Now, people can use Delhi Metro’s smart card to buy ticket in most DTC buses

Now, the commuters of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses can use their Metro cards to pay for bus tickets in more than 2,400 buses plying on the different routes across Delhi-NCR. The Delhi government had made this facility available in 250 of the DTC buses in January this year.

A senior official in DTC said, “The electronic ticketing machines (ETM) have been given in more than 2,400 buses. Now, they will accept the Metro cards for payments. By the end of June, the commuters will be able to buy tickets using Metro cards in all of the DTC buses.”

The transport department of the Delhi government is currently operating over 5,000 buses on city’s roads. Out of the 5,000 buses, 3,800 are DTC buses (Low floor buses) while rest are cluster buses (Yellow).

The bus commuters holding metro smart cards will have to give their smart card to the conductor after boarding the bus for buying tickets. The conductor will swipe it on ETM and a paper ticket printed with details of fare and destination will roll out.

Gurugram administration launches gender sensitisation classes for city's drivers

The Gurugram district administration has launched a gender sensitisation campaign ‘Safe Gaadi’ in collaboration with Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) and the Manas Foundation, a group of mental health professionals.

As per this campaign, it’s now compulsory for drivers of commercial vehicles (taxi, auto-rickshaw and bus drivers) to attend gender sensitisation classes, failing which they would not receive their vehicle fitness certificates.

The classes will address behavioural issues, instances of gender-based violence, laws related to women’s rights and drivers’ responsibility towards women’s safety, said Teena Yadav, senior trainer at the Manas Foundation.

The training will begin from June 1 and continue for five days. The training will be imparted to two batches of 50-60 commercial vehicle drivers, each, for two hours a day at the Department of Fisheries building in the Rajiv Gandhi Renewable Energy Park.

At the end of their training, drivers will be given a certificate and stickers for their vehicles with slogans such as “Along with my auto, I also drive a campaign to end violence against women”.

Women’s safety remains a major concern in Gurugram. In 2015, Haryana was ranked 4th by the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) for highest instances of gangrape in the country.

According to the NCRB data, 52 instances of rapes, nine gangrapes, 100 instances of molestation and 45 cases under the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act were registered in Gurugram in 2017.

“Women’s safety remains compromised in the national capital region (NCR). Our responsibility, as good citizens, is to ensure that women feel safe in public spaces. For that, our mentality needs to change,” deputy commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh, who was present at the launch of the campaign, said.

Allahabad High Court puts stay on construction in Noida's Express Zenith project

The Allahabad High Court put a stay on the construction work of Tower-A in Express Zenith on Wednesday in response to a petition filed by residents of the society.

Express Zenith is a residential project in Sector-77 of Noida. Residents of the society have claimed that illegal constructions have been undertaken under the project. The next hearing in this matter is scheduled to take place on July 10.

The residents allege that the developer was originally supposed to make six towers, namely A, B, C, D, E and F. They said that the Noida Authority had given him approval to build fourteen floors in A, B and C towers and nineteen floors in D, E and F towers.

Prashant Kanha, the advocate representing the residents, told City Spidey that the builder raised the height of towers B and C to nineteen floors and later on got the approval of their layout from Noida authority in November 2017.

He alleged that the authority didn’t adhere to the NOIDA building regulations, the UP apartment Act 2010 and the Real Estate Regulation and Development Act 2016, while approving the revised building plans in the aforementioned towers. He further alleged that the authority worked in connivance with the developer and issued him the completion certificate on December 2017.

Kanha said that the builder then told the residents that he had dropped plans of constructing the tower A and would instead develop a green area for residents in its place.

However, after building the B and C towers, the developer went back on his promise to develop the green area and started to construct the Tower A.

Kanha said that the residents were infuriated as a result and filed a petition in the court against the developer.

Further, Kanha added that the distance between all the towers is less than one meter which is completely against the fire safety norms. In case of any emergency, it would be tough for fire engines to move from one tower to another.

Kanha also said that the court has asked the Noida Authority to prepare a report about the project and give proper explanation as on what basis the approval and completion certificates were provided to the builder. This report will have to be submitted on July 10.

Parents to HC: Attach accounts of schools defying order to refund excess fees

As many as 457 private schools have defied a Delhi High Court order to refund excess fee collected from students with nine percent interest, claimed a PIL filed in the court on Wednesday.

The Delhi High Court had directed 575 private schools on May 16 to return excess fees collected from students and to comply with the recommendations of Justice Anil Dev Singh Committee within a week.

However, only 118 schools have complied with the court’s directive while the remaining 457 failed to honour the order.

The Public Interest Litigation (PIL), in this matter was filed by an NGO called Social Jurist, which has alleged that along with the schools, the Delhi government too was responsible for this failure.

The court has now issued notices to both the Delhi government and private schools to submit their reports regarding the matter within four weeks.

The petitioners (over 100 parents along with social jurist) have urged the court to direct the Delhi government to attach bank accounts of all private unaided schools that failed to refund the excess fee to parents.

Advocate Ashok Agarwal, who represented the petitioners in the court, spoke to City Spidey regarding the matter. He alleged that the Delhi government had done nothing so far to recover the excess fees charged by schools.

He claimed that the schools had asked the parents to pay excess fees from January 1, 2006 to 2009-10 on the pretext of implementing the 6th pay commission for their employees. He further added that more than 750 crore rupees needs to be refunded by the schools.

“The Delhi government is not taking the matter seriously. Whenever the court passes any directive, the government sends notices to the schools. However, the government needs to undertake concrete actions against these schools. That’s why we have urged the court to direct the government to attach the bank accounts of the schools who failed to comply with its directive,” Agrawal said.

In February 2009, the Delhi government had allowed private schools to increase their fees in order to pay teachers as per the sixth pay commission. The parents had then challenged the government‘s decision in the court.

