Mumbai Metropolitan Region gets a concept plan

Twenty years from now, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) will need 4.35 million housing units, and consume 15,372 million litres (more than four times the current requirement) of water every day in order to meet the demands of its growing population. The only way the government can decongest the city and improve the quality of life for its citizens is to develop planned urban conglomerates in Vasai-Virar, Thane, Kalyan, Navi Mumbai Panvel and Pen, increase FSI, and reclaim land. These were just some of the many findings of a concept plan for MMR, presented in a seminar at the Sahyadri guest house on Friday. It was prepared by a Singapore-based consultant for the state government and Bombay First—a development advisory body. By 2032, Mumbai will need six business hubs like Nariman Point and Bandra Kurla Complex. The state has to double the existing road and train network. Some of the major road and rail corridors proposed in the plan included the Alibaug-Virar corridor, a coastal road around the island of Mumbai, two trans-harbour links, and a creek bridge between Kanjurmarg and Koparkhairane. The study projected that property prices in Navi Mumbai and Thane will rise faster than other parts of the MMR, with the exception of South Mumbai. To maximize available, the concept plan suggested that the government increase FSI to 15 in key business hubs. Reclamation of land was also a priority. But Djoko Prihanto of the Singapore company Surbana Urban Planning Group, stressed on the need for infrastructure to keep up with the high FSI in business areas. Mumbai’s population density—which is 40,000 people per sq km—has to be brought down to 23,000 people. To meet this target, the government will require an additional 1,300 sq km of land by 2032. Similarly, the study showed that the average living space per person should increase to at least 86 sq ft from the current average of 43- 64sq ft. The study suggested that congestion tax be introduced to tackle the problem of vehicular pollution. If no adequate measures are taken, air and water pollution levels will rise from 4.6% to 12.5% by 2052. The plan also called for setting up of wind and tidal power generation plants, developing a reservoir in Thane creek, and constructing a water storage barrage at Mahim bay. POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

Increase FSI in the island city to 5.

In Navi Mumbai and Uran FSI should be 3 and in Kalyan, Panvel Vasai and Virar FSI should be 2

Introduce four to five major coastal or trans-harbour roads and rail corridors

Create a parking policy, ban road-side parking and make restrict movement of cars in highly congested areas.

Introduce congestion tax for car owners, whereby motorists will have to pay to enter central business districts like BKC, Nariman Point, etc

Create artificial islands in the eastern water front as mini-cities

Develop ferry services on eastern and western water fronts

Create more green lungs and parks

JPC update

Senior Congress member P C Chacko was on Friday made the chairman of the JPC on the 2G spectrum issue, setting in motion the probe into what the opposition is alleging as the biggest scam in independent India. Chacko (65), who represents Thrissur in Kerala in the Lok Sabha, was appointed the head of the 30-member high level panel by Speaker Meira Kumar, Parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said. The JPC, having 20-members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha, came into being a few days back, ending three-months of deadlock in Parliament between the government and the opposition, which latched on to a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General late last year which spoke of a presumed loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore. The two Houses of Parliament have passed resolutions approving the setting up of the JPC. A Raja was forced to quit in November as telecom minister in the wake of the CAG report and is currently lodged in Tihar jail after being questioned by the CBI. Government says that Raja was being prosecuted for the possibility of criminal culpability. Telecom minister Kapil Sibal has assured the Parliament that the government would not spare any wrongdoer. The JPC will examine irregularities and aberrations, if any, in the implementation of government decisions and policy prescriptions on telecom licences and spectrum from 1998 to 2009. It will examine policy prescriptions and their interpretation by successive governments, including the decisions of the Union cabinet and the consequences thereof, in the allocation and pricing of licences and spectrum. The government had agreed to the JPC after the opposition threatened to disrupt the Budget session of Parliament as well, after almost the entire winter session was washed out. The committee has been given time till the end of the monsoon session of Parliament to give its report. Besides Chacko, the 19 members on the Committee from the Lok Sabha are V Kishore Chandra Deo, Paban Singh Ghatowar, Jai Prakash Agarwal, Deepender Singh Hooda, Manish Tewari, Nirmal Khatri, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (all Cong), T R Baalu (DMK), and Kalyan Banerjee (TMC). Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha, Harin Pathak, Gopinath Munde (all BJP), Sharad Yadav (JDU), Dara Singh Chauhan (BSP), Akhilesh Yadav (SP), Gurudas Dasgupta (CPI), Arjun Charan Sethi (BJD) and M Thambidurai (AIADMK) are members from the non-UPA parties on the JPC from the Lok Sabha. Rajya Sabha members on the Committee are: P J Kurien, Jayanthi Natarajan and Praveen Rashtrapal (all Cong), Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M), TSiva (DMK), S S Ahluwalia and Ravi Shankar Prasad (both BJP),Y P Trivedi (NCP), Satish Chandra Mishra (BSP) and Ramchandra Prasad Singh (JD-U). Natarajan has replaced Abhishek Singhvi who has recused himself from the JPC as he had appeared as advocate in the court for cellular operators.

