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‘Illegal structures get NMC protection’

Anjaya Anparthi | tnn | Dec 16, 2018, 03:40 IST

Nagpur: The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) is neglecting its own norms to ‘protect’ unauthorized constructions of influential persons.

RTI activist TH Naidu has obtained documents related to two commercial buildings — one housing Gurudeo Motors’ two-wheeler showroom and other with Patanjali store situated on Inner Ring Road between Khamla Square and Pratap Nagar square.

Documents revealed that NMC’s Laxmi Nagar Zone issued notice dated March 17, 2017, to the building housing the showroom under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning (MRTP) Act. Similarly, notice was issued to the building housing Patanjali store on April 2, 2018.

As per notice, the owners/developers were supposed to demolish the unauthorized constructions within five weeks. If they failed, NMC was supposed to raze the structures after five weeks.

Instead of taking action, the zone office sent letters to the enforcement department on May 29 asking it to demolish the constructions. The enforcement department is sitting on the letters .

Naidu told TOI that even power and water connections of the buildings have not been snapped despite directions from fire and emergency services department.

“All are protecting unauthorized constructions. Even the notices were issued only after my complaints and continuous follow-ups. It is NMC’s job to unearth unauthorized constructions and take action,” he said.

The basement+ground+three floors building housing two-wheeler showroom is sanctioned for residential purpose. Still, the basement parking and first floor are being utilized for commercial purpose. Also, the building lacks fire compliance and occupancy certificates.

Similarly, the building housing Patanjali store too lacks fire compliance and occupancy certificates.

An NMC official from Laxmi Nagar Zone told TOI, “We have sent a letter to the enforcement department to take action action. The department is busy with action on illegal religious structures. Action is being taken accordingly,” the official said.

No action

It is NMC’s responsibility to unearth unauthorized constructions and take action

Activist TH Naidu pointed out unauthorized constructions and usage in two commercial buildings after obtaining documents under RTI Act

NMC issued notices for demolition under MRTP Act

It was supposed to demolish it after lapse of notice period of five weeks

NMC not taking any action and engaged in correspondences between departments despite passing of months








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Metro to build viaduct over Gowari flyover from today

Ashish Roy | TNN | Dec 17, 2018, 03:29 IST


Devendra Fadnavis CM Maharashtra and Union minister Nitin Gadkari flagged of the trail run of Maazee Metro Nag... Read More

Nagpur: MahaMetro will start building its viaduct over Gowari flyover at Rani Jhansi Square from Monday. The work of girder launching will be done. It is a part of Sitabuldi-Hingna Road stretch of Nagpur Metro.

The portion over the flyover will exist between pier (column) number 292 and 296. A 36m long span will be constructed using segments. This is the first time that MahaMetro will build its viaduct over an existing flyover.

The height of the flyover is 10.19m. The height of the viaduct over it will be 17.06m. Thus, the distance between the two structures will be 7.41m. The piers on both sides of the flyover have been built up to a height of about 17m.

A Metro official said that right now there were two level of traffic on Rani Jhansi Square. “After completion of the viaduct, it will become three level,” he added.

The work of constructing the span over the flyover will be done using hybrid erection scheme, ground support system and overhead girder launching. The segments will be launched one by one high capacity tyre mount hydraulic crane.

The work will be mainly done at night to avoid inconvenience to citizens. Permission from traffic police has been taken for this work.








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NMC’s waste segregation drive fails to take off on Day 1

Proshun Chakraborty | tnn | Dec 18, 2018, 05:38 IST



Nagpur: The ambitious waste segregation at source programme of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation in Nagpur failed to take off on Day 1 of its re-launch. NMC’s sanitation officer Dr Sunil Kamble had recently announced the civic body would not lift garbage if it is not segregated at source from December 17.

TOI on Monday visited many localities in the city and found the re-launched initiative evoked poor response as most residents continued to throw mixed garbage. Many sanitary workers witnessed protest from residents when they refused to accept unsegregated garbage.

At many places even workers from Kanak Resources Management Ltd, the firm entrusted with door-to-door garbage collection, could be seen dumping all garbage into same container. Prabha Tidke, a resident of Ganpati Nagar in Mangalwari zone, blamed this on half-hearted approach of NMC. She complained the campaign had run out of steam in the absence required monitoring and follow up by officials.

NMC had launched the waste segregation at source project in all 10 zones on the occasion of World Environment Day (June 5) in 2017. The objective was to encourage people to sort garbage before giving to civic workers. Nineteen months later, residents in the areas selected for the pilot project in Laxmi Nagar and Dharampeth zones continue to dump unsegregated waste.

