Pollution Under Control: Delhi

While most other projects might be behind schedule, Delhi seems to have things under control as far as pollution levels during the Games are concerned, at least for now.

What works for the city is that unlike China for instance, Delhi had already put into place pollution mitigation measures before it was decided to hold the Games here. It also has an elaborate plan to ensure that pollution levels come down further by October.

However, experts say that October is a difficult month for Delhi with pollution levels starting to rise with the onset of winter and it is essential that it has a back-up plan, preferably with regard to its vehicular population since it is single-handedly undoing the benefits that have been derived from other pollution control methods.

Anumita Roychoudhury, director of Centre for Science and Environment’s Right to Clean Air Programme says Delhi has an advantage over other cities as it is extremely green and already has a plan of action in place.

‘‘We have analyzed the pollution data for October 2009 and seen that there have been several days when levels of pollutants were more than permissible. There has to be a concerted effort in reducing those days and if all works well, there is a high possibility that the government’s plan succeeds. However, it has to be prepared with a contingency plan,’’ she said.

Roy choudhury outlined that during the Games, there would be dedicated lanes for Games traffic that would throw all other traffic completely out of gear by limiting space.

‘‘For both pollution and congestion control, Delhi will need traffic volume reduction plan. While public transport will have to be scaled up, ways will also have to be found to reduce the overall traffic volume. I strongly believe they must use parking restrictions in the city and high parking charges to dissuade people from bringing their cars out and connect those areas with frequent high speed buses and para transit,’’ she added.

The capital’s programme for dealing with its air pollution problem has encompassed several issues. Government officials say that air quality monitoring and forecasting, specially during the Games, is high on their list of priorities.

‘‘Other than vehicles, we have addressed many other problems. Pollution industries have been moved out, clean fuel has been introduced, old vehicles have been phased out, coal power plants have been shut, pollution checks are taking place, CNG has been a huge success and a cess on diesel has been imposed. We agree that the number of vehicles is too high but we are not a dictatorship and cannot put a cap on that number yet,’’ said a senior official.

Action taken by Delhi government so far

Introduction of Bharat Stage (BS) IV fuels

Only BS IV compliant four wheelers and BS III compliant two and three-wheelers are permitted in the city

Independent fuel-testing laboratories have been set up to check fuel adulteration

No. of three-wheelers capped

Commercial vehicles older than 15 years phased out

Implemented largest ever CNG-based public transport programme Allowed registration of only CNG light and medium duty vehicles to reduce diesel pollution

Cess imposed on diesel

Relocated polluting units

IP thermal power station closed

Asked CPCB to notify standards for SOx and NOx

Prohibited burning of leaves

New ambient air quality standards have been adopted

Delhi Bus and Auto Drivers Ready to Welcome Tourists

Venues may not be ready but according to the authorities, Delhi’s bus and auto drivers are more than ready to welcome the hordes of tourists for the Commonwealth Games 2010. As part of the run-up to the Delhi Games, the city’s ambassador’s bus drivers, police personnel, auto wallahs, immigration officials and tourist guides have been put through intensive training so that they can put their best foot forward. The training, given by various agencies including the Delhi Police, tourism ministry and the Delhi government, is basically along the lines of imparting communication skills and etiquette.

Agencies involved in the training claim a majority of the training has already taken place. Said Rajan Bhagat, spokesperson for the Delhi Police, ‘‘Around 7,500 personnel have already undergone training for the Commonwealth Games. Another 6,200 new recruits will be trained. All will be ready before the Games.’’ It is not just the police claiming all is well. Delhi government too says more than 8,000 auto wallahs have been given training for the Games already a fact that may be belied by the ground situation. The transport department, however, insists that both bus drivers and auto wallahs are undergoing training, with the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) giving etiquette lessons to more than 6,000 drivers.

