Rainwater harvesting in city a must: New Bill
Friday, 24 July 2009 09:13
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The New Indian Express 24.07.2009Rainwater harvesting in city a must: New Bill BANGALORE: The Assembly on Wednesday passed the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage (Amendment) Bill, 2009, which makes rainwater harvesting compulsory in the Bangalore city limits. Introducing the bill, Minister for Information, IT-BT and Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board Katta Subramanyam Naidu said that in view of the rising demand for water and depletion of the groundwater table, rainwater harvesting has become very important in the city. The owner or occupier has to provide for the rainwater harvesting structure within nine months from the date of passage of this bill. The bill made it compulsory for all buildings, including government and commercial buildings with an area of not less than 1200 square feet to have the harvesting structure, failing which the BWSSB will create the facility and recover the cost as arrears of land revenue. However, following demand from the Opposition, Naidu announced that rainwater harvesting would be made compulsory to all existing sites having a dimension of 60X40 ft and above. But in case of new sites, the rule would be applicable to all, including those with a dimension of 30X40 ft. Naidu said that a rain harvesting park would be set up at Jayanagar in six months to enlighten the public on the issue. Besides demanding that the scheme be extended all over the state, Appaji Nadagouda (Congress) urged the minister to pay greater attention to setting up community rainwater harvesting sites in Bangalore. Dinesh Gundurao (Congress) suggested the amendment be brought to the Karnataka Muncipality Act, extending the scheme to rest of the state.
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MCD to plant 10 lakh trees, shrubs
Friday, 24 July 2009 06:16
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Times of India 24.07.2009 MCD to plant 10 lakh trees, shrubsNEW DELHI: To ensure a `greener look' for the city during the Commonwealth Games 2010, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has been entrusted with the task of planting 10 lakh trees, shrubs etc on main roads, central verges, flyovers and roads leading to Games stadia and other venues. The total cost of carrying out this landscaping work will be Rs 7.42 crore.
However, leader of the House Subhash Arya has asked the Delhi government to release Rs 50 crore more for horticulture works.
Said an MCD official: "Parks have already been developed under flyovers at Moti Nagar, Janakpuri, Zakhira and work is on at Patel Nagar, Sewa Nagar, Defence Colony, Tilak Nagar, Ashok Vihar, Lothian Bridge, Calcutta Bridge and railway-underbridge at Patparganj, Badarpur etc.''
Meanwhile, traffic circles have also been developed at Pusa, Rani Jhansi Road, Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg, Tulsi Marg, Deshbandhu Gupta Road and Lodhi Road. Central verges where work will begin include the ones near Old Delhi Railway Station, Delhi Gate, GK-1, Lodhi Road, Bhishma Pitamaha Marg, East of Kailash, Pankha Road, Jail Road, Tamil Sangam Marg, Madhuban to Patparganj Dairy etc.
The civic agency claimed that it will lay special emphasis on development of historical and other important gardens such as Roshanara Bagh, Kudsia Bagh, Ajmal Khan Park, Shaheedi Park, Indraprastha Park and Rajiv Gandhi Smriti Van. Said Arya: "We will develop Welcome Lake near Shahdara before commencement of the Commonwealth Games. We will develop fruit and flower gardens in an area of 31 acres. It will be developed as picnic spot with provisions for boating, skating rings, jogging tracks etc.'' MCD is also trying to make sanitary landfill sites green. Plantation has been initiated at a number of SLF sites.
MCD has 14,636 parks spread over an area of 5,560 acres. Of these, 5,600 are ornamental parks, 8,733 ordinary parks, 4,70 children's parks and 26 women's parks. The civic agency is also trying to develop herbal parks now.
MCD desilting claims go down drain
Friday, 24 July 2009 06:11
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Times of India 24.07.2009MCD desilting claims go down drainSudden downpour on Thursday caused waterlogging in several parts of the city causing traffic jams and putting to test Municipal Corporation of Delhi's (MCD) claims of having completed desilting of all its 1,500 drains.
MCD's control rooms received seven complaints of waterlogging from various parts of the city. Waterlogging was reported from roads around ISBT, Jhandewalan, Pitampura, near Lado Sarai depot Munirka sub-way, Nangloi Najafgarh road, Vijay Vihar Phootkalan, Khera Kala. Among the worst affected were the areas where Metro and PWD construction activities have been undertaken. MCD has a budget of Rs 20 crore for desilting of drains.
Besides this, waterlogging was reported near K G Marg, Connaught Place, ITO, Tilak Marg, Moolchand, Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, Sarita Vihar, Okhla, Kalkaji, New Friends Colony, Ashram, Vikas Marg. In addition to this, seven complaints of trees being uprooted were received from Andrews Ganj Police Colony, IP Estate bus depot, Tibia College, Ajmal Khan Road, Ambedkar Stadium, near Delhi Gate, Edward Lane, Kingsway Camp, Trilokpuri old police station and Kalyanpuri Chand Cinema. The civic body also received a complaint of wall collapse in Trilokpuri.
The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) received eight complaints of trees getting uprooted at Kasturba Gandhi Marg, RP Lane, Tughlaq Road, Tolstoy Marg, Rajendra Road, Mother Teresa Road, Amrit Shergil Marg, India Gate.
Meanwhile, the sudden downpour also slowed down traffic in several areas, the worst hit being New Delhi roads. During the evening rush hour, the average speed of vehicles came down considerably in the heart of the city where waterlogging and several trees which fell on main roads caused traffic snarls.
A fire at Shastri Bhawan on Rafi Marg aggravated the congestion in the area. Said Shruti Mahajan, who works on Parliament Street: "It took me nearly half an hour just to get out of central Delhi and reach RML Hospital roundabout. Traffic was moving so slowly, despite the fact that it had stopped raining. It was just so frustrating.''
A procession organized at Bangla Sahib Gurudwara also led the traffic police to close several roads including Baba Kharak Singh Marg in the evening. This led to further chaos in the area.
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