A High Court bench of Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice N M Jamdar had underlined “a serious lacuna in the decision-making process” and “lack of proper scientific study”. The Brihanmumbai
Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Commissioner Dilip Band presented draft proposal for a Rs 1073-crore budget to standing committee chairman Ajit Gavahane, laying emphasis on quality roads, 24-hour drinking water supply, completion of drainage works, health and education while there has been no increase in water or property tax. Last year's budget was at Rs 1002 crore. As much as Rs 437 crore has been reserved for roads and construction work, while installing water meters finds a provision of Rs 30 crore. "Nearly 60 per cent of the water meter installation work has been completed. By April end, the work would be completed. And after that citizens will get 24-hour water,' he said. Band said compared to the Pune Municipal Corporation that is giving 1,000 litres water for Rs 15, PCMC would be the same for Rs 2.50. "In one paisa, citizens will get 4 litres of water,' he said. "Also charges will be as per usage,' he said, adding that the closed pipeline work from Pavana dam has been taken up under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Making a provision of Rs 10 crore for works ahead of the Commonwealth Youth Games, Band said his administration has taken up beautification and advertisement work on war footing. Rs 10 crore has been provided for purchasing buses for PMPML and an additional Rs 12 crore for setting up bus stops and providing other amenities. "We are also looking at cogeneration of power. The corporation will enter into a tie up. It definitely is on top of our agenda, but nothing is decided as yet,' he said. Band said mechanised cleaning operation has begun at PCMC. "Road sweepers, compactors and new vehicles are being purchased. These will help in keeping the town clean at a faster rate.' The Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority has been urged to issue a tender for the 40-km tram and monorail project on PCMC's behalf. Regarding land acquisition, Band said, "What had not happened in last 25 years has taken place in two years. We have acquired 60 per cent of the land reserved for development.' He however said his administration will go slow on land acquisition to avoid any unrest in town. "For instance in Kalewadi, 300 houses will be displaced, if we acquire land for a playground,' he said.
After facing road blockade for 40 days, the Dow Chemical Research and Development (R&D) centre took the help of State Reserve Police (SRP) to ferry three trucks to the construction site at Shinde village in Chakan on Tuesday. The villagers of Shinde and Vasuli had dug up the road to protest the setting up of the R& D centre and were preventing vehicles from plying to the construction site. The trucks and a special SRP force van crossed the dug up road at around 4 pm, said Sunil Deukar, one of the villagers. "With only a few villagers at the entry point today, we were outnumbered. Besides with their use of the SRP force we could do little to stop them. But we will not allow the trucks to leave the village,' he said. The members of Lokshashan Andolan, B G Kolse Patil and Vilas Sonawane, who are backing the villagers, said this was the first time that the company had used police support. "Our agitation began with the support of villagers on January 17 and since then construction work has been stalled with no vehicle allowed to pass through the village,'' said Kolse Patil. A State-level committee was appointed to look into the Dow imbroglio under the chairmanship of the environment secretary S K Goel. It met for the second time on Monday and is expected to release its report soon. Meanwhile, agitators from Lokayat submitted a memorandum to the committee expressing their firm protest against the company. Dow Chemical officers were unavailable for comment when contacted.
For years, residents in Khadki have been facing severe shortage of water. And the situation shows no sign of improving. Civic activists say both the Pune Municipal Corporation and the Khadki Cantonment Board have been passing the buck while doing little to improve water scarcity situation. Compounding the citizens woes, the water being supplied to some inner areas of Khadki is allegedly contaminated. Yuvraj Jain, a resident of Juna bazaar, says people have been affected by jaundice due to contamination of water during the early showers last year. "We get water supply only for 15 minutes daily and then it stops. How are we supposed to store it for the entire day?' says Kulsumbi Maniyar, a resident of Khadki bazaar. The Ram mandir area, Mangalya Society, Gadi Adda, and Depotline are some of the areas affected by water shortage. Also, drinking water is getting mixed with drainage water. According to Santosh Gayakwad, junior engineer from Holkar Water Supply centre, Khadki, "Drinking water gets mixed with polluted water due to unauthorised pipelines drawn underground. This is done at night so that nobody notices it.' When contacted, a KCB official said water supply is not under the board's control. He however said water tankers are ensuring that residents get their daily quota. PMC deputy city engineer Anil Talathi declined to comment on the issue.
