Sheila Taxes Us As Crores Go Unspent

The series of tax hikes effected by chief minister Sheila Dikshit to raise money for urban improvement could have been avoided had her government utilised central funds earmarked for infrastructure development.

The midterm appraisal of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission ( JNNURM) accessed by MAIL TODAY shows the state government spent a mere Rs 22 crore of the nearly Rs 6,000 crore committed by the Centre for the fiscal years 2005- 06 to 2009- 10.

As a result, the huge amount was allowed to lapse, leading to a funds crunch for the Capital's urban development.

 

JNNURM funds are used for infrastructure development and creating facilities for the urban poor. The midterm appraisal report is prepared by the Union ministry for urban development.

The state government had only to submit detailed project reports on time. But it did not do this for three consecutive fiscal years 2005- 06 to 2007- 08. In 2008- 09, it got only Rs 22 crore against the sanctioned plans.

In 2009- 10, against its city development plans, that is draft proposals, the Centre sanctioned nearly Rs 5,500 crore.

Shockingly, Delhi bureaucrats yet again failed to prepare detailed project reports - the final project plans that include design details and execution plans - allowing the hefty amount to lapse.

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With thanks : source : Mail Today

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Cost overruns for CWG 2010

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India 'Diverts Funds For Poor To Pay For Delhi Games'

Tens of millions of dollars have been diverted in India from schemes to fight poverty and used to fund Delhi's Commonwealth Games, a report says.

  The Housing and Land Rights Network pressure group says its report is based on official documents obtained under India's right to information act.

The group says there should be an independent inquiry into how this was allowed to happen. Government officials in Delhi say they are looking into the allegations.

'Clear evidence'
This report is a damning indictment of the way the Commonwealth Games have been financed and planned by the central and state governments.

It says tens of millions of dollars have been diverted from funds which are supposed to help raise underprivileged low caste communities out of poverty.

The report also says spending on the Games has spiralled out of control: expenditure on sports infrastructure alone is more than 2,000% of the initial projected budget.

In addition, more than 100,000 poor families have already been evicted due to projects connected with the Games, and up to 40,000 families are likely to be displaced before the Games begin in October, the document says.

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Games In Cost Overrun Log Jam

Five major Commonwealth Games- related projects have overshot their estimated costs, data received under a Right to Information ( RTI) application revealed. They also ran into delays.

The collective cost overrun for the five projects, viz.

Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Complex, Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, Dr S. P. Mukherjee Aquatics Complex, Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium and Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range is over 100 per cent.

While these construction and renovation projects were originally pegged to cost Rs 1,000 crore, the final bill stood at Rs 2,400 crore. The Central Public Works Department was responsible for all the projects.

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Construction Overdrive Is Covering Delhi In Dust, Capital Is Counting Cost To Health And Environment

As Delhi steps on the accelerator on preparations for the Commonwealth Games, with just five months to go, the frenzied construction drive has left the city sporting a fine layer of dust. While air pollution has always been a problem in the Capital, the spurt in building activity has led to a spurt in suspended particulate matter (SPM), at some places, even affecting visibility levels. The worst fallout, say experts, is the rise in cases of allergies and asthma due to the dust cover, unlikely to go away anytime soon.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) that monitors air pollution levels in Delhi says that between 2009 and 2010, the levels of SPM and RSPM (respirable SPM) have risen significantly. A fall was seen in February but that, officials say, could be due to a change in weather which brought some rain that month. Besides, the fall has not been uniform across the city four of the seven stations monitored recorded an increase.

``Dust has become a huge problem for the city and we do not see any respite unless a lot of the construction work is over. The levels of the two pollutants (SPM and RSPM) should be peaking right now as the there is some construction taking place almost in each part of the city,'' said S D Makhijani, director, CPCB.

From the Metro construction in various areas, including Dhaula Kuan, to stadia, flyovers and repaving of footpaths in practically all parts of the city, the government is on a construction overdrive. Several areas are also dug up for new dividers, underpasses etc.

