Indian Express 23.11.2009

Delhi Underground

Due credit
The Public Private Partnership between Delhi government’s Health department and Fortis hospitals to roll out 150 ambulances in Delhi has hit a roadblock. The state government has already spent Rs 25 crore on procuring the ambulances and will be paying the private hospital Rs 1.3 crore monthly to run them. The deal hit a roadblock when the hospital, despite being handsomely compensated, wanted to brand the ambulances as theirs. Calling them ‘greedy’ a senior health official wondered why the government would purchase ambulances, pay someone to run it and not even get to claim the ambulances as theirs.

Mosquito menace
Mosquito menace was responsible for bringing to halt the boating facilities in an NDMC parks. A couple of years ago, the New Delhi Municipal Council started a boating facility at Sanjay Park. It spent over Rs one lakh to get two boats for the park’s pond. Two years ago, to stop mosquitoes from breeding in the water, the NDMC stopped boat rides and dried up the pond. Since then, the fear of dengue and malaria has been costing Delhiites some of their recreational activities.

Colour code
The NDMC has come up with a unique method to ensure that its executives work efficiently. Since the e-governance system of the civic body enables overall monitoring for the chairperson and all officers to monitor their own work status as well as the performance of their respective departments, the civic body has now put emoticons next to the names of each executive to describe his or her performance. So, while a red sleepy smiley next to one’s name means that the officer has not been performing, yellow describes average and a green smiley describes good work. The system automatically upgrades the status and the colour depending on the work done.

CM’s errands
With deadlines for the Commonwealth Games closing in and her hands full, it seems Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has begun sending her Cabinet ministers on errands related to her departments. While Urban Development Minister A K Walia, with officials from Delhi Jal Board, is all set to leave for London and Bangkok on November 25 to study the interceptor model for the Yamuna, Social Welfare Minister Mangat Ram Singhal is being packed off to Jhajjar to take stock of the power plant which is being set up to help Delhi through during the Games.

Too long a walk
The VIP lounge at the Delhi Medical Centre on any day looks deserted. While public and court staffers frequent the medical centre for check-ups, the lounge meant exclusively for High Court judges remains vacant. The reason, according to an employee, is most judges feel it appropriate to call the doctors to their chambers for consultation rather than walk the half a kilometre to the centre located at an adjacent wing of the court complex. The staffer said their most obliging patient among the judges is Chief Justice A P Shah, who comes to the centre for his routine check-ups.Mixed blessing
Pilots landing at Indira Gandhi International Airport’s runway 29-11 say that the mixed mode use of runways gives them nightmares as it is new and “one needs to use the brakes a lot”. Pilots say that the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) is overworked and the mixed mode use of runways is helpful only when air traffic is not heavy. The mixed mode use of runways, on the other hand, was started to cut down delays due to heavy traffic and distance of respective terminals from the runways.

MP desk
At the Gole Market post office, an official regularly refers to a register to check whether a particular MP has moved or is still located at the same address, and then writes it down on the envelopes and drops them in a tray. The post office instituted the MP desk specially to ensure mails and communication reach the Members of Parliament. Many senders would just write the name of the MP and New Delhi on envelopes and send it. So, the post officials decided to help direct these mails themselves and set aside a desk with an officer to mark the correct addresses and resend them. “We were concerned about important communication to the representatives of the people getting lost so we thought of having an MP desk,” an official said.

Exchanging posts, notes
It may be coincidental or deliberate that the swapping of the post of assistant commissioner of police (Special Cell) and assistant commissioner of police (Mehrauli) has been done between two cops who are of the same batch, believed to share good personal relations and stay in flats just opposite to each other. ACP, Special Cell, Sanjeev Yadav, was transferred to Mehrauli as ACP. Bhisham Singh who was ACP, Mehrauli, was sent to his place a few days back. It must be easy for both as they could give tips to each other on their new jobs.

Aam aadmi
The Deputy Commissioner of Gurgaon has written to the DCP (Headquarters) Gurgaon furnishing details of an unknown number from which he has been receiving threat calls on his mobile number. He has requested the police to tap all his calls from the particular number. The police, however, have not registered a case yet, leaving the DCP with an ‘aam aadmi’ feeling.