News

TOI : PUNE: City police commissioner Satyapal Singh on Friday said that the events following the terrorist attacks in Mumbai have exposed several shortcomings of the police force, which is just not in a position to handle a war-like situation. “There’s a lesson for all of us in this unfortunate spell of terror,” he added.

Singh, who was speaking to the media, said, “In the wake of the terror strike in Mumbai, which continues even after 48 hours, we are planning to take stock of the security measures taken by us while handling emergencies. The Mumbai attack has proved that most of our security equipment, like the bullet-proof jackets and helmets, were of low quality. The death of the 15 policemen, including three top officers, was due to the poor quality of equipment. Ashok Kamte died as the bullets pierced through his helmet.”

Singh said, “We had placed orders for safety gear for the city policemen before the Commonwealth Youth Games. The samples were cleared by the so-called experts’. But I was not happy with the quality of the gadgets. We dropped the idea of purchasing the equipment after a Chandigarh-based laboratory rejected the sample pieces.”

Singh said the police force should get the same quality protection gear which the commandos of the National Security Guard use. “The NSG is a part of the police force. Policemen are the first line of defence in any situation. If good quality protective gear is not provided, casualties among police personnel will definitely remain high,” Singh said.

“Though there are competent commandos in the police force, they are not trained to handle situations like the one in Mumbai. There is a need to impart proper training to the commandos. We are planing to start training sessions for them with the help of retired police and military officers. They will also be trained in handling of explosives,”…More

TOI : PUNE: In a major setback for the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL), the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (Merc) on Friday rejected MSEDCL’s October petition seeking to increase load-shedding in Pune and the state and said the power company must stick to the old load-shedding protocol fixed by the regulator in May this year.

This means load-shedding hours in Pune in group A areas in Shivajinagar, Kothrud and Padmavati divisions will be 2.45 hours per day as against existing 4.30 hours; 3.30 hours in group B areas like Parvati, Bund Garden, Bhosari and Rasta Peth divisions as against existing 5.30 hours and for group C areas in Pimpri and Ahmednagar road it will be 4.15 hours as against the existing 6.15 hours.

Load-shedding hours for industries has also been reduced from 32 hours to 16 hours, which has been welcomed by Pradeep Bhargava, chairman of the Maharashtra Council of Confederation of Indian Industry.

This will also mean that the additional power required to keep Pune free from load-shedding will be reduced to 150 MW from the existing 304 MW claimed by the MSEDCL. Puneites are paying a reliability charge of 48 paise per unit to buy the costly extra power for the convenience of zero load-shedding.

Explaining why the MSEDCL petition was rejected, the commission said the demand-supply gap has exceeded 4,500 MW for only 97 hours over the period from April 1 to September 15. Hence, the load-shedding protocol approved by the commission with 4,500 MW gap as base, was sufficient to mitigate the demand-supply gap, with very few exceptions.

The regulatory body has pointed out that there were several instances (around 11 per cent of the total hours during the period from April 1 to September 15) wherein the MSEDCL has under-drawn from its share of central generating stations like NTPC, while at the same time…More

TOI : PUNE: The city recorded a drizzle on Thursday evening.

“A cyclonic storm near the state has resulted in cloudy conditions. These conditions will remain so for at least 24 hours,” deputy director general meteorology, India Meteorological Department (IMD), A B Mujumdar told TOI. “Light rain might take place during this time,” he added.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the city recorded below 10 degrees Celsius for the first time in this season. The city recorded a minimum temperature of 9 degrees Celsius. On Friday, the minimum temperature went up to 13 degrees Celsius. Normal minimum for this period is 12 degrees. According to the IMD officials the increase in temperature was caused by the cloudy conditions.

An IMD forecast said a feeble low pressure area now lies over south-east and east-central Arabian sea off the Karnataka coast. It will result in fairly widespread rain over Rayalaseema, south coastal Andhra Pradesh and south interior Karnataka with isolated heavy to very heavy rain in the next 24 hours. Heavy to very heavy rainfall is also expected in isolated places over Andaman and Nicobar Islands during the next 48 hours.

