THE TIMES OF INDIA, AHMEDABADMONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 20144 TIMES CITY

It now looks more or less certain that Guj-arat chief secretary Varesh Sinha will not

get a third post-retirementextension after he ex-hausts his second one atthe end of this month. Ifsources in the secretariatare to be believed, no pro-posal in this regard has

gone to the Centre either from the Chief Min-ister’s Office (CMO) or the General Adminis-tration Department (GAD) as the CMhas not asked for any such thing.“So far, the chief minister has nottalked to the Prime Minister on thismatter, nor has she taken any deci-

sion on it. She willconsider the possi-bility of a third ex-tension to Sinha orappointment of anew chief secretary only af-ter Diwali,’’ said a source.

In case Sinha is allowed to retire this month,the officers considered frontrunners for hispost are additional chief secretary (ACS),home, S K Nanda; ACS, industry and mines,D J Pandian; and ACS, finance, HasmukhAdhia.

Withdrawal symptoms ofretirementChief secretary Varesh Sinha, whose sec-

ond post-retirement extension ends thismonth, is believed to have shown ‘withdraw-al symptoms’ at the last secretary’s meeting.Several senior secretaries observed that hewas more relaxed and in a very friendly

is believed to have an excellent sense of hu-mor. He is currently vice-chairman and ma-

naging director of GIDC andalso in-charge vice-chair-man and managing directorof GMDC.Sources in the state bu-reaucracy say that he islikely to take over as princi-

pal secretary, industry and mines depart-ment if the incumbent, D J Pandian, be-comes Gujarat chief secretary after VareshSinha retires this month. Swain has beenlooking after critical industry-related mattersfor more than six years as managing direc-tor, GIDC and, even earlier, as industriescommissioner.

Old wine in smaller bottleRaj Kumar is back with a face-saver of an

idea. He is now ready to launch ‘RabiKrishi Mahotsav’ which will focus mainly on

celebrating Krishi Mahot-sav only in winter season.The 1987 batch IAS officeris principal secretary, stateagriculture and co-oper-ation department. He hadearlier come up with the

idea of celebrating the year 2014-15 as Agri-culture Development Year and had even gotthe chief minister Anandiben Patel to an-nounce this during the last Krishi Mahotsav.Half-the-year is over but the agriculture de-partment is yet to do anything significant tomark 2014-15 as Agriculture DevelopmentYear. Raj Kumar has requested all secretariesto direct their departments to prepare spe-cial programmes for boosting agriculture inthe state. But most secretaries are not veryexcited about his idea as they believe thatwhat he is asking for is essentially the agri-culture department’s job.

mood. A senior secretary said that in everymeeting, Sinha would usually take interest inevery issue. “But this time, perhaps becausehe is due to retire later this month, he wastaking it easy. After the meeting, most secre-taries felt he was exhibiting withdrawalsymptoms [of retirement from service],’’ saidthe secretary.

Navalawala to adviseCentre tooB N Navalawala, advisor to chief minister

Anandiben Patel, has been made chair-person of the NationalAdvisory Group of theUnion ministry of waterresources, river devel-opment and Ganga reju-venation. He will not on-ly act as advisor to theUnion ministry and theminister concerned butalso serve as advisor to

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on issues con-cerning water resources of the country.Meanwhile, he will continue to be advisor toGujarat CM too. Incidentally, Navalawala hadserved under Modi when the latter was chiefminister of Gujarat.

Swain back with UKwisdomB B Swain returned from

Cambridge last week.The bureaucrat had attendedlectures on leadership andstrategic management at theprestigious CambridgeSchool of Management.Swain is considered a ‘voracious reader’ and

TRUE LIES

No extension proposalfor CS yet

Ahmedabad: Diwali-like cel-ebrations broke out at BJP’sold headquarters at Khanpurin the Walled City as itemerged as the largest partyin Maharashtra and Haryana.

This was in complete con-trast to the conspicuousgloom at Congress office inPaldi.

Triumphant BJP workersignited a ‘chatai’ — chain of1,000 firecrackers — on theground and as the deafening

noise died down, womendanced to garba beats clad intraditional ghagra-choli.

They were seen offeringsweets to party workers and

even to a banner with PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’sphotograph. Holding the ban-ner aloft, a worker shouted,“Modi wave will wipe off Con-gress from other states aswell.”

The workers also waved tothe exultant crowd whichgathered outside the Khanpuroffice. At BJP’s other office inKoba, Shree Kamalam, eu-phoric supporters burstcrackers and hugged each oth-er. Since early trends were infavour of the saffron party.Party workers could not holdback their glee and began cele-brations even before the finaltally.