The civic body has also not been able to procure enough vehicles or finalize plans for disposing of segregated waste. Experts blamed this on lack of clarity, arrangements, and clear policy. Civic activist and director of Centre for Sustainable Development Leena Buddhe, who works for creating awareness about segregation of waste, also blamed the NMC. She pointed out that initially NMC had assured to provide twin bins, but later went back on assurance.

NMC had separated bins in vehicles for collecting wet and dry waste. According to Buddhe, unless NMC starts imposing fine, it won’t get citizens’ support. Sanitary workers leader Siddarth Prabhune stated NMC can’t force workers to enforce the rule. “It is the responsibility of those generating garbage to segregate at source,” he said.

NMC’s health officer (sanitation) Dr Sunil Kamble admitted to lukewarm response but claimed the overall response across the city was satisfactory. According to him, of the total 1284 tonnes garbage generated daily in the city, NMC was collecting around 616.66 tonnes wet and 296.01 tonnes dry waste. He said mixed garbage was only 240.6 tonnes.






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‘Use of water will determine country’s growth’

TNN | Dec 19, 2018, 10:46 IST


Dignitaries at the programme.

NAGPUR: How a country uses its water can help determine its economic growth, said Madhavrao Chitale, former secretary general of International Commission of Irrigation and Drainage, during the daylong National Aqua Conference 2018 on ‘Water Conservation: Role of Educators’, organized by LAD and RP College at a hotel in Ramdaspeth on Tuesday.

“Despite lacking in the resources, our state is agog with sugar cane crops which are water guzzlers. We need to change our thinking and shift to sustainable planning,” said Chitale.

Delivering the presidential address, Chitale said that places like Nasik, Shiroor and Lankani, by creating water consciousness in people, have managed to lessen their problems to a great extent. He also spoke about how despite receiving regular rainfall, Nagpur is unable to retain it due to the high evaporation rate.

In the olden days to store water people used kalash which had a wide base. The advantage of kalash was that due to its narrow opening the rate of evaporation was fairly low.

Delivering the keynote address, Satyajit Bhatkal, CEO of Paani Foundation, said, “Dams have cost the country an exorbitant amount, displaced millions of people as well as reduced rivers to barely flowing water bodies. In fact, even after housing 40% of the country’s dams, only 25% cultivable land in Maharashtra get regular supply of water.”

He brought to the forefront the fact how Earth, also known as the ‘Blue Planet’, is the only life source in the wide galaxy due to two major factors — its atmosphere and flowing water. He also pointed out how dams, states, districts are also fighting each other for the same water, and many of them have even taken matters to the Supreme Court for the same.

Bhatkal called social fracture as well as climate change as the two reasons why there are so many water problems and why the solutions do not spread faster.

The chief guest of the programme was Pramod Yeole, pro-VC of Nagpur University. The programme aims to educate people about wide topics like the actions of Supreme Court on water pollution in India, water issues from a socio-economic aspect along with subjects closer to home like a comparative study on Ambazari Lake and Futala Lake.






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‘It’s our duty to protect planet, environment’

TNN | Dec 19, 2018, 10:48 IST


Dignitaries at the at ‘Urjavaran 2018-19’ held on Tuesday.

NAGPUR: A recent study found that 17,000 people in Asian countries die every year due to air pollution, in which three cities are Indian. This gives us an overview of the worsening air quality in our environment, said the adviser of Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating, Air-conditioning Engineers (ISHRAE) Shankar Sapaliga.

“We always blame the government for not making proper policies, not implementing law, but fail to acknowledge our lack of support to the policies already implemented. Without public support, policies cannot do anything,” he said. Sapaliga also emphasized on public responsibility of fire safety in residential, commercial and public buildings.

He, along with architect and member Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) Ashok Mokha, was talking at an event ‘Urjavaran 2018-19’ about ‘Climate Change: Emerging Solutions’ at a city hotel on Tuesday. The daylong conference discussed various solutions to curb rapid changes in the environment.

Talking about humane responsibility to curb pollution, Mokha said, “We have forgotten our living cycle and are marching towards an unforeseeable future. It is our duty to protect the planet and its environment since we are here because of Earth and not the other way round.”

“Humans have been successful in replenishing nutritional quality of top soil, we are building structures to suit our aesthetics and stuffing it with air conditions. We must take these repercussions in mind and build a more sustainable infrastructure,” he added.

