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PMC plans green farewell for Ganpati next season By Siddharth Gadkari, Pune Mirror | Sep 14, 2014, 02.30 AM IST
(Top) This year, over a lakh of idols were immersed in the tanks built by PMC
NCL has come up with a solution that can dissolve the idols, leaving a residue that can be used as fertiliser in gardens and farms. The days of surreptitiously dumping Ganpati idols, collected in artificial tanks, in the river may finally be over for Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) if it is able to walk the scientific mile. A research work it had commissioned to the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) in January has yielded a way to disintegrate the idols without polluting any natural water body. NCL, which is yet to submit its report to the civic body, has developed a chemical which will help break down the components of the idols. The detailed project report (DPR) is ready and PMC's enthusiasm to explore the option comes close on the heels of the flak it drew after it was again caught on camera, dumping the idols into the river after coaxing citizens to be eco-friendly and abstain from polluting water bodies. Now, the civic body is hoping to do a pilot run of this scientific disposal of the idols next year. "With devotees heeding our call to not pollute water bodies and instead using the tanks we provided, it has become imperative for us to evolve a resolution so we don't end up immersing the idols in the rivers ourselves. So, we had approached NCL to find us a solution," Suresh Jagtap, assistant municipal commissioner of Solid Waste Management, told Mirror. "Though they are yet to place the detailed report before us what we have culled from our preliminary discussions is that the proposal is for keeping the idols in a vessel
with a special liquid. Once disintegrated, the residue will be used as fertiliser in gardens and farms," he added. "We have completed our research and are now going to submit our report and give them a demonstration of how the method will work. We have also built the vessels in which the idols can be immersed in the solution, which will reduce them to calcium carbonate and calcium sulphate. The process will take up to one hour depending on the quantum and size of the idols. It is a cheap and eco-friendly method. If PMC has a scientific disposition, this can be a permanent resolution to the problem," explained Dr Mohan Dongare, a former senior scientist from NCL, who was involved in the research work. Confirming the completion of the project, NCL's senior scientist, Dr Shubhangi Umbarkar, pointed out, "Our project report is ready, but we cannot divulge any details until our formal presentation to the civic body. The actual implementation of the project will be done by PMC in collaboration with Cummins India." However, Cummins India officials could not be reached for comment on their participation in the project. Many devotees have expressed hurt at PMC violating its own rules and dumping the idols in the river. In fact, this track record resulted in the number of idols being dropped in the tanks going down this year, clearly betraying people's dwindling faith in the civic body's earnestness. This has dented all the effort the civic body has put in since 1998 coaxing citizens to choose the tanks over flowing water. The tanks gained popularity only from 2005 and peaked in 2010, with the civic body building 50 artificial tanks to immerse about a lakh of idols. The tanks were placed along riversides at important spots in the city. This year, a little over a lakh of idols came into
the tanks. "The manner in which PMC is currently disposing the idols it collects in the tanks is simply unacceptable. The idols get crushed and damaged even before they hit the water. This (chemical processing) will certainly be more dignified," welcomed Shirish Mohite, Sava Mitra Mandal of Shukrawar Peth. In fact, after the angst PMC's current methods have evoked, there seems to be an all round acceptance of what NCL is proposing. "This is a good and scientific way. We should not oppose it. After all, the residue will work with nature in the form of fertiliser," commended Ravindra Malvadkar, president of Sakhalipir Talim Ganesh Mandal Trust. Apart from the mandals, the individual devotees, who ritualistically celebrate Ganpati at home and need to immerse the deity every year, are also not averse to the idea. "Our family has been celebrating Ganeshotsav for long and I don't see anything out of line in dissolving the idols in a scientific manner. The number of idols in the city have increased manifold and their immersion into the river could only mean extensive pollution," said 38-year-old Dinesh Nale, a devotee from Rastha Peth. "The sight of broken idols washed up to the river banks make for a very upsetting sight, post immersion. The new process will save us this," said 65-year-old Ulhas Kedgoni of Balaji Nagar. ►► The manner in which PMC is currently disposing the idols is simply unacceptable. This (chemical processing) will certainly be more dignified - Shirish Mohite, Sava Mitra Mandal, Shukrawar Peth
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THE TIMES OF INDIA, PUNEWEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 20154 TIMES CITY
Pune: The deputy director ofeducation on Tuesday can-celled the admission of five stu-dents to first year junior college(FYJC, Class XI) because theywere admitted without follow-ing the centralised process.
Alady officer in the office ofthe deputy director of educa-tion had given chits with namesof the colleges to these studentson September 2 for taking ad-mission. They approached therespective institution, gave thechits to the management con-cerned and took admission.
The deputy director of edu-cation, Ramchandra Jadhav,said no admission round wasconducted on September 2, theday the chits were given by theofficer. So, the admission of thefive students was cancelled, headded.
The students will now haveto apply afresh to colleges hav-ing vacant seats.
The lady officer who issuedthe chits has been told to go oncompulsory leave. Further ac-tion would be taken against her.
Jadhav said: “Asha Gujar, anofficer of our department,wrote the chits with the names
of the colleges where the fivestudents could take admissionand told them to present thoseto the institutions’ authorities.These chits were issued on Sep-tember 2, when no admissionround for FYJC was conducted.This came to our notice on Mon-day. We decided to cancel the ad-mission of these students andsend the officer concerned oncompulsory leave.”
The students in questionsaid they went to the deputy di-rector's office with their admis-sion concerns because theywere allotted colleges awayfrom their homes. “The officer
concerned gave us the chitswritten on plain paper and toldus to give those to the manage-ment of the respective colleges.We were told to fill up admis-sion forms and later we were al-lotted admission,” the studentssaid.
The deputy director of edu-cation is still investigating thematter and finding out if anymoney was taken from the stu-dents or if there was any pactbetween the officer and the col-leges that she recommended.Jadhav said further actionwould be taken against the offi-cer concerned once the matterwas investigated.
The deputy director of edu-cation has conducted sixrounds of admission to FYJCfrom June-end to August-end.All of them were strictly onlineand through a centralised proc-ess.
After the six rounds wereover, the deputy director of edu-cation notified the junior colleg-es that had vacant seats and di-rected them to conductadmission at their own level byinviting applications and pre-paring a merit list of applicants.“The admissions were to bedone online,” Jadhav said.
Students Have To Apply Afresh To Colleges
Education dept nixes FYJC admission of 5
TIMES NEWS NETWORKAsha Gujar, an officerof our department,
wrote chits with names ofthe colleges where the fivestudents could take admission. She told them topresent those to the authorities of the institu-tions. The chits were issuedon September 2, when no admission round for FYJCwas conductedRamchandra Jadhav | DEPUTY
DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION
Pune: Solutions for environ-ment-friendly immersion ofGanapati idols, composting of‘nirmalya’ during the Gana-pati festival, creating aware-ness among students aboutenvironment were some ofthe ideas discussed at the an-nual Times NIE principals’meet held on Monday.
The meet was organisedby Times NIE in associationwith Cummins Group in In-dia. Thetheme was‘Eco-friend-ly practices-—Need ofthe hour’.
The eventstarted witha panel dis-cussion anda presenta-tion by theCumminsGroup. Vi-kas Thapa,vice-presi-dent, Cum-mins Group in India, spokeabout various initiatives tak-en by the group in findinggreen solutions to a variety ofproblems faced by us.
S Ravichandran, head ofcorporate responsibility,
Cummins Group, spoke aboutthe plaster of Paris idol disso-lution project.
