NIT eyes 1,400 Crores from centre

Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) has submitted a Rs 1,400 crore city improvement plan (CIP) to the central government under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

NIT chairman Dr Sanjay Mukherjee said that the plan has been submitted through Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) as NIT has not signed a tripartite agreement with the state and central governments which is mandatory for availing JNNURM funds. NMC had signed this agreement in 2005.

Mukherjee said that 40% of the city area within municipal limits, including the regularised unauthorised layouts, is under the jurisdiction of NIT. With growing population and ageing infrastructure the civic facilities need an upgradation.

Proposals under seven heads worth Rs 1,402.60 crore have been submitted under JNNURM. These seven heads are: water supply, sewerage, storm water drains, roads, street lighting, amenities (like parking, assembly halls and open spaces) and slum development under BSUP. The projects are spread over a period of four years from 2008 to 2011.

The share of NIT in these projects would be Rs 415.68 crore. The Central share would be Rs 643.56 crore while that of the state government would be Rs 279.66 crore. Parking lots and assembly halls would be developed through public-private partnership basis.

Mukherjee feels that NIT can afford to spend Rs 415 crore in four years for JNNURM works. He further said that in the first year, that is 2008, NIT plans to spend a total of Rs 322.90 crore for undertaking various projects under the programme.

The chairman said that tenders worth Rs 34 crore have been invited for integrated slum infrastructure development under BSUP. Work orders worth Rs 26.55 crore have been issued while those worth Rs 7 crore have been completed. Detailed project reports of the other projects are being prepared.

Commenting on the stalled Mayo modernisation project, Mukherjee said that NIT was awaiting the decision of the high-powered committee constituted by the state government.

Some issues remain to be resolved. NIT wants 6.25 acre of Medical Education and Drugs Department (MEDD) land at Ajni. But the latter is ready to give only 5 acres. Even the possession of these five acres has not been given to NIT.

Today; 438 Crorepatis ( $ Double Millionaries) in Nagpur

 Inflation is up and so is the number of crorepatis in Orange City. From just a handful about ten years ago, the figure has now grown to 438. The rise is not only phenomenal but startling too.

And if the statistics is anything to go by, the city has outpaced other metros in terms of rise in number of billionaires. It stands sixth in terms of crorepatis in the country. Interestingly, Nagpur is being considered as the second-fastest developing city after Chandigarh.

Though the figure may look paltry when compared to Delhi’s 5,085 or Mumbai’s 4,439 crorepatis, the rise in these metros has been not as meteoric as is the case with Nagpur.

Who has not heard of the famous Crorepati Galli in the Civil Lines area? It houses over a dozen crorepatis, including the Sharmas of Baidyanath and Pendharkars of Vicco group. Now crorepatis are sprouting in other areas of the city too.

The billionaire figure shows how the city has been changing fast and is an emerging business destination. More importantly, the city has the highest growth rate of millionaires in India. In 2002, there were 10, 417 households with an annual in-come of over Rs 10 lakh in Nagpur as against 1,199 in 1996. This translates into a 770% growth in merely six years.

In comparison, the number of millionaires has only doubled in New Delhi in the same period. According to the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), Mumbai (319%) and Delhi (274%) were the third and second slowest, respectively, in terms of growth of crorepatis among the ten major metros.

Pradip Ganguly, a city planner and divisional engineer of Nagpur Improvement Trust says, “The city is very peaceful, where extortion, kidnapping and threat from mafia are rare. It also enjoys a good location, infrastructure and quality life, better healthcare and good education, drawing several businessmen from Orissa and neighbouring Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh to set up their businessess.”

‘Devpt changing
crorepati demographics’

Prosun Chakraborty | tnn

NAGPUR: The setting up of the international airport, and the planned cargo hub and Boeing unit at Nagpur have changed the demographic of the city dramatically. Also, the city has grown two-fold in the last five years, says Pravin Ganguly, city planner and divisional engineer of Nagpur Improvement Trust.

This has led to tremendous hike in the real estate in the city and the neighbouring areas too. Besides its logistical importance, the city provides good quality life, better infrastructure, uninterrupted water supply, wide roads, better educational scope and good health care.

N Kumar of N Kumar Group, one of the crorepaties, agrees that the city is developing very fast. However, according to him, the crorepatis have been increasing because of rise in prices of properties in the city. “A property worth around Rs 10 lakh in Nagpur a few years ago is at least a crore of rupees now,” said Kumar.

One crorepati, who shifted from Raipur a few years ago, feels that Nagpur is the future city of central India.

“Facilities apart, the city has an advantage of providing skilled and technical personnel which industrialists and businessmen often do not get in other parts in neighbouring states,” he added. “Despite all these advantages, successive state governments have ignored the city.”

Daily flight to Dubai from Nagpur

At a time when air turbine fuel (ATF) costs are rising, leading to higher fares and poorer load factor on most sectors, JetLite has brought some cheer to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport. The private air carrier has plans to start operations on the Dubai route from Nagpur from October.

Jet Airways, which operates JetLite, and offers domestic flights on Mumbai and Delhi route is planning to launch the daily operations to Dubai from Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport during winter schedule this year.

Recently, Jet Airways had discontinued its evening flight to Mumbai while JetLite discontinued flights to Delhi.

At that time Jet had said it would introduce flights on the Nagpur-Pune sector six days in a week, except Saturdays, from August 1. The Dubai flights would start from October as the airline is busy planning timings and slots at airports.

Beware: Bogus land deals in Nagpur

Nagpur뭩 erstwhile royal family, the Bhonsles, who are seeing their family silver auctioned for a tax liability of just Rs 2 crore, may have lost land worth about Rs 500 crore to scamsters in the last few years. This might be revealed to be the biggest land scam of the region so far.