In a step that may result in far-reaching consequences, groups of doctors from around the world have voiced serious concern over prescription of drugs that are derived from animal extracts. In a conference held by Jain Doctors' Federation (JDF) last week, a large number of doctors vouched to minimize prescription of drugs that are derived from animal extracts, and instead use the best alternative allopathic medicine available. It was agreed upon by the doctors that there are a number of evidences where the human body suffers with side-effects like adverse allergic reactions as a result of popping those shiny, lubricated capsules or tonics, which do not serve any therapeutic purpose. Also, in extreme cases, they may lead to cancer. While some animal extracts are used to lubricate and colour capsules, the pancreatic juice from animals is used for smooth digestion in humans. "Animal extracts in medicines are known to have carcinogenic effect on the human body, not forgetting the cruelty done to the animals, especially when there is alternative medicine or ingredient available in allopathy,' said Dr Mangal Jain, associate professor of pharmacology in Grant Medical College, JJ hospital. A group of doctors is planning to approach the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to tighten its rules and regulations, especially disclosure of information in public interest. "FDA should make it compulsory for all drug manufacturers to mention "made from animal extracts' in the list of ingredients on the cover of the medicine and prohibit use of any jargons. For example, "carminic acid' which is nothing but extract from insects. Carminic acid does not give any indication of any animal extracts being used,' added Dr Jain. The doctors are also trying to place
By June this year, the bio-medical waste generated from municipal and private hospitals and medical institutions will be stored and disposed of at a common bio-medical waste treatment facility at Deonar dumping ground. The BMC will soon start developing the common disposal facility over 4,000 sq metre of land at Deonar. The work has been awarded to SMSL-Watergrace Products (joint-venture) on BOOT (build, own, operate and transfer) basis for 20 years. The development is significant as only last month, the Bombay High Court came down heavily on hospitals not complying with Bio-medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998, and had sent notices to erring hospitals, including the civic KEM and Bhagwati hospital and state-government's JJ hospital. The court had stated that such hospitals would be ordered to close down if they failed to comply with the rules within the stipulated time. The facility is being developed in consultation with the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) which had suggested that the BMC review the policy for bio-medical disposal by appointing a separate operator for collection, transportation and treatment system instead of separate agencies. In 2000, the civic body had entrusted E A Infrastructure Operations Pvt Ltd the treatment of bio-medical waste generated in the city for a period of 10 years. The treatment facility at Sewree started in 2002. However, a year later the incinerator started facing problems and had to be closed down due to technical problems. In the meantime, anatomical waste was treated at the incinerator plant at Taloja. The civic administration also decided to appoint divisionwise contractors to transport and treat the anatomical waste at Taloja, but MPCB suggested that there should not be separate agencies for collection/transportation and another for disposal. Accordingly, with the help of MPCB as 'project management consultancy' the BMC finalised an operator. An expert committee of officials from the government, academicians and representatives from hospitals associations helped in selecting--SMSL-Watergrace products (JV). The BMC will pay Rs 21.22 lakh to the MPCB as
Mumbaiites will finally be able to board their first Metro Rail train by July 2010, according to Mumbai Metro One Private Ltd (MMOPL) Director K P Maheshwari who made a presentation before Chief Secretary Johny Joseph last week. "In the presentation, Maheshwari said that by November-December 2009, the tests and trials of the trains will begin and in July 2010 Mumbaiites will see a Metro train running,' said a senior government official unwilling to be named. In an interview to Newsline last week, Maheshwari had said: "Mumbaiites will see a Metro train running in July 2010, we hope.' Some senior officials of the MMRDA, which is 26 per cent stake holder in MMOPL, are, however, not so sure. "I don't think it (Metro) will start by July 2010, but October 2010 cannot be ruled out,' an MMRDA official said. MMOPL is building the first corridor