Giving examples of young genius minds who are pioneers in developing technology that can save Earth, he said, “A 16-year-old boy from Bangalore is developing techniques to clean lakes, another 12-year-old boy has invented simple machine to clean oceans. The future lies with young minds like these and they are the only hope, since our world leaders don’t seem to take issue of climate change very seriously.”







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Sadar, Imamwada residents complain of sewage in drinking water

Proshun Chakraborty | TNN | Dec 20, 2018, 03:18 IST



Nagpur: Residents of Sadar in West Nagpur and Ramgbagh Imamwada in Central Nagpur are living under fear of falling prey to waterborne diseases as both the localities have been getting contaminated water since months.

Despite repeated complaints to the NMC and OCW, there has not been much improvement in the last several months, said residents.

TOI visited both the localities — Golcha Marg in Sadar area and Rambagh Imamwada — on Wednesday and found that residents are getting contaminated water in their taps.

At least 10 families along Golcha Marg in Sadar area have been getting contaminated water since last eight months. Dhiraj Golcha, one of the residents, said his complaints have fallen on deaf ears and over 20 families are still receiving contaminated water.

“Officials from NMC’s water works department and OCW have carried out inspections and said we have been getting contaminated water due to damaged pipeline. But there is lack of funds and hence the work is getting delayed, NMC officials told me,” he added.

Residents said that the sewage line too had been damaged and added that as a result the locality started receiving water which contained mud and other impurities. “The water is also stinking and many residents have also complained about rise in waterborne diseases in the locality,” he said.

With no solutions in sight, residents have started purchasing water cans.

Similar is the problem for residents of Rambagh Imamwada. “Since last one month the inhabitants from this slum area have been facing the problem of contaminated water. The colour of drinking water supplied to houses in this area is usually is muddy or black in colour for first half an hour of supply,” said corporator Harshala Sable.

The residents complain that although they brought it to the notice of the NMC’s water works department, no measures have been taken to solve the problem.

Sable alleged that due to some crack in the pipeline to their area, water is seeping into the pipes when water is not supplied through them. When drinking water is supplied during the first phase, people are getting drain water.

According to Sable, the NMC should replace the corroded drinking water pipelines through which drain water is alleged to be seeping in to mix with drinking water.

Recent outbreak of waterborne cases at many localities in this part of the city is being attributed to consumption of drinking water supplied through the pipelines that had got contaminated.

When contacted, spokesperson from Orange City Water, Sadar, admitted that there are complaints about polluted water. “The entire pipeline in Gawalipura, Sadar needs to be changed as it has become rusted and encroached. Plan to change the pipeline is ready and soon it will be rectified,” he said. However changing entire pipeline is permanent solution to this issue for which OCW is working on, he added.

About Rambagh, the spokesperson admitted of receiving complaints by Gandhibagh zone team on Tuesday. “Immediately a team has been deployed to solve the problem. We are detecting the exact cause of polluted water. Flushing process of pipelines is also underway. It will be rectified soon,” he said.










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Broad gauge Metro to 4 nearby towns to cost Rs330 crore

Ashish Roy | TNN | Dec 20, 2018, 03:24 IST



Nagpur: The broad gauge Metro linking Nagpur with Wardha, Bhandara, Ramtek and Narkhed has been deemed as feasible by MahaMetro and the cost to construct it has been pegged at Rs330 crore. The detailed feasibility report has been submitted to state government and the detailed project report (DPR) is being prepared.

After the DPR is submitted to state government, it will be sent to the Centre. Once the Centre approves it, an agreement will be signed between MahaMetro and Indian Railways. Then the former will approach a foreign lender like Germany’s KfW for funding.

According to the feasibility report, the Metro service should be run between Nagpur and Narkhed via Katol instead of only up to Katol as mentioned in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Indian Railways and MahaMetro.

The maximum speed of the broad gauge Metro will be 130 kilometre per hour. It will reduce the travelling time drastically. For example, an express train takes 105 minutes to travel between Nagpur and Wardha. The Metro will take only 70 minutes.

The report states that there will be 24 trips per day on all four routes. Each train is expected to carry 2,000 passengers and the total would be 48,000 per day.

The percentage utilization in the first year is expected to be 42% — 21,000 passengers. A 3% growth every year in number of passengers is envisaged. The financial internal rate of return (FIRR) is 10.86% and the calculations are for 30 years.

The proposed fare structure is: point to point — Rs50, one-way — Rs80, return ticket — Rs130 and monthly pass — Rs2,000. MahaMetro proposes to give a share of Rs25.39 per passenger to Indian Railways. MahaMetro wants to integrate Nagpur Metro’s ticketing system with that of the broad gauge one. Nagpur Metro’s ticketing system will also be integrated with feeder buses and city buses run by Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC).

