Frustrated Fort Lovers Start Repairing Fort Themselves

Frustrated over the inaction by authorities, the fort lovers and history enthusiasts took the repairs of the Sinhgad fort into their hands. They claimed that parts of the fort’s Kalyan Gate were collapsing continuously putting a question mark on the stability of the fort. That is why a group of the volunteers went up the fort and carried out the repairs of about 2 feet of the wall.  

About 50 members of Sahyadri Pratishtan had warned that it will rebuilt relics at the Sinhgad fort, about 30 kms from the city. The actually did the same on Thursday even as the state archaeological department opposed the act. Shramik Gojamgunde, founder of the organization claimed that the campaign was successful and the members repaired the tower at the Kalyan Gate. They also reported that a major portion of the tower along the door has collapsed fighting with monsoons.

“A major chunk of the tower collapsed last year and since then 10-15 stones are falling time and again. This has happened this monsoon also. All the stones which fell off from the tower were lying near the wall and steps going down to the Kalyan village. We removed those stones and piled them in a side so that they could be placed in their original place,” said Gojamgunde.

A team from the organization visited the fort on July 11 and found that outer wall and towers  at the forts are either fallen off or in the danger of falling off.

However, V N Kamble, assistant director of the state archaeology department, blamed the police for inaction. said, “The Sinhgad is a protected monument. The organization had given me a letter to repair the tower within 7 days but it could not have been done. A certain procedure has to be followed and our headquarter has to be conveyed. I had conveyed to him not to do this agitation and don’t harm the structure. I had informed the district collector as well as police officials but they didn’t take any action.”

The archaeological department has sent a team of experts on Friday to the fort to assess the situation. Kamble said the team will submit its report and then action will be taken against the organization for ‘vandalizing the monument’.  “I will first get the report and will talk to my seniors. By Monday, we will decide the future course of action. They could have adopted the fort which is legal way of conservation and approved by our department,” he said.

Kamble had told earlier that a tender of Rs 1.21 Crores has been floated and sent to the state government for approval. That tender includes the works of restructuring the Kalyan Gate, cleaning and desilting of the wells found on the fort and weeding out the bushes grown on the outer walls of the fort.”

The plans for the renovation of Sinhgad were in pipeline since 2005. The proposal was approved in 2005 and the actual work began in 2008. The budget allocated was Rs. 3.76 crore however most of the that budget has been  spent in making roads or other works rather than maintaining the monuments. The state archaeology department had prepared a plan for the renovation of Sinhgad Fort at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore. The work was to be completed by this May.

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Least Rains In This June

It is official now. As the June comes to end, it recorded lowest rainfall in this month during the last decade. The city has recorded only 34.5 mm of rainfall since June 1 which is only one third of the average rainfall for the month.

As per the India Meteorological Department, The average rainfall for the city in June is 116.1 mm. However, the rainfall recorded at Pune station of IMD since the start of this month was only 34.5 mm, at Lohegaon it was 25.1 mm while at Pashan station it was 34.4 mm. This trend is in line with other districts in the state where only 7 out of 35 districts have registered the average rainfall for this month.

The lowest rainfall in June for city during last decade was three years ago, when 117.5 mm rainfall was recorded. But the situation in 2009 was helped by 55.5 mm rains during the 24-hour period on June 6. This time around, the maximum rainfall did not go beyond 3 mm.

Meanwhile, scant rains in the catchment areas of the dams have helped the water scarcity situation a little. The Temghar dam has recorded 2 mm of rains and Warasgaon and Panshet dams have recorded 3 mm of rains overnight. This has meant an insignificant increase in the level of water in all these dams.

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Can LPG Diversion Stop in India?

The government of India has embarked upon an ambitious project to check the pilfering of the LPG cylinders, a major component of the domestic fuel in the country. Recently, S. Jaipal Reddy, Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas, launched a unique initiative - the 'LPG Portal' - that will host data on the last mile delivery of domestic LPG cylinders, supplied by PSU Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to nearly 10.4 millions households in the country. This is expected to curb the black marketing of the LPG cylinders.

The LPG Transparency portal can be accessed through the official website of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas : www.petroleum.nic.in. It can be also be accessed through the websites of oil marketing companies Indian Oil (www.indane.co.in); Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (www.ebharatgas.com) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (www.hindustanpetroleum.com).