However, the court had allowed the fee hike with the condition that schools would return the excess money taken from parents with an interest of 9 percent per annum.

Upon facing fresh objection from the parents, the Delhi High Court had formed a committee in August 2011 under the chairmanship of Justice Anil Dev Singh to verify whether or not the fee hike by the schools was required to pay the teachers and other school staff as per the sixth pay Commission.

The committee had then verified over 1100 private unaided schools in the city and told the court that 575 schools needed to refund the excess fees charged from parents.

SDMC set to develop CNG crematoriums in Dwarka and Subhash Nagar

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) signed two MOUs with Power Finance Corporation (PFC) on Wednesday regarding setting up of CNG crematoriums at Dwarka and Subhash Nagar.

The MOU was signed by the Commissioner of SDMC, Dr. Puneet Kumar Goel and CMD, Power Finance Corporation (PFC), Rajiv Sharma.

SDMC mayor Narender Chawla said that the CNG crematoriums will help in controlling pollution. He further added that more and more people have started using these types of crematoriums.

Commissioner of SDMC Dr Puneet said that four crematoriums would be commissioned within one year of signing of the MOU.  

The PFC under its banner of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) will provide a financial assistance of Rs. 455 lakh, to the SDMC.

The project of developing the crematoriums will be completed in two phases.  Under the first phase Rs. 335 lakh will be released for installation of two crematoriums at Dwarka Sector 24 and Subhash Nagar.

Two other crematoriums would be developed under the second phase at a cost of Rs. 120 lakh.

Moreover, another MOU was signed today between the SDMC Commissioner Dr. Goel and MD, Energy Efficiency Services Limited, (EEFL), Saurav Kumar for lighting, sanitation and development of hundred schools of SDMC.  

SDMC Mayor, Narendar Chawla, Chairperson Standing Committee, Shikha Rai, leader of the house Kamaljeet Sehrawat and other senior officers of SDMC were present on the occasion.

DDA set to nurture budding athletes, will boost sports infrastructure in city

An integrated sports promotion policy of Delhi Development Authority (DDA) was approved by Lt. Governor Anil Baijal on Wednesday.

Baijal chaired a meeting of DDA’s Sports Management Board (SMB) where it was decided that facilities will be developed for different kinds of sports such as football, cricket hockey, athletics, tennis, wrestling, boxing, weight lifting, shooting, athletics and archery among others.

Further, jogging tracks, gyms and space for yoga would also be developed for sportsmen of various age groups.

The authority decided in the meeting to develop sports infrastructure at several places like Dwarka’s (Sector-8, Sector-17, Sector-19, Phase- I and Sector-23, Phase- II), Sector-33 and Sector-34 of Rohini and Sector A-7 of Narela.

It was also decided that facilities at all DDA sports complexes during non-peak hours would be utilized for conducting school level competitions/tournaments throughout the year. 

DDA would also approach the Sports Authority of India (SAI) for utilisation of its sports infrastructure and for organising regional, national and international level tournaments/championships in Delhi. 

Major sports complexes of DDA would be developed as ‘Centers of Excellence’ and SAI would be consulted for providing coaches.

Sports promotion schemes

DDA presently runs various sports promotion schemes in athletics, football, gymnastics and archery and trainees are selected through open trials. These trainees are then provided coaching by experts as well as monthly stipend, travelling allowance, sports kit, incentives for performance, medical insurance cover, etc. DDA would consider similar schemes in other sports for which facilities have been created by the authority in collaboration with SAI.

Self Defence training for Girls and Women

Free coaching camps would be organised in order to provide self-defence training to girls and women in consultation with Delhi Police.

Free utilization of facilities for medal winners at national/ international level

Individuals who have secured first, second and third position (Gold, Silver & Bronze medal) in national and international events would be allowed to utilize DDA sports complexes free of cost.

Utilization of facilities by specially-abled people

It was also decided that all facilities of DDA sports complexes would be made "disabled-friendly. Further, DDA would not charge user fees for up to two attendants for each specially-abled person when such a person wants to utilise DDA’s facilities.

Covering of DDA’s swimming pools

All 17 DDA swimming pools have either been renovated or undergoing renovation.

Eminent coaches would train budding athletes

Proposals have been invited from eminent coaches/sports persons to train budding athletes at DDA’s sports complexes. Coaches would be selected after evaluation of technical and financial bids.

Apart from regular coaching, periodic coaching camps would also be conducted.

Presently, 10 percent coaching for EWS category is mandatory in coaching contracts. The policy was amended for coaches to train more trainees in this category and DDA would pay the coaches share of fees for additional trainees.  DDA would also provide kits for the EWS trainees.

RESIDENT SPEAK: Public toilets either ill-maintained or locked in Dwarka

The public toilets are very ill-maintained in Sector-7 of Dwarka. Also, there are many new public toilets which are kept locked leading to open-defecation in the area.

I took a round of the area and visited the public toilets personally to take stock of the situation. I also clicked photographs and had a conversation with people about the matter.

I came to know that the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) is responsible for the maintenance of these toilets. There was a clear apathy from their side to maintain these toilets.

I spotted a toilet which was constructed about one and a half years but it was yet not operational. It is situated in front of the Brahma Apartments and on the road towards Ramphal Chowk.

Local councillor had put up a display board in front of the toilet but it is also missing now. The residents in the area have no idea who is having the custody of the toilet’s keys.

The local councillor has been apprised about the problem several times but he failed to do anything in this regard. The issue was also brought to the fore by media but it also didn’t bear any fruit.

Is it not the complete wastage of taxpayers’ money? The government often claims that more than seven crore toilets have been built. But, this is the true state of the public toilets.

I also found three other toilets in a locked state in Sector-7. Another toilet in SDMC Park near Gokul Garden was found in very bad conditions with all kind foul smells coming from it.