The Bhonsles have alleged that land worth a mind-boggling Rs 500 crore had changed hands on the basis of bogus No Objection Certificates (NOCs) issued by petty clerk Surendrakumar Mudholkar in connivance with greedy developers. Mudholkar was recently arrested for having opened a bogus bank account in preparation of siphoning off the auction money of Bhonsla wealth.The lands thus sold include a prime 20 acre patch situated on Wardha Road near Somalwada where such NOC was issued just 10 months ago. According to leading property dealers, this 8.92 lakh sq ft land can fetch around Rs 180 crore, even by a conservative rate of Rs 2000 per sq ft. Similarly, a piece of 70-acre land at Mankapur whose present cost is pegged at Rs 350 crore by realty market, was sold on the basis of bogus NOC issued by Mudholkar and officials of Court of Wards. A visibly angry Raje Raghuji Raje Bhonsle V, the legal heir of Senior Bhonsla Estate, lashed out at the Court of Wards for mismanaging the affairs of Bhonsla Estate and for issuing bogus NOCs, keeping the rightful owners in dark. 밒nstead of managing our property, officials of the Court of Wards had connived with the greedy developers and sold our precious lands,?a fuming Raje Raghuji told The Hitavada. Owners of 229 villages in Nagpur division and 1.43 lakh acre land, the Bhonsle family has been forced to run from pillar to post to get bare details of their own property even while an unholy nexus of developers-Court of Wards officials quietly disposed of their property, the royal family lamented. Some 15 years ago, 40 acre land at Sonegaon, was sold using similar modus operandi, he alleged. Questioning the veracity of NOCs and royal seals appeared on these NOCs, Raje Raghuji explained that all the stamps and royal seals were kept in safe custody of district treasury under double lock and room was sealed. Suspecting involvement of some 밷ig fish?and 뱕ery influential person,?Raje Bhonsle alleged complicity of officials and claimed that either duplicate keys were provided to Mudholkar by the 뱑eal master mind?or officials themselves misused the seals to grant NOCs to applicants. 밒ronically, nobody bothered to inform us about these transactions,?Bhonsle claimed. Who were the vendors and vendee? Where are the documents claiming ownership over property vested under Court of Wards? And just what mechanism was adopted to issue NOCs, Bhonsle asked while alleging foul play and demanded a CID inquiry to unearth this massive land scam. He is determined to expose the real beneficiaries who had earned hundreds of crores. Repeated complaints made right from District Collector, Divisional Commissioner up to Governor of Maharashtra, had failed to yield any tangible results. Court of Wards employees receive special honorarium for maintaining the property, but instead, they had merrily issued NOCs and destroyed our ancestral property, lamented scion of erstwhile royal family. Interestingly, the land covered under Court of Wards is exempted from the Tenancy Rights, Inam, Urban Land Ceiling and other land related laws, nor it can be mortgaged. Despite this, the scamsters had obtained NOCs, keeping rightful owners in dark and minted money, Bhonsle family lamented. In case of Somalwada land, the modus operandi was simple. According to Bhonsle, one Sudha Rana, who was not connected with family, was shown as their grandmother and on the basis of bogus authorisation letter the NOC was issued in a clandestine manner and the prime land changed hands without any consent from Bhonsle family. Is Mudholkar the real king-pin? Though Surendra Purushottam Mudholkar has emerged as the king-pin of entire land scam, Bhonsle family believes that some influential person is masterminding the operation land grab. According to royal family sources, Shalini Ghadge nee Nirmalaraje Bhonsle was their paternal aunt. She died in 1983. Mrs Shuddhalwar was appointed as Curator to manage estate of Shalini Ghadge and Mudholkar was appointed as her clerk. Mudholkar뭩 father too was associated with Court of Wards and hence Surendra was unofficially entrusted to look after the affairs of entire Court of Wards. Builders interested in grabbing the land apparently connived with Mudholkar and other staffers of Court of Wards and obtained NOCs and took possession of Bhonsle property, the royal family has alleged. At Bhamti Parsodi the land given for agricultural purpose was transferred in the name of tenants. The record was changed and name of Bhonsle was replaced, of course without informing them. This could be done because Mudholkar was supremely confident of the support he had from a very strong political lobby that favoured a group of real estate developers whose tentacles have gone far and wide and deep in Vidarbha and neighouring states. This political lobby also has influence in many places in the country with possible links with some infrastructure development agencies operating outside the country. The erstwhile Royal Bhonsle family led by Appasaheb Bhonsle had fought battle of Sitabuldi in 1817 against Britishers and lost, the last princely to fall to the alien invaders. The British confiscated entire property belonging to Bhonsles and later applying doctrine of lapse took over the kingdom in 1853. In 1890, the Britishers appointed Court of Wards to look after property of Raje Raghuji (Fourth) on behalf of his sons Fattesingh and Jaisingh. The family was divided into Senior Bhonsle and Junior Bhonsle in 1899. Raje Raghujirao Bhonsle V and Raje Mudhojirao Bhonsle are legal heirs of Senior Bhonsle estate and are sons of Raje Ajitsingh Rao and grandsons of Raje Fatesingh Rao. Late Raje Tejsinghrao Bhonsle and Maharani Chitralekha Raje Bhonsle, who were Members of Parliament from Ramtek, belonged to Junior Bhonsle and heirs of Raje Laxmanrao.

Over 780 Crore budget of Nagpur Inc

Now, the sanctioning of building plans, no objection certificates of fire department, octroi cess, licence fees for shops and establishment and land lease renewal fees will become dearer for the citizens. However, civic body has not proposed any hike in property tax and water charges.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Nagpur Vikas Aghadi and Shiv Sena have proposed steep hike in these departments of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). Krishna Khopde, Chairman of Standing Committee presented the Civic budget at general body meeting on Thursday. He submitted a copy of the annual budget for the financial year 2008-09 to Mayor Maya Iwnate and Municipal Commissioner Aseem Gupta. Khopde has found out some new revenue sources to increase the income of the civic body. He has proposed to construct modernise hospitals on Build-Operate-Own-Transfer (BOOT) basis. The discussion on budget will be held on Saturday. Khopde has presented a budget of proposed income 7and estimated expenditure of Rs 784.73. As compared to last year, the budget has been increased by Rs 214.20 crore. Standing Committee has proposed the expected income of Rs 304 crore from Octroi cess, Rs 130 crore from property tax, Rs 110 from water supply charges, Rs 10 crore from market department. In comparision with last years income, the present estimated income is Rs 58 crore increase in Octroi, Rs 24 crore in Property Tax, Rs 47 crore in water supply charges and Rs 5 crore in market department. As far as expenditure is concerned, the civic body will spent Rs 149.56 crore in establishment, Rs 110.50 crore in proposed expenditure, Rs 50.26 crore in maintenance, Rs 15.82 crore in disbursement of loan. Civic body is spending Rs 374.15 crore on establishment and loan disbursement while Rs 275 crore on capital expenditure. The civic body has made an arrangement of Rs 70 crore for the projects sanctioned under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Khopde has proposed some new innovative schemes for the students of the civic schools and construction of new eye and paediatric hospitals for urban poor people.

Still speculations: Nagpur property

Proving doomsday prophets wrong, the city realty market is showing no signs of slowdown. With every passing day, the demand for high-end housing is witnessing new highs. The new luxury apartment schemes are commanding record prices with a recent land deal fetching Rs 16,500 per sq ft price.

