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TOI : PUNE: For the last four years, a group of dedicated ecology-conscious citizens has been looking after the green cover on Chatushrungi hill. The dedicated bunch, called the Green Hills Group, launched a community-based tree plantation drive on the plateau atop the hill.

Their efforts have now resulted in the Vruksha Mandir, a protected tract of land that’s home to some 2,000 trees. The trees, that include peepal, gooseberry (aamla), wild fig, neem, rain tree and bel, cover some ten acres of the plateau. The Vruksha Mandir will be formally inaugurated in the third week of January.

“We saw the acres and acres of barren plateau as a fine way of involving society in protecting our ecology. Also, thanks to the presence of the much-revered Chatushrungi temple, we could also convince people to plant trees here in the name of faith,” explains Sanjay Athavale, a member of the group who coordinates the Vruksha Mandir project.

Volunteers from the group visit the hill every Thursday and Sunday morning to water the trees, collect dried leaves and cut overgrown grass. Corporate employees, NGOs and various youth organisations have also lent a hand to this cause.

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has also extended support to the group’s efforts. Beginning from this year, the civic body will provide saplings for the drive. The PMC gave some 300 saplings this year and it sends two water tankers every month to the plateau to water the trees and saplings. This is in addition to the four tankers with a capacity of 50,000 litres hired by the volunteers for the purpose.

A poster exhibition on the plateau itself is now in the pipeline. “The posters will feature the variety of trees planted and the different species of birds and animals seen here,” informs Athavale.

During Navratri this year, the volunteers collected around three tonne of nirmalya’ at the Chatushrungi temple….More

TOI : PUNE: A day before the “official inauguration” of the PCMC sports complex at Indrayaninagar in Bhosari, the BJP snubbed the ruling NCP by inaugurating the complex at a simple function on Thursday.

The sports complex was to be inaugurated by district guardian minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar on the occasion of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar’s birthday on Friday. Despite the inauguration of the sports complex on Thursday, mayor Aparna Doke said that the “official inauguration” will be held on Friday as planned.

Local BJP corporator Varsha Madigeri, who along with a few senior members of the party as well as the Shiv Sena inaugurated the sports complex, has charged that she was not taken into confidence regarding the inauguration plan.

Speaking to TOI, Madigeri said, “I am the local corporator of Indrayaninagar where the sports complex is located. We had planned to invite BJP leader Gopinath Munde to inaugurate the complex in January.”

“A letter was sent on December 3 to the mayor, ruling party leader and the municipal commissioner in this regard. But the PCMC administration and the ruling party decided to invite Ajit Pawar for the inauguration,” she said.

Madigeri added that a letter protesting for ignoring her was sent to the mayor on Wednesday. “Our party held a meeting on Wednesday night and decided to inaugurate the sports complex on Thursday to embarrass the ruling NCP,” she said. Among others who were present for the inauguration’ was president of the Pimpri-Chinchwad unit of the BJP, Bhagwan Mansukh, president of the Shiv Sena Bhagwan Walhekar, and all BJP and Shiv Sena corporators as well as party workers and citizens.

When contacted, mayor Doke told TOI that the official inauguration is of more importance than the one carried out by the local corporator.

The sports complex, which has been built at a cost of Rs 3.25 crore, has separate areas…More

TOI : PUNE: With the terror threats looming large, malls and multiplexes across the city have beefed up security like never before, a clear indication that life will never be the same again post 26/11.

Lalit Ojha, general manager, Inox said, “Though security at Inox has always been tight, it has been strengthened further. We have recruited more guards. Body frisking and metal detectors are the security measures we have introduced. There are also floor supervisors to look out for unattended luggage inside the theatre.”

Body frisking has been introduced at the SGS mall too, on women visitors as well, albeit by a female guard. “For this, we have installed screens to give the woman visitors a modicum of privacy,” said Col C Guha, senior manager, operations. “We’ve also acquired more metal detectors, as we don’t want to take any chances.”

Tushar Mehta, CEO, Ishanya mall, said, “Apart from ensuring the presence of trained security personnel at every level, there is a quick relief team to watch out for unattended baggage; should they find something to worry about, the number of the bomb disposal squad has been put up at vantage points within the mall.” In the mall, men are frisked while women go through the metal detector.

Guards at the Gold Big Cinema said the management plans to start checking women too, apart from stringent checks on bags and unattended luggage.

At E-Square, according to Suraj Sharma, manager, operations, the management has recently appointed a former army officer to look after the security measures. “Given the current situation, we felt it’s best that a defence person handle the security. Though we have guards men and women at vantage points, as well as metal detectors, we are also planning to build a separate cabin, to frisk women too.” Apart from this, a pair of sniffer dogs do the rounds three times a day to check for…More

TOI : PUNE: The traffic police has sought space from the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation for setting up two traffic division offices in the twin township limits.

