irrigation sector. The impact of these directions on privatisation of irrigation project is the key issue. It is an important question whether the governor’s directions would be applicable to the offers made by the government to developers participating in privatisation of irrigation projects,” Subodh Wagle and Sachin Warghade of Prayas said on Friday.

With the privatisation initiative for Neera-Devghar, the government was planning to adopt the same model for other 1,200 MKVDC projects in Western Maharashtra which require about Rs 36,000 crore for completion. However, the future of these projects now hangs in balance.

“All irrigation projects are now regulated by the MWRRA, MMISF and the governor’s orders on imbalance, and projects in western Maharashtra would be no exception,” said Warghade.

“Now, the process of privatisation will directly…More

TOI : PUNE: Even with November almost over, the winter season is yet to begin in Pune. The city has been getting warmer and more humid in the last four days and the minimum temperatures have been recorded above normal. However, the Met department says the conditions are likely to change soon and the city will witness a morning chill in the next 48 hours.

While the city has been experiencing warm and humid conditions since last week, the last 4 days have seen a distinct rise in minimum and maximum temperatures. The minimum temperatures have risen above 19 degree Celsius, which is six degrees above normal. Maximum temperatures have touched the 32 degree Celsius mark, which is three to four degrees above normal.

“The continental dry air has pushed up the temperatures above normal, resulting in the hot weather conditions. The temperatures have gone up by at least four to five degrees in the last four days. However, the effect of the continental dry air is likely to reduce in next 48 hours. The minimum temperature is expected to go down with a morning chill likely to be experienced in the next 48 hours,” A. B. Mujumdar, deputy director general, meteorology, India Meteorological Department, said.

Mujumdar said that the weather conditions were not abnormal. “Such a temperature rise is usually seen in dry air weather conditions,” he stated.

Mujumdar also said that an active easterly wave has resulted in the cloudy and humid conditions in the city and in many parts of the state in the last week. The city experienced light showers twice in the last six days as a result of these conditions.

On Friday, the minimum temperature was recorded at 19.8 degrees Celsius, which was six degrees above normal, while the maximum temperature was three degrees above normal at 33.7 degree Celsius. No decrease has been recorded…More