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EXCLUSIVE: Lavasa file destroyed in fire, still not restored

The top priority file had recommended the withdrawal of Lavasa’s special planning authority status on few counts of building norm violations.
by Vrushali Lad | vrushali@themetrognome.in

It doesn’t seem like the dust isn’t about to settle on the already mired-in-controversy Lavasa project.

It may be remembered that four months ago,on June 21, three floors of the Mantralaya were gutted in a major, daytime fire. Along with several important files, the file for the withdrawal of the much-debated Special Planning Authority (SPA) status granted to the Lavasa Corporation Limited (LCL) was also destroyed. And four months later, the top priority file has not been completely restored yet.

Certain parts of the file were restored by the office of the Director of Town Planning based in Pune. After this, the restored documents were submitted to the Urban Development Department (UDD) in Mumbai in July this year. However, there has been no further development on the file’s complete restoration from the UDD end, since August this year.

Why is the file important?

The SPA status of the project, in essence, allows developers to function like planning agencies; they can even sanction building and construction plans in their own authority, and they do not need approval from the municipal corporation and town planning agencies. However, they must submit their sanctioned plan to the municipal corporation within three months of starting work. More importantly, the sanctioned plans thus submitted must fall in line with the Master Plan for that region, and not flout any development control regulation.

The UDD had, last year, recommended to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan that Lavasa’s SPA status be withdrawn – citing alleged violations in the project, such as work on certain portions had been done without a development plan. Also, the Floor-to-Space-Index (FSI) for certain non-buildable portions had allegedly been built upon. Additionally, the UDD had recommended that the SPA status provision for private entities be removed from town planning norms.

And then that file, which was in the Chief Minister’s office, got burnt.

Present status

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has been coming under fire for inaction on this matter, from all quarters. However, it is reliably learnt that after being burnt in the fire, the file has not yet been routed to the CM’s office. The CM is said to have called for the file now.

 (Picture courtesy www.ithappensindia.com)

 

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Maharashtra in Top 5 ragging cases list

UGC anti-ragging helpline shows several cases received from Maharashtra; one Mumbai and three state colleges still have active complaints on.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

It is a telling comment on the times we live in, that while the State Government releases a thick report on reforms in examination systems in the State’s universities, Maharashtra consistently features in the Top 5 states in the country from where the most incidents of ragging are being reported.

While The Metrognome accessed the National Anti Ragging Helpline website to check the responsiveness of the helpline to those calling in to report ragging incidents, we got in touch with Professor Raj Kachroo, the father of the late Aman Kachroo (in pic), who died after being ragged and beaten to death by his seniors in 2009 (see his inputs below). Raj handles the operations of the helpline and coordinates information between complainants, colleges and even the police.

The helpline 1800-180-5522 was set up in 2009 by the University Grants Commission. Ragging is now a cognisable offence that is punishable by suspension from the concerned university or college, and even imprisonment for serious crimes. Even those universities and colleges not responding to complainants’ grievances are now in the ambit of the law.

Where Maharashtra stands

Raj sent us latest report sheets of the numbers of calls and incidents reported, counted from 2009 to October 29. The most numbers of cases, some of them categorised under ‘Extremely serious’, come from Uttar Pradesh (355 complaints), followed by West Bengal (222), Orissa (171), Madhya Pradesh (132) and Maharashtra (90).

Similarly, numbers of complaints received after April 14, 2012 are thus: Uttar Pradesh (49 complaints), Orissa (34), Bihar (21), Rajasthan (12) and Maharashtra (10).

One Mumbai college complaint still active

There are a number of ‘active complaints’ on the list; these are complaints that have not yet been resolved or are in the process of being resolved, and are not classified as ‘closed’. Of the four active complaints from Maharashtra, one is classified as ‘Serious’ and comes from Mumbai’s Nirmala Niketan College of Social Work. The remaining three come from Nagpur’s Tirtude College and Government Ayurved College, while the fourth is from the Marathwada Agriculture University.