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Roadblock On Vikas Marg For 3 Days

If you are on way to east Delhi from ITO, be ready to face traffic jams for the next three days at least.

One carriageway of the ITO bridge would be closed down for repairs for the next three days and the traffic is likely to be affected.

"Of the four lanes of the ITO bridge, the leftmost is being closed down for repairs. We expect an increase of over 25 percent in vehicular movement on this road. Motorists should avoid this stretch if possible," said Satyendra Garg, joint commissioner of police (traf- fic).

Traffic police said that motorists bound for east Delhi should take the Geeta Colony bridge or the Nizamuddin bridge to avoid getting stuck in the jam. The Public Works Department (PWD) will carry out repair works on the carriageway from 2 pm onwards on Friday.

"The repair work could also take more than three days," said the officer. The repair is being taken over the old ITO Bridge over the Yamuna.

The lane is an arterial road and may disrupt east Delhi bound traffic.

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Commonwealth Games Adding Slums To Delhi, Warns WHO

Construction work due to the Commonwealth Games was adding slum clusters to the existing ones and due to this the overall health condition in the city would deteriorate, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned Tuesday.

"Construction related to the Commonwealth Games is bringing in migrants from outside Delhi and adding good amount of slums in the city," A.K. Sengupta, the national professional officer, sustainable development and healthy environment, WHO, warned.

"Unless we manage them, it will deteriorate health conditions in the city," Sengupta told IANS on the sidelines of an event at WHO's regional office here.

Nearly 30 percent of Delhiites live in slums and the increasing number of slums and migrants requires better planning so that urban health is managed properly, authorities said.

Sengupta said the same thing happened during the 1982 Asian Games.

Tens of thousands of migrant labourers are currently in Delhi to carry out construction works related to the mega sporting event Oct 3-14. They are staying in illegal colonies, in places adjacent to construction sites and on pavements.

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Commonwealth Games 2010: The Ballooning Budget

When work on the Commonwealth Games began in 2006 the mega budget was Rs 22,000 crore. Four years later the budget is Rs 30,000 crore. It has swollen by nearly 40 per cent forcing the Delhi government to increase taxes and roll back crucial subsidies.

Naturally, everyone wants to know what went wrong.

Sources tell NDTV that some of it is a result of steep inflation that nobody has escaped and a lot of it can be attributed to mismanagement.

All projects have been delayed, primarily the Commonwealth Village, which had a budget of Rs 465 crore in 2004 and now Rs 1400 crore, losses have occurred also because many apartments remained unsold. The government was forced to buy them off contractors.

Traffic and communication infrastructure budget also saw a grand leap. Its budget for 2004 was Rs 40 crore and in 2010, it has risen to Rs 80 crore.

The budget for 11 stadia was Rs 1200 crore in 2004, it has risen to Rs 5000 crore and construction is way behind deadline.

Work on flyovers was altered mid-way several times and now, new unplanned additions have been made. The budget: Rs 1,650 crore.

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Capital Mascara : Has The City Lost Its Priorities In The Rush For Cosmetic Nirvana?

Concrete blunder Environmentalists warn that Delhi will live to regret these massive buildings on the banks of the Yamuna

In typical realtor-speak, it's being advertised as "the finest address in the heart of Delhi", and the Commonwealth Games Village is, truly, the stuff of real estate fantasies. Walk through its well-secured gates, and find yourself amid swathes of green, dotted with a swimming pool, a health club, tennis courts and, of course, 34 towers containing 1,168 flats that reek of 5-star comfort. Their decor may be minimalist, but the tone is one of overwhelming opulence.

Built in partnership between the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and developers Emaar MGF, the Village will give 8,000 international Commonwealth athletes the chance of living India's gated community dream. But outside the gates, the voices of protest aren't dying down; indeed, the critics are multiplying in number. For them, this plush "village" is not a dream world but a nightmare; the controversy around it a mirror of the larger public debate around the CWG itself.