Now, the main question is who is to be held responsible for this? Is the local councillor or SDMC or the state government or the central government or the PM who started “Swachh Bharat Mission”?

Will new U-turn for residents of Sector-15A in Noida turn into futile exercise?

The Noida Authority has almost completed the construction work of a U-turn right in front of upscale Sector-15A on Dadri main road in Noida. The logic behind this, as given by the officials of the Authority, is that it will ease traffic congestion in the vicinity and provide a smooth passage to residents of the Sector who travel by road towards Delhi.

According to an estimate given by the Authority, this work is going to cost Rs 35 lakh and is expected to be open for public use by June 2. But, this work has raised many eyebrows. Is this project being undertaken for the affluent and influential persons residing in the posh sector or to please a powerful politician from the ruling NDA in the centre?

A point which is worth a mention here is that the project was launched by none other than Union Minister for Culture, Dr Mahesh Sharma in presence of top officials of the Noida Authority.

Experts point out that existing traffic problem on this road for commuters coming from Greater Noida or DND flyaway, who head towards different sectors of Noida or towards Mayur Vihar and other areas of East Delhi, is not going to ease. Rather, the traffic problem will further aggravate.

When the U-turn will be made available to the public, the two traffic signals operating for residents of Sector-15 A, to turn right and enter their sector, will be closed. Peak traffic hours used to see big bottlenecks at these signals.

Now, residents of this posh sector would have to travel an extra mile to take a U-turn from the intersection between Sector- 15 A and Sector- 14A. This intersection will then witness bigger bottleneck in peak hours as the road has not been expanded.

Moreover, this is the place from where people take left turn for going towards other sectors of Noida and by moving straight, commuters move towards Mayur Vihar and other areas of Delhi. Now, this point will also be used by residents of Sector-15A for taking a U-turn to reach their sector.

But, residents of Sector-15A, for the time being, seem to be very happy with the new U-turn. Rajesh Khanna, RWA Secretary of Sector-15A told City Spidey that when this U-turn will be opened, the residents will be easily taking a U-turn and proceed towards Delhi.

“Once the U-turn will be operational, the two traffic signals for residents in front of the gates of Sector 15A will be closed. It would also help in bringing down the accident rate in the area and would save time as well,” Khanna said.

On the other hand, daily commuters are not in favour of this U-turn and said that this U-turn will create a bigger bottleneck for people travelling straight.

Dhiraj Kumar, a daily commuter, said “The U-turn is being constructed only for the convenience of powerful people of the Sector 15A. The Authority officials did not pay any heed to other people’s perspectives. I think there is no need to make this U-turn, the old U-turn was the best option for them and also for others commuters. The authority is wasting our money for the benefits of the powerful people,” Kumar said.

He also said that during peak hours, this will also create a bottleneck for the people travelling straight. Because the vehicles move at a fast pace on this stretch, the chances of an accident will also increase.

NGT puts stay on waste dumping at forest located in Noida Sector 54

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) issued an interim order on Tuesday directing the Noida authority to immediately stop dumping waste at a forest located in Sector 54, in response to a petition filed by RWAs of various sectors of the city.

K Arunachalam, an RWA member of Sector 22 said that the NGT also ordered the Noida Authority to remove the waste already dumped in the forest. He further added that the green body asked the authority to be ready to pay penalty if it dumped any further waste at the aforementioned site.

“The Noida Authority has been felling trees for preparing the dumpyard. However, now the NGT has asked the authority to submit a report within ten days regarding the number of trees and plants felled by them. Further, the green body has asked the authority to plant twice the number of trees felled by them,” Arunachalam said.

Arunachalam also alleged that the Noida Authority was dumping 500 to 600 tonnes of waste daily in Sector 54, in clear violation of the solid waste management rules 2016.

Resident welfare associations (RWAs) of Noida sectors 22, 23, 24, 53, 55 and 56 had filed a petition with the green body ten days ago, seeking directions to stop dumping of solid waste at the site in Sector 54. The next hearing in the matter will take place on July 9.

According to the solid waste management rules, 2016, a landfill site should be situated at a distance of 100 meters from a riverbed, and 200 meters from water bodies, highways, habitations, public parks and water supply wells. Further, landfills are not permitted near floodplains and should be located at least 20 kilometers away from airports.

As per residents living nearby the Sector 54 forest, it is located in the heart of the city.

After this order by NGT, the Noida Authority is left with no other place where they can dump the waste collected from residential and industrial areas. The landfill site earmarked in Astoli of Greater Noida, is not ready yet.

Earlier, residents of the aforementioned sectors and nearby villagers had conducted a vast number of protests against the authority’s plan to set up garbage dumps in the city.

Even Dr Mahesh Sharma, Gautam Budh Nagar MP and Union Minister of State had assured the residents that he would not show his face to them if garbage dump yards are set up in Noida. However, he didn't take any concrete steps to address the problem and the people had to approach the NGT in the end.

CBSE announces Class X results; gets list of students who received leaked papers

As the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced the Class X results on Tuesday, the Delhi Police handed the board a list comprising the names of students who had allegedly received the leaked Class 10 Mathematics and class 12 Economics question papers.

A senior police official said, “CBSE had requested us to provide details of students who had received the leaked question papers. We have provided them adequate information and the matter is still under investigation.”

As per reports, the crime branch of Delhi police has mentioned the names of nearly sixty students to the board, who were quizzed during the probe.

The police said that two modules were allegedly involved in leaking the CBSE question papers.

One of the modules was busted in Himachal Pradesh’s Una last month and six people, including a woman, were arrested regarding the matter.

The second module was cracked in Bawana in March and three people, including two teachers of a private school were arrested. The police have however said that the principal of the Bawana school was not co-operating with the investigation.