The general body meeting of Pune Municipal Corporation witnessed a row over the effluents and sewage water being released into the Mutha-Mula Rivers on a large-scale. However, Municipal Commissioner Praveensinh Pardeshi admitted that at present the PMC only has half the number of sewage treatment plants (STP) needed for the city. Mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale even called for White Paper about the entire situation from the civic administration, to which the commissioner asked for a "minimum period' of one month. The debate started with the Shiv Sena leader Shyam Deshpande pointing out that the civic body is satisfied only with desilting the rivers and not actually keeping them clean in the real sense. "Desilting the rivers is fine, but what about the huge quantum of effluents being released into these rivers?' he asked. Corporator Anil Shirole said, "PMC received Rs 200 crore under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, some of which are being spent on the rivers. But what is the use of such huge funds, if unclean and sewage water is let out into the rivers.' Pardeshi said, "As against the need of the city, only half the number of STPs are functioning in the city. The total amount of sewage water generated in the city is 700 MLD, out of which only half is being treated and then released.' Corporator Vikas Mathkari asked the civic administration to carry out a probe into functioning of the agencies, who are given a contract of handling the STPs. Meanwhile, on Wednesday Shiv Sena corporator Sachin Bhagat had allegedly carried a pistol into the general body-meeting hall. NCP corporator Mohansingh Rajpal had raised questions about this during the same meeting. Thursday's meeting also witnessed some initial discussion on the same. While Congress corporator Aba Bagul objected to carrying weapons into the meeting hall, NCP corporator sought a metal detector at the entrance of the GB hall.
Most of the Mumbai youths do not find smoking
If you thought a large glass of milk a day is essential for good health and strong bones, you could be mistaken. In a 20-page report released Thursday, the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), stated that the unhygienic conditions of major dairies across India, may in fact make milk consumption hazardous to humans. The report
Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Thursday announced that work on two more corridors of the Metro rail will begin in four months and the government will explore sky rail and water transport options too to lighten the existing load on the local trains. He was speaking after inaugurating the first new generation rake of the Central Railway at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. The work on the first Metro rail corridor is going on. "The capacity of a 9-car rake is only 1,700 commuters, but during peak hours around 5000 people travel in such a rake. With the introduction of new rakes and the completion other works under the MUTP, things will improve. I hope that second phase of the MUTP will be approved soon,' he said. Talking about encroachments on railway land, Deshmukh said, "In line with the state government policy, the Railways should rehabilitate those who were staying on its land before 2000. Often, railway officials say that they cannot do so as their policy doesn't allow it. The Railways should change its policy according to the state's policy.' Deshmukh asked the Railways to construct tracks in remote areas so as to benefit the people. On Deshmukh's demand for rehabilitation of encroachers, Union Minister of State for Railways Narain J Rathwa, who was the chief guest, said: "We will have a meeting with Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and the state government officials, and will take a decision on the issue. Before that, no encroachments will be removed.' State Finance Minister Jayant Patil also attended the function. THE NEW RAKES HAVE FOR YOU * Colour and signage scheme designed by National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad * Air springs in secondary suspension for improved riding index. *n Recron thermal wadding coach insulation to reduce transfer of heat from atmosphere *n Fiberglass Reinforced Polymer (FRP) panelling for better 'aesthetics * Polyurethane cushion/poly carbonate seats in first/second class with stainless steel frame *n Stainless steel handholds & luggage racks * Bigger lift-up type windows with polycarbonate louvers * Stainless steel roof paneling, flooring and doorway partitioning * Powder coated aluminium doors with polycarbonate window DC-AC conversion According to the Railways, the DC traction system currently being used in the city's suburban train network, cannot keep pace with ever increasing number of commuters and the phenomenal expansion of the metropolis. Hence, the Railways has embarked on its ambitious DC-AC conversion plan. The conversion is possible only with the use of Electrical Multiple Unit (EMU) stock which can run both under DC and AC traction, the Railways said.
