Urban News

Indian Express 11.10.2009

GAIL JV: Vadodara civic body finalises steering committee

The Vadodara Municipal Corporation has finalised the three-member steering committee to work on the Joint Venture with Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL). Commissioner Manoj Kumar Das, In-charge Gas Project Shailesh Naik and Chief Accountant Ashok Tamboli are the VMC members on the committee.

Das told The Indian Express: “The names have been finalised and GAIL will be informed about it soon. We will have our first meeting soon. We are trying our best to fulfil our promise of providing piped natural gas (PNG) to the entire city.”

According to sources, CEO M Ravindran, GM (O&M) A K Saxena, and GAIL GM Sanjeev Dutta will also be part of the steering committee. Sources further said that there are chances that A K Saxena will chair the steering committee.

As per the MoU signed last month, a steering committee comprising six members from both sides will be set up to propose the suitable JV structure, draft the agreement and prepare budget for the project. The chairman of the steering committee will be nominated by GAIL and the committee will function till the JV is incorporated.

Till the incorporation of the JV, matters relating to the statutory approvals, constructions and commissioning and others related to the proposed project will be discussed and finalised by the steering committee. No decision will be deemed as final unless at least one representative of each party remains present in the meeting.

The Hindu 10.11.2009

‘Urban Police District’ for Tirupati on the anvil

Special Correspondent

TIRUPATI: There seems to be light at the end of the tunnel for the much-awaited ‘Tirupati Urban Police District’—a proposal which has been hanging fire, for at least the last five or six years.

Twin objective

In fact, the original proposal was to carve out an exclusive Police Commissionerate for Tirupati with the twin objective of meeting the increasing policing needs of the burgeoning city and its urban conglomerates and secondly to cope with the increasing pilgrim influx—50,000 on an average daily from places far and near. But, for some reason other the proposal for the Commissionerate was shelved and the move to upgrade Tirupati as an Urban Police District is vigorously being pushed by the police top brass.

Effective policing

According to top police sources, the DGP R.R. Girish Kumar is convening a meeting at Hyderabad on November 13 with the Superintendent of Police (SP) of not only Chittoor, but with his Guntur, E.Godavari (Rajahmundry) and Warangal counterparts as well since a similar Urban Police District is being contemplated in the these three cities also for their effective policing.

Another reason for the government to think in terms of an exclusive police urban district for Tirupati is to address the peculiar problem being faced by those posted as the SP, Chittoor. Though, Chittoor is the SP’s official district head quarters, most of the time he is either forced to stay in Tirupati or to shuttle between Tirupati and Chittoor to attend to the protocol and security needs of the VVIPs thronging the Tirupati-Tirumala almost through out the year.

This eventually leaves the Chittoor SP and for that matter the entire district police force to concentrate on their actual policing duties—tracking down criminals and ensuring an effective surveillance in the crime-prone district which shares a long border with Tamil Nadu and Karnataka besides the faction-ridden Anantapur and Kadapa districts.

As for the contours of the proposed Tirupati Urban Police District, sources indicated that besides Tirupati and Tirumala it would cover Chandragiri, Renigunta Yerpedu, Srikalahasti, Tottambedu, B.N. Kandriga and Ramachandrapuram towns dotting the eastern side of the tail-end Chittoor district. Apart from the SP, its hierarchy is also likely to include two Additional SPs, 6 DSPs, 20 CIs, 66 SIs, 87 ASIs, 242 HCs and 1,087 PCs.

Also, 600 Armed Reserve Force personnel also are likely to be brought under its ambit and deployed here.

Already 50 acres required for the new Police District to have its basic infrastructure has already been identified and as such only the final word is to be said by the DGP at the crucial meeting he has fixed for November 13 at his headquarters in Hyderabad.