It’s ‘Diwali’ at BJP office,gloom pervades Cong HQ

Ahmedabad: The Ahmeda-bad Municipal Corporationand National Cadet CorpsGujarat jointly organized ayouth empowerment and ca-reer guidance conclave onSunday. Dilawar Singh, addi-tional director general ofGujarat NCC, was the chiefguest. “Specialists fromaerospace engineering,banking, sports, armedforces, police and adminis-trative services shared theirexperiences with more than900 youths including NCC ca-dets from across the state,mostly college students,”said an organizer. TNN

AMC, NCChold career

conclave

Chauhan made in-charge SU VC:

Gujarat governor Om Prakash Kohli hasappointed Dr Pratapsinh Chauhan asin-charge vice-chancellor ofSaurashtra University after incumbentVC Mahendra Padalia’s term ended onFriday. The search committee will meetin Ahmedabad on Monday to discussthe appointment of a full-time VC. TNN India has assured the Gujarati diaspora

that it will push for direct flights betweenthe UK and Gujarat. T K Manoj Kumar,joint secretary, ministry of overseas Indi-an affairs (MOIA), Diaspora Services Divi-sion, said that the division had prepared astrong proposal for Air India to start directflights between London and Ahmedabadbut due to financial and logistics reasonsit couldn't go forward. “I will reiterate thispoint strongly when I go back this timeand push for it again,” he said, while ad-dressing the long-standing demand ofBritish Gujaratis at the Regional PravasiBharatiya Divas (RPBD) which concludedin London recently.

Talk on quantum physics at IIT-Gn:IIT-Gandhinagar will organize a talk on ‘in-distinguishability of thermal and quantumfluctuations' on Tuesday. The talk will bedelivered by faculty candidate in physicsDr Sanved Kolekar, who is currently apostdoctoral fellow at KITP, China.

Incentive for BPL people: For effec-tive execution of Unique IdentificationProject, the state government has de-clared Rs 100 incentive to below povertyline (BPL) people who register under Ad-har scheme. The amount will be depos-ited directly to beneficiary’s bank ac-count.

GESIA to set up research lab: Thenew executive council of Gujarat Electron-

ics and Software Industries Association(GESIA) has decided to establish GESIACTO Club and GESIA Skill DevelopmentCentres across the state. It will also orga-nize leadership series, national IT con-clave, learning and development eventsand international buyer-seller meets.

CM to exchange Diwali-New Yeargreetings with people: Chief ministerAnandiben Patel will exchange Diwali andNew Year greetings with people on Friday.She will begin her day by paying obei-sance to Panchdev Mahadev at Gand-hinagar, meet people at her residence atthe ministers’ enclave, meet the governorat Raj Bhawan, visit Bhadrakali Temple inAhmedabad and then meet people at theCircuit House Annexe in Shahibaug from10 am to 11 am.

CITY DIGEST

NRGs assured of moreUK-Gujarat flights

Gandhinagar: The state government is workingon a new policy under which it will give incentivesfor redevelopment of old housing colonies built byGujarat Housing Board, Slum Clearance Board;and civic bodies such as Ahmedabad MunicipalCorporation (AMC) and Ahmedabad Urban Devel-opment Authority (AUDA). The aim is to increasethe availability of low-cost housing for lower andmiddle income groups, said sources in the stategovernment.

In the next stage, the state government may pro-mote similar redevelopment projects for affordablehousing on land currently occupied by privatehousing colonies.

The sources said that the government plans tocome up with a policy for redevelopment of old, di-lapidated housing colonies under Public PrivatePartnership (PPP).

“The dilapidated colonies will be replaced bymulti-storied high-rises in which the residents ofthe old colonies will also get new houses withoutany additional cost (or for a very nominal cost). Atthe same time, the developer will earn by sellingthe remaining housing units and also the commer-cial space developed on the site of old housing colo-nies,” a source said.

The state government plans to announce spe-cial FSI (floor space index) and other financial in-

centives for such ‘redevelopment’ projects. “NewGDCR (General Development and Control Regula-tions) will be announced for the proposed policy forredevelopment of old housing colonies,” thesource said.

In Ahmedabad (as in most other cities) thehousing board and other government-owned pub-lic housing agencies have built huge low-rise colo-nies with huge open land on prime locations suchas 132-ring road where there is huge scope for rede-velopment.

Sources said the government will give incen-tives for developing civic infrastructure for such re-development projects. It will help in controlling thehorizontal development of cities and put checks onthe need for new land. The government will neednot to invest a lot of money in such projects but itwill be a win-win situation for residents as well asprivate developers.

LOW-COST HOUSING

TOI

Govt plans to redeveloppvt housing colonies

Ahmedabad: Gujarat forestdepartment has taken up astudy on fluorosis among thelions in Lathi Liliya area.Anand Veterinary Institutehas been entrusted with thetask. The department decidedto take up the study following afinding by two doctors, Dr Jal-pan Rupara and Dr PurveshKacha.

The doctors in their report,“Ecology of Lions in GreaterGir Landscape,” had cited ail-ments plaguing humans and li-ons alike. The report revealedthat in Amreli, a region withcontaminated ground water,both humans and lions seem tobe victims of fluorosis — a dis-ease characterized by tooth de-cay and deterioration of bonesand joints due to high contentof fluoride in ground water.

