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TOI : PUNE: Over 400 persons have been fined over the past six months for crossing railway tracks on the Pune-Lonavla section.

The death of three persons near Akurdi railway station on Tuesday has once again brought the issue in focus of how people continue to risk their lives by crossing railway tracks.

Speaking to TOI, inspector R R Pandav of railway Protection Force (RPF) said that in the past six months, 424 people have been fined under section 147 of the Railway Act for crossing railway tracks. A total fine of Rs 52,000 was recovered from them.

Last year, a total of 1,587 persons were fined for crossing railway tracks, recovering Rs 2 lakh from them. Incidentally, six people were jailed for the same crime last year. No such jail term has been awarded to anybody this year.

Besides conducting drives against those crossing tracks, the RPF has been counselling passengers telling them about the risks involved. Pandav cited the example of the Shivajinagar railway station where many passengers, mostly travelling in the Lonavla-Pune suburban local trains, cross the railway tracks to reach the other platform, despite two footoverbridges at the station. Same situation prevails at other stations. He said that habitual offenders or those not willing to accept that they have committed an offence are fined.

Importantly, almost all stations between Pune and Lonavla now have footoverbridges.

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TOI : PUNE: In an attempt to counter the high number of infant deaths due to malnutrition in the Melghat area during the monsoon, Melghat Mitra’, a non governmental organisation (NGO) will start their annual drive against malnutrition from July 15.

The NGO, under the Maitri trust, working among the tribes in the area has been conducting the drive since 1997. The organisation is looking for volunteers to support their drive called Dhadak Mohim’. The 78-day drive will conclude on September 30.

“Nine villages in Melghat area will be covered under the drive. Every year we start the drive during the monsoon because the rate of infant mortality is higher then,” says Pravin Pawar, a volunteer associated with the organisation.

Around 648 children from Hilda, Khari, Borda, Rahu, Chobida, Bodu, Lakhewada, Pipliya and Tembru villages will be covered under the project. Every year people across age groups and professions participate in the drive.

This year about 100 volunteers will be split up into groups and will be allotted different villages and different age groups of children to be taken care of during the monsoon. “We have base camps at two villages and it is from there that our volunteers are sent to different places. The idea is to educate the tribals about what their children’s diet should be and also how they should take care of their health themselves,” says Atul Kulkarni, another volunteer.

The children living in these villages are monitored during the course of the monsoon. “We also provide medical aid and non-medical aid like food to curb infant deaths,” says Pawar.

Kulkarni informs that a number of factors contribute to high infant mortality in these villages during the monsoon. They include the inaccessibility of these villages during heavy rains and also the dampness in walls and floors of the houses.

Pawar says the drive has been successful and there has been…More

TOI : PUNE: Situation is likely to improve in interior parts of the state by Saturday, which is witnessing a weak rainfall activity.

According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), many parts have got heavy showers while others have hardly got a drizzle. This picture would improve in couple of days.

“The state is facing rain shadow type situation. Some areas in windward direction of Sahyadri ranges have got good showers but the areas in leeward areas have got comparatively less rainfall,” said A B Mazumdar, Deputy Director General Meteorology (DDGM), India Meteorological Department (IMD). “Such disparities occur during monsoon season. It is normal.”

Mazumdar observed that right now the areas near western ghats are witnessing heavy showers. Konkan and Vidarbha recorded good showers. But the interior parts of the state are witnessing subdued rainfall activity. Even Marathwada has less rainfall, but is expected to get more rains by this Saturday.

reasoning the differences between quantity and intensity of rainfall in different parts of the state, director weather forecasting at IMD Medha Khole pointed out that absence of pro-rainfall systems such as cyclonic circulation or low pressure areas in Bay of Bengal is one important reason.

“There are chances of formation of such systems. Some models indicate that such systems could be formed around July 12,” she said.

As per IMD, many parts of the city witnessed showers on Thursday. Till 5.30 pm Pune recorded 4.9 mm rainfall. Other parts of the state too witnessed good showers including Alibaug (63 mm), Mumbai (13 mm) , Mahabaleshwar (58 mm), Kolhapur (35 mm), Sangli (20 mm), Nashik (1 mm), Jalgaon (0 mm) and Nagpur (18 mm).

The catchment areas of dams near by city did not record heavy rainfall though. Only the catchment of Khadakwasla recorded 1 mm rainfall. Rainfall in other catchment areas including Varasgaon, Panshet and Pavana was nil till 6 pm.
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TOI : PUNE: A 32-year-old electronics engineer working with a software company at Magarpatta City in Hadapsar was found stabbed to death in a secluded lane near her residence on Sus road late on Wednesday night.