Despite a slump on Wardha Road following The Hitavada expose revealing massive irregularities in grant of No Objection Certificates, the property market is full of queries and developers and builders are now offering plots and flats with proper permissions from various authorities including Non Agriculture and Town Planning sanctioned plans popularly known as NA/TP. Out of 2.40 lakh property deal registrations in five leading cities of Maharashtra including Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Thane and Nagpur during first quarter of 2008, the Orange City had witnessed 27,514. The authorities had banned registrations of plots and apartments situated in unauthorised layouts as well as registrations of plots part of irregular NA/TP permissions. According to figures available with Inspector General of Registration and Stamp Duty, Nagpur cityi had recorded 24,529 registrations during first quarter of 2006. It saw a 5.74 per cent rise the following year with 25,937 registrations. During first quarter of 2008 as many as 27,514 properties deals were registered recording 6.08 per cent growth. Till June 20, 2008, Nagpur city has recorded 30,156 registeries and mopped up stamp duty worth Rs 105 crore. Nagpur (Rural) too witnessed 21,019 registration from January 1, 2008, till June 20, and stamp duty worth Rs 28.73 crore was collected. During 2006-07 (April 1, 2006 to March 31, 2007) as many as 61,126 deals were registered and stamp duty worth Rs 163.69 crore was mopped up. In 2007-08 the city recorded 62,105 deals were recorded and stamp duty worth Rs 211.23 crore was collected. During second quarter of 2006 (April 1 to June 30, 2006) the city recorded 14029 deals while in the year 2007 the city recorded 16,106 deals. In the current year, the city recorded 5415 registrations in April, 5,041 registration in May and 2,833 registrations by June 20, 2008. The officials of Deputy Inspector General of Registration and Stamp Duty insists that it is a normal phenomenon. During second quarter of every year, very few property deals are registered and property market will bounce back in third quarter as usual, they pointed out. Moreover, if Nagpur city and rural areas are taken together as many as 51,175 deals have been registered, despite economic slow down, they opined. Nationally the realty market has taken a beating following mind-boggling land prices, inflationary pressure, escalation in construction cost, upward movement of interest rate, steep hike in ready recknor prices and apprehension about appreciation of investment. But somehow the Orange city which has been described as the most attractive destination amongst Tier II and III cities, has escaped the sluggish growth phenomenon. State-wide, 2,08,205 registrations were recorded during July-September 2007 while in October-December 2007 it was 2,17,743. The comparison of data for the first quarter in the last three years also reveals that registrations have gone up by 13.54 per cent in 2008 compared to 2007. Despite mind-boggling cost of property prices, the market witnessed a jump by 9.5 per cent as compared to January-March 2007 figures. According to sources in Inspector General of registration and stamp duty, the Maharashtra Government had collected a whopping Rs 2,267.42 crore from January to March in 2008 as compared to Rs 1,619.99 crore during the same period last year. This plainly means a cool increase of 40 per cent. During first quarter of 2006, the government had collected Rs 1,374 crore stamp duty from property registration. Rationalisation of property prices in the Ready Reckoner, a more realistic approach and intense scrutiny of the deals, had ensured a better duty collection, reveals a senior officer of the department. A leading developer also confirmed that due to mind-boggling rise in the property rates, the purchaser and seller had no option but to go in for registration and pay proper stamp duty to avoid legal complications in future. The trend of unregistered agreement to sale is a passe, revealed a property broker who pointed out most client insists proper registration of property documents to avail bank loan. City-wise comparison also confirms that property registrations are on an upswing. In Mumbai, the registrations increased by 8 per cent between January and March 2008 compared to corresponding period in 2007, while Thane, Pune, Nagpur and Nashik witnessed increase of 12.46, 17.60, 6.08 and 22.50 per cent, respectively. Amidst this buoyancy in property market, the insiders insist that high-end apartments have very few takers. However, this had not dampened the enthusiasm of developers who are coming with luxury apartment schemes with every passing day. The flat schemes coming on city outskirts for middle-class are sold like hot cake while those catering to niche segments require little prodding. The West High Court road deal which commanded a record Rs 16,500 per sq ft seems to have revived the sluggish realty market. Prime localities like Ramdaspeth area too had witnessed many record land deals with developers purchasing land at Rs 6,500/- to Rs 7,000/- per sq ft. A luxury flat scheme coming up in Ramdaspeth area was sold for Rs 1.80 crore per apartment. The scheme was fully booked before its formal launch. Similarly, Nagpur Vinkar Sut Girni land on Umrer Road was auctioned for Rs. 81.63 crore or close to Rs. 4 crore per acre by a leading infrastructure firm. A cursory look at the public notices published in city papers also reveals the hectic activity in Nagpur district, confirmed Adv. Nishad Virkhare, an expert in property transactions.

No bins : Organge city clean

Very Soon, the Orange city will become India뭩 first bin free city. The Health Department of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has allotted the contract to Kanak Resources Management Ltd. New Delhi. Presently, Kanak Resources is working at Jodhpur and Bhilai.

Health Officer Dr Milind Ganvir informed that contractor has started working at Nehru Nagar and Lakadganj Zones. Contractor will start collecting garbages from Laxminagar Zone from July. Laxminagar Zone is headed by Suresh Sharma for garbage collections. Kamlesh Sharma, Manager of Kanak Resources, said that the garbage collection works in all ten zones will start by September 30. They are purchasing 150 new vehicles for collecting garbage in the city and all the old garbage collecting vehicles would be replaced. Presently, the garbage is collected from the households and directly dumped to Bhandewadi dumping yard. The garbage collection will start from 6 am and it will continue upto 6 pm. The litter bin will be only placed at market places like mutton markets and vegetable market. In small congested lanes, they will place small rickshwas and containers for collecting garbage. He informed that Vivek Agrawal and Retd Colonel Suresh Reghe are the directors of the Kanak Resources Management Ltd.

Health City in MIHAN, Johns Hopkins initiative

 WORLD-renowned Johns Hopkins Hospitals from USA would be setting up health city in collaboration with Care Hospitals, Hyderabad, in the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) of MIHAN. About 75 acres of land has been earmarked for the state-of-the art project that is expected to draw patients from far off places including USA, Europe and other countries to Nagpur.

Revealing this to The Hitavada on telephone, R C Sinha, Vice Chairman & Managing Director of Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) Ltd, said that the health city would have the supervision and technical control of Johns Hopkins which is also a major collaborator in the hospital city. The health city would include 10 super speciality hospitals. This shall be accompanied by various support facilities like Common Diagnostic Centre, Nurses Training School, Technicians Training Institute, Waste Disposal Facilities, hotels for relatives or companions. It will also have the finest of laboratories, operation theatres, consulting chambers, etc. 밐aufkins being one of the best known hospital chains in America, we hope to get patients from outside India to Nagpur,?said an emphatic Sinha. The only other country where Haufkins has a collaboration is in Bangkok, said Sinha. Hyderabad based Indu Projects have been given the contract to build the health city, he said. The health city at Multi Modal International Passenger and Cargo Hub Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) is envisaged to be a preferred destination for health tourists all over the world. It shall offer world class health care facilities in different areas of specialisation and super specialisations like Neurology, Orthopaedics, Cardiology, Ophthalmology, Paediatrics, Organ Transplantation, etc. Providing less expensive treatments. The project consultant for the same is Ernst & Young Pvt. Ltd. Duke Aviation allotted 40 acres land CANADA-based Duke Aviation has been allotted 40 acres of land to set up their Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility at MIHAN, informed Sinha. 밫hey have already deposited 20 per cent of the amount with us,?said Sinha. Duke would be the fourth company to set up an MRO facility for aircraft in Nagpur. The other three who have already committed are aircraft major Boeing, Mumbai-based Max Aerospace and US-based Bravia.

Urban Transport in Nagpur : a Study

 The latest study conducted by the Union Urban Development department has predicted a gloomy picture for the urban transport of the fast-growing 87 cities. Unless a whopping Rs. 4,35,800 crore are spent to upgrade the city infrastructure in coming 15 years to augment public transportation encourage non motorised transport, the city transport would move at a snail뭩 pace and would result in traffic chaos and parking nightmare, the study opined.

The study short listed 30 cities including Nagpur as sample cities based on size, shape of the city, availability of public transport, economic activity level, congestion and geographical locations to be the true representative of all eighty seven 0.5 million plus cities and the State capitals in India. Increasing car ownership in India following economic boom is increasing the urban road chaos day by day and infrastructure shortages are increasingly showing their ugly arm with traffic snarls and grid locks. Unless problems are remedied, poor mobility can become a major spoiler to economic growth and also cause quality of life to deteriorate. If we let things lie as they are, the future of the urban area in India looks bleak. Streets could well become parking lots. The dent this may have on the economics of India is unthinkable, the study opined. The proposed heavy urban transport infrastructure investments needs proper guidance, planning, sustainability, adequate provisions for their maintenance and safeguard. Apart from the required fund, adequate expertise and proper institutional mechanism to implement the urban transport infrastructure is the basic requirement, the study opined. It has recommended quick implementation of the Urban Mass Transport Authority, development and management of Central Urban Transport Database, strengthening of Institutional setup. The study has recommended that Mass Transport will be the only way forward. Be it in the form of Buses, BRT뭩, Monorails, LRT or Metro Systems. It must be noted that many cities in India have no public transport and before implementation of larger mass transport systems, there must be an effort to first ensure that bus systems are in place. The study has sought serious attention towards non-motorised transport. With the environment friendly NMT declining, our cities are losing sustainability and it is imperative that this trend is reversed. 40% of toady뭩 trips in cities are by NMT and 25per cent of all fatal accidents involve NMT. Yet we have not focused on the much needed infrastructure to aid these modes, the study lamented. It has recommended setting up of a dedicated transport fund and refinement of traffic safety management. In almost all cities, traffic is mismanaged and road networks are being put to sub-optimal use. The UDD study has stressed the need of developing transportation plans in conjunction with land use development plans.

