Urban News

The Deccan Chronicle  01.12.2010

Nov. 30: There are different types of violations that chief ministers in the past decade have committed relating to government-acquired land, but perhaps the most serious violations are those of denotifying lands for which the BDA had already issued 16(2) notifications.

Deccan Chronicle is in possession of documents dated between 1999 and 2010 which highlight violations by successive chief ministers who have de-notified lands already in possession of BDA, despite the Authority rejecting the proposal of de-notification. In most cases, BDA had already acquired the lands, formed layouts and created residential sites. However, the chief ministers concerned chose to overlook the 16(2) rule and gazette notifications as they denotified sprees.

Mr S.M. Krishna — chief minister from Oct. 1999 to June 2004: Between March 5, 2000 and November 26, 2002, Mr. Krishna’s government de-notified 22.62 acres of lands where 16 (2) notifications had been issued. Lands were de-notified in Nagarbhavi, BTM 6th Stage, Laggere, RMV 2nd Stage, Banashankari 3rd Stage, Nandini Layout and HSR Layout. In one case, on Nov. 13, 2002, Mr Krishna de-notified 2.9 acres of land in Banashankari 3rd stage, Katriguppe, which had been acquired and notified by BDA way back in 1977!

The single largest piece of land that Mr Krishna denotified -- 6.61 acres in Nagarbhavi 1st stage – was land for which BDA had issued 16(2) notification in October 1987.

N. Dharam Singh (June 2004-Feb. 2006): Out of the total extent of 251.13 acres de-notified, he issued orders to de-notify 0.39 guntas of land in BTM Layout and Banashankari 6th stage, lands for which 16(2) had been issued in 1982 and 2003.

H.D. Kumaraswamy (Feb 2006-Oct 2007): Out of a total of 275.22 acres denotified by HDK during the JD(S)-BJP coalition government, 16(2) had been issued for some 27.06 acres. These lands were in JP Nagar 9th stage, HBR 2nd stage, Jnanabharathi among other areas.

B.S. Yeddyurappa (May 2008-date): Mr. Yeddyurappa has so far denotified 27.51 acres of land for which 16(2) had been issued.

This is apart from lands for which he recently ordered withdrawal of denotification after he, his sons and his cabinet colleagues came under scrutiny for alleged illegal land deals.

So far, Mr Yeddyurappa has withdrawn 7 cases of 16(2) notified lands that he had denotified.

Hindustan Times  30.11.2010

Soon, dedicated MCD team to check mosquito breeding

The civic agency has sought help of World Health Organisation, Indian Council for Medical Research, National Institute of Malaria Research and National Centre for Disease Control, along with Delhi government, to devise ways to solve the problem.

A surveillance team, which will have a representative from each of the organisations, will meet next week to start work on the project. The team will look at areas from where maximum cases of a disease are reported, and maximum mosquito breeding is found.

“We plan to have a couple of workshops to formulate guidelines after analysing the disease-pattern data. By December end, all stakeholders will be given area- and problem-wise responsibilities. We will further involve Delhi Jal Board, sanitation department, horticulture department and engineering staff, among others, at the ground level,” he added. He said accountability will be a major factor in dividing the work.

In case of laxity, “there could be harsher penalties”, said a senior MCD official, requesting anonymity, as he is not authorised to speak to the media.

“We are looking at uprooting the problem, which means we do not allow larvae to breed. And that is possible only if plan much in advance,” said the official. “Dengue outbreak in the entire Okhla area could have been prevented if we had prepared and worked better. We don’t want to leave anything to chance next time.”