The Indian Express            22.11.2013

MC passes resolution for shifting 13 villages

Amidst a ruckus at the meeting of the General House of the Municipal Corporation, and a division on political lines, a resolution giving consent to transfer of villages to the civic body was passed on Thursday. Even as the BJP-SAD councillors tore copies of the resolution that had been circulated and raised slogans, with the support of the Congress and nominated councillors, the resolution was accorded approval initiating the process of transfer.

The UT Administration had mooted the proposal for transfer of 13 villages managed by 12 panchayats to the Municipal Corporation. For this, the consent of the civic body was sought. A resolution was presented in the House on Thursday with 10 conditions that the administration should agree to before transfer of the villages. The resolution will be sent to the administration and the process of transferring the villages will start. No time frame has, however, been mentioned for the transfer.

Mayor Subhash Chawla said that there were 23,000 houses in the 13 villages constructed outside the lal dora where a population of 63,000 people was residing. "One of the conditions in the resolution is that the abadi deh be transferred to the MC and Periphery Control Act not be applied on existing construction. This would save the houses of the substantial population that resides outside the lal dora. Once all villages are under the MC, this will be possible," he said.

However, the condition in the villages is such that the construction outside the lal dora is much more than the construction inside. Even in villages that are under the purview of the MC, around 15,000 houses are estimated to be constructed outside. As per the Census report of 2011, only five villages are there that have a rural character. The remaining have been classified as Census towns.

The resolution witnessed opposition from the BJP-SAD, BSP and an Independent councillor as well as one nominated councillor.

BSP councillor Jannat Jahan said that in the villages already transferred to the MC, no development had taken place. These should be developed as model villages and only then should the other villages be transferred. The problem of lal dora had not been sorted out, she added.

SAD councillor Malkit Singh said the panchayats were important in villages as people could get their work done easily. In the villages that have been transferred to the Municipal Corporation, the residents have to face the hassle of getting building plans passed for which they make rounds of offices. He added that 350 to 400 building plans were pending with the MC due to the absence of a patwari.

The Congress councillors, while extending support to the resolution, stated that the funds that were being spent in the villages under the MC were much more than those under the panchayats. The councillors said that once the abadi deh was included in the MC, basic amenities could be provided.

5 transferred in 1995, 5 in 2006

IN 1995, five villages were transferred to the civic body. These were Manimajra, Burail, Badheri, Attawa and Buterla. Later, in 2006, five more villages — Hallomajra, Dadumajra, Maloya, Kajheri and Palsora — were included in the municipal limits.

The process for transfer of the last 13 villages has now been initiated. These are Kishangarh, Mauli Jagran, Daria, Raipur Kalan & Makhan Majra, Behlana, Raipur Khurd, Dhanas, Sarangpur, Khuda Alisher, Kaimbwala, Khuda Lahora and Khuda Jassu.

The Indian Express            22.11.2013

BMC ‘sitting’ on proposal for specialised systems to tackle fires in slum areas

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) continues to sit on a proposal to acquire specialised fire engines that can easily combat fires in slum networks.

In February, Municipal Commissioner Sitaram Kunte had directed the Mumbai Fire Brigade to consult experts and devise a 'Slum Fire Prevention and Fire Fighting System comprising community awareness and tailor-made machinery and methodologies for firefighting' in these areas.

The machinery he referred to calls for acquiring imported fire engines that are capable of manoeuvering the narrow slum lanes with hoses that use a stronger pressure for spraying a lesser amount of water. "While normal fire engines use 2,250 liters of water per minute with a pressure of seven kg for hosing down a blaze, the new engines spray 40 litres per minute with a force of 100 kg," a senior official of the fire department said.

Although the Mumbai Fire Brigade claims it had drafted a tender proposal for 16 of these fire engines, the file is stuck in bureaucracy. "We prepared the tender three-four months ago and submitted it to the competent authority. About four weeks ago, we even sent some clarifications for the tenders," the official said.

This is one example of the Fire Brigade's poor spending of the budget. In 2010-2011, the Fire Brigade was allotted Rs 83.11 crore for acquiring new equipment, of which 23.94 per cent was utilised. This decreased to about 10 per cent of the budget in 2011-2012 when Rs 68.30 crore was allocated. In 2012-2013, only 0.87 per cent of a budget of Rs 102 crore was utilised.

According to Additional Municipal Commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar, the delay is on account of unavailability of Euro IV vehicles, which are a must for tier-1 cities.

At the Ambedkar Nagar slum in Cuffe Parade, fire officials said the task of putting out the blaze was extremely difficult because of the poor accessibility for its trucks and fire engines through the narrow alleys. "Our hoses and pipes, after bringing the vehicles as close to the spot as possible, were at least half a km away from the fire. We could not fight the fire from the ground as the distance was reducing water pressure," said Deputy Chief Fire Officer P S Rahangdale.

Community awareness in slums regarding fire safety is still on the Fire Brigade's drawing board. "There is a lot of combustible material in slums. The materials used for constructing the kachcha houses are flammable. We are trying to see what feasible alternatives are there for slumdwellers and what training can be imparted to them," the official said.