We removed silt well in advance, met target: Corporation

NEW DELHI: The recent CAG report dismisses Delhi's desilting and flood control measures as a fraud. The corporations, however, reject the claim and have once again passed the blame on to other civic agencies. Officials claim to have removed more than 1.2 lakh metric tonnes of silt so far. If the desilting report submitted a fortnight ago is to be believed, the corporations have overshot their target. Whether this reflects on the ground is another matter.

The officials say the CAG report points to the flood department and PWD, and the corporations don't come into the picture. "Unlike other agencies, we don't outsource the work. The corporations do not give out contracts and disposing of the silt isn't an issue as the landfills belong to us," says P K Gupta, commissioner, North Corporation.

CAG mentions how houses of high court judges near Purana Qila were flooded in August 2009 and the MCD appointed IIT-Delhi, which suggested remodeling of drain number 14. South Corporation gave out contract in March 2013 and the project deadline is September 2014.

Just 10% of the work has been completed. "We are carrying out the work but the main roads are with PWD, which is not well equipped. The work is farmed out and there is no accountability," said Gupta. The PWD officials say they are keeping track and the contractors are in check.

All pumps are to be repaired and installed at certain points to ensure that the corporation is prepared to tackle waterlogging. "After the HC orders and repeated complaints, the corporation was desilting much in advance. With most of the roads transferred to PWD, there is less work for the corporation as the main drains are now with them. Still, we are coordinating and Delhi will not face the problem this time," said Khushi Ram, the south Delhi mayor.

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Monsoon reaches Delhi, rain to pick up pace next week

NEW DELHI: The southwest monsoon registered a muted arrival in Delhi with 5.5mm rainfall being recorded till 5.30pm. Several parts of the city remained dry though a maximum temperature of 32.7 degrees Celsius, three degrees below normal, resulted in pleasant weather.

Met officials say the intensity of rainfall is expected to rise on Friday and then reduce slightly over the weekend. However, it may pick up again towards the beginning of next week.

"There is a low pressure area over and around Gangetic West Bengal which is moving towards central India. It is strengthening the easterly winds that are blowing over northwest India. Due to these easterlies, there is a lot of moisture in the atmosphere. The models are suggesting that by the time the system reaches central India around July 7, rainfall will pick up again over the northern states," said an official.

On Thursday, the monsoon progressed further over northern India and covered Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, some more parts of Uttar Pradesh and north Rajasthan. The northern limit of the monsoon passed through Veraval, Surat, Nasik, Wasim, Damoh, Lucknow, Aligarh and Bikaner. The western end of the system has however, not progressed in the past several days. It has been stable over the southern-most tip of Gujarat since June 15 and parts of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh since June 20. At present, the system is still to cover parts of western UP, half of MP, most parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat. The southwest monsoon normally covers India by July 15.

On Thursday, the city recorded uneven rainfall. While parts of east Delhi received light showers for almost an hour in the afternoon, the Akshardham observatory did not record any rainfall. Lodhi Road recorded 23.8mm rainfall while Najafgarh recorded 7mm, Jaffarpur recorded 4mm, and Palam and Delhi University recorded 1mm rainfall. The minimum temperature for the day was 26.1 degrees Celsius, one degree below normal.

"The maximum temperature is expected to fall by a couple of degrees over northwest India by Friday. Rain and thundershowers are expected to occur at many places over Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir till Sunday. Rain and thundershowers will also occur at a few places over Uttarakhand during the next 24 hours. A few places in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi will also record rain and thundershowers during this period," said a Met official.

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Youth gunned down by friend in Faridabad

FARIDABAD: A youth was gunned down by his friend after a heated argument between them in Haryana's Faridabad district, police said today.

The father of the victim, Naresh (18), in a complaint to police alleged that he yesterday received a phone call from a person who said that his son had sustained injuries and he had been admitted in a hospital, they said.

On reaching the hospital, Naresh informed his father that he was at his friend's place where his other friends— Sunil, Rajesh, Ravinder, Irshan were also present.

He said that he had a heated argument over some issue with Rajbir following which he shot at him. Later, Naresh was admitted in a hospital where he succumbed to his bullet wounds, police said.

Police have registered a case against Rajbir under section 302 (murder) of IPC.

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Bangalore cop on the run after raping Delhi woman

BANGALORE: A sub-inspector with the Cubbon Park traffic police has been absconding after being accused of raping a woman from Delhi.

Delhi Police has come to Bangalore twice but the accused, Dhananjaya, was not available for questioning. Police sources said he may have gone on unauthorized leave suspecting trouble.

"We heard sub-inspector Dhananjaya is facing charges of rape and cheating for hiding his marriage from the woman with whom he was relationship," said additional commissioner of police (law and order) Kamal Pant.

DCP (traffic-west) S Girish said Dhananjaya was transferred from Indiranagar police station to Cubbon Park station on June 24 but has not reported for duty.

The woman filed a case with at the Malviya Nagar police station in New Delhi.

"He was in a relationship with the complainant. The woman, in her complaint, said the sub-inspector hid his marriage while she was staying in Indiranagar. The duo went on a trip to Nandi Hills last March," a source in Bangalore police said.

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Court seeks govt, DDA reply on hospital’s plea

NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Wednesday issued notice to Delhi government and DDA on a plea filed by Rockland Hospital asking the court not to take any coercive steps against it for not providing free treatment to poor patients.

