Urban News

Incidentally, the department’s move to meet “urgent need in drought-affected Bundelkhand” will see units being shifted from districts, which too had been identified as drought-prone in the past.

The Rs 4506-crore Bundelkhand package from the Centre lays stress primarily on land and water conservation projects. The DLDWR, which has over 15 projects worth Rs 42 crore in the package, has given orders for the 17 units to be shifted from 12 districts in central, eastern and western UP. The units will be shifted to Bundelkhand by July this year and will start functioning with immediate effect.

These include 12 soil conservation and reclamation units under the Ramganga Command Pariyojna and five under the Sharda Sahayak Samadesh Pariyojna. Specialised units working under Centrally funded projects like the Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP) and the Integrated Wasteland Development Programme (IWDP) are also in the list of those being shifted.

Functioning under the Ramganga Command Pariyojna and the Sharda Sahayak Samadesh Pariyojna, these units work primarily for land conservation and soil reclamation in drought-prone areas or also those that have been declared as wasteland. Providing irrigation through different methods like drip irrigation and canal channel irrigation, these projects treat land to enhance agriculture prospects. Under both these projects, running since 1989, so far, over 13.44 lakh hectares of land has been treated. 

The units to be shifted include the soil conservation unit Phase 1 at Behraich, which will be shifted to Jhansi, the DPAP unit at Behraich and the Naini Unit in Allahabad district to be shifted to Chitrakoot, besides the units at Azamgarh, Sikandrabad (Bulandshahr), Khair (Aligarh) and Khurja (Aligarh) to be shifted to Mahoba. Tthe units at Dibai (Bulandshahr), Nazibabad (Bijnore) and Hapur will be shifted to Hamirpur, those at Karchana (Allahabad) and Sonebhadra will be shifted to Banda while the IWDP unit at Aurraiya, DPAP at Sidhauli (Sitapur) and unit at Mirzapur will be shifted to Jalaun. The IWDP unit at Jaunpur and single unit at Atrauli (Aligarh) will be shifted to Lalitpur.

Of these, the units at Azamgarh, Khair, Sonebhadra, Aurraiyya, Mirzapur and Jaunpur were set up five years ago after these districts had been listed as drought prone.

DLDWR director Heeralal Pasi said the units are being shifted because there is more demand for such units in Bundelkhand. “We do not want to waste any time in setting up new units as they require specialised staff and lots of investment. We already have over two dozen units functioning all over the state, of which we are shifting 17.”

Asked what will happen to projects already running in these units, Pasi added: “Our focus is on Bundelkhand as the Centre’s package is for this region only. We will see what can be done in other districts.”

Another official with the department added: “The Central government gives funds for soil and land conservation projects in drought-prone areas and also to reclaim soil in wasteland area. The units were set up in these districts because they had shown urgent need. While seven of these units were functional, the others were in poor state.” The old units are being shifted to Bundelkhand citing “immediate relief measure and urgent need” as the reason, said the official, adding the department does not have any plans to set up new units in the affected districts. “This means work comes to a standstill here since the entire staff will also be shifted to the new sites. No one knows what will be the fate of projects which are underway (in the 12 districts of UP),” added the official.

Chavan, during a visit to the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC), was talking particularly in reference to the Virar car shed to be commissioned by year-end.

He said the railways should avoid using drinking water to wash trains. Sources said Chavan also spoke to Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR) officials regarding drinking water being used for washing.

“Looking at the scarcity, the Chief Minister told us to look at alternatives. He suggested us to dig borewells, undertake rainwater harvesting and if possible set up a desalination plant,” said Pramod Chander Sehgal, managing director of MRVC. “We would take steps accordingly and dig borewells.”

The Virar shed is estimated to use 3.5 lakh litres of water per day. The nearby Vasai-Virar and Nalasopara areas have been facing water shortage and to solve the problem, the state government has plans to bring water to these areas from Surya dam.

The water provided by the state government and used by to wash rakes is mostly meant for drinking. “The state government had earlier hinted about it and we are acting accordingly. At Mumbai Central and Bandra, we are cleaning rakes with jet-pipes to conserve water. We also intend to dig borewells,” said WR chief spokesperson Shyam Sunder Gupta.

Reviewing Phase I and II of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP), Chavan stressed speeding up the fifth and sixth lines, between Thane and Diva and Kurla and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus respectively and also starting a line between Virar, Kalyan and Panvel for better connectivity of the eastern, western and the harbour line corridors as growth centres have been planned there. The state government is also keen on extending the harbour line from Goregaon to Borivali in Phase III of the MUTP.

“The state government has also promised to look into the Bandra land issue as the money would finally be used for MUTP projects,” added Sehgal. The land near Bandra railway station has been caught in an ownership row between the railways and the state government.

A stamp to celebrate
The state government and the railways have decided to commemorate the golden jubilee of the state formation and the arrival of 101 new rakes for the city under MUTP Phase I by coming up with a stamp and First Day Cover. The state government has assured the railways to take it up with the concerned minister.