It is not just drivers and police personnel polishing up for the Commonwealth Games. The tourism ministry, which had launched a scheme to train tourist guides and enable them to have licenses, says the training is going on as per schedule. In fact, its training programme for immigration officials has already been concluded. Said a senior ministry official, ‘‘Being the first point of interaction for the tourists, immigration officials create the first impression about the country and its people. Therefore, they should maintain a tourist friendly approach and a smiling face all the time.’’ The training incidentally, touches on appearance, deportment, alertness, sensitivity, and general behavior. Added the official, ‘‘The officials work in a very tough environment having duty shifts of 12 hours without off duty time, but they are the public face of Incredible India. So special efforts were taken to update them.’’

Now New Deadline New Deadline: The Dead.....line

After the chief minister’s office issued orders last month setting July 31 as the deadline for stopping all digging work, the Delhi government’s urban development department on Wednesday issued orders banning road cutting exercises for any kind of work by any agency from August 20. While the July 31 deadline set by the CM’s office was made to sound sacrosanct, urban development minister AK Walia’s orders setting August 20 as the deadline for banning all road cutting work is likely to lead to confusion.

That the order setting July 31 as a deadline failed to have any effect came through when a statement issued by Delhi urban development minister Dr AK Walia on Wednesday said the minister had expressed concern over ongoing road cutting in Delhi.

On August 3, Times City had reported that despite chief minister Sheila Dikshit’s order to stop all digging work in the city by July 31, civic agencies, discoms, telecom companies etc were still taking up digging activity on new roads.

The release from the CM’s office had clearly stated that there would be no deviations in deadlines. Times City, however, in the first week of August, found digging taking place all across the city. In some areas like GK-I, GKII, Panchsheel Park, near India Gate, Pamposh Enclave, Daryaganj etc, works related to laying of underground wires, installation of streetlights, and streetscaping had just been initiated.

‘‘It has been observed that in certain cases, road cutting is being undertaken even after completion of work,” minister for urban development AK Walia said on Wednesday, and directed his department to issue strict instructions to put a ban on road cutting with effect from August 20, 2010 in Delhi.

‘‘Road cutting is also resulting in damage to footpaths and roads. It has also been observed that road cutting is being done by discoms, MTNL and ECIL. They are being exhorted to finish work by August 16,” Walia said. He further stated that rampant road cutting will not only damage the image of the city but also prove to be harmful to recently built infrastructure in the capital. He underlined the need for clean and longer-lasting infrastructure keeping in view the large influx of tourists and visitors expected during the Commonwealth Games. As the Games will be about 40 days away from August 20, no further permission will be granted for any road cutting, Walia added, underlining the sanctity of the August 20 deadline.

Dr Walia has also instructed MCD and Delhi Police to strictly enforce the provisions of the Delhi Defacement Act, which envisages stringent action including hefty fines and imprisonment. He further directed the enforcement agencies to ensure that no poster, banner or wall writing should be visible in the city.

Protest Against the Eviction of Students from College Hostels

Students and teachers in Delhi University have finally come together to protest against the eviction of students from college hostels to accommodate tourists during the Commonwealth Games. Members of the University Community for Democracy a group of students, teachers and former students in DU, formed two months ago will go on a relay hunger strike from Thursday onwards at Arts Faculty to make DU authorities come forward and take responsibility for helping out the evicted hostellers. The group also wrote to the National Commission for Women on Wednesday highlighting the problems faced by female students in searching for accommodation outside the campus.

‘‘Why are students being made to pay for the Commonwealth Games? Earlier they paid anything around Rs 20,000 annually for hostel accommodation. But now they are forced to pay upto Rs 30,000 for three months in private hostels,’’ said Bonojit Hussain, a member of the group. He added that the cost of rooms in the PG hostels has gone up as much as three times also affecting not just the 1200 students evicted from college hostels, but also the other students who have come to DU from different cities.