Police said that the teachers had taken photographs of the economics paper and sent it through WhatsApp to a private tutor named Tauqeer. Tauqeer, in turn, circulated the paper among his students about an hour before the examination started.

The Delhi police had then registered two separate cases in connection with the paper leaks.

The first case related to the leak of the economics paper was registered on March 27, while the other pertaining to the leak of the mathematics paper was registered on March 28.

CBSE had declared the Class 12 results on May 26 while the Class 10 results were announced on Teusday.

Two students commit suicide after securing low grades in CBSE Class X exams

Two students committed suicide in Dwarka on Tuesday after the announcement of the CBSE Class X results.

The police said that a boy named Rohit, resident of Sector 15B, Bharat Vihar committed suicide by hanging himself after securing low marks in his X board exams.

His family members claimed that he was highly tensed since receiving his result.

According to police, no suicide note was found on the spot. The body has been sent for post-mortem and investigation is ongoing in the case.

The police said that they had received information of the suicide at around 3.45 pm in the evening.

The boy’s father is an employee at the South Delhi Municipal Corporation. His family members informed the police that the boy received 59% percent marks which were far lesser than he had desired.

They claimed that soon after, he went to his room and locked it from inside. When he didn’t open the room, they broke the door and saw him hanging from the ceiling fan.

In another incident, a girl committed suicide in Dabri of Dwarka district after the results of CBSE Class X were announced. The police claimed that they had received information regarding the suicide at around 8.30 pm.

According to DCP of Dwarka, Shibesh Singh the girl appeared in the examination through correspondence and had secured low marks in Mathematics and Science. As per the police, she had cut her veins and then hanged herself.

The police didn’t recover any suicide note from the spot and is presently investigating the matter.

Gurgaon boy Prakhar Mittal becomes joint all-India topper in CBSE class X exams

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced the results of Class X exams on Tuesday. gurgaon news

Prakhar Mittal, a student of DPS Gurgaon, emerged as joint all –India topper along with three other students and secured 499 out of 500 marks in the exams.

Prakhar, a resident of Sector 55, said that he was shocked upon checking his marks and immediately informed his parents.

“I knew I had done good in the exams. However, it’s a dream come true to be an all-India topper. Even my parents did not ever think that I can secure the first rank”, said Prakhar.

Prakhar said he studied for at least four to five hours in a day and took timely breaks in between. He further added that once the breaks were over, he resumed studies for another three to four hours.

“I am feeling very excited after the results. I was honestly not expecting such great marks. I took coaching from FiitJee and aspire to be an engineer. I am interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics”, Prakhar said.

Prakhar claimed that his mother has played an important role in his success.

Prakhar’s mother Prachi Aggarwal said that her son is sincere and highly determined. He always knew what he wanted to do and used to consistently  revise whatever he studied in school. His mother further added that he also loves to play the piano.

CBSE class X exams: Ggn's Anushka Panda is pan India topper in disabled category

A genetic disorder couldn’t deter Gurgaon’s Anushka Panda from passing the Class 10 CBSE board exams with flying colours. It was a dream come true for the 14-year-old girl who defied spinal muscular atrophy and topped the exams in the specially-abled category on pan India level. 

Anushka, a student of Suncity School in sector 54, secured 97.8 percent marks in the exams. 

“We, at Suncity School, are very proud of Anushka. The focus that she possesses is rare to find in other children. She is determined and does not allow any obstacle to overpower her. She is an inspiration for all of us,” said Ms. Rupa Chakravarty, Principal, Suncity School.

A resident of Sector 67, Gurugram, Anushka loves playing chess and aspires to become a software engineer.

“I am thrilled that my hard work has paid off and it'ss a great moment for me. I was really nervous before the results,” an elated Anushka said.

“I was consistent in my preparations for the exams from the first day itself. I would like to thank my school which has always been extremely supportive to me. Since I am a special child, the school provided me special infrastructure to write my examination.”

Her parents are overjoyed on their daughter’s success.

“I am proud of my daughter. Her excellent performance in the board examination is a testimony to her determination and perseverance,” said her father, Anup Kumar Panda.

Anushka has been suffering from spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic disorder that diminishes her physical strength and affects the motor nerve cells in the spinal cord. The disorder also affects mobility. As a result, she is wheelchair-bound.

GMC mulls flush-free toilets equipped with Japanese technology in city

Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (GMC) will soon start constructing toilets equipped with foreign technologies in place of the old one. With the new technology, there will be lesser consumption of water and it will also be free of foul smells.

ghaziabad news

The sewer of the toilets equipped with new technology will not allow cockroaches and others insects to get inside the toilets.

To make the toilets flush-free, the GMC is mulling to adopt Japanese technology. Firstly, public toilets will be made using the Japanese technology. After its success, more such kind of toilets will be made in the city.

Last week, a Japanese company had given a presentation about flush-free special fibre seat toilets to the GMC. The P-tapes are named as S-tapes in the new toilets.

A special type of lid has been installed in the pot. This lid opens when water is being flushed. It closes automatically when the process of flushing gets complete. It has been designed in such a way that there is less water consumption.

The water that has been used when the toilet is used is enough to take the sewerage to the tanks. The seat has been inclined towards S-tape in such a manner that sewerage will seamlessly flow to the tanks.

It has been claimed that such kind of toilets will use 80 per cent less water as compared to other toilets. The company has also claimed that the seat is made from a special kind of plastic and it will easily last beyond 10 years. But, it should be saved from exposure to fire.

A special of type of chemical has also been used which will save the seat irrespective of continuous sewerage. These kinds of seats have also been used in Rajasthan because of less availability of water. It has been a big success in Rajasthan.