Cummins has been work-ing on an idea that could helpdissolve plaster of Paris. “Bypartnering with the NationalChemical Laboratory, we nowhave a solution to dissolve theplaster of paris (PoP) in aneco-friendly way, where theliquid residue from the proc-ess can directly be used to wa-ter the city’s green spaces andthe environmentally solid re-
sidue used inseveral in-dustrial ap-plications,”said Ravi-chandran.Mojj Engi-neering hassupported indesigning aprototype inwhich theidols can bedissolved.
SureshJagtap, depu-ty commis-
sioner of the PMC’s solidwaste management depart-ment, who was one of the pan-el members, described the se-rious problem of PoP whenGanpati idols are immersedin the river. Jagtap said, “The
POP idols are non-biodegrad-able, resulting in choking ofwater bodies.”
Ameet Lele, general man-ager corporate responsibili-ty, Cummins Group in India,and Shubhangi Umbarkar, se-nior scientist at NCL, alsoparticipated in the panel dis-cussion and spoke about thefuture journey and imple-mentation for the Jal Abhish-ek project. “It’s our annualpractice and this year too vol-
unteers from Cummins, civicbody and police authoritiesand SWaCh representativeswill be present at the ‘visar-gan ghats’ to create aware-ness about immersion ofidols in the makeshift watertanks installed by the civicauthorities as part of the nir-malya project,” said Lele.
Mahesh Suryavanshi,treasurer of the DagdushethHalwai Ganpati Trust, whowas also part of the panel,
spoke about taking the pro-ject to Ganesh mandals andmasses while Aditi Ravetkar,HR leader distribution busi-ness unit of Cummins IndiaLimited, informed about the‘Coach them Young’ projectof the company. The projectentails sensitizing childrenand making them awareabout the need to protect theenvironment documentarieson initiatives that preventpollution and help preserve
the environment. Ravetkar said, “By using
the vast network of the distri-bution business, the projectwas scaled up over the yearsand it has now reached overseven lakh students across 80cities since 2014.”
The panel discussion wasfollowed by a dance perform-ance by the Mrudang Acade-my. A panel of school princi-pals and other experts in thefield then discussed best prac-
tices implemented by them inschools and work places.
Col Shashikant Dalvi, dis-trict manager of Pune for TheClimate Reality Project, In-dia, an independent chapterof Nobel laureate Al Gore’sThe Climate Project, who wasone of the panel memberssaid, “Rainwater harvestingis the need of the hour and ci-tizens must understand thepotential of this technology.Despite having three riversand four dams, Pune is facingwater crisis. The only sourceof water in future can be rain-water harvesting.”
Ashwini Kulkarni, direc-tor of City Pride School, saidthat small goals with respectto environment conservationmust be set by every organisa-tion to protect nature. Kul-karni said, “Once we con-ducted a project in schoolwhere students were told tomeasure the amount of waterwasted from leaking taps inthe school. They measuredthe water wasted in one min-ute, one hour and 24 hoursand this was calculated forone day, one month and oneyear. The total water wastewas calculated and studentswere sensitised about how itcould impact us in the longterm.”
Lakshmi Gandhi, princi-pal of Dr Kalmadi ShamaraoHigh School, Aundh, said, “Atschool, we try and restrict theuse of paper which is alsocontributing to environmentdegradation as it results inloss of trees. We try and reusethe available paper resourcesand similar practices are en-couraged among school chil-dren.”
Vibhakar Telore, princi-pal, SNBP School, Yerawadaand Vijay Pillai, director,Sungrace High School, whowere members of the panel al-so spoke on how the schoolcreates awareness among stu-dents on environment protec-tion and conservation in dai-ly classroom sessions.
Telore proposed simplepractices like tree plantation,avoiding plastic usage thatcan be implemented at schoollevel.
Pillai said that the schoolgives saplings at felicitationfunctions instead of bou-quets. He also proposed tostart an inter-school competi-tion for best eco-friendlypractices in schools. S Ravi-chandran from CumminsGroup in India who chairedthe panel assured full supportfrom Cummins to reach out tomaximum schools.
School principals and corporates join hands to save environment
Newspaper inEducation
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
AT THE TIMES NIE PRINCIPALS' MEET: From left: Vibhakar Telore, principal, SNBP School Yerawada; S Ravichandran, head of corporate responsibility, Cummins Group in India; Ashwini Kulkarni, director, City Pride School, Vijay Pillai, director, Sungrace HighSchool, Col Shashikant Dalvi, ditrict manager, Pune for the Climate Reality Project and Lakshmi Gandhi, principal, Dr Kalmadi Shamrao High School. (Right) From left: Suresh Jagtap, deputy commissioner, solid waste management, PMC; Dr Shubhangi Umbarkar, senior scientist at the NCL, Vikas Thapa, vice president, Cummins Group in India and Mahesh Suryavanshi, treasurer ofDagdusheth Halwai Ganpati Mandal
Pics: Sadanand Godse
Pune: For over 25 years now,the state government has beenpaying Rs 1.06 lakh per monthas rent of two facilities in amulti-storey complex to runthe Pune family court estab-lishments. However, it seemsto have little or no money forthe much-delayed construc-tion of the new family courtbuilding near the districtcourt in Shivajinagar.
The government has sanc-tioned a measly Rs 1 lakh for2015-16 to complete the pro-ject. The principle judge of thePune family court received acommunication to this effectfrom the Bombay high courtregistrar’s office on August 28.
The sanctioned amountseems particularly insignifi-cant against the estimatedcost of Rs 4.96 crore for the re-maining work, which the pub-lic works department (PWD),in consultation with the dis-trict court authorities, hadforwarded to the governmentthrough the high court and thelaw and judiciary depart-ment.
Family court lawyers areappalled by the allocation andare blaming the law and judi-ciary department for its indif-ference towards the project.“How can the government ex-pect the work to go on withsuch a small amount? It’squite a saddening approach,”said Ganesh Kawade, presi-dent of the Pune Family CourtLawyers’ Association, a bodyof 360-odd lawyers dealingwith family court cases.
Shifting the family courtestablishments to the newbuilding is important in viewof the steady rise in the num-ber of matters being handledby these courts, increase innumber of litigants and law-yers who visit these courtsand a slew of infrastructuralissues being faced at the pre-sent location. The lawyers’body has been pursuing thematter of the new court build-ing since 2006.
As of now, the five familycourts are located on the sev-enth and the ninth floors ofhired facilities in a multisto-rey complex near Alka theat-
re. On an average, 1,500 to 2,000people, including lawyers, liti-gants, judges and court staff,visit these courts and 25 to 30cases are filed every day.
The space available is toocongested for lawyers, litiga-nts as well as judges to movearound. There is not enoughspace for the bar room, wait-
ing room, childcare centresand access rooms for parentsto meet their children. Inade-quate and poorly maintainedwashrooms and lavatories are
another issue. Besides, thereisn’t enough space for parkingof vehicles, considering thatthe complex is located in a bu-sy area in the heart of the city.
