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National Green Tribunal seeks municipal corporation's say on tree-cutting norms

Wednesday, 19 March 2014 09:14 administrator
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The Times of India           19.03.2014

National Green Tribunal seeks municipal corporation's say on tree-cutting norms

PUNE: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday asked the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to file an affidavit confirming that it had complied with all the norms before cutting down trees for a road-widening project in the city.

"The tribunal has asked the PMC to file a compliance affidavit. We will ask the road department of the PMC to do so," said Mohan Dhere, tree officer of the PMC.

The NGT is hearing a petition that claims that the civic body has allowed illegal felling of trees and is in contempt of the ruling passed by the Bombay high court in September 2013 that specifies the procedure to be followed before trees are cut. It has particularly raised the case of felling of trees along a 3.5-km stretch of road between Ghorpadi and Mundhwa in December 2013.

However, the legal counsel for the PMC has claimed that permissions for cutting the 77 trees and transplant 70 others had already been obtained from the Bombay High Court. The civic body has also claimed that it has planted 200 trees to compensate for the loss of greenery.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 19 March 2014 10:43
 

Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation installs new lights to save energy

Monday, 17 February 2014 07:18 administrator
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The Times of India          17.02.2014

Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation installs new lights to save energy

BHUBANESWAR: The process to replace power-guzzling traditional street lights with energy-efficient ones began on Saturday.

Once completed, the project promises to save Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Rs 2 crore annually from its power bill.

BMC on Saturday installed 20 energy-efficient LED street lights, in the first phase, on the stretch between Sishu Bhawan Square and Capital Hospital Square.

The civic body claimed that this was the first-ever energy-efficient street lights installed on public-private partnership (PPP) mode in the country. A Mumbai-based private company, which has expertise in providing energy-efficient street lights, has taken up the installation.

"We have made a 10-year agreement with the private company, which will maintain the street lights from its own pockets. The plan is to install about 20,000 such street lights in phases," said BMC commissioner Sanjib Mishra. He said the civic body would have to pay Rs 300 per light point to the company.

"Annually, the civic body will be paying Rs 60 lakh for 20,000 lights," said Mishra.

The agreement with the company stipulates that 90 per cent of the revenue earned by saving the energy (cutting the electricity bills), will go to the private company, while BMC will get 10 per cent. "If the BMC saves Rs 100 a month by installing the energy-efficient street lights, the private agency will get Rs 90," said a BMC official. He said 80% of BMC's power bill would be saved by installing these lights.

The monitoring of the street lights will be done online. "There will be high-end technology to track the functioning of the street lights. We will find out about technical snags sitting at one place," said the official.

Timers will also be installed on lampposts so that the lights automatically switch off after 6am. Besides, after 10pm, the lights will get dimmer thanks to new technology. "The new technology will help check the illumination of the lights and improvise meter reading. There are around 9,000 individual drop (switch) points in the city," said an official.

BMC, which has been paying Rs 5 crore annually towards electricity consumption, will have to pay just Rs 3 crore after installation of the new street lights.

 

PMC chief hints at banning plastic in Pune

Thursday, 13 February 2014 09:57 administrator
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The Times of India             13.02.2014

PMC chief hints at banning plastic in Pune

PUNE: Newly-appointed PMC commissioner Vikas Deshmukh said on Wednesday that maximum utilisation of the existing garbage processing units and increasing manpower to deal with related problems will be high on his agenda. While speaking to mediapersons on Wednesday, Deshmukh even hinted at banning plastic bags in the city.

"We have held meeting with villagers as well as the officials of the garbage processing plants. The directives have been given to processing units to increase manpower," Deshmukh said.

The new commissioner said the garbage processing at Uruli once had around 200 workers, but the number in the last few years has gone down to 25. The civic administration has asked the operators of these units to increase manpower in the next 48 hours, which will help in processing more garbage.

"Plastic bags create nuisance as far as processing of garbage is concerned. We will take steps to reduce its usage. Even reintroduction of ban on plastic bags can be considered. The civic administration will hold a round of talks with the elected members," Deshmukh said.

Pune generates nearly 1,600 metric tonne garbage every day. Waste disposal is an acute problem due to non-availability of sites in the city. At present, the city's garbage is sent to the processing plant at Phursungi-Uruli villages. A plant has also been set up at Ramtekdi. Civic officials say that of the total garbage generated in the city every day, around 15% is plastic.

Deshmukh said the land acquisition process for setting up a garbage depot will be speeded up. "A long-term solution is needed to solve the problem. Small waste processing plants are the need of the hour. The civic administration has identified five sites in parts of the city where such plants will be set up. Plots ranging from two to five acres will be selected for the purpose," he said.

Deshmukh, who took charge on Tuesday, had said that solid waste management would be the top priority of the administration during his tenure.

 
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