Environmentalists believe Delhi will live to regret constructing these massive buildings on the banks of the Yamuna. They predict that the village will hamper the flow of groundwater that replenishes the seasonal river, effectively choking it. Despite a July 2009 Supreme Court verdict authorising the construction of these apartments, critics remain unconvinced. "It is almost suicide, but we are going through with it," says architect, urban planner and conservation consultant A.G.K. Menon. Even a cabinet minister confessed to Outlook, off the record: "Nobody can explain the justification for building the CWG Village on the banks of the Yamuna. Nor can I understand the logic of having the games somewhere else, and the village across a river."

Environmental concerns apart, some critics are also saddened by the contrast between the Asian Games in 1982, for which architects were selected on the basis of democratic competitions, and the Commonwealth Games, where no time was wasted for democracy. Raj Rewal, who won the competition to design the Asian Games Village near Delhi's Siri Fort Complex, says, "Now you have a case of architecturally illiterate promoters bringing in professionals who are far from being the world's leading architects. India's younger group of brilliant planners and architects have lost out as a consequence."

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With thanks : SOURCE : http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?264893

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Unfinished Roads Turn Speed Bumps In Commonwealth Games Countdown

IT'S A race against time with the Commonwealth Games less than 200 days away, and organisers are scorching the asphalt in the final dash for deadlines.
But the Municipal Corporation of Delhi's (MCD) project to redevelop 19 major roads around venues for the mega event is hardly off the starting blocks.

Will these roads be ready for Games?

The civic authority's own internal work records show that at an average only about 10 per cent work is complete on all these key stretches.

MAIL TODAY is in possession of a copy of the MCD progress report till February 2010. A sizeable amount of Rs 153 crore is being lavished on these roads for that runway-smooth ride and installation of elegant street furniture. Beautification involves a thorough revamp of footpaths, central verges and streetlights as well as the use of durable bitumen to relay the roads.

But in keeping with its past track record, the MCD has not been able to move beyond the initial stages on most of these link road projects despite starting months ago. In fact, work on some stretches is just 1 per cent complete.

AT A CRAWL Sample this. Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium is the main venue for the opening and closing ceremonies.

LONG-WINDED PROCEDURE
* THIS IS HOW THE CIVIC BODY EXECUTES A PROJECT
STEP1:MCD makes estimates of different projects
STEP2: Approval of the estimates goes to the chief engineer
STEP3: Projects comes up before standing committee meeting for approval
STEP4: Projects are discussed in the MCD House
STEP5:Tenders are floated
STEP6: Bidding is done
STEP7:Contractors are finalized and projects awarded

With thanks : source : MailToday

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"Govt To Loot 'Aam Aadmi' to Pay For The Games

The Delhi government on Monday presented a budget proposing to make bot- tled cooking gas, diesel and CNG costlier to fund the Common- wealth Games in October.

"This is a growth-oriented budget for the Games," said finance minister Ashok Kumar Walia, presenting his seventh budget. In plain English, Delhiites must pay more.

The government proposes to withdraw the Rs 40 subsidy on each LPG cylinder and increase VAT on diesel and CNG to hike prices by Rs 2.37 and Rs 1.09 a litre, respectively. If these pro- posals go through, expect hikes in taxi and auto fares.

"We'll demand increasing the fare of the first kilometre from Rs 10 to Rs 15," said Sobhran Singh Rajput, president, Bhartiya Tiphaiya Chaalak Sangh.

Walia justified the withdrawal of the LPG subsidy, saying: "We have been giving subsidies as long as it was feasible. They were costing us Rs 850 crore to Rs 1,000 crore."

This subsidy was announced in June 2008.
Taxes are going up on a host of other items such as high-end mobiles and apparel.

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