MahaMetro will have to purchase six trains each having six coaches. The cost of the state-of-the-art air-conditioned coaches is estimated to be Rs288 crore. This is 87% of the project cost.

Interchange facilities for passengers travelling by Nagpur Metro and broad gauge Metro will be developed at Nagpur, Ajni and Khapri stations. The total cost is Rs24 crore.

Central Railway has stated that the height of platforms at these stations have to be increased for broad gauge Metro coaches. It is not ready to bear this cost. MahaMetro managing director Brijesh Dixit said that it was a negotiable matter and was being explored in the DPR.

The broad gauge coaches will be kept at MahaMetro’s Mihan depot. Rs5 crore will be needed for internal modifications on the depot. Rs8 crore is needed for connecting main broad gauge line to the depot.

According to the MoU, the responsibility related to commercials and operations of the broad gauge coaches on railway routes will be with Indian Railways. However, integrated ticketing and extent of revenue sharing will be explored jointly.

The report states that broad gauge Metro will increase the ridership of both phase I and II of Nagpur Metro. As large number of people travelling to Nagpur from towns on the four routes will switch over to broad gauge Metro vehicular pollution and traffic congestion will reduce.









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Metro-NMC sign MoU for Metro Mall on Orange City Street

tnn | Dec 21, 2018, 06:57 IST



NAGPUR: In a major development that could change city’s landscape, MahaMetro Nagpur and Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for construction of ‘Metro Mall’ on Orange City Street, next to Jai Prakash Nagar Metro Station. The MoU was signed by MahaMetro managing director Brijesh Dixit and municipal commissioner Abhijit Bangar at Metro House.

Considering quality and pace of its work, MahaMetro Nagpur has already been assigned some of city’s major projects, including development of road opposite Nagpur railway station and Futala Lake. The Metro Mall is the first step towards development of city’s famed Orange City Street Project.

Union Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari had recently publicly appreciated MahaMetro’s work and asked it to be a part of Orange City Street Project. The mall, once completed, is expected to attract many commercial establishments and also other utility projects on the stretch of land adjoining it.

The mall has been conceptualized by NMC and will come up on street connecting Wardha Road and Jaitala. As per the MoU, NMC will hand over the land to Metro well in time for execution of the work. Metro would hand over the mall to NMC soon after the construction is over.

The ownership of the mall would lie with the civic body. Most importantly, the proposed mall and Jai Prakash Nagar Metro Station will be inter-connected on the third floor.

The mall is proposed on 3,308.767 square metres land. The total built-up area would be 10,005.83 sq m. It will be an eight storey structure and 45 metres in height.

There will be the huge parking space in two basements where at a time visitors can keep 49 cars, 98 scooters and bicycles each.

The project has been titled ‘Development of Metro Mall on Plot 1 of Orange City Street Project, adjacent to Jai Prakash Nagar Metro Station, on Deposit Work Basis”.

As per the plans, first to fourth floors would be reserved exclusively for shops, while the space between fifth and eighth floor would be used for office purposes. The carpet area for shops will be about 1,735 sq m and office spaces will be of 3,200 sq m.






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Forum slaps Rs 3.75L cost on Godrej Anandam builder

Vaibhav Ganjapure | tnn | Dec 20, 2018, 05:41 IST

Nagpur: Coming to rescue of aggrieved flat owners, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum here, directed Gold Bricks Infrastructure of Godrej Anandam World City to pay Rs 3.25 lakh compensation to them for deficiency in services and illegal trade practices.

While partly allowing complaint filed by a father-son duo, a bench comprising president Sanjay Patil and members Nitin Gharde and Chandrika Bais told Raipur-based Rajesh Saraogi of Gold Bricks to complete the formalities within a month.

Saraogi said they will be moving appellate forum and they are not at fault. The complainants Yugalkishor Bhattad and son Abhishek contacted Gold Bricks for buying a flat in their World City Township near Ashirwad Talkies Square. The deal was fixed for Rs 62.61 lakh and firm agreed to grant possession before June 6, 2013.

The builder also assured to provide amenities like a clubhouse, cricket pitch, basketball court, firefighting equipment, pump for well water, sewage water system, and high-level security to the flats, as mentioned in its brochure. However, after a year, the flat’s possession was not handed over, despite the fact that those were ready, the complainants said. They also said they repeatedly made a request in this regard but the firm’s officials ignored their pleas.

