Shield Initiative !

Team Shield is working on environmental awareness campaigns since 2009. And in 2011 our team won Earth hour award sponsored by HT and WWF. With that money we did a small solar awareness project in Jagdamba camp Sheikh Sarai and raised awareness on solar energy at number of places .

SHIELD,s WoW Delhi team (women of Wards) started working on No Polybag campaign in 2012 with vendors of patri bazar in South Delhi,but due to lack of availability of options and a weak govt policy the project slowed down as paperbags were not successful and people by and large never carried a shopping bag ,but neverthless admitted to its need.

In 2015 started working with women in three different areas of Delhi.The project involved buying of waste cloth of factories and making cloth bags of assorted sizes.The idea was to generate sustainable income for ladies who do not venture out of houses ,in Indian marriages a girl is gifted with a sewing machine and for us it became easy to find ladies with skill for stitching.We noticed that even a meagre income of forty ,fifty rupees made a huge difference to them.Our project slowed down as we were not able to market cloth bags even at a low price of Rs 5 or 10/- The project was in Sangam vihar ,Pulprehladpur and Shahadra.

We set out thinking as to where do people require polybags ? it was majorly for buying vegetables and then for waste disposal.So the idea to reduce requirement for polybags one needed to manage wet kitchen waste which is 70% of total household waste.Surprisingly we saw a total saving on requirement of garbage bags for lining bins. This led to birth of our movement Harit Kachra Kranti !The project was successfully taken up with residents of Masjid mothDDA Flats phase1 . A small project of composting jointly by block people was successful which led us to install compost bins for neighborhood in the parks. We have installed three bins in the colony and the garbage collector has been educated on collecting kitchen waste seperately. It is an uphill task to educate the educated to segregate waste. On similar lines one bin has been installed in Sangam vihar L1 gali number 18 .Volunteers are giving small candy boxes for keeping kitchen waste  to residents.Children are going house to house educating residents and collecting funds for compost bins. One bin was installed in Gandhi peace foundation today  for composting kitchen waste, the sweeper Nitin was the happiest ! it meant less work for him.

 Success of project would depend on raising awareness on new scientific ways of composting ,giving cheap readily available options for managing waste. The awareness has been received very positively by garbage lifters as it means they make money out of each bit of waste they collect wet or dry, added advantage is cleaner working conditions for them.

We have already got requests for installation of bins in Safdarjung enclave on trial basis. By applying collective wisdom we can overcome challanges we may face in achieving our mission of cleaner ,healthier and happier world.The quest for solutions continues.........

Thanks and regards

Ranju Minhas

Founder 

Sept 30 last date to set up rainwater harvesting system : HT

INCENTIVE Properties on over 500 sqm area need to install unit, will get 10% rebate on water bills

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) extended the deadline given to property owners to install rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems from June 30 to September 30.

DJB officials say they want to make sure that the policy takes off not just on paper but in reality.

“The deadline was tight and almost impossible to meet. We can’t ensure that everyone has a rainwater harvesting pit by force. People have to be mobilised. Penalising them will not help and hence the extension,” says DJB CEO, Keshav Chandra.

For over a decade, policy makers in Delhi have tried to encourage rainwater harvesting. Policies have made the construction of RWH pits mandatory in buildings constructed on an area of more than 100 metre square. But the ground reality hasn’t changed. For around five years now, Delhi has only 500 approved RWH structures.

The new dispensation wants to change this. How successful they are remains to be seen.

For starters, the gover nment is looking at institutions instead of individual households.

“We want everyone to do it but the impact of institutions spread over a bigger area is going to be bigger. We will also move to individuals soon,” Chandra said.

Properties built on an area of over 500 metre square have been mandated to install a RWH system. They will get a rebate of 10% on water bills if this is done.

In case a system is not installed, the water tariff will be increased by 1.5 times.

T he Delhi gover nment looked towards the Chennai model where the practice is mandatory to get a building licence, but is simple enough so that people are not getting permission through fraudulent measures.

In Delhi, this first meant making the process more flexible and less expensive.

According to Jyoti Shar ma of the Forum for Organised Resources Conservation and Enhancement (FORCE), the current policy is better despite its shortcomings. It makes it simpler and cheaper for people to set up RWH structures.

“The idea behind the new policy is that if a lot if people will do it, it will be very beneficial for the water table. The simplicity is to make sure that more people adopt it willingly,” Sharma said.

The new pit, without the borewell, can be constructed at a third of the cost of the previous one. It can also be made cheaper of you want a basic structure.

“For filtrates, we suggest using rocks, sand, gravel and charcoal etc. If that doesn’t work, even gunny bags at the bottom of the pit will do. All you have to ensure is that contaminated water is not entering the pit, and clean the pit regularly,” Chandra said.

This, however, can be tricky. To make sure that only rainwater enters the pit, the supply to the pit will have to be secured and it has to be made sure that any other lines, such as a sewer pipe, is not leaking and contaminating the water in the pit.

Maintaining and cleaning the pit and also the outlet one the roof and the downpipe are clean and unobstructed.

According to the latest groundwater survey of Delhi, south Delhi is the most parched. Water is found only at a depth of 40 metres. Only in six small pockets, three in northwest Delhi, one in north east Delhi and one in west Delhi can water be found at a two-metre depth.

On an average, water is found at a depth of 10-15 metres.

with thanks : Hindustan Times Dated 27.6.2016

Boundaries of 272 wards to change, may impact poll fortunes of 40 Assembly seats : HT

NEW DELHI: The upcoming municipal elections will be held on 272 wards, however, the seats could be redistributed among the three civic bodies going to polls next year.

Delhi State Election Commission officials said the number of municipal wards in the national capital would continue to be 272, even as the geographical boundaries of each ward will witness dramatic changes.