Municipal commissioner CP Singh said, “A single flushing takes 5 litres of water whereas the new seat will take only a litre during flushing. The wastage of water will be controlled significantly. We will be installing such kind of seats in public toilets on trial basis. If the trial is successful then these kinds of seats will also be installed further.”

Euphoric Gurgaon residents cheer Magenta line as travel time cuts significantly

The residents of Gurgaon were ecstatic on Wednesday after the opening of Delhi Metro’s Magenta line which has significantly reduced the travel time to Noida, west Delhi and south-east Delhi.

Now, the commuters can travel from Gurgaon to Noida in just 50 minutes.

The Gurgaon residents used to travel to Rajiv Chowk or Central Secretariat to change trains. Now, they only need to go to Hauz Khas Metro station in order to travel towards Noida, west Delhi and south-east Delhi.

gurgaon news

“I live in Palam and commute to Gurugram every day for work. Earlier, I used to change trains at Rajiv Chowk (for the Yellow line) to go to Huda City Centre Metro station. It used to take me more than two hours to reach my office,” Nikhil Srivastava, who works with a research firm in Sector-44, said.

“With the new Metro extension, my travel time has been cut by half. Today, I started my journey from the new Palam station and changed to the Yellow line at Hauz Khas. It took me about an hour. This new line comes as a great relief. My travel fare has also reduced,” added Srivastava.

“My relatives live in Gurugram and I visit them every other week. Until now, I took the Violet line and changed at the Central Secretariat station for the Yellow line. The new extension will make the commute to Gurugram easier,” Rahul Kumar, a 21-year-old resident of Greater Kailash, said.

“The new Metro line is a blessing for me. It has reduced my travelling time by at least 35-40 minutes. Earlier, I used to change the Metro two times — from Magenta line to Violet to Yellow. Apart from adding to the travel time, switching multiple times used to tire me. Now, I can simply change the Metro at Hauz Khas and reach Gurugram in 45-50 minutes,” Shweta Kishore, a 24-year-old employee of a firm near IFFCO Tower, said.

HC directs Huda to provide lands to oustees of NPR project in week’s time

The Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday issued directions to the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) to provide alternate lands to the oustees of the Northern Peripheral Road (NPR) project in a week’s time.

The alternate lands will be provided to the oustees who are having the general power of attorney (GPA/SPA).

The work on the proposed elevated road over the Dwarka Expressway was stuck because of resettlement of the GPA holders. Now, with the court’s order, the work may start soon.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was already due to lay the foundation stone for construction in April. As Huda was not able to transfer the land to National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the plans to lay foundation stone got delayed.

The NHAI has categorically said that they will not start construction works till the time dispute with landowners is settled.

A senior NHAI official said, “I have been informed of the court order. I believe this order will help clear the only remaining legal hurdle to the NPR project. The court has said that the GPA holders (facing displacement) have to be resettled to make the transfer possible at the earliest.”

The high court’s directive brought big relief to the 68 GPA holders who had to empty their lands.

“The court said that the Huda will have to give possession of alternative plots to the GPA holders within a week after which they will vacate their houses,” Ashish Chopra, a senior lawyer in Punjab and Haryana high court dealing with the matter, said.

Shailendra Jain, another senior lawyer who is familiar with the matter, said, “The court has fixed next Tuesday as the date by which the GPA holders have to be given possession of alternative plots. The order seems to have cleared the legal tangle holding up the project.”

“I am waiting for a copy of the court order. I have been informed of the verdict, but unless I examine the copy, I won’t be able to comment on the order. If the court has indeed asked us to give possession of alternative plots to GPA holders, we will have to follow it,” Chander Shekhar Khare, HUDA administrator, said,

Dwarka: Pathetic state of bus shelters leaves no room for proposed transit maps

The Delhi government’s transport department has announced recently that each bus shelter will have a complete map of the bus routes just like the Metro stations. A facility of Integrated Transit Map was also launched at a bus shelter in Delhi as a pilot project.

These maps will help the commuters to get visual cognitive details for all bus routes passing through the particular bus stop including Delhi Metro network and key landmarks on the map of Delhi.

But, after looking at the condition of bus shelters in Dwarka, it can be said that this kind of facilities will be tough to implement at ground level. dwarka news

The bus shelters across Dwarka are not properly managed. The new initiative can only be implemented properly when the existing infrastructure will be maintained perfectly.

Most of the bus shelters in the area are either damaged or missing. In various bus routes, the bus shelters have not been there since the inception of Dwarka. In the route from Uttam Nagar to Gurgaon through Sector-22/23, the bus stops are missing in the stretch in Sector-9 and in Sector-23.

Similarly, in the route of RL 75, the bus stops are missing in Sector-13/14. At many places, the bus stops have been marked with a small board hanging on poles at central verge on Master Plan Roads across Dwarka. Such boards are very difficult to spot and the bus drivers do not care to stop at these bus stops.

People said that Dwarka has been lacking in the infrastructure to avail the DTC bus services for a long time. Commuters find it difficult to stand at these places to take the bus. Most of the time, people are confused and found to be asking for the location of the bus stops.

Many times, on the requests and follow-ups of the social organisations and RWAs, the authorities took the subject into concern but did nothing in that direction.

Sita Raman Jha, a resident of Sector-3 said, “You can look at the bus shelters on the road number 201 in Sector-3 and Sector-13 side, they are in pathetic state. If they want to make the initiative successful they must make these bus shelters perfect first.”

On the subject of missing bus shelters, a joint survey of the authority and the resident bodies of Dwarka was also organised in 2013 but nothing happened after that. There were plans to construct new bus shelters in Dwarka but it did not get underway.

According to sources, about 1,200 new bus shelters were proposed to be constructed by the Delhi government in 2015-16. But, looking at the condition of the existing infrastructure, it can be said that nothing happened in that direction in Dwarka area.