Speaking to TOI on Thursday, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), traffic, Manoj Patil said a letter in this regard has been sent to the municipal commissioner Ashish Sharma. Patil said that a decision to start traffic division offices at Chinchwad and Sangvi was taken three months back. “We need open land or constructed area for it. We need around two to three gunthas in Chinchwad and Sangvit,” he said.

“An open land of one guntha would also do. If we are given constructed space then we need two rooms and ample space for parking of vehicles. The open land or constructed space should be preferably near a main road,” he said.

Patil further said that a squad has been constituted for monitoring the implementation of metre system in rickshaws and to take action against vehicles indulging in illegal traffic in Pimpri-Chinchwad. The squad consists of one police sub-inspector (PSI) and five policemen.

Incidentally, the traffic police and Pimpri-Chinchwad Regional Transport Office (RTO) had conducted a major drive in August for making the rickshaws operate on metre basis and to control the unauthorised passenger traffic by various vehicles. Around 400 rickshaws were impounded during the drive for various violations. A large number of these rickshaws have not been still released. The rickshaw unions have demanded that the traffic police be lenient and release the rickshaws after charging fines as it is the only means of livelihood for rickshaw operators.

Reacting to the demand, Patil said, “The rickshaw owners or operators should furnish the requisite documents and take away the rickshaws. There are still around 300 rickshaws lying unclaimed with us. It means that these rickshaws are meant to be scrapped or the vehicle numbers are fake. This amounts to cheating.”

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TOI : PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has expedited land acquisition process in 2009-09 and has utilised Rs 31.04 crore (72.78 per cent of the total budgetary allotment for the year) by November 15.

Deputy municipal commissioner (land acquisition) Suraj Mandhare told TOI that the PMC had expedited the process of land acquisition and is focusing on acquisition earmarked for development of civic amenities. “The process received momentum during the Commonwealth Youth Games and the land acquisition department has utilised maximum budget allotted for the purpose,” said Mandhare.

The total budget allocated for land acquisition in the 2008-09 budget was of Rs 42.65 crore and, by November 15, the department has utilised Rs 31.04 crore, he said.

Mandhare added that the department has topped the list of budget utilisation even last year. “We have launched various schemes to make land acquisition easy. The scheme giving 154 per cent of the market rates as compensation to the landowner has become popular. The scheme is launched for the property owners who hand over the property as per the civic body’s demand within a month.”

The civic body is also rehabilitating the lease owners so that the real owner doesn’t face any problems in handing over the property to the civic body, Mandhare said. “We are expediting the transfer of development rights process so that the land acquisition process becomes more smooth.”

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TOI : PUNE: Alleging that there are irregularities in the socio-economic survey of slum-dwellers carried out by the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation in 2002, members of the slum improvement and social welfare committee have demanded a fresh survey by the civic body.

The members alleged that a large number of slum-dwellers have been left out of the survey and that because of the mistakes in the survey, they would not be entitled to any benefits like free housing or other welfare schemes. The civic authorities, however, refuted the allegations and have expressed reservations on whether any new names can be added.

Slum improvement committee member Ramadhar Dharia, who has proposed a fresh survey, told TOI that around 4,000 slum-dwellers may have been left out of the survey. He said that they have evidence such as ration cards and voter lists to prove that they are residents of Pimpri-Chinchwad.

“A unanimous decision was taken at the slum improvement committee meeting that a fresh survey should be carried out. A proposal has been forwarded to the general body in this regard,” Dharia said.

When contacted, assistant commissioner Sudhir Joshi, who is in-charge of the slum rehabilitation department, said that it was unlikely that any names have been left out. “We have carried out an exhaustive survey in which all the hutment colonies, along with each tenement, were listed.”

Joshi added that while the state government set January 1, 1995 as the cut-off date for listing the names of slum-dwellers, the municipal corporation set January 1, 2000 as the cut-off date. “We cannot add names to the list after the cut-off date,” The civic administration would consider the points raised by the members and then take a decision, he added.

There are 71 major slum localities in Pimpri-Chinchwad. The slum population is over 1.5 lakh residing in over 35,000 tenements.

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TOI : PUNE: A magistrate court has recently ordered the health department of the PMC to remove the seal put on the ultra-sonography machine (USG) machine of Bamb nursing home at Yerawada.

The central monitoring inspection committee and PMC had sealed the USG machines of five hospitals on August 30 for allegedly using them for sex determination of unborn babies and for not maintaining proper records.

Medical practitioner Sagar Bamb moved the court through lawyer Mil-ind Salunke for removing the seal.

The court directed the PMC to open the seal on the USG machine at Bamb nursing home on executing a bond of Rs 10 lakh on conditions that the medical practitioner will not sale, pledge or dispose of the machine.