Sources said the delimitation process would lead to a major shift in certain assembly constituencies, which will now have up to seven wards. Currently, each constituency has four wards.

“The total number of wards in the city will remain the same. However, due to migration, the number of wards under each assembly constituency will change. It will now range from three to seven,” said Rakesh Mehta, Delhi State Election commissioner.

Sources in the polling body said the change in wards was due to alteration in ward-wise population. The areas most likely to be affected are the Walled City, east and west Delhi.

“The delimitation process is based on 2011 census. Going by the data, while a lot of people have migrated from Old Delhi, the population in the east and west Delhi has risen exponentially. Therefore, these constituencies will be the most affected,” said a high-ranking official.

He further said each ward would now have 60,000 people with an estimated 40,000 voters.

Municipal elections will be held in Delhi in April 2017, which will be the first real contest among all political parties since the 2015 assembly elections. Currently, all three municipal corporations are governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Sources said of the total 70 assembly constituencies, at least 40 are likely to be affected significantly. Eighteen constituencies are likely to comprise of five to seven wards and in at least 19, wards per constituency will go down to three.

In all, 272 municipal wards fall under the jurisdiction of 68 assembly seats, with four municipal wards in each of the 68 assembly seats. While both South and North Delhi Municipal Corporations have 104 wards each under their jurisdiction, the East Delhi Corporation has 64 wards.

Meanwhile, the geographical boundaries of all municipal wards are also going to change. Officials said wards would now be in sync with assembly constituency through geo-characteristics to avoid overlapping of wards in two or three assembly constituencies.

“The boundaries will be based on well defined geo-characteristics like arterial roads, canals, drains to ensure that colonies and areas are not split mindlessly,” said a top official.

Mehta said that while the process of delimitation was ‘almost complete’, the official documents would be in the public domain for suggestions from mid -uly to August-end. “Once we get the feedback, we will send the document to the Delhi government for notification,” said Mehta.


with thanks : Hindustan Times Dated 27.6.2016

RWAs Vs Mohalla Sabha !

Sirs,

Mohalla Sabhas is replacement of Bhagidari scheme of previous government. It is purely political gimmic as was with bhagidari, The present system is being evolved on the basis of density of voters who are mostly pro aap. Secondly the funds will also be utilized on these voters rather than tax payers. This is another way of giving freebees to its own workers.

The tax payers of Delhi in planned colonies are suffering with several problems like filthy drains, bad roads, stray dogs and stray cows, acute parking space, transport etc etc.

The Mohalla sabhas will end up with political fights among various political parties.

This is high time to wage a planned agitation by grouping ourselves (RWAs in planned colonies, who are in majority and major contributors of taxes etc,) Let us form a group via social media to begin with. Unity has strength ...sangathan (union) has strength.

Pl give some thought to this imminent problem which is looming large on our heads very soon.

 with best wishes

M M Lal Bhasin

Patron, RWA D Blk Ashok Vihar,

President, Delhi Electricity Consumers Society (Regd)

RWAs Vs Mohalla Sabha !

Dear Mr. Vohra ji,

Inspite of unanimous opinion against the introduction of Mohalla Sabha. the local Govt. will still go ahead, as it is the channel through which they could make happy and cosy all the volunteers of AAP and it will be a source of another botheration to the RWAs, It is similar to creation of 21 posts of Parliamentary Secretaries to oblige his own clans! Let's wait and watch!

TK Balu

RWAs Vs Mohalla Sabha !

We have right from the begining opposing Mohalla Sabha and state funding to Mohalla Sabha will b the root cause of corruption.

Chetan Sharma

Secy General

CONRWA

RWAs Vs Mohalla Sabha !

We the Ashok Vihar D blk Rwa agree that RWA are serving their areas non politically since long. In case Aap govt aim is only service of people RWA is the best forum.      

Suresh Gupta 
Gen Sec

RWAs Vs Mohalla Sabha !

Awaiting your opinion / comments on the very important issue RWAs Vs Mohalla Sabha ! The purpose is to spread awareness on the issue via our RWABhagidari Blog. According to Delhi Cabinet, these Sabhas will be entrusted with the task of coordinating with different government agencies to carry out "development work". Please reply to : rwabhagidari@yahoo.in

With Best regards,

B S Vohra

www.RWABhagidari.com

http://RWABhagidari.blogspot.in

RWAs Vs Mohalla Sabha !

I feel rwa have been doing a wonderful work and mohalla sabha is likely to be politically dominated by aap . 

Pankaj Agarwal

Efforts Group,

Safdarjung Enclave

New Delhi - 110029

RWAs Vs Mohalla Sabha !

Dear Vohraji,

Hats off to you for bringing to the forefront, problems of citizens of Delhi. As regards RWAs vs Mohalla Sabha, first we have to understand the difference between the two identities. If there is no difference & both are going to serve the same purpose then the old system of RWAs should be continued.

I am not against the Mohalla Sabha, but it appears to me that they are & will not be any different from the RWAs in terms of there constitution or functioning.The ultimate aim of both the systems is to provide efficient & effective services to the citizens of their respective areas.

What ever "NEW" the Govt wants to introduce can be done & achieved by the effective participation of RWAs also by way of empowering them furter. Hence I feel no need of any new system right now unless there is some serious flaw(s) with the existing system.

Yours truly,

Deepak Chadha

RWA Krishan Nagar.

RWAs Vs Mohalla Sabha !

Respected Vohra ji

Already there are multiple authority and one more is not required. Best solution is Revive Bhagidari System. Hold the Bhagidari Meeting quarterly. Ask the residents welfare association to send their grievance one Month in advance so that Concerned officer should be well prepared for the meeting. 

With regard 

Chander Mohan 

Navrachna Appartment 

east arjun Nagar 

Delhi