What Prof Raj Kachroo, Founder Trustee, Aman Satya Kachroo Trust, and who monitors the National Ragging Prevention Programme on behalf of UGC, says on the subject:  

On monitoring the National Ragging Prevention programme:

For the first two years the programme was monitored by a company called DRSL and EDCIL. The latter is a Government of India Company.  When they did nothing, it was only then that our Aman Satya Kachroo Trust took over the management and monitoring of the programme. We started from the beginning of 2012.

On why several cases of ragging come from Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra:  

The authorities in these states is not taking the matter of ragging very seriously. And I believe there has been a strong tradition of ragging in these places in the past as well.

On the procedures followed to examine a case:

At our level, we do not examine a case. Our job is to communicate with the concerned college authorities and with the police, if the matter is serious. It is the Anti Ragging Committees of colleges that examine the matter and the college authorities if found guilty are punished.  Our job is purely of a secretariat.  We log the complaint, communicate with the college, keep records of the communication and keep voice recordings of phone calls. We also follow up with reminders, and if the college authorities do not do anything, then we forward the case to the UGC and/or regulatory authorities for action.

A case is not closed until the complainant confirms on phone that he/she is satisfied with the action taken by the College.  A written letter is not sufficient. We keep the phone recording.

On the punishments meted out to those found guilty:

The punishment to be given depends on the college. Those found can be guilty can be fined, or even suspended.

(Pictures courtesy www.hillpost.in, www.she.sulekha.com and www.thehindu.com) 

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City’s children less malnourished than before

But many women are marrying as minors and several are not breastfeeding their baby within an hour of giving birth.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

At long last, it’s good news on the state’s malnutrition front. For the first time in a decade, Maharashtra’s malnutrition figures have shown a very positive trend – the Comprehensive Nutrition Survey in Maharashtra 2012, released by the state’s Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan yesterday, reveals sharp declines for malnourished children under two years of age for such parameters as stunting (too short for their age), wasting (too thin for their height) and underweight (too thin for their age).

Heartened by the numbers, Chavan announced that the state would widen the scope of its malnutrition efforts November 14 onwards, with a special focus on fighting malnutrition in Mumbai and other urban pockets in Maharashtra. The survey was conducted by the International Institute of Population Sciences (IIPS) in association with the UNICEF.

The survey is the first state-specific nutrition survey conducted with a focus on infants and children under two years of age, and their mothers. A representative sample of children under two years of age was selected from each of the six divisions of the state – Mumbai, Pune, Amravati, Aurangabad, Nagpur and Nashik. Data was collected between February and May 2012, and indicators from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) – 3 of 2005-2006 was used as the foundation for advocacy, policy and programme action for maternal and child nutrition.

Stunting, in which a child is unable to grow normally because of poor or non-existent nutrition, was seen to have declined to 22.8 per cent from 33 per cent from the NFHS findings. Similarly, the percentage for wasting  dropped from 19.9 per cent to 15.5 per cent, and underweight dropped from 29.6 per cent to 21.8 per cent. Also, infant mortality rates (IMRs) was found to have dropped significantly from 36 per 1000 live births in 2005-06 to 28 per 1000 live births in 2011-12, and 25 per 1000 lives birth in 2012-13.

Now for the bad news

However, of the 1,346 mothers surveyed in the state’s urban pockets, only about 55 per cent were found to have breastfed their newborn baby within an hour of birth. Studies have shown that breastfeeding a newborn child within the first hour of its birth is the best way of building the baby’s immunity and arresting incidences of malnutrition and neonatal deaths; the same logic applies to babies exclusively breastfed for the first six months of its life.

Also, over 23 per cent of surveyed women in the urban pockets said that they had been married before age 18.

As part of the survey, 2,694 mothers with children under two years of age were surveyed for such parameters as work status, marriage and fertility, antenatal and delivery care, lifestyle indicators, and anthropometric measurements. Of these women, the ratio of breastfeeding in rural pockets was found to be better than that in the urban areas. Only 49 per cent women in urban pockets said that they had breastfed their babies exclusively in the first six months of life. Findings also revealed that bottle-feeding and early complementary feeding was on the rise and was very common, especially in the urban areas.