`̀1L for new family court stumps lawyersPics: Sadanand Godse
n An independent new building for the family court establishments in Pune was first mooted in 2006
n The state government allotted 39 guntha land near Shivajinagar district court in 2008 and over Rs 10.53 crore were sanctioned for the work
n The project envisaged eight court rooms, a childcare centre, spacious bar room, independent libraries, waiting room, washroom and allied facilities
n The ground-breaking ceremony to mark the start of construction work was performed by the then Bombay high court Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar in 2009
n The government had assured
to complete the project in two years
n Six years down the line, a three-storey concrete structure has been built on the land, but a lot of work relating to interiors, electrification, furniture, compound wall, waterproofing, glass cladding
and minor works remain to be completed
n A proposal to construct another two floors on the
existing structure to accommodate motor accident claims tribunals is pending
n The initial sanction of Rs 10.53 crore has long been utilised and the PWD has estimated Rs 4.96 crore for the remaining works considering the delay and cost escalation
THEY SAIDSpace is a huge problem here. We have to struggle right from the stage of finding an
apt parking slot for our vehicles before we move to the crowded court premises on the seventh and the ninth floor. There is not enough space to wait while our matter is called for hearing – A litigant who did not wish to be named
We are sending letters to the chief minister, law min-
ister, district guardian minister and MPs/MLAs from Pune about the need for better financial al-location. But if no action is taken,
we will have to agitate for the cause of new fam-ily court buildingGanesh Kawade | PRESIDENT, PUNE FAMILY COURT
LAWYERS’ ASSOCIATION
The least the government can do is to ensure that
the residual work at the existing three-storey constructed struc-ture is completed early and all family courts are shifted there
Pragati Patil | LAWYER
Neither the law and judici-ary department nor the
public works department appear to be serious about the need to complete the construction of the new court building as a priority
Zakir Maniyar | LAWYER
TALE OF DELAY
The space at the existing family court is not enough. Moreover, the premises, washrooms and lavatories are poorly maintained
New building of the family court in Shivajinagar
Pune: The civic body’s strug-gle to scientifically disposearound 1,700 tonne garbagethe city generates daily hasnudged the district adminis-tration and the Pune Zilla Par-ishad to look for solutions.
They will set up four gar-bage processing units inWagholi, Phursungi, NandedPhata and Lohegaon on thecity's fringes to take care ofsolid waste generated by 25villages. A single unit willprocess garbage from three tofour nearby villages. PuneMunicipal Corporation offi-cials said it will ease the pres-sure on garbage manage-ment.
An administrative officialsaid local waste processingunits in the fringes are essen-tial with a sharp rise in con-struction, population andcommercial activities. Thedistrict planning and develop-ment council (DPDC) will pro-vide some funds for the instal-lation of the processing units.Pune Zilla Parishad has float-ed tenders for a detailed pro-ject report.
At present, villages in thefringes dump solid waste asthey neither have a garbagemanagement plan nor a proc-essing unit. A senior officialsaid each processing unit willrequire 1.5 acre of land, va-cant plots are being identifiedand there has been no opposi-tion, so far. The units will alsogive additional income to thegram panchayats, he added.“Each unit will process 25tonne waste. Two separateplants to process wet and drygarbage may be set up. Op-tions are being worked out fortwo units to produce CNG byprocessing waste,” officialsaid.
Four processingunits in fringesto handle waste
Pune: The citizens can expectsome progress in the city’s longpending infrastructure pro-jects, including metro rail andairport.
The Union governmentwould conduct a special meet-ing in Delhi on Wednesdayabout the pending issues of thecity pertaining to the urban de-velopment, forest and roadministries. Saurabh Road, thecollector of Pune, said on Tues-day the meeting would be heldin Delhi in the afternoon.
While the state governmentcontinues to sit on the Punemetro proposal and experts de-bate over elevated and under-ground options, cities that hadstarted the metro bid processwith Pune have chugged ahead.
During a review of metroprojects being undertakenacross the country by the Uniongovernment in April, cities thathad initiated the metro bid withPune such as Bangalore, Chen-nai and Ahmedabad showedgood progress. Even Nagpurand Kochi, which started themetro process much later, werefar ahead of Pune.
While Kochi has completed50% work, Nagpur has finishedthe alignment of routes and isin the process of preparing abid document. The Bangaloremetro has reported physicaland financial progress of about92% and the phase I would becomplete by this December.Chennai metro's stage-I is all setfor revenue operations soon.Same is the case of other pro-jects such as Pune airport andring road. Years after the an-nouncement, these projectshave remained on the paper.
Ring road — the high capac-
ity 32.56km mass transit route(HCMTR) — was proposed inthe 1987 development plan. Butit is yet to see the light of the day.The authorities have acquiredonly 30% of the total proposedland so far and completed only60% of the markings on theroute.
The corridor will connectkey roads, including the Pune-Ahmednagar, Pune-Solapurand Karve Roads. It will passthrough 17 revenue villagesand will be used for mass trans-portation, restricting heavy ve-hicles from using city roads.
“More delay in these pro-jects will lead to financial aswell as technical problems suchas land acquisition. The deci-sion on the disputed topicsshould be taken according tothe majority and the projectsshould become a reality,” saidMaj Gen S C N Jatar (retd), thefounder of Nagarik ChetanaManch, a citizens’ group.
Meeting on urbandevelopment, metro
progress todayTIMES NEWS NETWORK PENDING PROJECTS
ä Pune Metro
ä Pune Airport
ä Alandi – Pandharpur road pilgrim project
ä Delay in Pune-Satara road, Pune - Nashik road development works
ä Ring road inclusion under National Highway Development Project
ä Inclusion of roads under National Highways :
a) Pune-Paud-Mulashi-Mangon-Dighi port road
b) Hadapsar-Saswad-Nira-Leonand-Malshiras-Velapur-Pandharpur-Mangalwedha-Chadchanroad Pune: The crime branch of the
Pune police on Monday arrest-ed one of the three men who hadassaulted and robbed a 16-year-old college student of valuablesworth Rs 37,000 near Vetal Tek-di two days ago.
Twenty-one year-old SagarChandu Pawar of Wadarwadiwas nabbed by the crimebranch (unit-I) led by inspectorRaghunath Phuge.
On Friday afternoon, Pawarand his two accomplices had at-tacked 16-year-old Vishal Gun-jal from Wadarwadi with aniron rod near Vetal Tekdi andhad robbed his gold chain andsilver bracelet worth Rs 37,000.Gunjal had mentioned Pawar’sname in the police complaint.
Phuge said that while con-ducting parallel investigations,he got a tip-off that Pawar wasat Wadarwadi. “We laid a trapand nabbed Pawar. We handedhim to the Deccan Gymkhanapolice,” he said.
The other two suspects arestill at large.
One held forrobbing
16-year-old TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Mumbai:Schools can decidetheir own holidays for Ga-neshotsav and other festivalsafter taking approval of theParents’ Teachers’ Associ-ation (PTA). The govern-ment has also suggested thatexaminations should not beheld, if necessary, so that stu-dents do not lose out in case ofabsenteeism due to festivals.
The state government onTuesday issued a govern-ment resolution outliningthe guidelines to declare ho-lidays during religious fes-tivals. This is almost a weekafter the student wing of theMNS demanded that thestate declare a five-day breakacross schools for Ganeshot-sav. “We had received de-mands for a longer break forParyushan and Eid. So wecannot make a blanket rule.Schools must take a decisiondepending on its student pop-ulation and with approvals
from the PTA,” said princi-pal secretary, school educa-tion department, Nandku-mar.
According to the GR,schools can decide about ho-lidays or any changes in theexisting schedule in PTAmeetings. Schools and educa-tion officials have to ensurethat the holidays do not ex-ceed what is prescribed un-der the Right to EducationAct, 2009. As per the RTE Act,
Eid etc.Similarly, in a situation
where students remain ab-sent for long due to these fes-tivals, the education officersmust ask schools to ensureexams are conducted on dif-ferent dates. “Many schoolswould plan exams just afterGaneshotsav and studentscould not enjoy the fest. Sothis decision will ensure thatdoesn’t happen. We will askschools to hold a PTA meet-ing at the earliest,” saidMNVS vice- president, Sud-hakar Tamboli. A team fromthe party had met the schooleducation minister onWednesday.