Subsequently, the father-son issued a legal notice to Gold Bricks on August 26, 2014, asking them to handover the flat, as per the agreement and pay them interest due to delay in possession. When no one responded, they knocked the forum’s doors for justice through counsel Sandhya Maniyar Thakkar.

According to them, they were forced to stay in a rented house by paying Rs 20,000 per month due to the delay. On investigations, they realized that even electricity bills were issued in their names, but were left unpaid by the respondent. Similarly, the price and the interest on the bank loan borrowed for purchasing the flat had also jumped, as the registry was also delayed.

The complainants prayed for a compensation of Rs 2.80 lakh towards the house rent they had to pay because of the firm’s failure to handover the flat’s possession. They demanded another Rs 15 lakh towards deficiency in services and illegal trade practices carried out by the firm.

Denying all allegations, the firm replied that the complainants moved the forum to malign its reputation in the market. It argued that the complainants don’t have clean hands and their complaint should be dismissed.

After listening to both sides and examining their documents, the judges reached to the conclusion that Gold Bricks was liable for deficiency in services and illegal trade practices. They ordered the firm to pay Rs 2.25 lakh towards house rent, Rs1 lakh for mental and physical harassment and another Rs 50,000 for legal expenses, within 30 days.

(With inputs from

Atharva Khubalkar)









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HC panel blames civic bodies, power cos, builders for violation of HT line norms

Vaibhav Ganjapure | TNN | Dec 21, 2018, 17:45 IST



Nagpur: The court appointed panel to probe the deaths of two minors due to electrocution by high tension (HT) lines, has squarely blamed civic authorities like NMC and NIT, power utilities, including MSEDCL and its franchisee SNDL, and even state public works department (PWD), for violation of prescribed electrical norms. It also named Armors Developers’ Anand Khobragade and Chaitanya Developers’ Rajesh Motghare for constructing structures near HT lines, in complete violation of rules.

In the report submitted to the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court, the panel noted that large scale violations took place as the civic authorities weren’t vigilant. “There seems to be system failure in this regard. The local authorities will have to be held responsible to a large extent for violation of prescribed electrical clearance norms,” the report mentioned.

The members further pointed out that the electricity supply providers granted connections to violators ignoring the HT lines close to the structures, thus flouting statutory provisions of the Electricity Act, 2003, and Central Electricity Authority’s (CEA) Safety Regulations of 2010. The MERC ‘supply code’ is also silent on the aspect of abiding by mandatory electrical clearance norms by distribution licensee.

“The distribution licensee, including its franchisee, is also responsible along with the local authorities. If human lives are to be protected from imminent danger due to compromising with electrical clearances norms on account of haphazard constructions, a call needs to be taken urgently by local authorities and distribution licensee to make people strictly observe the mandate of legal constructions,” the report pointed out.

The report was submitted in response to a suo motu PIL based on TOI reports after the death of 11-year old twins Priyansh and Piyush Dhar, and five-year old Umesh Pande due to electrocution from HT wires in June last year. Shreerang Bhandarkar was appointed as amicus curiae and told to suggest names of panel members.

After inspecting 32 HT feeders covering North Nagpur, the panel found 1,288 violators, including 1,068 structures. Of them, 727 individual violators are in NMC’s jurisdiction while 561 under NIT. It pointed out that most of the structure owners near HT lines don’t have sanctioned building plans and even DCR norms are brazenly breached, due to apathy of civic bodies. It estimated that Rs758.70 lakh would be required to rectify HT lines from these 32 HT feeders.

The panel has also recommended demolition of extended civil constructions in some cases of individual violators, like those in Armors Township, with a view to make their homes safe from overhead HT lines.

“The local authorities failed to exercise adequate control to curb violations despite legal provisions of MRTP Act and DCR empowering them to make people follow the rules and regulations. However, those recommendations are made without prejudice to their rights to take appropriate actions under MRTP Act for removal of unauthorized construction detected by the committee,” the report said.

WHAT PANEL OBSERVED

* 1,288 violators identified at 32 HT feeders, having 1,068 structures

* Of them, 727 under NMC jurisdiction & 561 under NIT

* Most structures breach CEA’s safety regulations of 2010

* Armors & Chaitanya Developers constructed duplexes near HT lines

* NMC, NIT failed to curb violations under MRTP Act and DCR norms

* Demolition of extended constructions in some individual cases needed

* MSEDCL & SNDL neglected safety norm violation by builders

* Structure owners near HT lines don’t have sanctioned building plans







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