Admission in Polytechnics

The admission process for Government Polytechnics will begin from July 1. In Nagpur division, there are six polytechnic college which will participate in the admission process beginning in the month of July.

The sale and submission of application forms will be made from July 1 to July 11. On July 13, the first merit list will be displayed while the second merit list will be displayed on July 16. There will be three rounds of counselling after which the admission process will continue till August 16, which is the cut-off date. The classes for the academic session 2008-09 will begin from August 1. There are 20 polytechnics in the region comprising of 7092 seats. But all these polytechnics will not be included in this admission process. Only five Government Polytechnics and one Government aided polytechnic named Shriman Narayan Polytechnic, Wardha, will participate in the admission process. The five Government Polytechnics are those in Nagpur, Sakoli, Brahmapuri, Gadchiroli and Arvi. Government Polytechnic, Nagpur, has the intake capacity of 530, which include Civil-90, Mechanical-60, Electrical-60, Metallurgy-30, Mining and Mine Surveying-30, Textile Manufacturing-20, Electronics and Telecommunication-60, Packaging Technology-30, Information Technology-60, Automobile Engineering -60, Travel and Tourism-30. Sakoli has the total intake capacity of 300 seats – Civil-60, Mechanical-60, Electronics and Telecommunication-60, Computer Technology-60, Electrical-60. Brahmapuri has the intake capacity of 360 which include Civil-60, Electrical-60, Electronics and Telecommunication-60, Computer Technology-60, Information Technology-60, Mechanical-60. Gadchiroli has the intake capacity of 300 which has Civil-60, Mechanical-60, Electronics and Telecommunication-60, Electrical -60, Computer Engineering-60. Arvi Polytechnic has 300 seats with Electronics Telecommunication-40, Mechanical-60, Electrical-60, Chemical Engineering-40, Civil-60, Computer Engineering-40. Shriman Naryana Polytechnic, Pipri, Wardha, has the intake capacity of 240 seats and is the government aided institution. The college has Civil and Rural Engineering (60 seats), Mechanical (60 seats), Computer (60 seats) and Electronics Telecommunication (60 seats)

Training shapes due to MIHAN

hat, Nagpur in particular and Vidarbha region in general are riding high on the development boom created by the ambitious multi-crore Multimodal International Hub and Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) is an old thing. But, the academic circles in the region too are gearing up to ride on the same boom, is the latest news. How? Read on.

With MIHAN moving ahead at its pace, logistics and supply chain management are set to get more importance. Similarly, with several special economic zones proposed in the region, foreign trade will also get a boost. Identifying the requirement for these modern-day jobs, G H Raisoni Group of Institutions, affiliated to Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU), has brought in six new job-oriented courses. These six courses which are designed by Pune University include BBA (International Tourism and Hotel Management), BBA (Logistics and Supply Chain Management Marketing Management), Bachelor of Foreign Trade, PG Diploma in Capital Marketing Management, PG Diploma in Material and Logistics Management, and Bachelor of Business Economics. Besides, as many as 50 colleges that come under RTMNU have got approval for new courses, new sections, and new faculties. The colleges like Dr Ambedkar Institute of Management Studies and Research, Deekshabhoomi, Dhanwate National College, Kamla Nehru College, Sakkardara, K. R. Pandav College, Mathuradas Mohta College of Science and some others also have got new sections and new courses. In the wake of development in Nagpur and adjoining area, this time the emphasize was given on job-oriented and short term courses which are useful for the industries. K R Pandav College and Ramaji Pandav Master of Computer Management are introducing courses like PGD (Company Secretary Slip), PGD (Co-operative Management), PGD (Finance Management) and others. Till now only Dhanwate National College was running Masters course in Mass Communication. But now from the session 2008-09 G. H. Raisoni College too will be running the course. Apart from this, courses like Master of Hospitality Management, B A (Functional English), B.Sc (Bio-informatics) etc are also being added. Some of the colleges have got sanction to new faculties. SFS College has got approval to start Commerce faculty, Yeshwant College, Wardha, has got approval for Arts and Social Science, Commerce, Law and Science faculties. Some of the colleges have introduced courses related to Cyber Law, Industrial Intellectual Property, PG Diploma course in Law, Health and Medicine, Environmental Law, Course in Taxation, PG Diploma in Aquaculture. Kamla Nehru college, Sakkardara has introduced courses like Library Science, Home Science while Mohta Science will have Post Graduate course in Mathematics from this academic session.

Role of Multiplexes in Nagpur economy

PIRACY eats 50 to 60 per cent revenue of Bollywood and stringent measures should be taken to curb the malice of piracy,?said, noted actor Ritiesh Deshmukh. He was in city to promote his latest flick De Taali. He also distributed prizes to winners of De Taali contest.

Addressing a press conference at newly inaugurated Cinemax, Ritiesh said that multiplexes like Cinemax were the best thing happened to Bollywood. 밯hen I started my career, success ratio of movies were marginal but thanks to concept like multiplexes which has again boosted the success ratio,?he said. Ritiesh said that he was keen to act in Marathi movies provided he receive good script. 밊ew Marathi directors had approached me but due to poor script I declined their offers,?he disclosed. Ritiesh admitted that he got success as supporting actor and lot more has to be done to make a mark as an accomplished actor. He informed gathering that his two more movies would soon hit the screen. Ritiesh will play a lead role in romantic movie Jane Kaha Se Aiye. He is also playing a prominent role in an adventurous movie 멇laddin? he disclosed.

Metro a big Challange: Nagpur Improvement Trust

Development of the Metro Region is the biggest challenge for the new Chairman of Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) Dr Sanjay Mukherjee. Maharashtra Government has authorised NIT as nodal agency for the development of the Metro Region in the year 2002.

Dr Mukherjee took over the charge from outgoing Chairman Shyam Tagade on Thursday. He worked as Additional Commissioner, Sales Tax, Mumbai, for last 20 days. Earlier, he worked as Nagpur District Collector. Mukherjee, a city boy, later taking to mediapersons, said that presently Maharashtra Government has not finalised the working pattern of the Metro Region. Recently, the election of the members was held at Nagpur. Metro Region will help in overall development of the city, he added. The New Chairman said that NIT is the biggest and oldest organisation working for creating infrastructure and development of the Orange City. He will take feedback from the citizens of the Orange City for the smooth and transparent working of NIT. Mukherjee said that NIT will computerise the working of registration of unauthorised layouts and NIT budget. He will also look after the biggest project of modernising Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital (IGGMCH). He will also continue with all the good projects started by Tagade.

Income-Tax Authority surveillance on Nagpur property

NAGPUR: The income tax sleuths swooped down on the premises of Gruhalaxmi Developers belonging to Ramlal Katre on Pardi Road in the city on Tuesday.

The search operations were carried out by 120 I-T officers on at least 16 premises of Katre family members who are joint holders in Gruhalaxmi Developers involved in the business of land development. The near simultaneous raids were carried out on the group”s offices and partners” residences on Kalamna Road, Hingna, Kalmeshwar and other areas. Some of layouts belonging to the group were also searched.

According to sources from I-T department, the searches were based on specific information that the consideration received on the sale of plots was being suppressed substantially. The sleuths recovered books and documents containing details of the actual amount for which the plots were sold.

The amount recovered is to the tune of Rs 20 lakh (approximately) and the department has placed prohibitory orders to various banks to temporarily seal their accounts as the Katre family was allegedly not cooperating with the I-T officials. Many documents were recovered, but no jewellery was found, sources said.