For decades, the Indian OMCs supplied the cylinders to consumers at their doorsteps. Since the advent of economic liberalization in the country, this scenario changed with the demand for LPG cylinders by commercial establishments like eateries, hotels etc. Some cylinders even were fitted in the four wheelers. It was but natural that this surge in demand was fulfilled with diverting the LPG cylinders meant for domestic consumers to commercial customers.

In late 1990s, the government came up with idea to separate both cylinders and having color coding to identify the cylinders for each segment. However, given the level of corruption in supply cycle and absence of effective vigilance mechanism, that scheme has produced minor results when compared to the total volume of diversion.

The potal allows the consumers to know their individual pattern of LPG usage, LPG booking status, LPG refill history or request for surrender of their connection, highest consumption consumers, subsidy availed etc. The information on the portal can also be sorted by consumer number, consumer name and by distributors' name easily.

The government has expressed hope that this measure will emerge as a powerful tool for social audit for all domestic LPG supplies. This portal not only benefits consumers but is also a unique resource for civil society to access LPG distribution information, report discrepancies and register their feedback on the anomalies in supply, if any, an official release said.

Minister Reddy said at the occasion, "OMC's have been making efforts to increase coverage of LPG so that it is available in all parts of the country. However, the high prices and volatility experienced in the prices of LPG and our high dependency on imports of LPG makes it very challenging to maintain the supply of LPG to the customers at the subsidized price. The three Oil Marketing Companies supply over 32 lakhs cylinders per day and are expected to incur a subsidy burden of Rs.43,000 crore this year. Thus the need to curb unauthorized usage of LPG for commercial purposes has become acute in the recent times."

This is just one of the schemes launched by the government to curb the unauthorized use of LPG cylinders. For example, in Pune (Maharashtra), Mysore (Karnataka) and Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), the HPCL has launched a scheme wherein the finger prints of the consumers are registered. Similarly, IOC has decided to provide Unique Identification Numbers to the consumers. For this, the companies have joined hands with UID authority also. As per the plan, the delivery men of the company will check the finger prints of the end consumer before delivering the cylinders. These prints will be stored on the servers of the company.

In April 2012, R. P. N. Singh, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, informed the Lok Sabha that till April 1, OMCs had blocked 8,89,267 LPG connections of Piped Natural Gas consumers, in an effort to stop diversion of subsidized domestic LPG. PNG connections are provided to households in cities having City Gas Distribution projects to supply natural gas as cooking fuel. He also informed that the Government has enacted "Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Regulation of Supply and Distribution) Order, 2000" and formulated "Marketing Discipline Guidelines, 2001" which provides for penal action against LPG distributors indulging in diversion/black marketing of LPG.

However, these measures have failed to throw up the expected results. During 2010 alone, OMCs had taken action in 140 established cases in the country for release of benami/bogus LPG connection

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Fire In Secretariat Arises Suscpicion

An unprecedented major fire which broke out in the Mantralaya (secretariat) in Mumbai has given birth to suspicions that it is part of cover-up. The fire took place in the urban development department on second floor which had most of the files pertaining to Adarsh scam. Even as this post is being written, the fire fighters are trying to douse fire which has engulfed 4th, 5th and 6th floor. According to reports on news channels, most of the offices on these floors were gutted in the fire. 

All the employees working in the building were evacuated. One of my friends, who works in the publicity department, said that all employees rushed downstairs immediately after the fire broke out. There was no cause of worry. Around 10 fire tenders were trying to bring the fire under control and even Indian Navy's choppers were pressed into service.

The social networks were filled with posts expressing doubts on the cause of the fire. Almost everybody thinks that the fire was started deliberately to destroy the files pertaining to various scams. Even senior officers, like former IPS officer Y.P. Singh were apprehensive. 

Fire breaks out on fourth floor of Maharashtra secretariat in Mumbai

The urban development department is one of the most important departments and is a major source of black money for politicians, he told Headlines Today. Besides this department, even Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan's office on 6th floor was also on fire.

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GE Lights Maharashtra's Hope With $200 Million Promise

CM Prithviraj Chavan and GE officials inspecting the plan of the proposed plant at Chakan.

