News

TOI : PUNE: Members of social organisations, NGOs and mohalla committees have resolved to slug it out with the elected members, to have their say in the way PMC functions. Citizen activists and NGO members have started filling nomination forms to get appointed on the 14 divisional ward committees of the municipal corporation.

Five years back, in a bid to increase citizens’ participation in the functioning of the civic body, the state government had directed the corporation to appoint three members from local NGOs on each divisional ward committee. The PMC has 14 divisional ward committees and thus 42 posts are open for representatives from NGOs.

However, leaders of all political parties formed registered trusts, pratishthans and mandals and members recommended by these pratishthans get nominated on divisional ward offices under the guise of NGO representatives. The same was the case with the school board, the Pune Tree Authority and the erstwhile PMT committee.

This time around though, citizens have decided to fight it out and file nominations and campaign to ensure that the “real citizen activists” get on board.

President of Creative Foundation Sandeep Khardekar said that it is important to have citizens’ on ward committees so that they can monitor their wards’ functioning. “Having citizens on board will introduce a certain degree of transparency in the committee’s functioning. They can also work as watchdogs so that all decisions taken are in people’s interest,” Khardekar said.

Aneeta Gokhale Benninger, executive director of Centre for Development Studies and Activities (CDSA) pointed out that 74th constitutional amendment calls for citizens participation in governance and becoming a part of ward committees would ensure that.

“The provision for having citizen activists on the ward committees has been in place for quite some time, but was never implemented in the true sense because only political activists were recommended by parties. That is why, it is very important to screen…More

TOI : PUNE: Members of social organisations, NGOs and mohalla committees have resolved to slug it out with the elected members, to have their say in the way PMC functions. Citizen activists and NGO members have started filling nomination forms to get appointed on the 14 divisional ward committees of the municipal corporation.

Five years back, in a bid to increase citizens’ participation in the functioning of the civic body, the state government had directed the corporation to appoint three members from local NGOs on each divisional ward committee. The PMC has 14 divisional ward committees and thus 42 posts are open for representatives from NGOs.

However, leaders of all political parties formed registered trusts, pratishthans and mandals and members recommended by these pratishthans get nominated on divisional ward offices under the guise of NGO representatives. The same was the case with the school board, the Pune Tree Authority and the erstwhile PMT committee.

This time around though, citizens have decided to fight it out and file nominations and campaign to ensure that the “real citizen activists” get on board.

President of Creative Foundation Sandeep Khardekar said that it is important to have citizens’ on ward committees so that they can monitor their wards’ functioning. “Having citizens on board will introduce a certain degree of transparency in the committee’s functioning. They can also work as watchdogs so that all decisions taken are in people’s interest,” Khardekar said.

Aneeta Gokhale Benninger, executive director of Centre for Development Studies and Activities (CDSA) pointed out that 74th constitutional amendment calls for citizens participation in governance and becoming a part of ward committees would ensure that.

“The provision for having citizen activists on the ward committees has been in place for quite some time, but was never implemented in the true sense because only political activists were recommended by parties. That is why, it is very important to screen…More

TOI : PUNE: Members of social organisations, NGOs and mohalla committees have resolved to slug it out with the elected members, to have their say in the way PMC functions. Citizen activists and NGO members have started filling nomination forms to get appointed on the 14 divisional ward committees of the municipal corporation.

Five years back, in a bid to increase citizens’ participation in the functioning of the civic body, the state government had directed the corporation to appoint three members from local NGOs on each divisional ward committee. The PMC has 14 divisional ward committees and thus 42 posts are open for representatives from NGOs.

However, leaders of all political parties formed registered trusts, pratishthans and mandals and members recommended by these pratishthans get nominated on divisional ward offices under the guise of NGO representatives. The same was the case with the school board, the Pune Tree Authority and the erstwhile PMT committee.

This time around though, citizens have decided to fight it out and file nominations and campaign to ensure that the “real citizen activists” get on board.

President of Creative Foundation Sandeep Khardekar said that it is important to have citizens’ on ward committees so that they can monitor their wards’ functioning. “Having citizens on board will introduce a certain degree of transparency in the committee’s functioning. They can also work as watchdogs so that all decisions taken are in people’s interest,” Khardekar said.

Aneeta Gokhale Benninger, executive director of Centre for Development Studies and Activities (CDSA) pointed out that 74th constitutional amendment calls for citizens participation in governance and becoming a part of ward committees would ensure that.

“The provision for having citizen activists on the ward committees has been in place for quite some time, but was never implemented in the true sense because only political activists were recommended by parties. That is why, it is very important to screen…More

TOI : PUNE: Members of social organisations, NGOs and mohalla committees have resolved to slug it out with the elected members, to have their say in the way PMC functions. Citizen activists and NGO members have started filling nomination forms to get appointed on the 14 divisional ward committees of the municipal corporation.