Schools feel that leaving itto the parents may lead toconfusion. “Parents fromvarious communities willnever be able to arrive at aconsensus as everyonewould want a vacation at adifferent time,” said Chan-drakanta Pathak, principal, HVB Academy,Marine Drive.
classes I to V must have aminimum of 200 workingdays or 800 hours and classesVI to VIII have to meet a mini-mum requirement of 220days or 1,000 hours.
The state has also direct-ed education officers to studylocal requirement and takerecommendations fromschool managements andPTAs while organizing ex-ams during Ganeshotsav, Di-wali, Prayushan, Christmas,
Schools can decide their holidaysafter consulting parents: State
[email protected] TO SHUT OR NOT TO SHUT?
Christian schools in the city will give a holiday on Friday which clubbed with the first day and the weekend, gives them a four-day break
Several schools will give a five-day break
Some schools will stick to just one holiday but not conduct any exams during the festival
MNVS has been demanding the 5-day break since 2013 claim-
ing Ganeshotsav is the most popular fest in the state and that students
visit their home-town and lose out
on academics if there are no holidays
What different schools are doing The MNVS demand
Pune: Fresh trouble is brewingin the Film and Television In-stitute of India with senior fac-ulty here questioning the di-rector's order to assess thediploma films of the 2008 batch.And it now turns out that thefaculty has taken its supportfor the students to the ministryof information and broadcast-ing and stated in a detailed let-ter the many reasons why thisis a “wrong time” to assess thefilm projects of the students.The letter even states that FTIIshould be transferred “lock,stock and barrel” to the UnionHRD ministry as education isthe “life blood of the ministry”and it understands the key ele-ments of an educational insti-tution better.
The faculty is largely unitedin its stand that assessmentsshould not be carried out in themiddle of the students’ strike,but sources said the directorPrashant Pathrabe has in-structed them to still carry outthe process. When contacted,Pathrabe refused to comment.
On Wednesday, the FTII ad-ministration had even soughtpolice help to keep students atbay during the process.
In an 11-page letter to theI&B ministry, a copy of which iswith The Times of India, facul-ty members have stated thatthe students could not beblamed for the delay in the com-pletion of their diploma pro-jects. “One can hardly blamestudents for what must be re-garded as an administrativefailure”.
The letter, which the facultyshot on Tuesday, points out themany roadblocks the 2008batch faced in completing theirproject work, including a
“flawed syllabus”.The reason the 2009 batch
could finish its projects on timewas because it was “given pri-ority over the 2008 batch” in theuse of facilities, the letternotes.
In another letter to the deanand the director, faculty mem-bers have said this is not theright time to go ahead with theassessment. “Conducting animportant work like this in thepresence of policemen will af-fect the assessment process,”the letter states. It adds that adelegation of faculty memberswould now meet the I&B minis-try to help resolve the issue.
In the letter to the ministry,faculty members have saidpoor infrastructure too de-
railed the students’ projects.Additional funds for the insti-tute were granted 11 years afterthe request was made to thePlanning Commission, then2010 was declared a zero yeardue to protests against the He-witt committee report (thathad hinted at FTII’s privatiza-tion).
Faculty members have alsonoted that they had informedthe director in March 2008 thatthe scheduled three-yearcourse may not be completed inthe stipulated time over syllab-us and curriculum concerns,but their observations were ig-nored and admissions werestill carried out.
The letter notes that an in-stitution like FTII is “but a tiny
blip on a large radar screen” forthe I&B ministry, and is regard-ed more as a media unit ratherthan an academic institution.For this reason, it is a good ideato be transferred to HRD minis-try, the letter notes. The minis-try knows faculty members, re-searchers and teachers are thecrucial groups in any educa-tional institution, the letterstates.
On directors, the letterstates: “The directors who areappointed from the civil servic-es have a primary allegiance tothe ministry and only a second-ary one to the institution thatwe call the FTII. The facultyand the staff find themselvesconstrained by the Civil Ser-vice Rules.”
Fresh conflict in FTII: Faculty not forassessments, seeks transfer to HRD
CITIZENS PREPARE FOR VACATIONS IN THAILAND,GOA FOR INDEPENDENCE DAY WEEKEND I 4
POOR PUBLIC TRANSPORT IS THE CITY’S BIGGESTDRAWBACK, SAYS DCP (TRAFFIC) SARANG AWAD I 9
Pune: Here’s why concernabout poor rainfall in the cityand the surrounding areas isturning into unease — waterin the reservoirs of the fourdams that supply drinkingwater to the city is at the low-est level recorded in the lastthree years.
On Thursday, the collec-tive stock was at 15.07 TMC,just 51% of the total 29 TMC.Around the same time duringthe monsoon season in thelast four years, storages hadcrossed the 70% mark. Thedams were full in 2013.
This year, rains were con-sistently weak through Julyin south India as well as in thesubdivisions in such as Ma-rathwada and Madhya Maha-rashtra. From July 1 till 29,the southern peninsula re-corded the highest rainfalldeficiency in the country, at46%.
There have been scantyrains in the catchment areasin July and August. Storagesin the reservoirs of Temghar,Varasgaon and Khadakwaslahave not even touched thehalf-way mark even thoughthe monsoon arrived on time.Only Panshet holds 65%stock.
Officials in the irrigationdepartment said long spellsof rain in the catchments nec-essary for accumulation ofrain water in the reservoirswere missing in July and inthe first two weeks of August.The catchments generallyregister good spells in Julyand August. However, thistime rainfall has remainedscanty. Only heavy spells willswell the water levels, offi-cials said.
Sources in the depart-ment say these dams reachtheir maximum capacitiesaround August 15. In 2011, wa-ter stock in the four dams wasat 85%, in 2012 it was at 71%,in 2013 all the dams were fullwhile in 2014 storage was at88%. This year’s storage hasbeen less by almost 10 TMCagainst last year’s 25.82 TMC.
The city lifts about 14.5TMC water annually. The ex-isting stock of 15 TMC wouldcater only to the city’s re-quirement. Authorities mayhave plan well to manage thesupply for the city and agri-culture if dams fail to fill up.
Among the four dams,Temghar has registered the
highest rainfall of about 1,609mm followed by Varasgaon1,148 mm, Panshet 1,147 mmand Khadakwasla 382 mm.
Meanwhile, the irrigationdepartment will release wa-ter through the Mutha canalto rural parts for the kharifcrops till the next week. Thedepartment has planned therelease of about 2.5 TMC wa-ter during the ongoing rota-tion which will fill up pondsand water sources that sup-ply water to smaller townslike Indapur and Daund.
City-based Sajag NagrikManch (SNM) has said thatthe Pune Municipal Corpora-tion should start releasing 6.5TMC treated water for agri-culture which will bringdown the additional burdenof sharing of the water in thedams and help the city drawadditional water.
Vivek Velankar of themanch said technical hurdleshave been cleared in treatingand release of used water.The administration shouldwork on priority failingwhich there would be a crisisin water management, headded.
Girish Bapat callsfor meeting
Poor water stock in the damshas prompted guardian min-
ister GirishBapat to callfor a meetingnext week to re-view the waterstock in thedams and de-
cide about the supply for thecity and agriculture.