Sources added that the calculation of the undisclosed income based on the actual consideration recorded in the said books with reference to amounts admitted in sale deeds is in progress. The raids would continue on Wednesday as well and actual details regarding undisclosed income and seizure would emerge after that.

“Documents relating to purchase of land such as agreements of sale showing the real consideration and sale deeds showing a lower amount at the time of registration have been seized. The difference is substantial and will be of the order of few crores,” sources added.

Sources informed that the group was having operations only in Nagpur city and adjoining areas and used to cater to middle and lower classes. Around 200 acres of land is aid to be in their possession.

Meanwhile, the I-T department also conducted a survey on premises of a BJP leader from the city at his Trimurti Nagar residence on specific information regarding land deal agreement.

Time line for transfer Mihan

NAGPUR: In one more step towards the implementation of the Mihan project, the minister of defence (MoD), Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) and the state government have agreed upon a time-bound plan to exchange of land between the Indian Air Force and MADC. It has been decided to finish the land swap within eight months, sources informed. The parties also agreed upon a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard.

These developments took place at a meeting in New Delhi where all the points were discussed threadbare. It was also decided that the MoU will be formally signed at a later stage. This is a major step ahead since the land swap between IAF’s IL-76 air base at Nagpur and MADC had been a sticking point in Mihan project moving forward.

However, the MoU would only come into affect after the airport is transferred to the MADC, said the company’s vice-chairman-cum-managing director R C Sinha. At present the Nagpur airport is under the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
As part of the deal, IAF will have to give up 278 hectares of land to the Mihan project while in return it will get 400 hectares of land from MADC, 122 hectares more than what it surrenders.

A press release issued by Union minister for non-conventional energy Vilas Muttemwar said the move will help in starting work on the second runway that is required for the project, as well as other facilities. After the meeting, some conditions laid down by IAF earlier for this transfer of land have been withdrawn and other contentious issued too have been resolved, said the press release. Muttemwar, who has been advocating Mihan’s cause, was also present at the meeting.

Safe Nagpur Airport?

The rechristened and renovated Dr Ambedkar International Airport here, with its new metro-like look, has delivered a positive change towards busier schedules and more connecting flight operations with better services. However, with the series of incidents of animals straying and being crushed on the runway has raised doubts about the safety of passengers and, aircraft landing and taking off from here, according to passengers.

Air travellers, who visited the renovated city airport, had opined that if such incidents occurred regularly here then the airport will certainly lose its reputation and badly affect passenger traffic.

Shantanu Bhalerao, a frequent flier from Pune, told TOI, “I have heard many new things about new terminal building at Nagpur, but I have also read many reports of animals and birds causing threat to aircrafts too.” So far a major mishap has not occurred, but passengers remain wary whenever they board any aircraft from Nagpur airport.

Nitin Pande, another frequent, flier said, “When we are going to make Nagpur as the hub for international airlines, then such incidents will only bring disrepute to the airport here.” Similar views were echoed by Shefali Daga. “Just today I read that animals died under airplanes three time in a month. I was scared, but as I have to reach Pune for business I have to take a risk,” she said.

Meanwhile, Airport Authority of India officials claimed that following increase in air traffic, they have taken measure to check the runway to avert untoward incidents. “We recently installed 12 zon guns — an LPG cylinder-operated device with a rotating barrel that covers the entire operational area. As per AAI’s claims these guns are more than sufficient to drive away birds and wild animals from the operational area. Moreover, all the openings of airport boundary wall were closed, yet such incidents continue to occur,,” they said.

The AAI has sought an action plan from the forest officials. “We have asked them to depute a team at the airport to trap the animals and release them at a safe place.”

Butibori MIDC on Radar

After a long spell of dormancy, Butibori Industrial Estate — billed to be Asia’s largest industrial area — is once again on investors’ radar. Butibori, which drew concern over lack of new industries, seems to be set for a changing scenario, thanks to the economic prospects propelled by Mihan.

The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) has seen a substantial number of new applications by industries for allotment of plots in this mega estate, spread in an area of 2385.56 hectares, out of which 1600 hectares is available industrial plots. The rest is for other facilities, which include residential areas too.

Since 2006, there has been a flow of investors’ applications for getting a plot here. This is mainly because of the proposed Multimodal International Hub At Nagpur (Mihan), which may require several ancillary industries. “Butibori is the right site for setting up a new unit,” say MIDC officials. At present, there are over 300 applications pending for allotment with the MIDC. These include a range of industries with most of them in the small scale sector and engaged in engineering activities, added the source.

There was a lull in investment for several years since the industrial estate was set up in 1994. “Though there were some big industries like Indo Rama or Morarji Brembana, there were not enough players in this estate and the issue was raised time and again,” said the official.

Even today, the problem of unused plots persists. Several firms have the land in their name but have not come up with any project, thus merely blocking the plot which could have been allotted to other serious players, said a state government official.

Butibori industrial estate has over 2061 plots in all, out of which 1636 have been allotted and 425 remain vacant. However, out of the allotted plots, there has been no industrial activity in the 384 plots. As many as 291 have been unused for more than three years and the owners are liable to face action of the plot being wrested back by the MIDC.

The rest still have the stipulated three years after allotment within which they have to begin construction. According to figures with the industries department, production has been started by only 362 industries. The figures have been updated up to December 2007, and do not include the units in which construction is mid-way or those who have started production after December.

Secretary of Butibori Manufacturers Association (BMA), Puneet Mahajan said that MIDC has given an open directive under which extension will be allowed till December 2008 after which strict action will be taken against the plot holders. Lately there has been fresh entry by quite a few industries mainly engaged in steel and steel processing. One of the reasons is that a few big power transmission tower makers are having units in Butibori, which need processed steel as raw material.

Amidst the scenario of fresh investments and vacant plots, work is also under way to come up to have an extended industrial estate of 1194 hectares, close the existing area. The initial proceedings under which the land is vested to the government have been completed, said a source in the MIDC. Industrial units have also come up at Umrer near Nagpur, which may also be one of the reasons for a lack of demand in Butibori. In recent years this areas has attracted proposed investment of over Rs 600 crore.

Mining in Vidharbha

NAGPUR: Australia is eyeing businesses in Vidarbha for investment opportunities, with a special interest in the mining sector. A few companies have already finalised deals for investment into coal mining ventures in the region. This includes a tie-up in mining services, such as contract mining, washeries and other allied services required in coal mining business.

Australia’s Senior Trade Commissioner Michael Moignard said the formal announcements are expected to be made in a few months time. Till then the names of the investors cannot be disclosed on account of commercial interests.

Moignard said this is part of a campaign — Utsav Australia — for strengthening trade ties with smaller centres of the country. The Australian Trade Commission held a seminar on investment opportunities in association with city-based Nag Vidarbha Chamber of Commerce (NVCC) on Friday. Apart from Australian investment, a couple of proposals for Indian investment in Australian coal mines were also finalised. One of these involves a firm from Gujarat, he said.

With mining being one of the key sectors in the region, there is scope for Australian firms to set up greenfield ventures in India. Indian companies too are taking up captive mining projects in Australia too. Indians can especially take up coking coal mining, which is in abundance in Australia and in great demand in India, said the trade commissioner. Australia on the other hand is also keen to invest in mining of gold diamond, bauxite and iron mining in India.

“Apart from it, the cargo hub and special economic zone too appear to have a number of investment opportunities. Back in Australia we would like to apprise companies about for deals in these ventures. There is big scope for investment in support services such as engineering services, aviation consultancy, management and so on,” Moignard added.

He described the health city coming up in the SEZ too as an attractive investment destination for infrastructure companies in Australia. Meetings are also being held with regional business guilds. This is because Australia is also keen to attract Indian investment.