Noida: Continuous dirty water supply exposes residents to health hazards

The residents of many sectors in Noida are exposed to health hazards as dirty water is being supplied in the last five days. However, the Noida authority’s water department has claimed that they have sorted out the issue and clean drinking water is being supplied.

The residents said, “The authority is supplying muddy water with lots of sediments and impurities. The water is also yellow in colour. Forget about drinking, the water is even not suitable for washing the clothes.”

noida news

Citing the possible health hazards, the residents appealed to Noida authority to address the issue at the earliest.

The RWA secretary of Sector-51, Sanjeev Kumar, told City Spidey, “The Noida authority has hiked the water charges in the city by up to 25 per cent and still they fail to provide us clean water for daily use. Every house has the RO system for drinking water as the residents have no choice.”

Sanjeev also said, “We made the complaint to chairman and chief executive officer Alok Tandon and also the officials of the water department. But, the officials come with new excuses every time.”

“The Noida authority claims that they supply the water for three hours each in morning and evening but the truth is that they supply the water for only one hour in both the time,” Kumar said.

Gulab Singh Bhati, a resident of Sector-20, said, “For the last three days, the residents are doing their all household work with bottled water.

“The water is so dirty that it resembles water from the gutter. It cannot be used for any purpose like washing, bathing etc. Repeated written and verbal complaints have been made to the concerned authorities during the past several days but nothing has been done,” Gulab added.

When City Spidey contacted SC Arora, a senior project engineer of Noida authority, he said, “The supply of water was disturbed due to the cleaning of water pipes in Pratap Vihar in Ghaziabad.

“When the cleaning work got completed, we faced some power issues which hindered the supply of water. But, the problem is resolved now and we are supplying good water,” said Arora.

Delhi Metro’s Magenta line formally opens; services to begin from tomorrow

The Magenta line section of Delhi Metro from Kalkaji Mandir to Janakpuri West was formally opened by the union minister of state (independent charge) for housing and urban affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri and the chief minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal on Monday.

DMRC’s managing director, Dr Mangu Singh and other senior officials were also present on the occasion.

The passenger services on this section will start from 6 am on Tuesday morning. The Metro services will be available to passengers from 6 am to 11 pm with a frequency of 5 to 6 minutes. On Sunday, the services will be available from 8 am.

The 24.82 kilometres long corridor is the longest stretch opened as part of Delhi Metro’s Phase 3. It has 16 stations and will provide Metro connectivity to the national capital’s arterial outer ring road. The corridor will also connect the airport’s domestic terminal with Metro services for the first time.

Speaking on the occasion, Puri said, “Delhi Metro now has a network of 277 kilometres. By December this year, it will reach the 380-kilometre mark. In phase 4, the Metro would connect the rural areas to urban areas.”

Kejriwal said, “I congratulate the Delhi Metro’s engineers and the people of Delhi on the opening of this line. This line will bring more comfort for the people and will improve the traffic situation in the city.”

Facts:

Total length of Janakpuri West-Botanical Garden corridor: 37.46 kilometres

Botanical Garden– Kalkaji Mandir: 12.64 km

Janakpuri West – Kalkaji Mandir: 24.82 km (Underground: 21.9 km, Elevated: 2.9 km)

Stations: 16 (14 underground, 2 elevated)

Names of stations: Janakpuri West, Dabri Mor, Dashrathpuri, Palam, Sadar Bazar Cantonment, Terminal 1–IGI Airport, Shankar Vihar, Vasant Vihar, Munirka, RK Puram, Hauz Khas, IIT, Panchsheel Park, Chirag Delhi, Greater Kailash, Nehru Enclave

Interchange Stations: Janakpuri West (With the Dwarka–Noida/Vaishali Blue Line) and Hauz Khas (With the Samaypur Badli–HUDA City Centre Yellow Line)

MG Road petrol pump relocation: HUDA files petition in High Court

The legal tussle to shift the MG Road petrol pump to sector 42 doesn’t seem to come to an end anytime soon. The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana high court challenging the Gurugram sessions court’s order (passed on March 4), which had put a stay on the construction of a petrol pump on the Sector 42 site.

The Huda will request the high court for an early hearing, as it needs to shift the fuel station from MG Road and hand over the plot to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for completion of an underpass project. gurgaon news

On March 4, the sessions court had set aside the order of a lower court allowing HUDA to allocate the site to the owner of the MG Road petrol pump for setting up a new fuel station there.

The NHAI had written to HUDA a year ago, seeking relocation of the petrol pump. The work on the underpass project had started nine months ago. The NHAI claimed that during this period, it has also raised the issue of relocation of the petrol pump with the Haryana government several times.

Chander Shekhar Khare, administrator, Huda, Gurugram, said, “We have filed an appeal (against the sessions court’s order) and the matter will be dealt at our headquarters now. We have sought an early hearing so that the issue surrounding the relocation of the petrol pump could be resolved at the earliest in the larger interests of the people.”

“The NHAI wanted to be a party to the case in the sessions court, but our plea was rejected. We want to take possession of the land soon as the construction of the underpass is still held up. We also have to pay a penalty to the contractor regarding the delay. We hope the high court will resolve the issue at the earliest,” a senior NHAI official said.

The issue surrounding the relocation of the petrol pump has been mired in litigations for three-and-a-half months, thus delaying the underpass project.

Ggn: Residents, NGO undertake initiative to give government school a makeover

The Islampur government primary school, located on Sohna Road, Gurgaon is set to undergo a transformation as a group of residents from nearby areas have joined hands to paint it's old, decrepit building. As per the residents, this will help in providing a lively ambience for children to study.

These people enter the school premises each weekend and paint the building for nearly six hours. The process has been continuing since the past one and a half months. 

