The Hindu  12.10.2010

Chitradurga CMC to clear encroachments

Staff Correspondent

Committee to decide on new names for roads

Chitradurga: Chitradurga City Municipal Council (CMC) president Sunita Mallikarjun has said the CMC would soon remove illegal encroachments from the footpaths of the city, as directed by the Government.

Chairing the council general body meeting here on Monday, Ms. Mallikarjun said the Government had directed all municipal councils of the State to take action against encroachments. She was replying to a member who said that vendors had taken over sections of the pavement in her ward, inconveniencing pedestrians.

“We are in a process of launching the drive against encroachments. Bring any such case to our notice,” Ms. Mallikarjun said.

Tribute

Earlier, the meeting started with the members observing silence to pay tribute to writer and musician Pandit Puttaraja Gavai, who died recently.

Funds

During the meeting, several members demanded that the president and Municipal Commissioner furnish details of funds released to the CMC under various heads.

Member Raghuram Reddy alleged discrimination in taking up development work in various wards. Some members got more funds for their ward development, he charged. While over Rs. 1 crore was released for the development of Sardar Basha's ward, others were given a mere Rs. 5 lakh, he added.

Replying to the charges, Mr. Basha said some projects, including the development of the vegetable market and setting up a new fish market in the ward, had been taken up by the district administration with the help of the CMC. Ms. Mallikarjun too clarified that the projects were taken up directly by the Government, with no special funds given to Mr. Basha's ward.

New names

On the proposal of allotting new names to prominent roads and junctions in all 35 wards of the city, the members unanimously said a committee should be formed to prepare the list of such areas. The new names should be given only with the consent of committee members and the local residents, the members said.

Ms. Mallikarjun agreed to constitute a committee.

Municipal Commissioner Vijay Kumar was present at the meeting. 

The Times of India      08.10.2010

A Clear Boundary Will Help Prevent Encroachment

 PUNE: After the severe flooding and loss of life which took place in parts of Pune on September 29 and October 4, various experts and party leaders in Pimpri and Chinchwad are calling for action. They have demanded that the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) clearly demarcate the 113 nullahs that lie within its municipal limits and remove encroachments from them.

Aside from the encroachments, the PCMC has itself built a vegetable market over a nullah in Akurdi and a toilet block on part of another nullah in Akurdi.

At other places, the width of the nullahs has been reduced and their flow diverted. For example, a nullah in Chinchwad near the Pune-Mumbai highway causes flooding in a slum located upstream. At another spot in Chinchwad, a housing complex has been built on a nullah and water is supposed to flow from a passage beneath the buildings.

Says Vikas Patil, president, environment conservation committee, "There is a need for the PCMC to demarcate the boundaries of the rivers and nullahs flowing through the municipal limits so that people know the boundaries and do not encroach on the nullahs. Farmers in Chikhli, Bhosari, Moshi, Talawade and other newly-merged villages have filled up the nullahs that flow through their land and have sold the plots. There is an urgent need to remove the encroachments on the nullahs in various parts of the municipal limits to avoid a flood-like situation as happened in Pune."

According to Subhash Dumbre, outgoing additional commissioner, the PCMC had conducted a survey of the nullahs within the municipal limits three years ago while submitting proposals for stormwater drains to the Union government under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme.

He defended the construction of the vegetable market saying, "If there is adequate space for rainwater to go through the nullah, then there is no problem in constructing a vegetable market on it."

Channelisation of the nullahs is designed keeping in view its water-carrying capacity for a period of 30 years, he said. "In the first phase of action, the PCMC will remove bottlenecks in critical areas on the nullahs which cause waterlogging in the surrounding areas," he said.

"I have written a letter to municipal commissioner Ashish Sharma, suggesting a survey of all the nullahs within municipal limits," said Rajendra Kate, Congress leader. "This will ensure that the nullahs are taken into account. When giving permission for new constructions, the building permission department should check whether nullahs flow on the particular plot and whether adequate measures are being taken to ensure the smooth flow of water."

Shiv Sena corporators have also urged the civic body to conduct a survey of the nullahs. Encroachments have come up on all the nullahs. Action should be taken against officials who have given permission for these constructions," said Sulabha Ubale, group leader of the Shiv Sena corporators.