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Mangomania at Jaypee Vasant... page 4

GHAZIABAD

Rajkumari Tankha■ rtankha@hindustantimes.com

From a polluted and toxicGhaziabad to a pollution-freeGhaziabad, not just in terms ofair andwater pollutionbut alsothe food. Sounds strangelyimpossible?Well, it won’t if you come to

know that a silent revolution ison in this NCR town and thata research foundation iswork-ing not just to sell organic foodbut also educate people aboutthe benefit of eating organicproducts.“We want to turn this city

into an organic city,” saysSunilKumar of M. R. Morarka GDCRural Research Foundation.The foundation is working

with over two lakh farmers inmore than 12 states. It is notjust teachingthemorganic farm-ing but also buying their pro-duce.For themembers of the pub-

lic, the foundation holds com-munitymeetingseducatingpeo-pleabout thedifferencebetweenorganic and inorganic food.“We have made an attempt

to linkorganic farmerswithendusers to ensure a fair price forthegrowersandeasyavailabilityat reasonable prices for con-sumers,” says Kumar.“As a result, the retail price

of an organically grown agri-cultural product is just aboutfive to 10 per cent higher ascompared to the one that isgrownusingpesticides and fer-

tilisers,” he adds.The foundation is selling its

organic products at a numberof outlets in the city such asBikaner Sweets, Khadi GramUdyog, etc, besides hospitals.“We have also tied up with

YashodaHospital toserveorgan-ic food to its patients. We areproviding the ingredients,” saysKumar.“In Delhi too we are supply-

ing to Andhra Bhawan, IndiaHabitatCentre,UttarPradeshHouse, Arunachal House etc.By the end of this year, we willbe selling through 100 outlets,”he adds.Their effortshaveborne fruit.

People are slowly turning toeating healthy food.“I have been using organic

rice and spices for over fourmonths now and my family ishooked to it,” says KusumSharma of Sahibabad.“Significantly, only a small

amount of organic spices isenough for making snacks ascomparedto inorganicallygrownspices,” she adds.“The response to our prod-

uctsmade from organic ingre-dients is really good. We havebeenusingtheorganicallygrownspicessincethreemonths.Thereis a dedicated section whichwantsonly these,” saysPradeepSaxena of Bikano.“These products are more

close tonature.Theirprolongeduse will definitely lead to bet-ter health,” saysDrH. P. Singhof Yashoda Hospital.

Chanchal Mukherjee■ chanchal.mukherjee@hindustantimes.com

Honk, screech, crash...welcometo the nightmare that is theMaharajpurborder.About lakhsof people and vehicles clog theimportantDelhi-UttarPradesh(UP) border, a pitiable stretchat the best of times.The once wide stretch has

turned intoadingynarrowstripby autos, roadwaysbuses, rick-shaw pullers and illegal shops.The volume of commuters hasincreased manifold ever sincethe Anand Vihar railway sta-tionandtheMetroStationcameup in the area.As it is, there is a lot of traf-

fic chaos at theMajarajpurbor-der andnowavacant landnearthe Pacific Mall is being used

as theKaushambiBusTerminalwithout anyproper trafficman-agement. It is ironical that twopolice booths, one of the DelhiPolice and other its UP coun-terpart, are situatedat thesamepoint but illegal shopsarebeingrun rampantly here.

ILLEGALSHOPSMore than 50 illegal shops –

vendors selling clothes, paan-wallas, fruits and eateries havebeen running from both sidesof the road. These people havetotallyoccupied theservice lane,which isoutofbounds forpedes-trian or vehicular movement.SaysNaveenKumar, a residentof Vishwakarma Nagar, “Thecountdown has begun for theCommonwealthGames inDelhibut the authorities have not

been able to make a concretepolicy against encroachers sofar.”

AUTOSTANDThere are illegal auto stands

on three sides of the intersec-tion. Scores of autos remainparked haphazardly on eitherside of the road. Lakhs of com-muters fromother states comehere by train, interstate busesand the Metro.