Indore-Nagpur-Dubai flight soon

NEW DELHI: AIR-INDIA Express is likely to introduce Indore to Dubai via Nagpur flight soon, the Minister for Civil Aviation, Praful Patel informed the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

In a written answer to Sumitra Mahajan, the Minister said Air-India Express has plans to introduce flights from Indore to Dubai via Nagpur on availability of Customs and immigration facilities at Indore Airport. In another written reply, Patel said while the National Aviation Company of India Limited does not have immediate plans to introduce more air services from Aurangabad, Pune and Nagpur due to non-availability of spare capacity, Lufthansa airline of Germany has proposed operations on Pune-Frankfurt route with an all Business class A-319 aircraft. MAH LEADS IN JNNURM: Minister of State for Urban Development, Ajay Maken confirmed in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that Maharashtra is now one of the leading States under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) with 56 projects being approved at a cost of Rs. 7732.45 crore. Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh have been sanctioned 55 and 39 numbers of projects respectively. The Government of Maharashtra has submitted 141 project proposals costing Rs. 36379.27 crore. Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) which are found to be in compliance with the guidelines of JNNURM are considered by the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee for approval. 56 DPRs have been sanctioned for Maharashtra at a total approved cost of Rs. 7732.45 crore.

Sahara City, Nagpur in trouble

The six-member committee constituted by state government to probe into the land deals done after July 15, 2000 in the district will examine the status of Sahara City, a township coming up on Wardha Road, a senior officer in know of things told TOI . The committee is headed by divisional commissioner and has to submit its report to government by third week of May.

The township is spread over eight revenue surveys (land zones). Survey numbers 9/2, 9/3, 9/4 and 9/5 fall within 500 metre of existing gaothan (village settlement) limits and hence have been cleared by Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.

However, survey numbers 26/3, 26/4, 31/2 and 31/3 are beyond 500 metre of existing gaothan limits and hence the committee has to submit its recommendations about the four surveys, the officer preferring anonymity, revealed.

As per Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act, the Town Planning Department (TPD) can grant no-objection certificates (NOCs) only to those plots or layouts that are situated within 200 to 500 meters of radius of a gaothan.

In many cases, the TPD issued NOCs for plots and layouts that were outside the stipulated gaothan limits.

After MLA Devendra Fadnavis raised the issue in winter session of Maharashtra Assembly, the state government suspended ADTP (Nagpur Rural) Archana Parlewar in December 2007. However, the issue was again raised in the ongoing budget session following which the government ordered an inquiry. Such an inquiry has been ordered for the first time even though sale of land in violation of rules has been going on since years. As a result, over 3,500 unauthorised layouts have been created in the city.

Meanwhile, the four surveys of the township that were cleared by the CM are also in the soup as Urban Land Ceiling authorities have directed the registrar of properties not to register any Sahara City properties until further orders.

The government has taken the step as the township developers have failed to deposit Rs 3.50 crore for using land for commercial purposes. However, the developers have contended that the order is untenable and are planning to appeal to higher authorities.

Parking lot limited in Orange City

Private vehicles should be discouraged by imposing pollution levy and higher registration fees, transportation report suggested

Comprehensive Parking Policy is necessary for the city to avoid traffic congestion, suggested L&T Ramboll Consulting Engineering Ltd. Chennai in its final report of Transportation Plan for the second capital of Maharashtra. Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) had appointed L & T company to study and suggest the future Transportation Plan for Orange city. Company has submitted its report to NMC recently.

Township sale consent

Forget Wardha Road, a major special township project is actually coming up at Mouza Pipla near Besa. It will be spread over 100.62 hectare and likely to change the face of entire Besa-Beltarodi tract which is witnessing rapid development.

A Mumbai based firm Luxora Infrastructure Private Limited have entered into the agreement of sale with the owner of 52.36 hectare land and have obtained consent to sell with owners of 48.26 hectare land (survey no 48 to 160). The Firm submitted the consent from the respective land owners to the Urban Development Department for obtaining a locational clearance in the name of M/x Luxora Infrastructure Private Limited. According to sources the project cost can be safely pegged above Rs 200 crore considering the sky-rocketting land cost in Besa and steep hike in construction cost due to rising inflation. Such mega project would boost development of Besa and authorities would definitely improve the road connectivity, water and power supply to this area, a prominent builder told The Hitavada. The Special Township project has already been approved by the Environment department, Irrigation department, Forest department and Archaeological department. Director of Town Planning, Pune has also cleared the Special Township project of Luxora. Maharashtra Government had already notified special norms for Special Township schemes coming up in more than 100 acre contiguous land area. Apart from fast-track clearances, concessions in stamp duties, relaxation in building plans the promoters of Special Townships were encouraged to develop a world-class township which should be self-sustained. The Urban Development department while according locational clearance to special township of Luxora Infrastructure, made it clear that reservations of public purposes and basic amenities should be exclusively kept in the project and should be developed at his own cost. The developer has been directed to purchase the land for approach road connecting the proposed area under development and make sure that a minimum width of not less than 18 mtrs in the continuous manner. Only after this condition is fulfilled the final approval and letter of intent would be issued. The government has also asked the developer to provide the approach road to the lands not included in the locational clearance, but which are in the middle of the special township proposal. Developer has been asked to keep the right of ways and rights of use of other land-holders undisturbed. The UDD order has asked the Developer to consider the existing building situated on khasra no 110 while planning the new township. Besides the Revenue department has been asked to hold hearing on continuing Non Agricultural (NA) permissions. The order has also asked the Developer to provide and develop the source of drinking water and make arrangement for the disposal and treatment of sewage and solid waste at his own cost.

City proposals not fit

The ongoing development of city has suffered a major setback with the Central Government returning several proposals of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Together, these projects are worth around Rs 1000 crore.

The projects returned for modification by Central Steering and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) of Union Urban Development Ministry include the Outer Ring Road, Traffic Improvement and Management Project, Development and Upgradation of Sanitary Land Fill Site at Bhandewadi, and some Fly-overs and Railway Over Bridges. Sources informed that CSMC made it clear that NMC should first prepare a master plan for development project and then send it for approval. Ministry sources informed that NMC had still not sanctioned its Master Plan of Transportation and Sanitary Land Fill site. Without the plan, that must have projection of future growth of vehicular population and projected road lengths, the Ministry would not sanction these projects under JNNURM, they said. The Master Plan of Transportation is ready with the civic body but civic officials have suggested some modifications in it. Now, NMC wants to incorporate Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) also in the plan. Sources said that it will take a couple of months to finalise. The proposal of Outer Ring Road was worth about Rs 650 crore. NMC had not done a plain table survey for the project. Union Urban Development Ministry officials said that NMC should come out with complete proposal including expected income from levy of toll and with a plain table survey. Union Government would only provide viability gap funding for it. Sources informed that NMC had given Rs 22 lakh to Public Works Department, the nodal agency for the construction of Outer ring road, for plain table survey recently. The Traffic Improvement and Management project was sent back for technical compliance while bridges over rivers sent back for want of transportation plan. Sources claimed that the proposals of fly-over on Residency Road, Railway Over Bridge at Mangalwari and bridge at Nag River, Hatti Nallah and Juni Shukrawari were pending for technical clarifications.

Nagpur University land : Action against enchrochers

The directives of District Collector for taking tough action against encroachers of land belonging Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU) have fallen on deaf ears. The three-pronged approach proposed by Collector was to be implemented by Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL), Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and Nagpur City Police. But it’s now a year and till date none of the subordinate agency to District Collector has bothered to act on the officer’s directives, said the sources. The land is question is near varsity campus and a bunch of high profile persons have set-up their eateries and openly running their establishments.

