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PUNE, JULY 5, 2014 | www.goldensparrow.com
PUNE’S PEOPLE WITH A PURPOSE Free knowledge for one and all P2
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A journey from poverty to excellence P 16
A reach too far by Google? P 11
have a very poor record when it comes to RWH. This needs to change
‘Vajpayee’s dream of peace in the region will be realised’ JAMMU, July 4 (IANS) Prime minister Narendra Modi who arrived here Friday morning to inaugurate the KatraUdhampur rail link, told the cheering crowds at the venue that infrastructure was the mother of development. He said that former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s dream of bringing peace to Jammu and Kashmir will be realised. Modi made the comments after flagging off the K a t r a- U d h a m p u r train, which will link the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine near Katra with the rest of the country. Flagging off the K a t r a- U d h a m p u r train service, Modi called the train servive an “auspicious” moment for the country. “On the one side the auspicious Amarnath Yatra is on and on the other the auspicious month of Ramzan is on. And today... the train service is starting,” Modi said. The 25-km rail link between Katra and Udhampur will provide a direct link to the Vaishno Devi temple from the rest of the country On arrival, the prime minister’s special aircraft landed in the technical area of Jammu airport. He was received by Governor NN Vohra, chief minister
Omar Abdullah, state minister for higher education Muhammad Akbar Lone, state chief secretary Muhammad Iqbal Khandey, state police chief K Rajendra Kumar and other senior officials. National Security Advisor Ajeet Doval is accompanying Modi on his maiden visit to the state after he took over as the country’s prime minister. He will fly in a helicopter to Katra town to inaugurate the 25 kilometre long rail link between the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine base camp town and Udhampur. This rail link will connect the Katra base camp town directly with the rest of the country for the facility of millions of devotees who come to pay obeisance at the shrine every year. Railway minister Sadananda Gowda and minister of state in the PMO Jitendra Singh are already in Katra town to oversee the arrangements for the prime minister’s visit. Modi will fly to summer capital Srinagar to address a Sainik Sammelan and a security review meeting at the Badami Bagh cantonment headquarters of army’s 15th corps. He is also scheduled to inaugurate a 240 megawatt NHPC owned hydro-power project in Uri border town.
Flagging off the KatraUdhampur train service, Modi called it an “auspicious” moment for the country
VISHWAS WAGHMODE To corner its aggressive ally Shiv Sena following the death of senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde, the Maharashtra BJP leaders indicated that it is preparing to go solo in the upcoming assembly elections in the state. In a clear indication that the party isn’t willing to play second fiddle to the Shiv Sena in the state any more, the BJP on Thursday gave a call that it would prepare to fight all 288 seats in upcoming assembly elections. “We are always made to play second fiddle before the Shiv Sena. The BJP is getting choked in the state due to the alliance with the Sena. It’s time to call off the alliance and fight the polls on our own,” said BJP legislator Madhu Chavan attacking the over two-decade long saffron alliance with Sena. Chavan was speaking in a meeting of the BJP’s extended executive committee in Andheri (W) in suburban Mumbai. “In order to come to power in the state, the BJP must go it alone and fight the polls on all 288 seats,” Chavan added. Indicating that the party was not opposed to Chavan’s view, state BJP president Devendra Phadnavis too asked the BJP cadre to prepare to fight all 288 assembly seats. “All the party activists should prepare for fighting all the 288 assembly constituencies. Wherever the BJP is fighting, we will field candidates. In areas where the BJP is not fighting our preparation will help our allies,” Phadnavis said hinting that he too was backing the idea of the BJP going solo in the polls. Contd on p 10 JUL Y 5,
2014
If Pune is to succeed as a great city of the future, it cannot do without a robust, result-oriented approach to rainwater harvesting (RWH). Although the policies are in place and attractive concessions have been offered to housing societies and institutional buildings by the Pune and PimpriChinchwad Municipal Corporations, the city has failed to embrace RWH. The failure to do so is felt most only when there is water scarcity, water cuts and fears of an impending drought as is happening presently. According to RWH expert and entrepreneur Col (retd) Shashikant Dalvi, with an average rainfall of 770
mm/year, a 1,000 sq ft rooftop area in Pune can yield about 70,000 litres of rainwater per year. This amounts to 25 lakh litres of water annually from just one acre of rooftop area, says Dalvi. In Pune, the Landmark Garden co-operative housing society at Kalyaninagar and Greenland-2 co-operative housing society at Vimannagar are fabulous examples of societies which have successfully implemented RWH. With 57 flats, Greenland-2 had
The happy residents of Nisarga Darshan Co-operative Housing Society in Sector 26 at Nigdi-Pradhikaran are reaping the benefits of being the first residential society in Pimpri-Chinchwad to install an RWH system in 2002-03
to depend on two water tankers daily and shell out Rs 25,000 per month as it faced acute water shortage after the borewell dried up. The society spent Rs 28,000 to install a RWH system in June 2003 and recovered the cost that very year with a sharp reduction in the need to purchase water. At Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nisarga Darshan co-operative housing society in Sector 26, Nigdi-Pradhikaran was the first residential society to install an RWH system in 2002-03. According to the society’s chairman Dilip Pande, almost 15 lakh litres of water is harvested every year. This residential complex with 80 flats consumes about 60,000 litres of water daily. The society has ample water reserves of its own and does not have to depend on bore wells. Rainwater
Deccan Queen is nation’s best short-distance train BY PRACHI BARI 2123 Dn / 2124 Up is a number that many in the city are familiar with. This number is the pride of Central Railway, as the identity of the Deccan Queen (DQ ), better known as ‘Dakkhan ki Rani’. DQ was recently named as the “Best maintained short distance train” by the General Manager of Central Railways. “The chief mechanical engineer nominates three people to judge from more than 100 trains leaving from Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) Mumbai, Dadar and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus. This team checks the train on all aspects of cleanliness, maintenance and punctuality, the Deccan Queen beat all others to be the first train to be adjudged for the first prize,’ CR’s
Mumbai spokesman AK Singh said. The introduction of ‘’Deccan Queen’’ between the two premier cities of Maharashtra on June 1, 1930 was a major landmark in the history of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, the forerunner of the Central Railway. This was the first deluxe train introduced by the railway to serve two important cities of the region and was aptly named after Pune. Over the years, this train has undergone upgradation from its introduction of 2 rakes of 7 coaches Contd on p 10
HALF IS HAPPENING OFF % UPTO
Assembly polls: Is BJP planning to ditch Sena?
ARCHANA DAHIWAL & ASHOK BHAT
ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR
Infrastructure is mother CITY THIRSTS of development: for a more aggressive agenda on rainwater harvesting PM in Kashmir Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad
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is channelised through underground storage system and fi lters are installed to purify rainwater for drinking purpose. A PMC official said barely 50 societies had installed RWH systems
in the last decade as neither the PMC nor the citizenry had shown any serious interest in this simple technology. The PMC then decided to make RWH mandatory for housing societies. Contd on p 10
Success stories and guidelines • In Pune, one acre of rooftop area can yield 25 lakh litres of rainwater annually • Landmark Garden Cooperative Housing Society at Kalyaninagar, Greeland-2 housing society at Vimannagar and Nisarga Darshan society at Sector 26, Nigdi-Pradhikaran are outstanding examples of RWH implementation. • RWH is mandatory for new constructions in Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad but implementation is poor • Civic bodies have offered incentives for RWH implementation but response has been poor