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Pimpri Chinchwad civic body to finetune disaster readiness with tips from civil defence corps

Tuesday, 20 August 2013 10:34 administrator

The Times of India 20.08.2013

Pimpri Chinchwad civic body to finetune disaster readiness with tips from civil defence corps

PUNE: The Civil Defence Corps (CDC) conducted a mock drill at the headquarters of the PimpriChinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) on Saturday to test the civic administration's disaster preparedness plan.

"At least two 30-feet-long aluminium ladders must be installed on each floor of the main building so that people inside the building can be evacuated in case of disasters like fire. The civic body must also keep adequate number of ropes at the building which can be used for sending able-bodied people to safety," George Swamy, divisional warden of CDC, said.

Swamy said that PCMC employees will be trained to keep themselves safe, minimize injuries and take care of disabled in case of a disaster at the building.

Swamy said that he held discussions with municipal commissioner Shrikar Pardeshi after the mock drill about the safety measures needed at the main building.

Pardeshi said the mock drill was held at the main office building on the backdrop of the fire at the Mantralaya in Mumbai earlier this year. "Disaster management law, 2005, states that mock drills need to be undertaken to check if we are well-equipped to face any disasters. The required response time was three minutes but we were only able to evacuate the building in five minutes. There were about 650 people inside the building," he said.

"We need to make an effort to reduce the response time," he added. There are four staircases in the building but only two of them were used by the people to come out of the building. So there is a need for using the other two staircases too for quicker evacuation from the building", he said

The mock drill began was held on Saturday afternoon. As the mock drill began on Saturday afternoon,

On Saturday afternoon, ambulances and fire engines of the civic body reached the spot to begin mock rescue operations. Some civic officials were given the responsibility of floor marshals to supervise the evacuation from a specific floor of the building. The firemen demonstrated various rescue methods during disasters like jumping from the first floor onto the jumping sheet held by the other firemen on the ground and by coming down from the second floor with the help of rope.

Officials of CDC, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) battalion from Talegaon and police were observers during the mock drill.

World Bank to give India $100 mn loan for housing project

Friday, 16 August 2013 10:23 administrator

The Economic Times 16.08.2013

World Bank to give India $100 mn loan for housing project

The World Bank has signed an agreement with the Indian government to provide a $ 100 million loan to help low-income families secure housing loans.

NEW DELHI: The World Bank has signed an agreement with the Indian government to provide a $ 100 million loan to help low-income families secure housing loans.

"The Loan and Project Agreements for World Bank (IDA) assistance of $ 100 million for low-income housing finance project were signed between Government of India/National Housing Bank (NHB) and the World Bank here yesterday," the Finance Ministry said in a release today.

The agreement was signed by Department of Economic Affairs Joint Secretary Nilaya Mitash, NHB Chairman and Managing Director RV Verma and World Bank (India) Operations Advisor Michael Haney, it added.

The objective of the project is to provide access to sustainable housing finance for low-income households to purchase, build or upgrade their dwellings, it added.

Financing under the project aims to create incentives for lenders to focus on lower-income households through a net all-in reduction of the lenders' cost of funds of about 200-300 basis points, the release said.

"It is a financial intermediary loan for an implementation period of five years. NHB is the implementing agency," it added.

Get rid of waste, like they have

Friday, 16 August 2013 10:01 administrator

Hindustan Times 16.08.2013

Get rid of waste, like they have

The old bungalows and dilapidated buildings around Diamond Garden in Chembur are giving way to new constructions, but the two cement waste composting pits in a small lane have remained untouched, allowing local residents to maintain a zero-waste model, which they have for the past 15 years.

As one of the first advanced locality management (ALM) bodies in the city, the Diamond Garden Residents’ Forum began mulling segregation of waste in 1997. By 1998, around 130 families had supported its initiative to start converting waste into compost.

Looking for a space away from their homes, residents identified a spot occupied by overflowing garbage bins atop a choked gutter and approached the civic body, proposing that two compost pits be built on the gutter. These odour-free pits are placed subtly behind trees planted after they were installed.

Every day, 120 kg of wet waste from 130 families is put into the compost pits by privately appointed workers, who take away the dry waste to sell it.

“Initially people resisted the initiative, and this includes my family. Raising money to build the 5ft x 3ft pits was tough.

We had to spend Rs10,000. The idea was to keep the area clean and not depend on civic authorities,” said Rajkumar Sharma, chief co-ordinator, Diamond Garden Residents’ Forum and a supporter of decentralised waste management.

Soon after the pits were built, the overflowing bins were taken away, the gutters were cleaned and residents started seeing tangible results of the initiative.

The compost made was used to grow trees at the spot.