The simple action suggested by District Collector Dr Sanjay Mukherjee would have made the business activity non profitable on the government land. But the lack of interest shown by officers of respective departments the encroachers are sitting pretty, the sources claimed. The Collector’s directives came in the meeting convened at behest of RTMNU officials to discuss the issue of encroachment on its land adjoining Vice-Chancellor’s residence on Ambazari road. A part of 70.09 acres of varsity land was encroached long back. And rubbing salts further into varsity’s wound even Department of Social Welfare, Maharashtra State, eyed another portion of same prime land and started constructing a hostel for backward class students. Though latter’s case is now part of PIL filed by Citizens Forum Maharashtra, as University officials were reluctant to act against their own master, the questionable silence of government authorities on claiming back their own land is surprising. Collector directives came in meeting held on April 7, 2006. The meeting was attended by officials from Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB), City Police Department along with varsity officials. The varsity officials narrated their woes to which District Government Pleader (DGP) replied that civil suits were filed by the encroachers and they are pending in the court. At this stage District Collector directed power officials to cut off the alleged illegal power supply of restaurants on the varsity land. The Collector point sources said was that one should not go into legality of construction but MSEB can definitely cut off the illegal power supply to the establishments, if that is the case. Thereafter Collector directed Ambazari police to inquire whether the restaurants on the disputed site have taken the eatery licence from city police? The cops were directed to make on spot inquiry and if any licence are issued the same be cancelled for not fulfilling legal formalities. They were also asked to inquire about building plans of restaurants, whether they are sanctioned or not. The task given to NMC by the Collector was that the Ward officer was directed to snap the water supply to these restaurants. The sources had the three department acted in tandem the restaurants would have down their shutters. It will year to the meeting held by District Collector and picture the private establishment and raking in moolah as the authorities entrusted with specific task are sitting pretty. The Town Planning Department of NMC was also asked to issue notices to encroachers under the provision of section 53. As the cases are pending with the court, NMC should file Caveat and Town Planner, NMC, Assistant Commissioner, Dharampeth Zone, should take action jointly. When The Hitavada asked the concerned officials of respective departments, some officers offered a lame excuse that they were not in charge when the meeting was held. This included Town Planning Department, Executive Engineer, Congress Nagar Division, MSEDCL, Ward Officer, NMC. The sources said District Collector Dr Sanjay Mukherjee sent reminders to said government agencies but all ignored his directives

Regularisation More, a promise

Maharashtra Government on Tuesday assured the Upper House that steps would be initiated at the earliest to regularise the 4,000 odd unauthorised lay-out created in Nagpur city due to sheer inefficiency of the Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT). Minister of State for Urban Development Rajesh Tope while replying to a call attention motion raised by BJP State Unit President Nitin Gadkari, Leader of the Opposition Pandurang Phundkar, Vinod Tawde and others, assured that the Government would tackle the issue on war footing.

Gadkari pointed out that initially number of unauthorised lay-outs was estimated at 572 and thereafter 1900 more unauthorised lay-outs surfaced and a much-hyped regularisation drive was undertaken. But last year the NIT suddenly discovered that around 1000 more unauthorised lay-outs have come into existence. This was due to miserable failure of the NIT as Planning body for Nagpur, Gadkari stated. He demanded that regularisation work should be undertaken at the earliest and corporators of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) be allowed to undertake development works in these unauthosied lay-outs. During the heated debate in the Legislative Council, members also demanded that government should constitute a committee headed by Minister of State Rajesh Tope with all the sitting legislators as members to resolve the crisis and regularise these unauthorised lay-outs. The people of Nagpur have lost faith in the NIT, members stated while lashing out at the functioning of the NIT. Tope while replying to discussion assured that a such a committee would be put in place during budget session period itself. Gadkari expressed hope that because of positive assurance given by the minister on the floor of the House, problems faced by unauthorised lay-outs would be solved and these lay-outs would be regularised soon.

Panic on Wardha road plot-sale

Panic gripped the realty market on Thursday following The Hitavada’s disclosure of Maharashtra Government decision to cancel land deals worth Rs 1000 crore on Wardha Road.

Hundreds of plot purchasers rushed to developers office to examine the status of their plots and whether it was affected by recent order. The developers in turn frantically contacted their consultants and top officials in the Town Planning and Revenue department to ascertain the veracity of the order. A customer who had purchased plot on Wardha Road on Wednesday rushed back to developer wanting to return his plot. He was even prepared to settle for a lower sum than it was purchased at. The front-office staff at developers’ office had a harrowing time pacifying agitated customers who said they were cheated. Several customers told The Hitavada that they have decided to withhold next installment. A senior citizen and former state government employee Bhausaheb Deshpande suggested that District Collector and Town Planning department should publish a list of layouts (sanctioned or otherwise) with khasra numbers and area affected by the latest order to create public awareness. The government order has also stated that all No Objection Certificates (NOCs) issued by the Town Planning department after the Regional Development Plan was sanctioned on May 6, 2000, and implemented from July 15, 2000, should be examined. This has actually increased the scope of inquiry to be conducted by a committee headed by Divisional Commissioner. The NOC is required under Rule 2.4 (XIII) of Regional Development Plan after conducting an inquiry about existence of Gaothan. The order categorically mentioned that in a majority of cases the Town Planning and other authorities issued NOC and Non Agricultural (NA) permission without actually measuring distance of lands from existing or extended Gaothan limits. However, the developers had an altogether different story to tell. They blamed the totally outdated NA rules for the current mess. Shekhar Jadhav of Grace Realties with substantial stakes on Wardha Road stated that sanctioning of layout was not a one day process. It took months after obtaining several NOCs from various departments. “The government needs to make its system transparent and time bound. Why are developers being made a scapegoat?” he asked. Manan Bhondekar, another prominent land developer, demanded that Wardha Road should be declared as Yellow Belt as the entire area was being urbanised and almost all the agricultural land on it was being used for non-agricultural purposes. This would boost the realty market on Wardha road and other growth centres. “We always wanted property clearances to be given within the framework of law. We want rules to be made very meticulously and to be followed diligently. Government officials are responsible for what has happened. The developers and customer are not at all fault,” another developer stated while asking the government to safeguard the customers’ interests.

Gosekhurd get more fund, lets see when it completes

The Finance Department of Maharashtra Government has made a provision of Rs 2277 crore for the irrigation projects of Vidarbha. This will be the biggest amount given by the state government in last 11 years. Sources said in last 11 years government has given Rs 14,678 crore to Krishna Valley Development Corporation while Rs 8,153 to Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC).