The CVC fiasco

The Manmohan Singh government, which is already reeling under multiple scams—from 2G to CWG —was dealt a body-blow when the Supreme Court struck down the Prime Minister and home minister P Chidambaram’s decision to appoint P J Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC). In one of the most significant judgments delivered by any Indian court in recallable memory, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sarosh H Kapadia, while reading out the relevant portions of the 71-page ruling before a packed courtroom, faulted the high-powered selection committee (HPC) for not considering the pending chargesheet against Thomas in a corruption case related to the import of palm oil while he was food and civil supplies secretary in Kerala. PM Manmohan Singh and Chidambaram had, on September 3, 2010, overruled Opposition leader Sushma Swaraj by a majority vote in favour of having Thomas as CVC. In a stunning climax to a months-long legal and political drama, Justice Kapadia’s booming voice rang out to declare that the HPC’s selection of Thomas was “non-est in law (something that does not exist) and, consequently, the appointment of P J Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner is quashed.” A bench comprising the CJI and Justices K S Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar said if the selection of a candidate as CVC adversely affected the institutional competency and functioning of CVC, it was the duty of the committee not to recommend such a candidate. The court said Thomas’s continuance as CVC would seriously dent the image and stature of the anti-corruption watchdog. It defined the CVC loftily as the “Integrity Commission of India”, to which only a person without a blemish should be appointed. The selection to a sensitive post like CVC can’t be made on the basis of a bare bio-data, the court said. Thomas’s bio, it pointed out, didn’t tell the members about the pending palmolein chargesheet or the six file notings on the records of the department of personnel and training (DoPT) for initiation of penal action against him.
A day after the Supreme Court shamed the government, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has accepted responsibility for the court striking down the appointment of P J Thomas as central vigilance commissioner. This is quite unlike the 2G scam, which he blamed on compromises required for running a coalition government.The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj took a soft line, “I appreciate the statement of the prime minister owning responsibility for the appointment of CVC which has been quashed by Supreme Court. I think this is enough. Let matters rest at this and we move forward,“ Swaraj said on Twitter, soon after the PM’s admission of responsibility for the CVC's appointment came in from Jammu.
The controversy that has cost P J Thomas his job as chief vigilance commissioner involved a specific procedural lapse in his role as Kerala’s food secretary in the early 1990s, but officials say it helped speed up the import of much-needed edible oil and saved the state Rs 8.5 crore in foreign exchange. Thomas had issued an order to import palmolein from Malaysia as per a decision of the state cabinet headed by late K Karunakaran. However, as per procedure, he had not consulted the state finance department before placing the issue before the Cabinet. The proposal to import palmolein went directly to the Cabinet as an “out of agenda” item to save time. ‘‘He was under pressure to move fast from the chief minister and food minister T H Mustaffa and a senior official who informed him that the finance minister Oommen Chandy had already concurred,’’ said an officer who worked in the same department. Oommen Chandy also endorsed the view that Thomas was only implementing a Cabinet decision and that the Supreme Court order was very unfortunate. ‘‘We had to rush the decision through Cabinet because, among the five states which had been granted permission to import palmolein, Kerala was the only one left to complete the procedures. And the state was in desperate need to import palm oil.’’ Chandy said of those five states, Kerala had obtained the second lowest price after Tamil Nadu. ‘‘In fact, the state stood to gain about Rs 8.5 crore through that import. And the case has been going on for the last 19 years, and Thomas has not been found guilty by any court so far. His appointment has been set aside just because he is an accused, who is still on trial.’’

Mukesh Ambani wants path breaking reforms

Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani called for pathbreaking reforms, particularly in health, education and agriculture, similar to the 1991 abolition of industrial licencing, to lift economic growth to a new trajectory. “Mere policy reforms to incrementally affect the status quo will be meaningless to grab this opportunity. We will need disruptive policies, like the one which changed the future of India in 1991. The disruptive industrial policy that allowed India to compete with the rest of the world,” he told members of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. He said reforms of 1991, when government shed many controls on businesses, had catapulted the $300-billion economy to $1.3 trillion in 20 years and increased the market significantly, but the coming decades had the potential for more explosive growth. “The great Indian story then veers to another set of facts and figures. It reflects our dismal physical infrastructure. Our minuscule per capita energy consumption. The non-existent distribution. And problems of last mile access.” He said India’s per capita GDP, which is just over $1,000, is lower than that of some neighbouring countries and a third of China’s, and India was home to 40% of the world’s poor. “The India story is unsustainable without discovering policies and practical means of including these millions in the mainstream of our progress,” he said. He said the country needed “radical reforms in the health sector Improving the lot of the deprived people presented enormous business opportunities, he added. “At a modest $1,000 per year per person for higher education, India represents a $200-billion demand by 2020,” he said. “India can produce value-added food, medicinal plants, aromatic oils and biomaterials for global markets. In the next ten years there is an opportunity to add $500 billion year-on-year in this sector,” he said. Mr Ambani said high global prices farm products made agriculture an even more exciting prospect. “It is good we didn’t find the KG gas when oil was $20. It is better to find oil when it is $100,” he said.