The IMD officials said that the drizzle in Pune was very less and could not be recorded. Parbhani recorded 0.6 mm rainfall while Solapur and Mahabaleshwar recorded a trace.

B…More

TOI : PUNE: The Pune police, on Thursday afternoon, conducted search operations and imposed nakabandi across the city, after the control room received a telephone call informing the police about the suspicious activities of some persons in Bhosari and Hinjewadi.

The caller gave a detailed description of the suspects, who were later picked for questioning up by a team of crime branch officials, but they were later released.

Assistant commissioner of police Sangramsinh Nishandar (crime I) said that the suspects’ were let go as nothing objectionable was found

in their baggage.

Meanwhile, the police checked a large number of vehicles coming into the city from Mumbai as a precautionary measure. Police commissioner Satyapal Singh told the media that they have also started checking lodges and hotels after terrorists struck Mumbai on Wednesday.

Singh said that the police had earlier sent letters to all major hotels in the city to beef up their security arrangements. He added that they will soon call a meeting of hotels in this regard.

B…More

TOI : PUNE: The first-ever sea-bound terror attack in the country has emphasised the need for better coordination between coastal security agencies and state police officials, say ex-servicemen and defence experts in the city.

On Wednesday night, the country’s financial capital was struck by terrorists, who infiltrated India’s borders from the sea. Mumbai has since witnessed the unfolding of the worst-ever terror attack on the nation.

Admiral (retd) Jayant Nadkarni, who was the 12th chief of naval staff of the Indian Navy, underlined the need for the people’s involvement in guarding the coast and in maintaining security in general. Nadkarni retired from the Indian Navy after 41 years of service on November 30, 1990.

“Many houses have been built illegally near the coastal areas in Mumbai and other cities in the Konkan region. These constructions can become perfect hiding places for terrorists or anti-social elements. We hardly have any mechanisms in place to keep a check on the inflow of people in these areas,” said Nadkarni, who also served as the chief of staff of the Western Naval Command.

He pointed out that the country has a 7,600-km-long coastline and guarding it is a mammoth task. “In such a situation, the local fisherman can be of immense help in keeping a check on things. During the 1971 War a special team of fishermen was formed for gathering vital information and this proved to be very successful. Such teams should be formed on a permanent basis,” Nadkarni stated.

“It is not easy to keep the entire coastline under constant observation. We will have to increase the strength of coastal guards three- to fourfold to keep a 24-hour vigil,” said Nadkarni.

“Defence experts have time and again stressed that chances of attacks from sea are increasing and that the coastal areas should be given more security. But somehow the authorities have…More

TOI : PUNE: Vehicular traffic on the otherwise busy Pune-Mumbai expressway continued to be subdued for the second consecutive day on Friday due to the terror crisis in Mumbai.

While flights between Pune and Mumbai remained unaffected, passengers travelling by trains and buses had reduced significantly.

The vehicular movement on the expressway had reduced to just one third since Wednesday night. And the e-way had an almost deserted look on Thursday.

On Friday, the staffers at the Urse toll plaza near Talegaon said that the traffic flow had increased marginally, but it was just 40 to 50 per cent of the normal traffic. “Movement of vehicles in either directions has reduced significantly,” a staffers said.

Most people have deferred their plans to go to Mumbai. Suresh Pandit, who hails from Sangameshwar, was scheduled to meet his relatives in Pune and then proceed to Mumbai. But he has cancelled the trip to Mumbai.

Thought the Pune-Mumbai flight service remained unaffected, the security remained tight at the Pune airport. Almost all the flights were running as per scheduled, barring the odd operational delay.

“Most flights are on time. There has been no cancellation or major delay so far,” said an Airports Authority of India (AAI) official, adding that the (passenger) loads were a little less than usual.