Government has made a provision of Rs 1,073 crore for the 10 major ongoing irrigation projects coming under Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC). Maharashtra Government has made a provision under Governor’s formula for removing the backlog of backward regions like Vidarbha and Marathwada. Government has made an additional provision of Rs 72 crore for the projects of Amravati Region. All these funds will be allocated from the head of Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP). Governor has compelled Maharasthra Government to allocate funds project wise as per the guidelines since year 2007-2008. Hence, from last year the fund has been allocated as per respective project under Governor formula. Water Resources Department (WRD) has allocated maximum Rs 326.30 crore for the ongoing irrigation project of Gosikhurd. The total cost of the project is Rs 5,695 crore. Government has spent Rs 544 crore upto March 2007, while Rs 35 crore has been spent on last financial year 2007-2008. Now, the project has been included as the National Irrigation Project and Central Government is ready to fund the project under its scheme. Government has allocated Rs 80 crore for Bawanthadi, Rs 10 crore for Arunawati, Rs 185.36 crore for Bembla, Rs 153.7 crore for Khadakpurna, Rs 75 crore for Lower Pedhi, Rs 126 crore for Lower Wardha, Rs 19 crore for Pentakli, Rs 15 crore for Upper Penganga and Rs 81 crore for Upper Wardha. Democratic Front (DF) Government has made a provision of Rs 153 crore for Medium Irrigation Projects. These projects and funds are- Chandrabhaga Rs 11 crore, Dongargaon Rs 5 crore, Kar Rs 28 crore, Lalnalla Rs 14 crore, Pothara Rs 6.4 crore, Purna Rs 6.25 crore, Sapan Rs 75 crore, Sonapurtomta Rs 1.9 crore and Rs 4.7 crore for Utavali projects from the AIBP. Minor Irrigation Projects of Vidarbha would get Rs 433 crore under NABARD scheme. Around 40 minor irrigation projects will be benefitted from these funds. Government has made a provision of Rs 919.21 crore from its treasury to contribute in ongoing irrigation projects of Vidarbha. The government will give its contribution of Rs 548.98 crore for the major projects like Human Rs 3.7 crore, Rs 235 crore for Jigaon, Rs 147 crore for Kurha Wadoda, Rs 24 lakh for Lower Wunna, Rs 147.94 crore for Lower Penganga, Rs 24.86 lakh for Pench, Rs 36,000 for Tultuli and Rs 13.53 crore for Wan project. Government will forward his financial share of Rs 152.94 crore for Medium Irrigation Projects and Rs 16.28 crore for minor Irrigation projects. Sources said that Lal Nala and Lower Wardha project are included in Prime Minister’s Package while Gosikhurd and Dongargaon included in AIBP scheme

More tiger reserves

Giving up the plan to create a separate Mansingh Deo Wildlife Sanctuary, which is facing opposition from local villagers, the Maharashtra Forest Department has decided to attach around 160 sq km of its area to Pench Tiger Project to form the much-needed additional buffer and corridor for the big cats.

The department has started taking steps to expand the areas of Pench, Tadoba-Andhari and Melghat tiger projects in Vidarbha following Central Government directives to get serious about protection and conservation of tigers whose numbers have dwindled alarmingly in the state. These reserves have been already declared as critical tiger habitats. The Prime Minister has even asked Chief Ministers to personally monitor the measures being taken in their respective states to save the tiger which is otherwise headed towards extinction. B Majumdar, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), convened a preliminary meeting of the Field Directors of these tiger projects and other concerned officials in his chamber here on Tuesday and asked them to identify buffer areas to the reserves within a month. He also instructed officials of the wildlife wing, territory division and Forest Development Corporatrion of Maharashtra (FDCM) to jointly talk to gram panchayats and villagers in the fringe areas to convince them about economic opportunities through eco-tourism if they participated in helping protect the tigers. It is necessary to take locals into confidence to ensure that measures taken to protect tigers are not seen as antagonistic to local human population. FDCM officers had expressed apprehensions about stoppage of its commercial activities. However, Majumdar satisfied them saying that wildlife wing would not stop their activities as the its management plan was approved by the Centre. He told them, however, that protection of tigers was now the top priority and not the rich-teak compartments. Except mining, other regular forestry activities may continue in buffer zones, he said. It is proposed to expand Pench Tiger Project from 257 sq km at present to 417 sq km, Melghat Tiger Project from 1600 sq km to 2000 sq km and Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve from 625 sq km to 1150 sq km. The recent Wildlife Institute of India census put tiger population in Pench at 19 tigers, in Melghat at 30 and in Tadoba-Andhari at 32. These are much less than figures given out by census conducted by Forest Department. The Field Directors of these three projects would complete the exercise of identifying buffer areas within a month. Later, a proposal would be submitted to the Buffer Area Committee that would decide the actual area to be expanded and other technical aspects. The expansion of buffers has become necessary as the spill-over population of tigers is moving out and coming in conflict with humans. Buffers and corridors are essential for the breeding tiger population to help them find mates and also to maintain genetic diversity. Dr S H Patil, Field Director of Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve, Dr Mohan Jha, Field Director of Pench, Ravi Wankhede, Deputy Field Director of Melghat, Suresh Sontakke, CCF, Amravati Circle, A K Mishra, Mohan Karnad, both Regional Managers of FDCM, Ramji Yadav, Conservator of Forest, North Chandrapur, and others were present in the meeting.

Poor Human development in City, worrisome matter

Despite the present boom in economic activity with onset of MIHAN, Nagpur city and Nagpur Division have recorded a ‘below-state-average’ Human Development Index (HDI) and per capita income. This revelation comes from the pages of the Economic Survey of Maharashtra 2007-08, presented before the Maharashtra Legislature on Tuesday.

As far as HDI is concerned, the economic survey has some interesting statistics to reveal for Nagpur Division as a whole. According to the survey, the HDI for Nagpur Division is 0.646, which is less than the state average of 0.672. Life expectancy for Nagpur Division is 65.5 years, which is again below the state average of 69.6 years. However, the division has scored in adult literacy rate (74.3) and combined gross enrollment ratio (77.6), as both are above state average. Nagpur district has the per capita net district domestic product (commonly known as district income in one year) of Rs 44,598/-. However, with that district income, Nagpur district stands fifth. While, another Vidarbha district of Washim has recorded the lowest per capita district income of Rs 20,774/- per year. As far as Nagpur Division is concerned, it has recorded per capita income of Rs 36,267/-, which is below the state average of Rs 41,331/-. As for Nagpur city, the survey stresses the need for development of mass rapid transport systems considering the lack of adequate and efficient public transport systems. Besides, it has even suggested to improve public transport facilities through exploring the option of privatisation. The economic survey stresses that with congestion at Mumbai airport, and with growing air traffic demand, augmentation of facilities at airports like Nagpur and Pune is needed. It also stresses to build proposed new airport projects on a priority basis. Regarding the public transport system, the survey points out that the Orange City lacks adequate and efficient public transport system. Apart from Nagpur, there are cities like Pune, Aurangabad and Nashik that are also facing the same problem. The survey suggests to consider developing mass rapid transport systems like metro rail/monorail/local rail in all these cities on a priority basis using ‘public private partnership’ model. Besides, to improve existing public transport facilities, privatisation option needs to be examined, it underlines. On industrial development count, Nagpur Division has total 10 cooperative industrial estates of which only four are functioning with 267 industries providing employment to 2,710 persons.

Boeing talks to State

Dinesh Keskar, senior vice-president (sales) of aircraft major Boeing Inc, will be holding talks with chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh who heads the Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) as well as its vice-chairman R C Sinha on Monday. Various aspects over the final agreement between the MADC and Boeing for setting up a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) unit in Nagpur will be discussed in this crucial meet. Over a year after Boeing came up with an announcement of starting a 100 million Dollar MRO unit in Nagpur, the final agreement is yet to be signed. Keskar, who hails from Nagpur, was in the city on Sunday to attend an alumni function.

Keskar told TOI that he will be meeting both Deshmukh and Sinha on Monday. Though he refused to divulge the details of the discussions, he added that things are going in the right direction and said he was ‘not unhappy’ with the progress. However, with the project involving a major investment, signing the final agreement may take its due time, he said. Keskar also refused to mention any specific time-frame over the starting of work or signing the agreement. I would first hold a meeting in Mumbai and any announcements will be made only when it is the right time, he said. However, he said there was no chance of Boeing shifting the MRO out of Nagpur. About the protests against for higher compensation for the project and its likelihood of affecting the project, Keskar said it may influence Boeing’s decision.

Meanwhile, it has also been learnt that a Boeing team recently conducted a soil survey at the MRO site. If needed, the MADC may agree to provide a lesser quantum of land than the 75 acres agreed earlier.