Chavan was concerned with these findings. “Low breastfeeding percentage within an hour of birth even as over 90 per cent mothers are having institutional delivery suggests that private nursing homes are not encouraging breastfeeding enough,” he said.

(Picture courtesy www.caravanmagazine.in) 

 

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One more life lost to a leopard in Mumbai

44 km stretch of National Park is still being fenced; man-animal conflict continues with construction, hutments encroaching on forest cover.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

A little after 9.30 pm on November 2, Seeta Pange (50) stepped out of her house at Sai Bangurda at Maroshi Pada, Aarey Milk colony, to answer nature’s call. She did not return for a long while. Her worried family members then went out to look for her with torches and flashlights, and for a while, their search in the wooded area yielded nothing. Then they found her body in the bushes. Seeta had been mauled to death by a leopard.

This is the fourth case of a death arising from a leopard attack since August this year. As per a report in the Indian Express recently, ‘Attacks on humans peaked in the three years from 2002 to 2004 when 50 people were killed by leopards in Mumbai, 20 of them outside the park. There appeared to be a lull from December 2006 till last month, with no such deaths officially reported. There were reports that Sunny Soni, 5, who died in Aarey Milk Colony in May, had been attacked by a leopard but this was not officially confirmed. Beyond Mumbai, however, leopards have killed in rural Thane not only during this period but also after the latest confirmed death in Mumbai.’

The man-animal conflict at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), at the southern tip of which is the Aarey Milk colony area, has not abated since the year 2000. Leopards have been increasingly moving into human settlements as well, what with construction activities in the last decade steadily eating into the forest cover. Said Krishna Tewari, founder of the Forest and Wildlife Conservation Centre, with the green cover reducing in size, leopards strayed into areas that now house human settlements, and they were particularly prone to attack small children and people who fall in the animal’s line of vision, such as those crouching or squatting to answer nature’s call.

The SGNP has Mumbai suburbs on three sides and a Thane suburb on the fourth. There are 21 leopards in the Park area.

The solution

Barring access to animals straying into human settlements is the action plan being worked on at the moment. Forest officials say that the SGNP needs to be fully secured on all sides by a boundary wall or fence. At the moment, said an official, there is a natural boundary along at least 22 kilometres of the Park’s total 92 km periphery, hence the remaining 70 km needs to be fenced in two phases. Phase I is already underway,  with 40 km taken up under its scope of work, but the last 14 km is still in progress. Phase II has not begun yet.

Meanwhile, forest officials also put up cages at sites where leopard attacks occur. Two cages have been installed at the site where Seeta’s body was found.

 

 

 

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Are you taking the bus today?

A Mumbai-based NGO is asking the city to avoid taking autos or taxis today. So what’s your plan of action?
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

This protest seems better-coordinated and planned than the Meter Jam one two years ago, which was largely confined to the Internet and hence, passed most of the city by. But the Acharya Atre Katta (AAK), a Kandivli-based NGO, which has given the clarion call to Mumbaikars to not take an auto or taxi today, is backed by some major biggies.

For starters, the Mumbai Grahak Panchayat (MGP), which has also filed a PIL in the Bombay High Court against the recent auto and taxi fare hikes, is firmly behind this initiative. Additionally, the Rajya Sarkari Karmachari Sanghatana (Maharashtra), a union of state government workers, has also pledged its support in writing, with a press release issued to all newspapers and news channels yesterday. Hence, AAK seems better-placed to make an impact on the city this time around; the call to boycott autos and taxis today has already been well-received on social networking sites.

Will we, won’t we?

Shayla Gonsalves (45), an accountant with a company in Dadar, says her office is located far from the railway station and she needs to take a cab because BEST buses are very crowded in the mornings. “But when my daughter told me about this boycott, I told my husband and sisters also to join in the protest. I will leave a little early from home tomorrow (on October 31) and one of our colleagues has promised to pick us up from Bandra station in his car.”

Homemaker Reshma Ghadi (36) keeps her Wednesdays for going vegetable shopping. The Borivli resident says, “Though I sometimes take the auto, especially if I’m carrying very heavy bags, I will wait for the BEST bus tomorrow. We should all support this initiative, because by putting pressure on errant auto and taxiwallahs, we can at least ensure that their services improve.”