Bapat said he has askedthe irrigation department toreserve 15 TMC water in thedams for the city’s require-ment. Additional water flow-ing into the reservoirs is be-ing released into the Muthacanal for kharif crops, hesaid.
Officials of the state irri-gation department, Pune Mu-nicipal Corporation andMLAs will attend the meet-ing.
Bapat said they were mon-itoring dam levels and thegovernment will ensure thecity gets enough water. Thereare plans to save about twoTMC additional water for thecity by releasing treated wa-ter for agriculture throughthe baby canal, he added.
Long Spells Of Rain NeededTo Fill Reservoirs: Officials
Water stock in dams lowest in 3 years Sarang.Dastane
@timesgroup.com
Pune: The Pune MunicipalCorporation (PMC) has no con-tingency plan to tackle a watercrisis if the monsoon gets anyworse and the reservoirs ofdams providing water to cityare not full to their capacity.
Since 2009, the civic bodyhas taken no action on the planto tackle water crises if themonsoon is delayed or fails.That year, when the rains al-most dried up mid-July, guard-ian minister Ajit Pawar hadannounced 30% water cuts inPune and 20% in Pimpri-Chinchwad to tide over thepossible shortage.
Under special measures,the civic body planned to digfive bore wells in each of the144 wards in the city. Everyward was to get 20 water tanks,each with a capacity of 1,000litres. There were plans to uti-lize the existing 399 wells and4,820 bore wells in the city if thewater shortage escalated.Over the years, the plan surfac-
es if there are signs of a badmonsoon and promptly putaway once the reservoirs arefull.
The civic body has also ne-glected private wells, anothersource of water. It has not tak-en any steps to identify theavailable wells so that it canstart supplying water throughtankers. Experts have saidthere was a need to carry outtests and certify the water fordrinking purpose.
The city'sgroundwater lev-el is high, but un-fortunately about75% of this water reserve iscontaminated, says a studyconducted by a city-basedtrust, which blamed the PuneMunicipal Corporation (PMC)for not making enough effortsto judiciously use this valuablesource of drinking water.
The Gomukh Environmen-tal Trust's detailed study sug-gests that Pune has enoughgroundwater reserve to meetat least 10% of the city's annual
requirement. “Every timePune faces a water shortage, apublic discussion is held onsurface water augmentationlike demanding a larger sharefrom the Khadakwasla damsystem or importing waterfrom Bhama-Askhed damsince surface water and itsshortages are visible.
“Groundwater is ignoredand even neglected because itis out of sight, and therefore,out of mind," said Vijay Para-
njpye, chairmanof Gomukh Envi-ronmental Trust.
Meanwhile,the demand for additional wa-ter quota is still on paper. Ev-ery year, the city's water quotais reserved till July 15. Consid-ering the experience of thepast few years, the PMC has re-peatedly asked the state to re-serve the yearly water quotatill August 31, but the state irri-gation department is unwill-ing to provide any additionalquota to the city.
Municipal commissioner
Kunal Kumar recently toldTOI that water was cause forconcern.
“Water is one area wherePune needs to find solution ve-ry fast. We are not one of thosecities which has a long-termprojection for water supply. Al-though we are comfortable ev-ery year in getting the amountof water we need, we must findsmart solution in the watersector. To think that we will getmore and more sources of wa-ter by building big pipelines toget water into the city is actual-ly going to be difficult and ex-pensive,” he had said.
Using technologies for au-diting leakages and replacingold pipes with new pipes willhelp. “Management of non-revenue water which gets lostin the system is a must. Withuse of these technologies wewill be able increase our wateravailability for the next 7-12years. One has to work on wa-ter sources, but managing wa-ter and its distribution is also amust,” he added.
PMC flounders as another crisis looms TIMES NEWS NETWORK
NO CONTIGENCYPLAN IN SIGHT
Pune: Scientists at the city-based National Chemical Lab-oratory (NCL) have found amore environment-friendlysolution for household and bigGanapati idols made fromplaster of Paris that are takenfor immersion on Anant Cha-turdashi.
The liquid solution called‘Jal Abhishek’, for sentiments’sake, can dissolve the idols andthe residue can be used as a fer-tilizer. Pune Municipal Corpo-ration can thus ensure thatidols handed over at hundredsof immersion tanks are dis-posed of with dignity.
Five idols were immersedin the solution and they dis-solved in an hour at a recenttrial in Kasba Vishrambaugward office. Mayor DattareyaDhankawde, civic officials andnearly 100 representatives ofGanapati mandals were pre-sent.
According to NCL officials,asolution made of ammoniumbicarbonate, a common risingagent used by bakeries, candissolve idols made of plasterof Paris (PoP) which wouldproduce sludge and calciumsulphate, a widely used fertil-izer.
“About 20% ammonium bi-carbonate, in the powder form,will be dissolved in water tomake this solution. Plaster ofParis is made of gypsum andwill react withthis solution toform calciumsulphate which can be used asa fertilizer and sludge or calci-um carbonate that can makechalk,” said senior NCL scien-tist Shubhangi Umbarkar.
The focus was on using achemical which would notharm the environment. “Weexperimented with baking so-da which is sodium bicarbo-nate, but sodium sulphate, theby-product, was unusable,”added Umbarkar.
The project is the effort ofone and half years, involvingthe Pune Municipal Corpora-tion (PMC), Cummins Indiaand the NCL to stop pollutionof the city’s water bodies onimmersion day. After lastyear’s Ganeshotsav, over threelakh idols were immersed inrivers and tanks, according tocivic officials.
“We had been trying to
identify a bio-degradable ma-terial to make idols in order tosave our environment and ourwater bodies. However, thelimited availability of theidentified raw material chal-lenged us to look for a moresustainable solution. Throughefforts from NCL scientists, wehave a solution to dissolve PoP.The liquid generated from theprocess can directly be used towater the city’s green spacesand the solid can be used tomake chalk,” said S Ravichan-dran, head of corporate re-
sponsibility,CumminsGroup in India
The civic body will have apilot project for this year, Sure-sh Jagtap, head of the solidwaste management at PMC,said. “We will take it to the peo-ple so that there is increasedacceptance among Ganeshmandals.”
“Our efforts have bornefruit. It will be presented be-fore the standing committeeand the cost and other factorswill be worked out. The civicbody will transport idols fromthe tanks to the centralizedplace where the process will befollowed,” said Ketaki Ghadge,medical officer at PMC.
Mahesh Suryawanshi,treasurer, Dagdusheth HalwaiGanapati Mandal said, “We en-courage the use of eco-friendlyGanapati idols, but will nowspread awareness about thissolution.”
Scientists findgreen solutionfor PoP idols [email protected] IMMERSION
OPTIONS
ä Last year, over three lakh idols were immersed in rivers and tanks
ä ‘Jal Abhishek’ can dissolve the idols and the residue can be used as a fertilizer
ä Liquid generated can be used to water the green spaces and the solid residue can be used to make chalk
DOUBLE BENEFIT
GROUND SITUATION ä Rusted water supply lines that require repairs
STATUS: No steps taken, water wastage continues
ä A system to control water supply
STATUS: There is no system in place
ä No mechanism to calculate water usage
STATUS: The proposal is pending
ä The PMC has no maps of old water pipeline network
STATUS: No efforts taken
ä Average daily water supply in the city 195 litres/person
ä Central areas receive water at an average of 300 litres/person
ä Fringe and suburban areas get 50 litres/person
SUPPLYä The much-awaited 24x7 water supply plan is likely to gain momentum
ä The sewage treatment capacity of the PMC may go up substantially once the infrastructure to recycle waste water is in place at Mundhwa
ä BhamaAskhed project will be completed as soon as possible
PROMISES
THE CITY’S GROUNDWATER LEVEL IS HIGH, BUT UNFORTUNATELY ABOUT
75% OF THIS WATER RESERVE IS CONTAMINATED, SAYS A STUDY CONDUCTED BY A CITY-BASED TRUST
Pic: Shyam Sonar
KHADAKWASLA LAKE LAST WEEK
Pune:The agitating students of the Film and Tel-evision Institute of India (FTII) on Thursday saidthey hoped President Pranab Mukherjee will takean initiative to resolve their issues after Congressvice-president Rahul Gandhi and other partymembers met him on Thursday.