While the colleges get to charge tariff from the tourists who come visiting during the Games, the students are being forced to pay exorbitant rents outside ‘‘which does not include food or electricity bills.’’ Bikram Bohra, a second-year student of BA (honours) history at Ramjas College, said, ‘‘I am now managing in a flat in Vijay Nagar with three others at Rs 10,000 per month.”

Games Site: Kids at Risk of Death

Jayanti is traumatized by the thought of the speeding truck that crushed to death her two-year-old daughter, Varsha, on Monday night inside the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium complex. The world has collapsed for her and her husband, Hari, but it’s work as usual at the complex. The fear of the contractors enforcing a strict deadline was palpable on Wednesday. Hundreds of laborers worked at a frantic pace while security guards maintained a hawkish vigil at the many gates.

Jayanti, 22, and her husband came to Delhi just over a month back from their village close to Jhansi to join the thousands working at Commonwealth Games construction sites. And their world has turned upside down.

When this reporter of TOI visited the stadium complex on Wednesday, all the gates were well-guarded with security men keeping the workers away from any questioning. Outside the gates, one saw laborers, both men and women, doing streetscaping work. Most were afraid to talk and few were aware of the death of a child inside the complex. With parents at work, children were seen playing in the midst of construction material and equipment on the road.

Jayanti said they had been employed for about 15 days at this site and were getting Rs 130 each as daily wages. The work hours stretch from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm. Weeping for her daughter, Jayanti said on Monday evening, she had asked the in-charge if she could leave for the day with her daughter at 7.00 pm but she wasn’t allowed to go.

When the truck appeared from nowhere and crashed into the footpath, the workers ran to safety but Varsha came under the wheels and died on the spot. The driver managed to escape in the chaos though the gate is well-guarded. The police was called and a case registered. Officials at the Lodi Road Police Station said the driver had been traced and was being brought to Delhi from Himachal Pradesh.

Hari said in the past two days they have received no help from the authorities, not even a few words of consolation. Geeta, another construction worker, who also belongs to Jhansi, complained that she has been working at the site for over a month now and there are no facilities for children. ‘‘They make us work all day, and with no place to leave the children behind, we have to take them to the site where they just play around,’’ she said, pointing out her four children. There are many more inside the complex.

Anjali Alexander from the Commonwealth Games-Citizens Workers Women and Children’s network says a crèche is critical at such sites till work is on as children cannot be left in unsafe zones. ‘‘We had set up a crèche with the assistance of the state labor department at a few sites, including JLN stadium. This crèche started in 2008 July and continued with labor board funding till August 2009. After that we ran the crèche till April 2010 with other resources, but then we asked by the authorities to leave as the work was going to get over. We kept pointing out that there were children there but no one listened to us,’’ said Anjali.

Now Mosquitoes New Threat for Games

The DDA flats under construction in Vasant Kunj have become the breeding ground for Aedes aegypti mosquito which is responsible for dengue. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has found high-density of mosquito breeding in the basement of DDA flats which are earmarked for Commonwealth Games officials.

MCD officials say that they can’t take preventive measures, as the basement has knee-deep water and most parts of the basement are inaccessible. And despite four challans and repeated reminders, DDA is yet to start draining the water. ‘‘The entire basement of the building is waterlogged. We have put anti-larval medicine near the staircase, but we can’t go inside as the water is knee-deep. Since 20 July, we have issued four challans to DDA and still no action has been taken. They are supposed to use pumps to drain the water. We have found high-density of mosquito breeding in the basement,’’ said Lal Chand, MCD’s Malaria in charge. He added, ‘‘The water has been there for the past 20 days. The basement has construction material, iron rods, etc, and it is impossible for us to reach the interiors.’’

Residents of Vasant Kunj, especially D block, are a worried lot. Several dengue cases have been reported from this area. ‘‘My granddaughter was admitted at AIIMS with dengue and a few days later my maid was diagnosed with the viral infection. There are several dengue cases reported in my locality,’’ said Dr P V Rao, a resident of D block, Vasant Kunj.