Five years back, in a bid to increase citizens’ participation in the functioning of the civic body, the state government had directed the corporation to appoint three members from local NGOs on each divisional ward committee. The PMC has 14 divisional ward committees and thus 42 posts are open for representatives from NGOs.

However, leaders of all political parties formed registered trusts, pratishthans and mandals and members recommended by these pratishthans get nominated on divisional ward offices under the guise of NGO representatives. The same was the case with the school board, the Pune Tree Authority and the erstwhile PMT committee.

This time around though, citizens have decided to fight it out and file nominations and campaign to ensure that the “real citizen activists” get on board.

President of Creative Foundation Sandeep Khardekar said that it is important to have citizens’ on ward committees so that they can monitor their wards’ functioning. “Having citizens on board will introduce a certain degree of transparency in the committee’s functioning. They can also work as watchdogs so that all decisions taken are in people’s interest,” Khardekar said.

Aneeta Gokhale Benninger, executive director of Centre for Development Studies and Activities (CDSA) pointed out that 74th constitutional amendment calls for citizens participation in governance and becoming a part of ward committees would ensure that.

“The provision for having citizen activists on the ward committees has been in place for quite some time, but was never implemented in the true sense because only political activists were recommended by parties. That is why, it is very important to screen…More

TOI : PUNE: Members of social organisations, NGOs and mohalla committees have resolved to slug it out with the elected members, to have their say in the way PMC functions. Citizen activists and NGO members have started filling nomination forms to get appointed on the 14 divisional ward committees of the municipal corporation.

Five years back, in a bid to increase citizens’ participation in the functioning of the civic body, the state government had directed the corporation to appoint three members from local NGOs on each divisional ward committee. The PMC has 14 divisional ward committees and thus 42 posts are open for representatives from NGOs.

However, leaders of all political parties formed registered trusts, pratishthans and mandals and members recommended by these pratishthans get nominated on divisional ward offices under the guise of NGO representatives. The same was the case with the school board, the Pune Tree Authority and the erstwhile PMT committee.

This time around though, citizens have decided to fight it out and file nominations and campaign to ensure that the “real citizen activists” get on board.

President of Creative Foundation Sandeep Khardekar said that it is important to have citizens’ on ward committees so that they can monitor their wards’ functioning. “Having citizens on board will introduce a certain degree of transparency in the committee’s functioning. They can also work as watchdogs so that all decisions taken are in people’s interest,” Khardekar said.

Aneeta Gokhale Benninger, executive director of Centre for Development Studies and Activities (CDSA) pointed out that 74th constitutional amendment calls for citizens participation in governance and becoming a part of ward committees would ensure that.

“The provision for having citizen activists on the ward committees has been in place for quite some time, but was never implemented in the true sense because only political activists were recommended by parties. That is why, it is very important to screen…More

TOI : PUNE: The Shiv Sena delegation on Friday submitted a memorandum to municipal commissioner Mahesh Zagade to take action against the civic officers responsible for the filthy conditions at the Parvati water works.

The Sena delegation, under the leadership of MLA Arvind Sawant, Sena’s Pune district liaison chief, submitted the memorandum to municipal commissioner stating, “The surrounding of the Parvati water works is filthy. Drinking water supply to the city is provided from this water works and there is every chance of the water getting contaminated due to the filthy surrounding. There is no security at the water works.”

The Sena delegation included Sham Deshpande, deputy mayor Chandrakant Makote, Mahadev Babar and others. Talking to reporters Chandrakant Makote said the civic administration has neglected the Parvati water works.

“This negligence could cause major health problems. The civic administration should take corrective steps and take action against those responsible for the bad maintenance of t…More

TOI : PUNE: Ten persons, on their way from Chembur to Ahmednagar to attend their relative’s funeral, were killed on the spot on Saturday morning after the sports utility vehicle (SUV) in which they were travelling collided with a truck on the Pune-Ahmednagar highway at Karegaon near Shirur, around 50 km from Pune.

The mishap, which happened at around 4.15 am, threw the highway traffic out of gear for over two hours as the police had to call a crane to remove the mangled SUV which had got stuck beneath the truck.

The Shirur police have identified the deceased as Santosh Kisan Gavli (28), his wife Swati (25) and son Omkar (2) all from Thane; Babaji Gangadhar Todkar (32) and his wife Nilam (30) from Chembur in Mumbai; Babaji’s sister Phulabai Suresh Ghule (35), her daughter Rupali (10), Sushabai Pandhrinath Wable (38), Gangaram Shripat Lanke (50) all from Nighoj in Ahmednagar district and the driver Laxman Hari Kadam (42) of Vikhroli, Mumbai.