A nine-member delegation led by Rahul Gand-hi met Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bha-van on Thursday morning, briefed himon the FTII issue and submitted a memo-randum seeking his intervention andimmediate action to “ensure that publicinstitutions are not made captive to theviewpoints of a few organizations and individuals, and that their autono-my and credibility are restored immedi-ately.”
In a statement, the striking FTII stu-dents said: “We hope that the President will inter-vene in our issue and take an initiative to resolveit.” They also appealed to other parliamentariansto help resolve the issue in a more democraticfashion. The students have been on strike for 64days now.
The memorandum has been signed by MPs Ra-hul Gandhi, Raj Babbar, Veerappa Moily, KumariSelja, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Ranjeet Ranjan, Ash-ok Chavan, K C Venugopal and National Students'Union of India (NSUI) president Roji John.
A source in Rahul’s office said the Presidenthas agreed to consider the concerns put up.
Rahul had visited FTII campus on July 31 andhad assured the students that he will raise the is-
sue in the Parliament. However, he didnot bring up the issue in the Parliament.
The memorandum submitted to thePresident stated that Gajendra Chau-han was under-qualified in terms ofboth academic experience and body ofwork compared to his predecessors. Italso stated that repeated attempts madeby students to initiate dialogue with thegovernment were denied and the stu-dents had no choice but to go on strike.
Earlier in the day, Rahul had told the media,“This is not about one individual. It's about thesoft power of India-the creativity & merit of ouryouth. I want to send a message to the students ofFTII that they are fighting a very important fightfor the soul of this country.”
Rahul takes student issues to Prez [email protected]
TIMES CITY* THE TIMES OF INDIA, PUNE | FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2015
TIMES CITYTHE TIMES OF INDIA, PUNE | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2015
SKIPPING BREAKFAST HURTS HEALTH IN URBANCOLLEGE-GOING GIRLS, FINDS VARSITY STUDY | 4
TURF WAR SIMMERS: TWO CABS WAITINGOUTSIDE PUNE RAILWAY STATION DAMAGED | 5
Pune: It has been 11 dayssince the irrigation depart-ment asked the Pune Munici-pal Corporation (PMC) to im-pose immediate water cuts toavoid severe crisis in the fu-ture. But the politicos and thecivic authorities are passingthe buck on each other as noone wants to take an unpop-ular decision.
Guardian minister GirishBapat wants the PMC to take acall, but the PMC administra-tion is waiting for a go aheadfrom mayor Dattatraya Dhan-kawade, who is out of coun-try.
On August22, the irriga-tion depart-ment made adetailed pre-sentation before the canalcommittee, which is headedby Bapat, and urged it to takean immediate call on cuttingthe city’s supply. However, Ba-pat and other elected mem-bers deferred a decision with-out giving any substantialreason.
Dhankawade’s support-ers in the ruling NCP saidthat no decision should betaken in the mayor’s absence.
But deputy mayor Aba Ba-gul of the Congress had a dif-ferent view. “The administra-tion should not wait till themayor returns. The situationis worsening and if we con-tinue to delay (water cuts),the city may have to suffer inthe next few months. I havemade a written appeal to themunicipal commissioner toimpose cuts immediately,”said Bagul, who asked the civ-ic administration to takeproactive steps to tide over
the crisis. “The administra-tion need not wait for any-one’s orders. Also, the politi-cal class must show someseriousness on this issue,”said Bagul.
Ironically, Congress lead-ers in the PMC are against Ba-gul’s suggestions. They saidthe deputy mayor was takingthe initiative only to gain“credit” and “publicity”. ButBagul denied the charge andsaid his detractors shouldhave come forward to offer asolution.
The ruling NCP is notready to take the blame. “Theguardian minister is at thehelm of affairs. Girish Bapatshould have taken a call onthe matter immediately afterthe irrigation departmentwarned of an impending wa-ter crisis. During his tenureas guardian minister, Ajit Pa-war made quick decisions. Asa result, the city managed to
overcome asimilar watercrisis in thepast,” saidNCP city chiefand Rajya
Sabha MP Vandana Chavan. Chavan said the mayor
has already submitted a letterto Bapat asking him to decideon implementing water cuts.The PMC will abide by Ba-pat’s decision, she added.
“In my opinion, Bapat isnot serious about the crisisand his dilly-dallying ap-proach will cost the city heav-ily in the months to come,”the NCP city chief added.
Meeting today Pune municipal commission-er Kunal Kumar told mediapersons on Wednesday thathe was planning to call ameeting of civic officials andelected members to decide onthe contentious issue. “Themeeting will be called on lateWednesday night or onThursday. We will discuss thepresent storage situation inreservoirs and decide on wa-ter cuts,” said Kumar.
Expect VerdictToday, SaysCivic Chief
Politicians play blame game as PMCpostpones decision on water cuts
Pune: The Pune MunicipalCorporation’s (PMC) plan totrack water tankers usingthe global positioning sys-tem (GPS) to prevent diver-sion of drinking water forcommercial purposes is yetto take off, as the civic bodyhas not appointed the staffrequired to monitor thetankers.
Civic activists have beencalling for GPS-fitted tank-ers since 2012, when watercuts owing to an erraticmonsoon led to a surge in de-mand for drinking watertankers, especially from thecity’s fringe areas. Activistshave said that in the absenceof a monitoring system, thecorporation has no way offinding out whether watertankers meant for commoncitizens are being misused.
This year, too, the city isstaring at prolonged watercuts because of deficientrainfall, and demand for wa-ter tankers is bound to rise.
“We had directed alltanker owners to install GPSin their tankers, withoutwhich they would not be al-lowed to operate. Most of thetanker owners have followedthe orders. Now, the processof appointing staff to manthe tanker-filling points isunder way. These employeeswill also monitor the tank-ers and will have to betrained to handle the GPSmechanism,” V G Kulkarni,head of the PMC’s water de-partment, told TOI.
PMC has around 80 watertankers, including those op-erated by private contrac-tors appointed to supple-ment the corporation’s ownfleet. “The civic body owns16 water tankers, all ofwhich have GPS,” Kulkarnisaid.
Activists have demandedthat the work of hiring thestaff be expedited. “Thisyear’s poor rainfall will leadto more demand for tankers.
GPS monitoring shouldstart with immediate ef-fect,” said Vivek Velankar,founder of a citizens’ groupSajag Nagrik Manch.
The organisation hadearlier also complained thatfour of the seven tanker-fill-ing stations did not haveproper metering systems.Kulkarni, however, has saidthat the metering systemhas now been upgraded.
GPS tracking oftankers awaits
monitoring staff PrasadKulkarni
@timesgroup.com
Pune: A 22-year-old stu-dent from Beed district whowas preparing for theUnion Public Service Com-mission (UPSC) examin-ation in the city allegedlyhanged himself from theceiling of his room in Datta-wadi area on Wednesday af-ternoon.