Further, these residents have formed a group called ‘Paint the dreams’ which includes corporate professionals and their children. They have also asked other residents in their vicinity to donate spare or unused paintbrushes. gurgaon news

“We have been trying to inculcate empathy and creativity through art and we directly approach headmasters of various government schools and request them to allow us to conduct make-over of their schools during the weekend,” said Shikha Aggarwal, a resident of Malibu Town and founder of the non-governmental organisation, ‘Udaan ek meetha Sapna’ which is leading this initiative.

The ‘Paint the dreams’ group said that several schools which have little funds and don’t receive enough help from the government have asked them to paint their buildings.

Sameera Satija, a social activist, said that many government schools are not able to motivate their students to excel in studies. The buildings are in a bad state and the environment is pretty dull. Many schools have not even painted since the time their buildings were built.

The volunteers associated with the initiative added that they would like to encourage other privileged sections of the society to join hands regarding such initiatives.

Delhi: Hospitals can't force patients to buy medicines from in-house pharmacies

In a major clamp down on private hospitals and nursing homes operating in the national capital, the Delhi government ordered them not to force patients to purchase medicines from their in-house pharmacies.

Further, the state government announced a slew of measures on Monday, which will be implemented after a month, for capping the profits of private hospitals.

India’s drug pricing watchdog, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), had earlier found that the private hospitals make profits of up to 1700 % on drugs, diagnostics and consumables by forcing consumers to buy medicines from their in-house pharmacies.

The Delhi government said that it would be mandatory for the private hospitals to initially prescribe only those medicines which are registered under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) by the Central government.As per information provided by NPPA, as many as 376 medicines are registered under NLEM.

Saytender Jain, Delhi health minister said that the new rules, once implemented, will offer a huge relief to the city’s residents as far as medical expenses are concerned.

“Essential medicines registered under NLEM, will have to be sold at their MRP only.  As far as non-essential medicines are concerned, the cap would be at 50% above their MRP, Jain said.The Delhi government is also set to clamp down on ‘packaged surgeries’. Jain said that as per the new directive, patients will have to pay only half the price for the second surgery after taking a package. 

“If a patient buys a package of one lakh rupees regarding a surgery and is recommended for a second surgery by the hospital, the patient will have to pay only fifty percent of the amount for the second one,” he further added.

Jain said that ‘High risk packages’ being sold to the patients can be priced at a maximum of 20 percent higher than normal packages only. However, these packages would have to be explained in detail to the customers.

The government has also ordered that 50 percent of the fees should be returned to the patient’s family in case of death within 6 hours of hospitalization. Further, 20 percent of the bill would be waived off in case of death within 24 hours of hospitalisaion.

“No hospital can refuse to handover the dead body to the family members even if dues are not fully paid,” Jain said.

A nine-member committee had been constituted by the Delhi government in December 2017 to suggest the scope and process of capping prices. The committee constituted members from the Delhi Medical Council, Indian Medical Association and some top bureaucrats working with the health department.

The move to clamp down on private hospitals comes after recommendations were provided by the aforementioned committee.

MCG offers one-time interest waiver on property tax dues till May 31

After the directions issued by the Urban Local Bodies (ULB), the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has decided to provide major relief to taxpayers by giving one-time interest waiver to the people who have not cleared their property tax dues between 2010-2016. However, people can avail this offer until May 31. gurgaon news

“This a golden opportunity for citizens to clear their pending dues, without paying any interest on the lump sum and avail the one-time interest waiver. It has been introduced to encourage payment, and we expect a large number of residents to come forward and in return increase our collection in the process,” Yashpal Yadav, MCG Commissioner said.

However, there were some people who were miffed with the new initiative as they have been given very little time to clear the dues.

“The tax waiver is applicable for a mere three days and unnecessarily creates a hassle among taxpayers owing to short notice. Many residents may remain uninformed about the development and also inadvertently miss out on the offer,” Mayank Jaiman, a resident of sector 47 said.

Earlier on May 24, the MCG had decided to reopen the online payment of property tax. As well, they offered a 10 per cent rebate scheme on property tax which is due in the period of 2010-2016. The officials said that the 10 per cent rebate scheme is only available to the people who will clear their dues through cashless transactions.

The MCG officials further added that the taxpayers, who will fail to clear the dues by May 31, will be charged 1.5 per cent interest on their total dues every month.

Taxpayers can clear their dues by visiting the website www.mcg.gov.in or citizen facilitation centres at Sector-34 and Civil Lines office.

The MCG’s tax collection was at an all-time high at Rs 472.13 crore last year.

CBSE exams: After Noida girl in class 12, G’gaon boy tops pan India in class 10

After Meghna Srivastava of Noida becoming all-India topper in CBSE class 12 exams, another student from Delhi-NCR, Prakhar Mittal becomes all-India topper in CBSE class 10 exams on Tuesday.

Prakhar Mittal is from Delhi Public School (DPS), Gurgaon. He secured 499 marks out of 500 marks which are 99.8 per cent of the total marks.

Prakhar Mittal shared the top position with three other students from various parts of India.

Four students - Prakhar Mittal from DPS Gurgaon, Rimzhim Agarwal from R P Public School Bijnor, Nandini Garg from Scottish International School in Shamli and Sreelakshmi G from Bhavan's Vidyalaya Cochin - have secured 499/500.

Another student of DPS Sector-45 in Gurgaon, Writika Sarkar, secured 498 marks out of 500 marks. She is among the 2nd toppers in CBSE class 10 exams.

The overall pass percentage has gone down to 86.70 per cent as against 90.95 per cent of last year. Girls did better than boys with pass percentage of 88.67 as opposed to 85.32.

It is for the first time that CBSE has partnered with Google to host class 10 and 12 exam results on the search engine. The students can directly check their results on Google.

The CBSE class 10 result 2018 can also be received by sending an SMS to 7738299899 in the following format: cbse10. The date of birth format is ddmmyyyy.