Speaking to TOI, inspector Madhav Shinde of the Shirur police station said the speeding SUV, which was heading towards Ahmednagar crossed the highway road divider and collided with a truck coming from the opposite direction.

“The impact of the accident was such that the SUV was completely crushed and all the passengers died on the spot,” Shinde said.

“The police sought help from locals and the Ranjangaon MIDC fire brigade to remove the bodies from the SUV. We managed to remove the bodies of the six persons who were seated in the SUV’s backseat,” Shinde said.

“We then called a crane to remove the SUV, which was stuck beneath the truck. It was only after the SUV was removed we could cut the tin sheets with gas cutters to remove the remaining four bodies. It took us four hours to remove these bodies,” Shinde said.

Shinde said the driver of the truck…More

TOI : PUNE: Dejected by prolonged illness, a 23-year-old youth committed suicide by hanging self with a scarf to a water pipe in Sassoon General hospital on late Wednesday night.

The Bund Garden police have identified the deceased as Kundal Ramesh Shinde (23), a resident of Dandekar bridge. The reason behind the suicide is not known.

Shinde was suffering from a stomach ailment and was admitted to the Sassoon on July 2. On late Wednesday night around 12.30 am, a hospital staff saw him hanging by a water pipe. “He was immediately shifted to the ward where he succumbed during treatment,” the police said. The Bund Garden police have regi…More

TOI : PUNE: The elusive rust-coloured giant squirrel (Ratufa indica elphinstoni) — the state animal of Maharashtra — is enjoying a steady increase in numbers in the forests of Bhimashankar.

According to latest figures, following an extensive census this year in June by the forest department (wildlife), 1,297 giant squirrels have made the Bhimashankar wildlife sanctuary their home. This is an increase from last year’s figure of 1,180.

“The animal is extremely shy and almost never comes down from the trees where it lives. This makes counting them almost impossible. We have to employ indirect methods of calculating its number as per the new and old nests these giant squirrels inhabit,” said D N Naik, assistant conservator of forest (Bhimashankar).
In order to make the census as precise as possible, the wildlife section has divided the sanctuary into sectors and sub-sectors with precise markings.

The giant squirrel is a territorial animal and before the monsoon sets in, it builds six to eight nests around the area it has marked. “We have arrived at the figure by counting the nests, both new and old, which are being used by the squirrels,” said Y L P Rao, conservator of forest (wildlife), Pune.

‘‘The giant squirrel is arboreal and so needs a thick canopy of trees to move around in and look for food. Any loss of a continuous canopy could result in restriction of its habitat and in-breeding,’’ said Anil Mahabal, senior scientist (F) from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Pune. The steady increase in the numbers of giant squirrel indicates that their habitation is not being disturbed by humans. Trees are not being cut in the Bhimashankar forest, he added.

The sanctuary, though, is not untouched by human intervention. The Shiva temple in its confines is one of the 12 jyotirlings and attracts a continuous stream of pilgrims and tourists.

The volume of visitors…More

TOI : PUNE: The elusive rust-coloured giant squirrel (Ratufa indica elphinstoni) — the state animal of Maharashtra — is enjoying a steady increase in numbers in the forests of Bhimashankar.

According to latest figures, following an extensive census this year in June by the forest department (wildlife), 1,297 giant squirrels have made the Bhimashankar wildlife sanctuary their home. This is an increase from last year’s figure of 1,180.

“The animal is extremely shy and almost never comes down from the trees where it lives. This makes counting them almost impossible. We have to employ indirect methods of calculating its number as per the new and old nests these giant squirrels inhabit,” said D N Naik, assistant conservator of forest (Bhimashankar).
In order to make the census as precise as possible, the wildlife section has divided the sanctuary into sectors and sub-sectors with precise markings.

The giant squirrel is a territorial animal and before the monsoon sets in, it builds six to eight nests around the area it has marked. “We have arrived at the figure by counting the nests, both new and old, which are being used by the squirrels,” said Y L P Rao, conservator of forest (wildlife), Pune.

‘‘The giant squirrel is arboreal and so needs a thick canopy of trees to move around in and look for food. Any loss of a continuous canopy could result in restriction of its habitat and in-breeding,’’ said Anil Mahabal, senior scientist (F) from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Pune. The steady increase in the numbers of giant squirrel indicates that their habitation is not being disturbed by humans. Trees are not being cut in the Bhimashankar forest, he added.

The sanctuary, though, is not untouched by human intervention. The Shiva temple in its confines is one of the 12 jyotirlings and attracts a continuous stream of pilgrims and tourists.

The volume of visitors…More