The Dattawadi policehave identified the de-ceased as Vishal BhagwatMunde. Police said primafacie investigations haverevealed Munde ended hislife as he could not bear thepressure of the examin-ation.
“We did not find anynote on him or in his room,”said an officer from the Dat-tawadi police station.
The police said Mundehad come to the city aroundfour months ago to prepare
for UPSC exam. He wasstaying in a rented room inGurukrupa society in Dat-tawadi with three others.
“On Wednesday morn-ing, Munde and his friendswent to a study centre.Munde returned to hisroom around 11.30am forlunch. After some time,when his friends came tothe room, they found himhanging from the ceiling,”the police officer said.
The police officer saidMunde was rushed to anearby hospital, where hewas declared dead.
One of Munde’s room-mates said Munde is sur-vived by his parents and ayounger brother. “His fa-ther is an autorickshawdriver. Munde had complet-ed his graduation and BEd.He wanted to become thedistrict collector,” theroommate said.
UPSC studentcommits suicide
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Pune: Minister of state forinformation and broadcast-ing (I&B) RajyavardhanRathore has conveyed toFTII director Prashant Path-rabe that he is willing tomeet the students who havebeen on strike for the last 83days to resolve the issue. Theminister last met some stu-dent representatives on July3 in New Delhi.
The students on Tuesdayhad written to Rathore seek-ing fresh talks to end the im-passe.
“The students have beentold to revise their demands.Rathore has not said wheth-er he will come to the FTIIcampus or student represen-tatives will be called to Del-hi,” a source in the FTII ad-ministration said.
Pathrabe, who is in Delhito meet I&B officials, did nottake calls but his office con-firmed that Rathore was in-terested in meeting the stu-dents.
“The director informedus on Tuesday evening thatthe minister has agreed tomeet us. But we have got nowritten intimation,” saidFTII students’ associationpresident Harishankar Na-chimuthu.
Meanwhile, the S MKhan-led delegation hassubmitted its report on theFTII to the I&B ministry, butthe latter refused to give de-tails of the findings.
“The delegation submit-ted the report on Tuesdaynight. The ministry officialsand Rathore will look at thereport. We cannot divulgethe recommendations madeby the delegation at thispoint of time as the findingswill have a wider impact,” aministry source said.
The three-member dele-gation had visited FTII onAugust 21 to assess the
ground reality and talk tothe agitating students andother stakeholders to findsolutions to resolve the is-sue.
Following the visit, thedelegation sought three ex-tensions to prepare its re-port.
A delegation membersaid they have done their joband it was up to the ministryto share the details of the re-port.
“We have been patientlywaiting for the findings ofthe report for the last 10days,” FTII students’ repre-sentative Vikas Urs said.
“The ministry shouldconsider that our time is pre-cious and each passing dayis just adding to our pain andanguish. The administra-tion has also denied givingus a copy of the minutes orthe video recordings of ourmeeting with the three-member delegation. Thereneeds to be some transpar-ency.”
Ready to meetFTII students,says Rathore
Chief accounting officer atthe FTII Ujjawala Dhekne
on Wednesday said thoughthe institute follows theGovernment AccountingRules, 1990, there is no waythe administration or theministry can calculate theexpenditure incurred on eachstudent.
“The ministry calculatedthe expenses according tothe grants they give anddivided it by the number ofstudents. That’s theirperspective. But there is noset rule to calculate theexpenditure,” she said.
The I&B ministry hadearlier said it incurs Rs 12lakh on each student at theinstitute.
‘Calculating perstudent expenditureis impossible’
Pune: From campaigning for20 years against immersingGanesh idols in rivers, to itsrole as a pressure group now,Maharashtra Andhashradd-ha Nirmulan Samiti has donemuch to save water bodies.
Along the way, the samiti’sfounder Narendra Dabholkarhas been criticized by peoplewho claimed he was “interfer-ing” with religion. Religiousgroups have opposed the sam-iti with the argument that thecity has abundant water andthere was little to worry aboutits availability or pollution.
Today, when a drought islooming large over the stateand every drop of watercounts, MANS members willact as watchdogs.
“Our members will standat ‘visarjan ghats’ coaxingpeople to donate the idols tothem insteadof immersingthem. Wefought courtcases and forced the state to is-sue directions. Now, there arecourt rulings. The pollutioncontrol board has issued gui-delines to civic bodies to en-sure that idols are not im-mersed in the rivers or in anywater body. This time, we will
save the water bodies frompollution. We will continue toappeal to people not to im-merse the idols in water bod-ies that are drinking sources.Instead, they should donateor immerse them in makesh-ift tanks constructed by thecivic bodies,” said AvinashPatil.
Ganesh idols made fromPlaster of Paris do not de-grade easily. The colours con-tain toxic chemicals like leadand mercury. The dumping ofGanesh idols block the flow ofwater which leads to stagna-tion and breeding of mosqui-toes and other harmful pests,the organisation said.
not collect idols. Instead, wewill watch if the local bodiesfollow these directives,” saidMANS executive presidentAvinash Patil.
The samiti will write tomunicipal commissioners toensure that civic bodies ar-
range forsmall tempo-rary watertanks for im-
mersion and encourage idoldonations. The day Dabhol-kar was shot dead on August20, 2013, he was going to an-nounce a slew of measures foran environment-friendly Ga-neshotsav.
“The local bodies must
MANS will switch to watchdog [email protected]
TAKING DABHOLKAR’SLEGACY FORWARD
Pune: The civic administra-tion has formed a flying squadto check water leakages in thecity and take action against ci-tizens, who are found wastingwater. Water connections willbe disconnected if anyone isfound to misuse water, saidPMC officials.
Civic officials said that thefour dams — Khadakwasla,Temghar, Varasgaon and Pan-shet — have a stock of around14 TMC. It is less than half ofthe cumulative capacity of thedams, which is more than 29TMC. The announcement ofwater cuts is expected in a dayor two. The city will get once-a-day supply.
The city gets around 1,250MLD water every day. Afterimplementing cuts, the citywill get 1,100 MLD water. Onan average, the city's monthlyconsumption is around 1.25TMC, which will be reduced to1 TMC. The city was getting800 MLD water when alter-nate-day supply was in place.
During the rain-deficientJune last year, the PMC hadimposed once-a-day watersupply. The water cuts were in-creased in July when the sit-uation worsened.
Flying squad to check misuse ofwater, take action against offenders
File photoWATER CUTS TODAY
To report wastagen (020)2550 1383 or (020)2550 1386
n SNDT (020)2550 1675
n Swargate (020)2550 8150, (020)2550 8163, (020)2550 8189
n Bund garden (020)2612 1453
n Cantonment (020)2550 6070
Water supply in most parts of the city will be affected on Thursday due to repair work. Supply will resume late Friday morning with low pressure, a press statement issued by the PMC said
n Warje/SNDT water works | Bhusari Colony, Shastrinagar, Bavdhan, Bhugaon Road, Sus Road, Baner, Balewadi, Pashan, Warje highway, Karve Road, Erandawane, Deccan, Jaibhavaninagar, Sutardara, Dahanukar Colony, Gandhi Bhavan, MahatmaSociety, Warje, Model Colony, Law College Road, Gokhalenagar, Bhonsalenagar, Aundh, Bopodi and Khadki
n Wadgaon water works | Sinhagad Road, Hingne, Wadgaon, Dhayari, Dhankawdi, Katraj, Anandnagar, Ambegaon Pathar, Santoshnagar, Kondhwa Budruk and Dattanagar areas
n Parvati water works | All the ‘Peth’ areas, Dattawadi, Rajendranagar, Lokmanyanagar, Deccan, Shivajinagar, Swargate, Parvati Darshan, Mukundnagar, Parvati village, Sahakarnagar, Satara Road, Bibvewadi, Taljai, Katraj, Dhankawdi and Indiranagar
n Cantonment water works | Pune Cantonment, Pune station, Koregaon Park, Tadiwala Road, Race course, Kondhwa, Hadapsar, Mundhwa, Yerawada, Vishrantwadi, Kalyaninagar, Wadagaonsheri, Chandannagar, Solapur Road, Gondhalenagar and Satavwadi
n New Holkar water works | Ahmednagar Road areas, Vimannagar, Dhanori, Kalas, Khadki and Vidyanagar
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Pune: In a lean monsoon sea-son, austerity measures inusing water for immersion ofGanesh idols, are in order.