However, Meet Mhaiskar (20), a student at a Bandra-based college said, “I would like to boycott the autos and taxis, but sometimes there is no choice. BEST buses are not always on time, and they are very crowded. If I get late for my class, I will not be allowed to attend the lectures. So I will be forced to take an auto.”

Meanwhile, AKK and MGP members are planning to target major railway stations and speak to commuters about not taking autos and taxis, but there will be no pressure on them to not do so. AAK members will also carry out a signature drive to gather support for the campaign.

They certainly will

Mumbai tweeted in favour of the ‘No Auto No Taxi’ day.

Neeta Kolhatkar @neetakolhatkar Mumbai citizens…walk, use buses, but say NO to autos tomo… plz support the NO AUTO TAXI day tomorrow 31st Oct pl RT

Renison Pereira @renison007 I liked a @Youtube video http://youtu.be/3jZLbSggr_E?a  No Auto–Taxiday on 31st October-TV9

UsCabbies @UsCabbies Mumbai citizens…walk, use buses, but say NO to autos tomo… plz support the NO AUTO TAXI day tomorrow 31st …

Kedar Paranjape @Kedar_cp “@Ganesh_Khare care to retweet.31st October-No Auto–Taxi DAYin Mumbai” Ensure u r on rite side by nt takin a rick ride.

Prasanna Kashikar @sweetstarguy Tomorrow is a No Taxi, No Auto Day !!!! Please do not travel byauto and taxi… This is a protest against unfair hike of fares.

Shweta D @shwetz8311 JAGO GRAHAK, JAGO. Lets observe 31OCT as NO TAXI/AUTO DAYto protest agnst unjust fare hike. Lets make it a habit to use BEST buses.

Akshay Redij @Akzey @meterjam you guys should also appeal to your users to support NoAuto–Taxi Day on 31st Oct. #NoAutoTaxiDay

IAC-Mumbai @IACMumbai Participate in “No Auto–Taxi Day” on October 31.

(Picture courtesy The Wall Street Journal) 

 

 

 

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Mumbai responds well to digitisation call

But some cable operators say the quality of set top boxes is inferior, prompting them to replace several units daily.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The plan to digitise the four metros of the country – Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai – is aggressively underway, with Mumbai showing the most amount of conversions from analog to digital TV. We quote a survey released by Television Street Maps for MxMIndia, which states that Mumbai has achieved about 86 per cent digitisation, as against Delhi (45 per cent), Kolkata (53 per cent) and Chennai (49 per cent). (See the article here.)

Speaking to The Metrognome, Ganesh Naidu, President of the Cable Operators and Distributors Association (CODA) said, “Mumbai has responded well to the digitisation call. The government has also aggressively driven home the point, with frequent ads on TV and in the newspapers. Naturally, nobody wants to be deprived of their favourite programmes, so people are installing the set top boxes in large numbers.”

He added that some people, however, were waiting for the October 31 deadline. “We have heard of orders for set top boxes being placed for October 31 itself, and not before – since each box costs more than Rs 1,000, people in the slum pockets, especially, are waiting for their salaries to come so that they can install the units,” he said.

Inferior quality?

A few local cable operators we spoke to told us, on condition of anonymity, that the set top boxes being installed were of an inferior quality. “We have been installing the boxes, then going back after two days to replace them with another one. Many customers are complaining that they cannot see certain channels and that the box just ‘hangs’ after a few minutes of use,” a Borivli-based operator said.

Another added, “Even though the October 31 deadline has been repeatedly flashed across the media, several consumers are still careless about getting a set top box. We have personally called up so many of our old customers and asked them to get the unit installed, but they casually say that we can come and do it on October 31, and there is no need to do it before the deadline. What they don’t realise is that we are taking orders to the tune of 50 set top boxes a day, and it is increasing daily. Once there is a confirmed order, we can give the customer a definite date for installation, as per our schedule.”

(Picture courtesy: smehorizon.sulekha.com)

 

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