Justice Manmohan sought the response of Delhi government and DDA on the plea of Rockland Hospital that the 2007 high court judgment asking 20 other private hospitals to give free treatment to poor does not apply to it as it did not get land at concessional rate.

During the hearing, the court, however, observed that poor patients should be provided free treatment. "Freeship has to be provided. The rich must pay for the poor...you (hospital) can recover from the rich," it said.

The hospital sought a direction that the Delhi government be restrained from taking coercive actions in pursuance of various letters including the show-cause notices issued to the hospital on August 8, 2013 and May 27, 2014. The plea said the hospital was built after the judgment was delivered in 2007.

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Govt to clarify officer’s rank

NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Wednesday asked the Centre to file an affidavit on the plea of a Delhi Police additional DCP against Sanskriti School after the admission of his son was cancelled on the grounds that his father was in Class B service and not Class A service.

Additional DCP-II Harish HP has filed a petition on behalf of his son before Justice Manmohan, who issued notice to the central government. During the hearing, counsel Sumeet Pushkarna, appearing for the central government, accepted the notice and said that the government will file its reply on whether the petitioner is an officer of Class A or Class B service.

On the last hearing, the court sought the response of DoPT, HRD ministry and the school. In the petition, it was claimed that the boy was denied admission in nursery class as his father was a DANIPS officer and was considered to be a Class B service. Even as the boy was shortlisted by the school, he was not admitted because the school said his father was in Class B service, it said.

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Students fall ill in Delhi after mid-day meal

NEW DELHI: Twelve students of a government school in Delhi, aged between five and 12 years, were admitted to a hospital Thursday afternoon when they complained of stomach ache after their mid-day meal, police said.

The students, studying in Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya in Patparganj area of east Delhi, fell ill after eating 'Rajma Chawal' that was served to them.

"They were rushed to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital where they are being treated," a police officer said.

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After 4-day delay, monsoon finally hits Delhi

NEW DELHI: After a delay of four days, the monsoon finally hit Delhi on Thursday and other northern parts of the country which have been experiencing hot weather conditions for several days.

"The monsoon has arrived in several parts of north India and Delhi. The national capital and several parts of north India received widespread rain since yesterday," IMD director BP Yadav said.

"There is sufficient humidity and winds are flowing both from Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, which is a typical sign of monsoon's arrival in north India," he said.

The normal date for south-west monsoon's arrival in Delhi is June 29.

IMD director general LS Rathore, however, said that he would not conclude that the monsoon was delayed.

"We would not want to say that monsoon has delayed. Even if the normal date of monsoon arrival in Delhi is June 29, we have plus or minus 7 days gap," he said.

Rathore said that places like Bikaner in Rajasthan, monsoon has set in early, where the expected date of rainfall is July 15.

However, in places like west Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat where the monsoon was expected to arrive between June 10 and 15, there has been practically no rain. The IMD's data for June showed that parts of Gujarat have received 91 per cent less rainfall.

Similar is the case in Bundelkhand where monsoon has still not arrived and its onset is expected to be around June 16-17.

"Heavy to very rainfall would occur at isolated places over SubHimalayan West Bengal, Sikkim andJharkhand isolated places over Odisha, Assam, Meghalaya and Andaman and Nicobar Islands," the IMD said.

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TMC MP alleges breach of privilege

NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP D Bandopadhyay has sent a breach of privilege notice to CBI, which has registered a case against him for allegedly inflating his travel bills for claiming reimbursement in the LTC scam.

CBI sources said a notice has come to the agency through the office of chairman, Rajya Sabha, claiming the searches at his home and office were breach of his parliamentary privileges. Bandopadhyay could not be reached for comment.

CBI sources defended the raids, saying they were undertaken after obtaining necessary permissions and in accordance with rules and regulations. The agency would file a "suitable reply," sources said.

CBI has named three former members and three sitting members of Rajya Sabha for allegedly filing inflated travel bills to claim reimbursement. Bandopadhyay was examined by the agency on June 16 at the CBI HQ after which he said he was satisfied with the probe and described CBI as the "civilized bureau of investigation." CBI has alleged that Bandopadhyay presented four tickets worth Rs 1.28 lakh whereas Air India was actually paid Rs 2,000. Denying the allegations, the MP had said the fraud could have been perpetrated by the travel agents who booked tickets on his behalf.

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Delhi govt sanctions 10 school building projects

NEW DELHI: Delhi government has sanctioned 10 senior secondary school building projects at various locations in Delhi, construction work of which will start within two months time.

"The entire project will cost Rs 174 crore approximately and tender for these projects have been initiated. The work at site shall start within two months time," said Arun Baroka, principal secretary (Public Works Department).

All these schools will have provision of lifts for facilitating handicapped students and teachers, Baroka said.

The school buildings will be four storeyed ones and will have provisions for rain water harvesting, underground sump and tubewell. Play ground of approximately 2000 sqm area is also provided to the schools.

Baroka said that the estimated cost of each school building varies from Rs 16 to 18 crores.

He said that estimates for 10 more schools have been submitted to the government for which the building plan has already been approved by the local bodies.

These 10 schools are also likely to be sanctioned soon. Sufficient budget provision have been provided in the current fiscal for taking up construction of these schools, Baroka said.

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