The woman, Urvashi Dhavale (32), of Shree Swami Samarth society on Sus road, was stabbed 12 times in the neck. Her husband, Arvind Ghadole (43), of Gondia in Nagpur, has been detained and was being brought to Pune late on Thursday night for questioning. The couple has been living apart for nearly eight years now.

Speaking to reporters, DCP (zone-III) Mahesh Patil said the Chatushrungi police received information around 11.45 pm on Wednesday that a woman had met with an accident at Sus road. On reaching there, the police found Urvashi lying near a two-wheeler with stab wounds in her neck. They took her to the Aundh Chest hospital, where she was declared dead.

Patil said Urvashi was attacked while she was returning home from her mother’s residence, which is close to her own flat. Her sister, Ujwala Kulkarni (35), also lives nearby. Urvashi lived alone in her flat.

Urvashi married Ghadole in 2001. The couple had jointly purchased their Sus road flat. However, they started living separately barely a few months after their marriage as Urvashi had learnt that Ghadole was already married and had two children, Patil said.

According to Patil, Ghadole later shifted to Nagpur and had filed a petition in the family court there against Urvashi over possession of the Sus road flat. Urvashi too had filed a case in the high court against Ghadole, the details of which were still being ascertained by the police. Patil said that the high court had ruled in Urvashi’s favour in that case, and the verdict was out on Monday, July 6.

Patil said the police were told that Ghadole had recently tried to forcibly take possession of…More

TOI : PUNE: The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has received 350 applications seeking permission for putting up mobile towers in the last four years but could not grant permission as the matter about charging of premium is pending in the court.

Speaking to TOI on Thursday, Vasant Kachi, deputy city engineer, said the building permission department has received applications from people seeking permission for putting up mobile towers in their properties. But no permission has been granted after 2005.

Elaborating Kachi said, “The applicant has to pay Rs 3,000 per meter as one-time premium and Rs 25,000 as deposit. It also pays development charges of Rs 1,000 per sq.m. for the cabin. But in 2005 the state issued a government resolution (GR) that increased the charges to Rs 10,000 per meter and Rs 50,000 as premium charges. The mobile companies challenged the GR in the High Court which squashed the notification. The state government has challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court and the matter is still pending there.”

The PCMC can collect the premium charges from the mobile companies as per the old rates and give permission. But Kachi said that the mobile companies were reluctant to pay the premium charges as per the old rates and wanted to wait for the Supreme Court verdict. “So we cannot give permission to people for putting up mobile towers without getting the premium charges,” he explained.

While the PCMC was losing revenue, Kachi said the court may also issue guidelines later on about collecting fine from mobile companies that have put up towers without taking permission.

He said that PCMC was considering to organise a meeting with mobile companies to resolve the matter. The municipal commissioner will take a decision on it, he said.

It should be noted that Ramdas Kumbhar, a standing committee member, had sought information about unauthorised mobile towers in the municipal limits…More

TOI : PUNE: The income generated from octroi by the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has shown an increase in the first three months of 2009-10 due to the steps taken by the octroi department to reduce evasion.

Speaking to TOI here, Ashok Munde, assistant commissioner and chief of octroi, PCMC said, “The monthly octroi income at octroi posts from November 2008 till April 2009 was Rs 21 crore. The situation has improved considerably in 2009-10 despite the market slowdown. The octroi income in April 2009 was Rs 24.50 crore, in May Rs 25.50 crore and in June Rs 27.11 crore.”

“The octroi department is taking all efforts to reduce octroi evasion. This is yielding results and we hope to increase the octroi income by 20 per cent during the current fiscal as compared to the previous year,” he said.

The department has increased patrolling at the 21 octroi posts. An amount 10 times the value of the goods is recovered as fine from people who evade octroi. People who give a tip off about cases of octroi evasion to the department are paid an incentive at 10 per cent of the fine amount collected from the evaders. Another 10 per cent of the fine amount is distributed among the staff of the department who nab the evaders.

Munde said that the automobile sector has been badly hit by the economic slowdown. The octroi revenue of the PCMC is heavily dependent on the automobile companies in the industrial belt. Octroi collection from automobile companies has declined by Rs 29 crore in each of the past two months, he revealed.

Meanwhile, the octroi chief said he was not happy with the performance of the flying squad. “It is necessary to improve the efficiency of the flying squad of the octroi department. When I personally supervise action, the squad is able to catch goods worth Rs 1 to 1.5…More

TOI : PUNE: Following many complains of not receiving property tax bills for 2009-10, the PMC has appealed to citizens to approach the PMC immediately. “Those who have not received property tax bills due to incomplete address should contact and write letter mentioning their address to deputy commissioner/ tax department chief, PMC building, Shivajinagar – 411005,” stated deputy commissioner (tax), Vilas Kanade, in a press statement. Those who have paid property tax but still have received bills showing dues should also contact the same address, said Kanade.