TaMo unveils the Pixel

Tata Motors has unveiled a new concept car, Tata Pixel, based on the Nano platform, exclusively for the European market. Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata unveiled the concept Pixel at the 81th Geneva Car Show on Tuesday. A little more than three metres long, the Pixel will have large interiors and design that suits the taste of European customers, officials said. It is expected to enter the market in 2013. India’s largest auto company by turnover had showcased the Nano Europa in 2009 as the possible export variant of the world’s cheapest car. It was supposed to hit the roads in 2011. But the negative publicity the Nano received after a couple of cars caught fire and its falling sales in India seem to have prompted the company to change its course. Tata Motors is yet to make an official announcement about the powertrain of the Pixel, and other specifications including the possible price or tentative date for launching the car in Europe. Sources in Tata Motors say the three-door car was designed with the idea of lot of space specifically for the European market and customers. It will confirm to all stringent safety and emission norms in developed markets.

Fateh Singh Rathore

India’s best known tiger conservationist Fateh Singh Rathore, whose name became synonymous with Project Tiger, died of cancer at his home in Sawai Madhopur on Tuesday at age 72. A former field director of Ranthambore National Park, Rathore’s cancer of the lung had spread to his ribs and the end came around 10:45am. ‘‘Doctors found his cancer had spread in January. Since then we’ve been treating him at various hospitals. About a week back, realising that he won’t survive, Fatehji said he wanted to spend his last days among the hills and forests in Ranthambore. So he was brought here,’’ said an associate in Sawai Madhopur. Fateh Singh is survived by his wife, son Goverdhan Singh Rathore and two daughters — Padmini and Jaya. After retiring from the forest department, Rathore was heading an NGO ‘Tiger Watch’ in Sawai Madhopur. His death was mourned by activists and commoners alike and thousands came to his home in grief. ‘‘He will be cremated in his farm house on Wednesday,’’ said Dharmendra Khandal, a conservation biologist and Fateh’s co-worker at Tiger Watch. ‘‘It’s a great loss for me; the umbrella under which I was growing up for the past seven years is no longer with me. We were planning some celebration this year as this was his 51st year in conservation. But now the plans will have to be changed,’’ added Khandal. Rathore made his last public appearance in Jaipur in February when he received World Wildlife Fund’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He then went into his beloved Ranthambore for the last time on February 11 with his son, grandson and conservationist Belinda Wright. Known to anyone who has ever been to Ranthambore, Fateh Singh joined the Indian Forest Service in 1960 and was part of the first Project Tiger team. Widely acknowledged as ‘‘tiger guru’’ for his legendary knowledge of the big cat, he had the uncanny ability to predict a tiger’s whereabouts. His single-minded drive to protect Ranthambore National Park made him an enemy of poachers who once robbed him. In 1983, Fateh Singh got the International Valour Award for bravery in conservation.

Polls ahoy !

Elections in four states — West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Assam and the Union Territory of Puducherry — to be held between April 4 and May 10 are not only likely to end the 35-year-old Left rule in Bengal but will also lead to ‘structural change’ in government as promised by the prime minister. It remains to be seen if the PM’s statement leads to a major reshuffle or a complete overhaul of the government with some big guns moving to the party organization. The Congress expects that at least three states — Kerala, West Bengal and Assam — would be in its kitty to boost its sagging morale. In Tamil Nadu, where the Congress and the DMK are struggling to hammer out a seat-sharing agreement, the party seems to realize that the AIADMK’s alliance with actor Vijayakanth’s DMDK may have given the latter a slender edge. However, it is hopeful of winning in neighbouring Puducherry. New governments would be in place in all states after May 13, when the results are announced, but it is the outcome in West Bengal that is going to be the focus of attention. The Left faces the most formidable challenge ever from the Trinamool Congress-Congress combine. Since the 2009 parliamentary polls, Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool has swept all the elections — bypoll, panchayat and civic bodies — in the state. If results conform to popular estimates, coming elections will mark the first time since 1977 when the CPM will be simultaneously without power, even leverage, at the Centre and in West Bengal and Kerala. Senior CPM leaders privately admit that the Trinamool-Congress alliance is formidable. More important is the admission by Left leaders that people have made up their mind for change. Mamata’s exhortation to people that if the Left can get seven terms, she deserves one chance has caught people’s imagination. “No amount of pleas to people that its cadre has changed for good can take away what people have suffered for so long at the hands of the CPM’s local leaders. The change is inevitable,” said a senior Left leader from Bengal. He added that putting the fear of Mamata — as the Left has been doing lately — is proving to be counter-productive. “It’s a desperate call by the Left and no one is listening,” he said. Kerala will be another headache for the Left. The state votes the Congress-led United Democratic Front and the CPM-led Left Democratic Front in cyclical fashion. But, it would be an easy interpretation of the Left’s near-certain defeat. The CPM, the lead party in government, is in complete disarray. Chief minister V S Achuthanandan — now under fire for allegations of corruption against his son — is the party’s asset and a bigger liability.