The court also directed Bamb to give an undertaking that the machine would not be used for sex determination. The court added that the machine should be kept open for inspection of the court and competent authority whenever required and proper record of the same should be maintained.

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TOI : PUNE: If you belong to the club of netizens, plan to have your own website or genuinely care about the environment, this one’s for you. The buzzword in website hosting, green hosting’ is making itself felt across the internet circles, albeit in a small way.

Now, the trend has made its way to Pune as well, with the city-based Pune Gourmet Club Association opting for an American green’ server to host its recently-launched website. Green hosting refers to hosting one’s website on a carbon-neutral server, viz. one whose carbon emissions are offset by the web-hosting company by green activities like planting trees etc or through the purchase of carbon credits.

While an extensive search by TOI threw up only one website that was hosted on a green server, Znet India, one of the country’s largest web-hosting companies, has confirmed that they have up to 100 clients who have opted for green hosting.

Speaking to TOI, Munesh Singh, CEO of the Noida-based company, said, “Our contributions have helped towards the purchase of one hectare of land in Noida. Our staff are taking responsibility to grow trees on this land. This is a long-term project and will take twenty years before the forest becomes well-grown. The whole project is expected to sequester some 200 tonnes of carbon dioxide while making a real contribution to wildlife conservation.”

And since reducing (or neutralising) one’s carbon footprint attracts benefits from the government, green hosting is actually more cost efficient in the long run than conventional hosting.

Closer home, the PGCA decided to go green while launching their website recently. “Our website is hosted on Dream Host, an American server. Dream Host is a totally carbon-neutral server that purchases carbon credits on our behalf. Also, it believes in energy-efficient hardware,” said Nilesh Kale, PGCA’s web administrator.

Dream Host, in turn, has a green certificate’ that says it has offset…More

TOI : PUNE: A bag-lifter Pradeep Bandichode (24) of Somwar Peth was arrested by the Faraskhana police on Wednesday, and gold ornaments and cash totalling to Rs 6.95 lakh were recovered from him. On Thursday, Bandichode was remanded to police custody till December 15.

Acting on a tip-off that Bandichode will arrive at the Saraf Bazaar to sell the loot, a police team, led by sub-inspector Gajanan Pawar, nabbed him at Moti chowk on grounds of suspicion and recovered ornaments and Rs 15,000 in cash.

In a statement issued on Friday, senior police inspector Vitthal Pawar of the Faraskhana police station, said that Bandichode hails from Solapur and comes from a well-off family. He has studied up to standard 10 and has been staying at a lodge in Somwar Peth in Pune. His father is the member of a school board in Solapur, but does not stay with his family.

Pawar said that investigations revealed that Bandichode had stolen the bag containing ornaments belonging to one M Prabhakar Gupta (62) of Andhra Pradesh when he was travelling in the Kurla-Coimbatore express on December 4. Gupta had registered a complaint in this regard with the Solapur railway police on December 5.

Bandichode used to work in a private firm before he entered the world of crime. He later became friends with a commercial sex worker and started residing with her at a lodge in Somwar Peth.

Bandichode used to frequent the Pune railway station and would steal passengers’ bags from rail compartments after 2 am, Pawar explained. “He used to decamp with the booty after dumping the bag in a toilet,” Pawar said.

Bandichode has admitted to his involvement in stealing four to five bags from trains and buses, and he had plans to sell this loot and flee to Kolkata, Pawar said.

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TOI : PUNE: The World Bank has agreed to work with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and assess ambitious projects like the metro and mono rail in the city. The World Bank will also offer the PMC Rs 100 crore for non-motorised transport initiatives.

The World Bank’s overture comes as a big boost to the PMC’s initiative to form a special purpose vehicle (SPV), which is expected to raise Rs 24,000 crore for various projects.

The SPV a proposed company called Pune Municipal Infrastructure Development Corporation will examine the traffic and transportation problems in the city and execute projects listed in the comprehensive mobility plan’. Surveys and reports will be prepared for the implementation of mega-projects like the metro and mono rail, flyovers, bridges and tunnels.

A delegation from the World Bank met PMC officials on Thursday to discuss the SPV and projects proposed under it. “The delegation was impressed with our presentation. The Rs 100 crore offered by the World Bank will be used for cycle tracks, construction of underpasses on various roads and other pedestrian-friendly initiatives,” municipal commissioner Pravinsinh Pardeshi told TOI.

He said the PMC had earlier discussed the SPV projects with a delegation from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). “The ADB response was positive and we are waiting for further discussions. The World Bank and the ADB will take their time to come to a final conclusion over funding these projects. But we are banking on them to receive funds,” he added.

The PMC has forwarded the proposal to form the SPV to the state government. However, Pardeshi said the PMC was not waiting for the state government’s approval to get started on the projects. “Work on some of the projects like the construction at Holkar bridge and some flyovers on main roads have already been started. These projects will later be brought under the purview of the SPV,” he added.

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