An official of the Kingfisher airliner, which operates an early morning flight to Mumbai, reiterated that terror strikes in Mumbai had no impact on the airline’s schedule. Similarly, an official of the Jet Airways, which operates one flight each in the morning and evening, said that they were operating with the usual load’.

Y K Singh, public relation officer, Central Railway, Pune railway division, told TOI, “All the trains between Pune-Mumbai were running as per scheduled. However, there has been a reduction in the number of commuters. The long-distance trains…More

TOI : PUNE: The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has decided to tighten security at its headquarters and other municipal properties in the backdrop of the terror attacks in Mumbai.

Additional commissioner Subhash Dumbre told TOI on Friday: “We will be tightening security, but there are no plans of increasing the number of guards.”

He said, “We have enough guards. We have hired guards on a contract basis, since the number of civic employees working as guards are less.”

PCMC security officer Ashokkumar Dalvi said, “We have 350 security guards from the PCMC and another 375 hired from contractors. There are 654 civic properties which include water works, playgrounds, schools and others buildings located within the municipal limits which need to be secured.”

He said, “The PCMC had recently purchased hand-held metal detectors and letter bomb detectors to beef up security at municipal properties. The civic body had also recruited 40 guards four months ago. And we may recruit another 10 also.”

B…More

TOI : PUNE: A month after nine people died and 10 others were injured in a cylinder blast at Hadapsar, the police on Tuesday filed a case of negligence against a dead person holding him responsible for the incident.

The man in question was Gorakh Pandurang Madne (45) of S.No. 155, Lohia Nagar in Hadapsar, who died in the blast himself.

Assistant police inspector V B Golde told TOI on Wednesday that the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) has submitted a report to the police saying that the incident took place because the rubber tube attached to a cylinder by Madne had expired in 2004 and needed to be changed.

He said that Madne’s wife Leela became unconscious when the pipe started leaking on October 5 around 10.30 pm. A large number of neighbours rushed to the house to see his wife, when the cylinder suddenly burst. The impact killed nine people instantly, while 10 others escaped with injuries.

A case under section 304 (a), 337 and 338 of the Indian Penal Code has being registered against Madne, after he was indicted in the report submitted by the HPCL.

The deceased in the blast were Gorakh Madane, Kamlabai Jalindar Salwar, Ganesh Keshav Gaikwad, Tanaji Vishwanath Gajare, Reshma Tanaji Gajare, Sonabai Navnath Londhe, Mangal Tanaji Gajare, Hari Krishna Gorakh Madne and Leelabai Gorakh Madne.

The injured included Ashok Gajare, Santosh Shivaji Gaikwad, Ram Raja Salwar, Chakulibai Maruti Londhe, Usha Shantaram Khondre, Navnath Shantaram Khondre, Parmeshwar Raghunath Salwar, Neena Jalindar Adagle, Varsha Ramdas Salwar, Kasturbai Salvar.

B…More

TOI : PUNE: The Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) launched its public outreach programme on Wednesday. The event started with PCB chief executive officer (CEO) S.K. Sardana, along with his staff members, and ward member Shailendra Bidkar, visiting the Rabindranath Tagore high school at Ward No 1. Sardana inspected the school premises, interacted with the staff and inquired about the problems the school is facing. The PCB team later visited other areas in the ward, namely, J.J. garden, Boottee street, Bacchu Adda and bungalow No 16 and 29 on Queen’s Garden road.

“We are open to suggestions and criticism which will help us rectify our mistakes and enable provision of quality civic amenities to the cantonment residents,” Sardana said.

He added that the board, during the second part of its outreach programme, will invite opposition leaders from all political parties to comment on the performance of the board.

Bidkar said problems related to sanitation and hygiene are being attended regularly by the PCB. However, concrete measures need to be taken to solve the issue of flooding of the stormwater drain system behind Dorabji hall. Cattleshed owners are ready to shift to a new location in Lullanagar provided the board agrees to include their names in the property documents of the existing plots, he added. B…More