Sources in MCD say that the construction company is just focusing on finishing the work and is not paying any attention to mosquito breeding in the basement. ‘‘We told DDA to drain the water soon after the first rain, but they didn’t bother. With subsequent rainfall the water level in the basement has risen and it has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes,’’ said a senior MCD official.

DDA spokesperson, Neemo Dhar, rubbished MCD’s allegation that they didn’t drain the water after the first rainfall. ‘‘We did drain the water after the first rainfall. But water got collected again after it rained last week. We have asked the construction company to drain the water and have provided pumps for the same on Wednesday.’’

Top CWG Investors have Fake Addresses: Are They Living in a Slum

Talk about a meteoric rise. Jubilee Sports Technology (I) Pvt Limited was registered as a business venture of Siddharth Verma and Rohit Jain on September 6, 2006. Until March 2007, the company did absolutely no business, according to its annual return for the financial year 2006-07. But it has since pocketed a series of lucrative contracts, at exorbitant rates, to supply turf to Commonwealth Games venues.

Not bad going for a company whose promoter, Siddharth, is on trial as a conspirator in a corruption case involving his father, the late B P Verma, ex-chairman, Central Board of Excise and Customs.

First, a background on Jubilee. In 2008-09, Jubilee sold 2.24 lakh shares to two individuals and 12 companies at a premium of Rs 40 per share to 14 entities. Two individuals and 12 companies received these shares. For a privately held company that did no business till months prior to the share issue, this seems like an impressive premium.

Investigations by a leading English daily show that the 12 companies are registered at bogus addresses or at addresses where there are no traces of a company existing. Of the 12, eight claim to have directors who reside in the village of Karalla on the northern fringes of Delhi. It’s an unauthorized settlement of overflowing drains, temporary roads, narrow lanes and struggling families. Rain water stagnates for days, unwashed children and flies abound.

At least three companies that have taken a stake in Jubilee are headquartered at A-1168 Utsav Vihar, Karalla Village. Despite a three-hour hunt by TOI, and efforts by the local resident welfare association, the address couldn’t be located. In the village, blocks have plots only in the hundreds, residents point out. It may be a correct address, but in the chaos of Karalla it is as good as bogus. ‘‘We don’t have such rich people here,’’ says an elderly shopowner, when asked about the companies.

Of the remaining four companies, two Across Marketing and Nitya Sales are registered in the second floor of D-118 South Ganesh Nagar, in East Delhi’s Mandawali locality. When TOI reached the address, we were met by a middle-aged housewife who said she lived there and had never heard of them.

Seven of the 12 companies were registered post-2004 after Delhi bagged the Games. Four, in fact, were started in 2006 or 2007.

Unique Conbuild was registered two days after Jubilee itself was registered in September 2006. Magic Buildwell was registered three weeks after Jubilee was registered.

Now, back to Jubilee and the Commonwealth Games. Market sources say Jubilee’s contract for hockey surfaces, at $196 per square metre, is almost double the market rate. Its rate of Rs 1.35 crore per lawn bowls pitch is almost eight times the Rs 17 lakh that a British firm charged the National Games organizers in Ranchi just last year.

Tata Motors to provide Transport Solutions during Games and Batons Relay

After all the bad, there’s finally some good news from the organizing committee (OC) of the Commonwealth Games 2010. On Monday, it signed a deal with the Tata Motors for turnkey transport solutions during the Games as well as for the Queen’s Baton Relay. The sponsorship involves Tata Motors providing cars, Games branded uniforms for drivers, fuel for cars as well as backup and maintenance.