For 15 years now, locals have not been dependent on the BMC for waste collection and the initiative is going strong.

“Keeping people motivated is the biggest challenge. The women have a done a great job as they took the lead in waste segregation in their homes. We collect Rs40 per household [every month] to pay the workers and for minor repairs to the compost pits as they get vandalised,” Sharma said.

Two lanes away from Diamond Garden, residents of DK Sandhu Marg ALM followed suit.

In 2000, they installed four cement compost pits on the road and now compost waste of residents living on DK Sandhu Marg.

“People like walking around these roads because they are clean,” said Sharma.

Mosquitoes now have to ‘Take it Eazzy’

Monday, 05 August 2013 10:31 administrator

Deccan Chronicle 05.08.2013

Mosquitoes now have to ‘Take it Eazzy’

E. C. Thomas (Right) receives the award from Dr R. A. Mashelkar, former Director General of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), for the best science innovator at the National Innovation Contest in engineering conducted by Technopark. —DC

Thiruvananthapuram: E. C. Thomas, a former journalist and an associate director of Aravindan’s films who later turned into a science innovator, has won the National Innovation Contest in engineering conducted by Technopark for his device on mosquito eradication titled ‘Take it Eazzy’.

The product, based on basic science works on atmospheric pressure, gravity and buoyancy, has enabled 66-year- old Thomas to win Rs 50, 000, beating scores of applicants across the country.

Until last year, the National Innovation Contest was competed in by engineering college students, which has now been changed to an open category. Thomas, who is usually referred to by his family and friends as ‘E. C’, referring to his initials, did not have to think twice before naming his product, ‘Take it Eazzy’.

His perseverance has finally paid off as he has been relentlessly working on his dream science project for the last seven years. Though Thomas tried for a grant from Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment Development Council, his proposal was rejected.

“My device works on a tray of water with different chambers. It is a ‘fit and forget’ device and day-to-day care is not required. I have already got the patent for my product four years ago. Though five years back Godrej Company wanted to take care of the marketing side, I could not pursue it seriously due to my journalistic commitments with PTI TV. But now Godrej will take over the marketing very soon”, said Thomas, who was also the associate director of most of Aravindan’s films and the artist of Kavalam Narayana Panicker’s plays like Marattam.

Thomas doesn’t have any science or academic background. He opines that one mosquito coil is equivalent to passive smoking of 100 cigarettes a day. His ‘Take it Eazzy’ product is devoid of any chemicals.

The product is priced between Rs 5, 000 and Rs 75, 000 depending on the ingredients being used. The cash award and memento was handed over to Thomas by Dr. R. A. Mashelkar, former Director General of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on Saturday.

27 samples of shallow water fail purity test

Saturday, 03 August 2013 07:26 administrator

The Indian Express 03.08.2013

27 samples of shallow water fail purity test

The proposal of the Municipal Corporation to make use of shallow water for the purpose of drinking seems to be headed towards failure. Reason: As many as 27 samples of shallow water collected from different places for testing were found unfit for human consumption. A total of 38 samples were to be tested.

With 9 million gallons daily (MGD) of water that is at present being used by Chandigarh to be diverted to Panchkula and Chandimandir by next summer, the city is likely to face scarcity of water. Keeping this in view, it was proposed that water from the shallow aquifers be tested to see whether it could be used for drinking purpose. At present, the water from shallow tubewells is being used for irrigating gardens and greenbelts.

Samples that were collected from these tubewells in different sectors could not pass the test of purity. Bacterial matter was found in the samples. Superintending Engineer (Public Health) R C Diwan says, "The samples have failed the test. The water is not fit for human consumption. We plan to get these tested by another authority to get a second opinion."

Chandigarh has no source of generation of water and is largely dependent for water supply on the Kajauli Water Works. With Chandigarh's proposal for augmentation of water supply being in the lurch due to the refusal of the Punjab government to release water, alternative sources of water are being explored.

Chandigarh receives 87 mgd water. Of this, 67 is canal water and the remaining is from tubewells. The civic body has recently approved a proposal to install 45 tubewells in different sectors. Concern was raised over the depleting groundwater level in the deep aquifers. In contrast, the city has adequate reserves of water in the shallow aquifers.

The tubewells that were installed in southern sectors over a period of time have not been found to be very successful. These tubewells start emitting sand faster than those installed in northern sectors. That is another reason that it was decided to explore the quality of water from the tubewells that were already installed. The samples were tested in the laboratory of the Municipal Corporation.

Keeping in view the likely scarcity, emphasis is now being laid on preventing wastage of water. It is proposed that measures be taken to reduce the wastage from 22 per cent at present to around 5 per cent.

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