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Bescom switches off power supply to Russell Market over unpaid bill

Wednesday, 17 April 2013 05:21 administrator
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The Hindu                   17.04.2013

Bescom switches off power supply to Russell Market over unpaid bill

Déjà-vu:The shopkeepers conducted their business in darkness for a few hours on Tuesday.— PHOTO: V. SREENIVASA MURTHY
Déjà-vu:The shopkeepers conducted their business in darkness for a few hours on Tuesday.— PHOTO: V. SREENIVASA MURTHY

More than 480 traders and vendors of Russell Market in the city, who had to make do without power supply for almost a year after the iconic market was ravaged by fire, suffered a scare on Tuesday when Bescom officials cut their electricity connection, plunging the market into darkness again.

Power supply to the entire market, which was disconnected in the morning, was restored by evening after the shopkeepers hurriedly cleared 10 months’ minimum charge they had agreed to pay.

Apparently, the Bescom restored power connection last month after receiving an undertaking from the shopkeepers that they would pay the arrears, which works out to Rs. 836 for each shop. Though a majority of the shopkeepers had paid up, a few hadn’t, said Mohammed Idrees Choudhury, general secretary, Russell Market Fruit Merchants’ Association. “We cleared the arrears today after power was disconnected. Electricity was restored in the evening,” he said.

The traders had a hard time after fire ripped through the 85-year-old market in February 2012, consuming 174 shops.

In the war of attrition that followed between the traders and the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike, which wanted to demolish the landmark structure, the traders conducted their business for almost a year with lamps and diesel generators, till the power supply was restored last month.

 

South Delhi Corporation to hold Mayoral polls today

Tuesday, 16 April 2013 06:28 administrator
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The Hindu                 16.04.2013

South Delhi Corporation to hold Mayoral polls today

Staff Reporter

Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Standing Committee members to be elected.

With the South Delhi Municipal Corporation due to elect its Mayor and Deputy Mayor on Tuesday, politicking for these posts reached a feverish pitch on Monday as the SDMC is the only corporation where a fractured verdict was delivered in the last civic body elections.

Three Standing Committee members will also be elected here at a meeting which will be held at the Dr. S.P. Mukherjee Civic Centre after the election of Mayor and Deputy Mayor.

In SDMC, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party are also fighting for the post of Chairman of the Central Zone of South Delhi Municipal Corporation. The incumbent and Congress candidate Virender Kasana and Nationalist Congress Party candidate Chandra Prakash are in the fray. There was hectic lobbying for the seats.

The other two Delhi Municipal Corporations have already elected their Mayor and Deputy Mayor. In North DMC, BJP councillor Azad Singh, who was the Deputy Mayor in the last corporation, was elected the Mayor while Poornima Vidyarthi became his deputy.

In East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), Ram Narayan Dubey of the BJP has been elected the new Mayor. He defeated Congress candidate Rajeev Kumar by a margin of 22 votes. Mahendra Ahuja was elected the Deputy Mayor. Sanjay Surjan and Sanjay Kaushik of the BJP and Varyam Kaur of the Congress were elected members of the Standing Committee.

In these corporations too, a lot of political activity was witnessed during the day. Here the elections for two wards are also scheduled due to the death of the incumbents. BJP candidate Asha Tayal on Monday filed the nomination paper for the Yamuna Vihar ward under the EDMC in the presence of Delhi BJP president Vijay Goel.

Two Congress candidates also filed their nomination papers on Monday. Sushila Agarwal and Ramesh Devi filed their nomination from Ward No. 256 at Yamuna Vihar in EDMC and Ward No. 43 at Nangloi East in North DMC respectively.

 

20 city slums unwilling to take part in BMC survey

Tuesday, 16 April 2013 00:00 administrator
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The New Indian express                16.04.2013

20 city slums unwilling to take part in BMC survey

Around 20 slums across the city are yet to provide the details for the socio-economic survey being carried out by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC)even though the deadline for the assessment is drawing closer. 

The BMC had commissioned the survey in the city under Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY). The survey has been completed in 267 out of total 300 slums in the city. The survey was started in February last year. At a review meeting held some time back, it was found that information from around 27 slums was not available.

According to the report submitted at the meeting by the NGO, which has been roped in by the BMC to conduct the survey, many slum dwellers refused to participate in the survey.

“Many slum dwellers have their own houses on the land provided to them in these slums. They are apprehensive that they may be vacated if they participate in the survey,” said BMC RAY officer Srimanta Mishra.

Out of 27 slums, the survey work on seven was started recently after the slum dwellers agreed to participate. But, the people of 20 slums are still unwilling to provide details.  Ranjan Jena, Corporator of Ward-9 where six slums are located, said problem was with the officials conducting the survey. “They have not carried out any awareness programme about the survey in the ward till date. Hence, the slum dwellers are apprehensive of the consequences of the survey,” said Jena.

The delay in completion of the survey is in turn delaying the completion of geographic information system (GIS) that the Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) Department is trying to implement in the city.

The socio-economic data will provide the residence details and the name of beneficiaries of the slum dwellers which is required for mapping them in the GIS.

BMC Mayor AN Jena said they are trying to devise ways to conduct the survey in the slums where it has not been done yet. The deadline for all the survey work and GIS mapping for the city ends this month.

 
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