Noida authority gives fully automatic composter machine to Sector-15A

In a breakthrough move for the betterment of the environment, the Noida authority on Monday gave fully automatic composter machine to Sector-15A. The machine was inaugurated by Dr Mahesh Sharma who is local MP and union minister of state for tourism and culture.

noida news

The director of horticulture from Noida authority, Omvir Singh, said that decision to give composter machine was taken in the board meeting which happened in June 2017.

It was decided in the meeting that the authority will sponsor 75 per cent cost of the composter machine and rest of the amount will be paid by the residents of the area.

If a composter machine, capable of disposing off 500 kg of green waste per day, costs Rs 6 lakh, then the residents will have to just pay Rs 1.5 lakh in order to get it installed in their area.

The cost of the composter machine, which has been installed, is Rs 23.65 lakh. The RWA of Sector-15A only paid 25 percent of the total amount which is Rs 5.91 lakhs. The remaining amount was paid by the Noida Authority.

In the first phase, the Noida Authority will give the composter machines to 25 residential sectors. After that, more machines will be provided to RWAs in others sectors as well.

According to Solid Waste Management Policy 2016, all residential sectors, gated housing societies, hotels and commercial institutions will have to make arrangements to segregate biodegradable waste and make compost of it within their own premises.

Singh said, “The RWAs will also be assigned with the responsibility of maintaining parks in the Sectors and they will be given a contract for the same. They would be asked to use the manure for nurturing plants and the grass present in those parks.”

"Many other areas of the city including Sector-19, 47, 35 and 82 have also demanded the composter machines. The gated societies like Prateek Wisteria in Sector-76, Homes 121 in Sector-121 and Eldeco Aamantran in Sector-119 have also demanded the same,” Singh said.

Rajesh Khanna, RWA general secretary of Sector-15A of Noida said, “Our sector generates 700-800 kg of waste every day. After the installation of the machine, we will generate manure from this waste and use it for nurturing plants and the grass present in the parks. If any resident needs the manure, we will also give them too.”

NDMC proposes race on World Bicycle Day; online registration to open soon

To celebrate World Bicycle Day with all grandeur, a large-scale cycle race will be organised by New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) in the national capital on June 3. Many eminent personalities including union ministers and sportspersons will be present on the occasion.

Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar will also grace the grand event in Delhi.

According to an NDMC official, the eight kilometres “cycle race with fun” will commence from Connaught Place and end at Teen Murti Road at 11 am.

O P Jaipuriya, an official with NDMC talking to City Spidey said, “It would be first its kind cycle race in Delhi where people from diverse fields will be present. We are preparing a complete blueprint for the event and would upload on NDMC’s website for the people in next one or two days.”

As per the officials, the idea is to motivate people towards fitness and use of cycle in their daily lives.

“People would be able to participate in the race. Those who are willing to participate in the race will have to apply by registering online on the NDMC’s official website. The registration will start in next two days,” officials said.

“Participants will have to pay a minimal charge for booking. The participants would be felicitated with a certificate from NDMC. We have also planned awards for winners but all these things are yet to be finalised.”

It has also been informed that NDMC has floated a tender in this regard to hire 2,000 bicycles.

Residents demand booster pumps, borewells as water crisis deepens in Dwarka

The water crisis has aggravated in Dwarka these days and various societies in sectors 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11 and 12 are affected by it. Reduced water supply from Delhi Jal Board (DJB), removal of booster pumps in many societies and sealing of bore-wells have enhanced the residents’ problems.

RWAs and managements of the societies claim that they have raised the issue on various forums but the authorities have turned a blind eye to their problems. dwarka news

President of Surichi Apartments, Sector 10, PK Rishi told City Spidey that they had written a letter to the Delhi Jal Board regarding the problems of reduced water supply. However, no concrete steps have been undertaken to resolve this issue.

“We are facing an acute water crisis these days and as a result are taking water from private tankers,” he said.

He further added that it was really strange that some societies were being provided water through DJB tankers whereas they are forced to buy the same from private tankers.

According to residents, the crisis has been there for almost two weeks and it is increasing along with passage of time.

Recently, Haryana had reduced the water supply to Dwarka by fifteen percent. As per sources, the situation hasn’t improved on that front also.

Residents have claimed that if the problem persists then DJB should undertake the responsibility to ensure smooth flow of water to the societies. If it’s unable to do that, then people must be allowed to use booster pumps and borewells.

President of Federation of RWAs of Sector 9 Advocate KS Bhati told City Spidey, “All the borewells have been sealed in our sector and even the water supply has been hit. Now, we are left with no other alternative to fulfil our needs rather than buying water from private tankers. The DJB and other concerned departments must allow booster pumps and borewells until there’s an improvement in the supply of water.”

Piles of garbage near DLF colony causes problems; officials promise help

People living in DLF colony are having tough time because of the piles of garbage scattered around the main gate. Agitated people have already complained many times to the municipal corporation but nothing has happened so far.

gurgaon news

However, officials are claiming to address the issue as soon as possible.

People are forced to bear the filth around the colony and it is making their lives very difficult. The RWA and residents are also annoyed with the apathy of the municipal corporation as it is not acting even after repeated complaints.

RWA president Manoj Gaur said, “Delhi’s Simapuri Border is only 60 meters away from the colony’s gate. A machine worth Rs 70 lakh capable of disposing waste has been installed there. But, still, people are not getting rid of the waste problem.”

The RWA has written a letter to municipal commissioner demanding a waste disposal house at dumping yard.

When the issue came in municipal commissioner CP Singh’s knowledge, he said that the municipal corporation will soon address the problem in DLF colony.

The zonal in-charge has been issued directions to carry out investigation in the matter and make arrangements for immediate pick up and disposal of the garbage.