ILLEGALSELLERSAs you enter from the UP

side, you will find illegal shopsselling clothes. They operatefrom one side of the pavementand service lane.Says Sandeep Bhardwaj, a

resident of East Delhi, “If oneis coming from Preet Vihar toVaishali orKaushambi, it takeshardly 5 or 10minutes to reachAnandVihar but to reachone'sdestinationnearby; itmay takeanother 20 to 30minutes. Theauthorities should take strictaction against these people.”Says SatishChandra, Circle

Officer, UP Police, “TheGhaziabadNagarNigamis look-ing after the auto stands, solegally, we can’t remove themfrom the site. Butwe are goingto launch adrive against illegalshops near the border.”O. P. Sagar, ACP (Traffic),

EastDelhi, refused to commenton the issue.

helpline

DISTRICT ADMINISTRATIONDM Ghaziabad

0120-2820106, 0120-2824416Chief Development Officer

0120-2750605Income Tax Office

0120-2714144Passport office 0120-2721779

POLICESSP Ghaziabad

0120-2821120, 0120-2820758SP City 0120-2734015Sahibabad 0120-2630691Kavi Nagar 0120-2711843Link Road 0120-2770310Indirapuram 0120-2275858Loni 0120-2600097SP Traffic 0120-2969520

GDAVice Chairman GDA 0120-2791114

MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONMunicipal Commissioner

0120-2791418-518Senior Health Officer 0120-2791518Mayor 0120-2791210Deputy Mayor 0120-2791518

HOSPITALSMMG District Hospital

0120-2730038Santosh Hospital 0120-2741777Narinder Mohan Hospital

0120-2940506Max Balaji, Patparganj

43033333, 40554055Metro Hospital, Preet Vihar

011-22520480, 22460000Shanti Mukund

011-22371928, 22371930Deepak Memorial

011-22155555, 22151522Hedgewar Hospital, Karkardooma

011-22305151, 22301149

AMBULANCECATS 011-22054170

FIRECity Control Room 0120-2734906Control Room Kotwali

0120-2732099District Control Room

0120-2766898Sahibabad 0120-2630811

TELEPHONESDO Telephone 0120-2626000

ELECTRICITYComplaints 0120-2629039Maharajpur 0120-2770116

ROADWAYSRegional Manager UP Transport

0120-2790955Roadways Anand Vihar

011-22152431Roadways ISBT 011-23860290Roadways Scindia House

011-23317445Roadways Bikaner House

011-23383469

Think organicThink organicA foundation is helping farmers produce healthy foodgrains and spices

Encroachments and vendors add tothe chaos at Maharajpur border

It has no toxic chemicalsand is free of adulteration.Organic food is free fromthe potent cocktail of fer-tilisers, pesticides, insecti-cides and other chemicalsthat go into growing con-ventional produce. Eventhe chemical methods ofpreservation are notallowed to be used duringstorage, thus makingorganic food safer and

also healthier. Besides,organic food farming isknown to be entirely envi-ronment-friendly.Health experts say that

organic food is naturaland pure, highly nutri-tious, has a superior tasteand is entirely safe. It hasabundant Vitamin C. Raworganic food also cleansesthe blood stream by elimi-nating toxic wastes.

Benefits of organic food■ Organic food is available at some outlets in the city.

■ Ingredients are being provided to Yashoda Hospital to make organic food for patients. SAKIB ALI / HT PHOTOS

We have madean attempt to linkorganic farmers withend users to ensure afair price for growers.

SUN I L MORARKA ,M. R. Morarka,

GDC Rural ResearchFoundation

These productsare more close tonature. Their

prolonged use willdefinitely lead tobetter health.

DR H . P. S I N GH ,Yashoda Hospital

■ Vendors selling clothes and sundry other items thrive on the pavements.

■ There is no traffic order at the Maharajpur border due to illegal auto stands that block the right of way. SUSHIL KUMAR / HT PHOTOS

The GNN is lookingafter the auto stands,so legally we can’t

remove them for the site.But we will launch a driveagainst illegal shops.SAT I S H CHANDRA ,Circle Officer, UP Police