The PMC has launched a drive to reach maximum property tax owners in the city and collect property tax.

The PMC has recently assessed 918 new properties whose annual rateable value (ARV) is Rs 1.99 crore. The general body of the PMC has kept a property tax target of Rs 511.11 crore for the financial year 2009-10. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: Voters of the Pimpri assembly constituency, whose names appear more than once in the voter list, will be served notices by the election office.

Ashok Munde, election officer of Pimpri assembly constituency and assistant commissioner of Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), said that such voters would be asked to choose only one place from where they can excercise their franchise.

Munde said that he will also raise the matter with the district collector and the state election commission. Earlier, a delegation of Shiv Sena activists met Munde and told him that about 10,000 names have appeared twice in the voter list of Pimpri constituency.

Bhagwan Walhekar, president of Pimpri-Chinchwad unit of Shiv Sena, corporators Seema Savale and Prakash Babar, Sarang Kamthekar, vice-president of state unit, Vidyarthi Sena and others were part of the delegation.

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TOI : PUNE: The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) will supply water to its residents only once a day from Friday. The civic body has already implemented a 20 per cent water cut in the civic limits from July 6 following scanty rainfall.

PCMC joint city engineer Pravin Tupe said that the water-level in the Pavana dam has dipped phenomenally and has not shown any increase in the past one month due to delayed rainfall. “As a result there is a need to use the available water judiciously so that it lasts for longer period or till the time there are heavy rains and the water level in the dam rises,” he said.

Tupe said that the PCMC has made changes in the water supply timings of various areas in the municipal limits for planned use of available water. Trials of these changes have been held and the residents will be supplied water only once a day.

The areas that will receive water in the morning are: Thergaon gaothan, Kalewadi, Vijaynagarm Thergaon, Ganeshnagar, Mangalnagar, surrounding areas of Wakad road, Shrinagar part 1, surrounding areas of Kunal Icon, Pimpale Nilakh, Wakadgaon, Kalakhadak, Pimprinagar, Pimpri Waghire, Pimpale Gurav gaothan, Anant Park, Kashidnagar, new DP road, Williamnagar, Omkar colony, Moraya colony, Shivduttnagar, Shivramnagar, Shrinagar, Vidyanagar and others. Sangvi gaothan, Dhorenagarm Pawarnagarm Mamtanagarm Priyadarshininagarm Saisneh park and others, Madhuban society, Anandnagar, Krishnanagar, New Sangvi, Pimaple Saudagar gaothan, Vishwashanti colony, Katenagar, Pavanangar, Pimpale Saudgara, Pimpale Gurav road.

The areas that will receive water supply in the evening: Thergaon- Laxminagar to Ashoka society areas, Kaspatevasti to Pakharevasti Wakad, Surroundings of Duttnagar to Vandev Anandnagar, Kawadenagar, Vinayaknagar, Gangurdenagar, Ramnagarm Netajinagar, Katepuramc howk to Krishna chowk, C.M.E. society, Samatanagar, Ganeshnagar.

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TOI : PUNE: The adrenaline rush is back with the sixth edition of the two-day Enduro3 Collegian Monsoon Night Adventure Race, which begins July 31.

Organised by the National Education Foundation (NEF), the two-day trekking race will have collegians participating from across the state. Students can participate in a team of three, with at least one female member.

The race will be flagged off from Katraj tunnel top on the night of July 31 and will conclude on the morning of August 1. Throughout the terrain from Katraj to Sinhagad, the teams will be tested for their strength, stamina, navigational skills, survival instinct and team spirit.

“This race is a sort of initiation into the main Enduro2 adventure race that NEF holds each year. The idea is to make them understand and learn team-building and coordination through difficult tasks,” says race director Prasad Purandare.

To be done entirely on foot, the trek will be coordinated and guided by marshals or volunteers who will keep a check on every move made by each team.

“We are expecting registration from at least 250 teams this year. For the last five years, we have had collegians participating from Mumbai, Nashik, Ahmednagar, Kolhapur and of course Pune,” adds Purandare.

Given the misty and cloudy weather conditions, typical of monsoon season, the participants will have to deal with bad light problem as well. “They will have to negotiate clouds, the muddy terrain and the chilly winds, together as a team,” says Purandare.

With prizes worth Rs 75,000 to be won, the winners of the race will be announced soon after the race concludes. Last date for registration is July 26.

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