Terming the Tata Motors the ‘‘official motor transport’’ sponsor for the Delhi Games 2010, Suresh Kalmadi, OC chairman, added, ‘‘We are delighted to welcome Tata Motors to our sponsor family. The arrival of Tata Motors as an official partner will contribute towards the delivery of the best ever Commonwealth Games.’’ The sponsorship comes at a time when the OC has been under pressure to get more sponsors for the Games, especially as few have signed on yet apart from the Indian Railways, NTPC, Central Bank of India, Coca Cola and a few others. As part of the sponsorship, Tata Motors will be providing a total of 1,789 vehicles during the Games, which include 1,550 Tata Indigo, 100 Tata Safari, 109 Sumo Grande and 30 trucks required for transportation during the Games.

As a part of turnkey commitment with the OC, the sponsors will also provide the drivers with Games-branded uniforms, fuel for all vehicles along with backup services and maintenance. In addition, Tata Motors will offer fleet and depot management services, beside 24x7 call centre facilities. All vehicles provided by the sponsors will have Commonwealth Games branding on them.

Tata Motors will provide vehicles for the Queen Baton Relay, They will offer 20 Sumo Grande, one Land Rover, three trucks, and two buses for the relay. The fuel, drivers and backup services for the vehicles during the Relay will be taken care of by the dealers of Tata Motors in different cities.

Now Schools to Adopt their Vicinity and Maintain them During Games

About 1,000 private and government schools in Delhi and national capital region (NCR) will adopt areas in their vicinity and maintain them during the Commonwealth Games.

This is part of an initiative to sensitize and educate students about keeping their environment clean and healthy. The drive was launched by human resource development minister Kapil Sibal on Monday across schools and colleges in Delhi and the NCR.

The endeavor, “Clean Delhi Drive”, has been organized by NGO Art of Living under the aegis of its ongoing “Meri Dilli Meri Yamuna” campaign. It will culminate on September 12, which will be observed as Clean Delhi Day.

As part of the drive, musical concerts and street plays will be held in colleges, universities and educational institutions to exhort students to join the campaign.

“Mahatma Gandhi said cleanliness is next to Godliness. Six lakh children and 1,500 schools have already participated in the art competition and I am delighted with this initiative to introduce children to such a wonderful campaign,” said Sibal.

Still No Caterer finalized for Games

Two months to go for the Commonwealth Games 2010 and the organizing committee (OC) seems to be more occupied with firefighting corruption charges than getting its management of the Delhi Games 2010 in order. Two of its important decisions the launch of the merchandising operations and a decision on the selection of caterers at the Games venues were still hanging fire on Monday. Both were to be decided on Sunday.

The OC’s merchandising operations, which were to be launched on Monday, have now been delayed indefinitely. Sources in the OC claimed that the launch was expected to take place sometime ‘‘this week’’, though no one had an idea when. The merchandising launch is an important event for the administrators of the Commonwealth Games in terms of revenue. The OC has been feeling the heat for the lack of sponsors, with the merchandising expected to make a dent in the revenue figures.

Sources in the OC confirmed that the decision on caterers for the Games venues was also to be taken by the top brass of the OC. Said Lalit Bhanot, secretary general, OC,
‘‘The committee is still discussing the matter (of selection of caterer) but we should have a decision soon.’’ This was the response till late evening, though OC chairperson Suresh Kalmadi had declared that a caterer would be chosen for the venues by August 10. Sources, however, said that the selection committee had already conveyed its recommendations and a decision was to be taken by the top officials (read Bhanot and Kalmadi).

Sources in the OC, in fact, confirm that the past few days have been more of firefighting than actual work in the OC office. Most decisions are pending, especially with the top officials caught in the crossfire. In fact, Kalmadi’s preoccupation was more than apparent on Monday when even the signing up of a major sponsor Tata Motors for the Games didn’t get the OC to come out with a media blitzkrieg. Added the official, ‘‘Most events that usually mark the run-up to the Games, like the launch of merchandise, are being kept quiet, since the top officials are avoiding public gaze.’’

Only routine work like the inventory of Games venues is going as per schedule, added officials. The handover is still going on, with the OC having taken over 11 venues so far in the last week.