People who take thou-sands of idols to the riversthat run through the city andPimpri Chinchwad and toother water bodies canchoose to go with Pune Mu-nicipal Corporation and Na-tional Chemical Laborato-ry’s (NCL) ‘green alternative’.
The ‘Jal-Abhishek’, a liq-uid solution the NCL hascome up with, can dissolveidols made of Plaster of Paris(PoP), leaving a re-usable fer-tilizer and sludge.
This may save the city'swater bodies from being pol-luted further and save the wa-ter in the reservoirs whichare just half full.
“Normally, people im-merse idols after the festivalin flowing water, but whenthis is not available, idols areimmersed in stagnant waterand disintegration does nottake place and pollutants ac-cumulate,” said Mohan Don-gare, former NCL scientistand director of research anddevelopment at Mojj Engi-neering.
The solution helps dis-
solve around 200 small PoPidols in three hours. The rawmaterials are cheap and wa-ter is used in lesser quanti-ties, said Dongare.
“A 20% solution of ammo-nium bicarbonate will beused __ for one kg of ammoni-um bicarbonate, five litres ofwater will be added whichcan dissolve one kg of PoPidol to form ammonium sul-phate – a fertilizer and calci-um carbonate,” he explained.
The project was startedlast year, but the results werevisible this August when var-ious mandals were showndemonstrations.
“The idols, the paint and
nirmalya (floral offerings)pollute water bodies and ad-ditional water has to be usedto wash them off,” added anMPCB official.
Vivek Velankar, presidentSajag Nagrik Manch, said ev-ery year, almost 2TMC waterhas to be released from Kha-dakwasla dam for immer-sion. Instead, this could beused for two months fordrinking water needs.
He said the initiative hadcome just when people havebegun to understand the val-ue of water. “Perceptionshave to change. The immer-sion at our place is in a bucketand the idol is put away for
use for the next year,” he add-ed.
Col (retd) Shashikant Dal-vi, a rainwater harvesting ex-pert, said, “Reservoirs arenow filled with silt. Also, therains may withdraw by Sep-tember 15. As such every dropcounts. Big Ganapati man-dals should take the initiativeand evangelize this conceptso that people realize theirrole in saving water and theenvironment.”
Dalvi added that thoughthis ‘dissolving’ methodthrough Jal Abhishek mayhave slow acceptance, peopleshould be encouraged tomove to ‘shadu’ or clay idolsfrom PoP which forms muchof the city’s idols every year.
The Dagdusheth HalwaiGanapati mandal is takingthe technique to the people.“We are working with othermandals and holding work-shops with schools to spreadthe message. The acceptancewill increase and maybe nextyear or the year after, immer-sion will require very less wa-ter,” said Mahesh Suryawan-shi, treasurer of the trust.
Since most PoP idolswhich are immersed aresmaller, home idols, the mess-age has to reach common peo-ple, he added. A banner at themandal during the festivalwill take it to the people.
This immersion, NCL’s solutionfor Ganesh idols has its appeal [email protected]
EVERY DROPCOUNTS
The civic administrationplans to install a tracking
system in all vehicles used bythe solid waste managementdepartment to monitor thetime garbage is collected anddisposed. In the second phaseof the project, vehicles used byother civic departments willalso be fitted with GPS.
The administration had setaside Rs 1 crore for this. Apartfrom 16 water tankers, thePMC has 997 vehicles inseparate depots, which areused by the solid wastemanagement, health, watersupply and otherdepartments. The solid wastemanagement department has475 garbage-lifting vehicles.Vehicles of political leadersand senior officials are alsomaintained at these depots.
Citizens and activists haverepeatedly complained aboutwasteful use of PMC-ownedvehicles that have beenallocated to civicdepartments, officials andpeople’s representatives.
Tracking system forgarbage trucks soon
Almost all tanker owners havefitted their vehicles with GPS
File photo
Sharma, along with otherfilmmakers, was curatingthe FTII films package too.
Sharma said this is forthe first time that the FD hascancelled the screening offilms made by FTII students.“FD even screens filmswhich do not have the censorboard's certificate,” she said.
The screenings have nowbeen shifted to a private au-ditorium in Prabhadevi inMumbai.
Three short films madeby the FTII students, basedon their agitation, were to bescreened at the FD on Friday.A five-minute documentaryon the agitation, ‘Strike: Day70’, based on a song, was alsobe screened. The documen-tary has been made by film-maker Anand Patwardhanand Simantini Dhuru.
Students said cancellingthe screening just confirmstheir fears about govern-
mental control. “FD is a hubwhere cinema is discussedand learnt. We have not beentold about the reasons for notscreening our films. Foryears, FTII films have beenscreened at the FD and nowthe government is controll-ing that too. The films whichwere to be screened on Fri-day were just students’ per-spectives and did not evenspeak directly about thestrike,” said FTII alumnusYashasvi Mishra.
Students’ filmsdenied screeningContinued from Page 1
The screenings have beenshifted to a private audi-torium in Mumbai.
File photo
While the NCP wants guardianminister Girish Bapat to
decide on imposingwater cuts, Bapatshot back sayingthe PMC shouldtake a call in thematter. “The
availability of drinking water inPune’s reservoirs is much better
TMC water. This quota is sufficientto meet the city’s drinking waterneeds for a year. But this does notmean that we can continue withthe existing twice a day supply. Ihave asked the municipalcommissioner to call a meeting ofconcerned officers and electedmembers to decide on thematter.”
Bapat said that a cut in supply isunavoidable. “The PMC will decideon providing once a day oralternate day supply. Now, there isno question of providing damwater for irrigation. As per thestate’s water policy, the firstpriority is given for drinking,” hesaid, denying the charges leveledagainst him by the NCP chief.
when compared with the situationin other parts of the state, butcitizens will still have to makejudicious use of water. The PuneMunicipal Corporation has beenasked to impose water cuts,” saidBapat. Speaking to TOI on Wednesday,Bapat said, “Dams providing waterto city are holding about 14-15
Guardian minister calls for careful use of resource
The Dagdusheth HalwaiGanapati Trust has formeda group called Ganesh
Vyaspeeth along with othermandals and is spreadingawareness among 1,000mandals. The cost of the pilotproject used to demonstratehow Jal Abhishek works was Rs1.5 lakh. The pilot plant coulddissolve five small idols at atime. Engineering and designwas done by Mojj engineering,technical know-how led by NCLand research and fundingassistance by Cumminscorporate responsibility arm
IN THE LOOP
The new method may alsohelp cut down on dam water discharge into the river
File photo