US major General Electric on Friday announced that it will invest $ 200 million (INR 1,100 crores) in Maharashtra, India to set up a new manufacturing facility in Pune for developing products for the energy sector. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)was signed between the state government and GE at Chakan.

The MoU was signed at Hotel Hyatt Regency in the presence of Prithviraj Chavan, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Expressing his pleasure, Chavan said the planned project will provide employment to over two thousand people. "We are confident that such initiatives will strengthen the manufacturing sector in India and enhance growth. 21st century is about competition & we want to increase manufacturing in the state," he said.

In a statement issued by GE India, John Flannery, President & CEO, said,

"GE India announced that its new manufacturing unit would develop localised products and solutions for the energy sector in its first phase of operation commencing in 2013," the company said in a statement.

GE already has a wind turbine assembly unit in Pune. The proposed plant will come up at 68 acre of land and will manufacture the energy products as well as environment friendly products.

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Professor of English Sues Publisher For Infringing Copyright

A former reader of Goa University, who is settled in the city, has filed lawsuits against two publishers and claimed Rs 25 lakh each in damages over copyright infringement after he allegedly found books written by him being sold without his permission at high prices.


Prof Anand Patil, former head of the English Department, Goa University, claims that he has not received the royalty amount for his books Western Influence on Marathi Drama published by Rajhauns Vitaran, 1993 and The Whirligig of Taste: Essays in Comparative Literature published by Creative Books, New Delhi.

He said that the academic books are also available online. Patil has also filed cases against Google Books and Amazon.com.

Patil, a resident of Dahanukar Colony, learnt about the piracy last month from his US-based daughter who told him that his books were available on Amazon.com.

“Western Influence on Marathi Drama was based on my thesis on which I had worked for 12 years. When I found that it was sold online for about Rs 4,000, I was shocked,” Patil said adding that after browsing further he found The Whirligig of Taste: Essays in Comparative Literature was also on sale.

“Both of these publishers did not pay a single penny. When I demanded an explanation, one of them denied having published the book. Rajhauns Vitaran has offered me a cheque of Rs 10,000 but my counsel advised me against encashing it,” he said.

“Since there is no authoritative work available in English on Maharashtra’s language, culture and traditions, my books are sought by researchers. My essay is included in Cambridge Sourcebook of Comparative Literary into Comparative Literature,” he added.

Patil said that he was not worried about recovering damages from Google Books or Amazon.com because they have a better Intellectual Property Rights policy and will settle the dues. “It is these two publishers that I want to teach a lesson,” he said.

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Maharashtra Day Without Fervour

The usual fervour which accompanies Maharashtra Day on May 1 was absent this time. The state has been mired in problems ranging from lawlessness to drought and there is no remedy in sight. The ruling politicians have put up a brave face being a developed state but that does not take away the limelight away from the serious problems the public is facing here.

Just a couple of days before the celebrations for the 52^nd foundation day for the state began, the local media reported about the demand or wish by villagers in Jat division of the Sangli district. The villagers had collectively demanded that they wanted to go in the Karnataka state because the farmers in the neighbouring state are getting much better treatment. Their argument is that even though farmers in Maharashtra are suffering from drought, they are not given adequate waivers. In the contrast, the farmers in Karnataka are getting loans with zero interest and power without charge.

This news item was an eye opener for those who prided on the strides made by the state in social welfare, justice, economic equality and industrialisation. All the claims made by government stood dwarfed in the light of this development.

Not only the villagers of Jat, many parts of the state resent the downgrade of Maharashtra in recent years. Just August last year, Vairagadh village in Buldhana district made a similar demand through the gram sabha. They had even written a letter to Narendra Modi, chief minister of Gujarat for inclusion of their village in that state.

The state has taken a beating on each and every front. It stands at top in the list of debt ridden states and is followed by Uttar Pradesh with a total debt burden of Rs 1.36 lakh crore. The state is paying Rs 20,000 crore towards interest on loans alone.

The state also is ranked first in the number of farmer suicides with more than three thousand farmers taking their lives each year. According to Economic Survey 2011-12, the economic growth of the state has falled to 8.5 % from 11.3 % last year.

These hard realities have confined the Maharashtra Day to rituals. This has been second time in a row that the state is missing the usual celebratory mood. Hope it is improved next year.

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