Forest officials said that af-ter the issue was highlighted,

the department decided to car-ry out a study of the fluorosisin the area. The officials saidthat the lions are being sup-plied with waterthrough tankers. “Weare examining post-mortem reports of thedeaths from the area,monitoring the decay-ing of bones andscrutinizing thenumber of teeth foundon dead lions.”

“In case of lions, the water

is supplied through tankersand no underground water isbeing used. If the study con-cludes that the lions are suffer-ing from fluorosis, a manage-ment plan will be drawn up,”said C N Pandey, chief wildlifewarden.

The doctors undertook thestudy in 250 sq km of Lathi Lili-ya area having a population of40 lions, which threw up sur-prising findings.

“Out of eight lions studied,tooth decay was found in three.One lion has lost all but two ofthe 26 teeth, second has lost

four and third has lostthree. These lions

were not reported tohave met any acci-

dents. This is intrigu-ing as lions are not re-corded to lose teeth in

their lifetime. Mi-nor deformities in

bones were also recorded,”said Dr Jalpan Rupara, a radio-logist.

Docs Recently Found Some Big Cats Suffering From Disease

HEALTH CONCERN

TOI

Forest dept orders studyof fluorosis among lions

Celebration at BJP office

Ashwin SadhuTIMES NEWS NETWORK

Himanshu.Kaushik@timesgroup.com

Ahmedabad: Income tax(I-T) department detectedundisclosed amount ofincome to the tune of Rs 11crore from builders andjewellers in Mehsana andGandhinagar during thesurveys conducted earlierthis week. Rs 8.5 crore ofundisclosed income wasdetected at the premises ofRadhe Group and Rakesh

Construction Pvt Ltd inMehsana. Similarly inGandhinagar, undisclosedamount of Rs 2.5 crore wasfound by I-T officials at theshops of Lucky Jewellersand Swagat Jewellers inSector 21. The officials arestill carrying out surveys inthe premises of aGandhinagar-based builder. TNN

`̀11cr undisclosed income detected

Ankur.Tewari@timesgroup.com

The 102-year-old woman can be seen, down on her knees, in Dhana Suthar ni Pol every

morning sweeping away the lit-ter strewn in her neighbour-hood. She is Rama Mali — children of the locality call her Ramaba — who has been spreading Bapu’s message about the importance of sanitation in her Pol for the past 60 years. Hers has been a lone battle to realize Ma-hatma Gandhi’s dream of a clean Walled City.

“I had to travel several miles to hear

Gandhiji’s speeches at differ-ent rallies during the Free-dom Struggle. I remember a rally where he said he dreamed of an India which was not only free but also clean. Since then I’ve been striving to make Bapu’s city litter free,” said Ramaba. Originally from Indore, she

shifted to Kalupur 80 years back.

“On my 102nd birthday in February this year, I encour-aged young family members

and friends to be the change they wish to see in the world and dis-tributed pamphlets to create awareness about cleanliness,” she said. Her three

sons — Mohanlal, Deepak and Ashok — have also joined their mother in her noble campaign. “We don’t mind obey-ing our mother in her battle against litterbugs. Such is her determination that she is vigilant round the clock. The moment she sees litterbugs in action, she confronts them and makes them clean up the place they have messed up. If they refuse, she throws the litter back into their houses after a bit of shout-ing,” said Mohanlal.

The garbage of the society on TB Road gets dumped at the end of the society that not only creates inconvenience to the nearby residents but also invites stray animals

KAVAN TRIVEDI, MEHSANA

YOUR VIGILANT EYE READERS’ RESPONSES

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad: The large volumes of solid waste generated by urban centers make their disposal a major problem. Ahmedabad is no exception as it pro-duces no less than 2600 tonnes of waste. The authorities resort to land-fills and even incineration for waste disposal but the mountain of garbage keeps increasing.

In a theoretical exercise, students of environmental engineering at LD Col-lege of Engineering tried to find the best methods for waste disposal and they came up with some interesting solu-tions. In his 2012 study, Kamal Jasodani had worked on the idea of ‘bioreactor landfill sites’. He even worked with some solid waste from Pirana and also in his own backyard to find out whether the idea was feasible.

In dealing with large amounts of organic waste, ‘bioreactors’ are a feasi-ble option. Such reactors — aerobic, anaerobic or hybrid — increase the rate

of degradation and stabilization. For this, liquid and air are added system-atically to waste to enhance its micro-bial action. In another study conducted by Kajal Dhami in 2006, the researcher studied alternative practices for organ-ic waste disposal. Dhami came to the conclusion that composting is the most practical solution for treatment of ‘mu-nicipal solid waste’ (MSW).

Microbes are man’s best friends in war on waste

Email us at sanitationsatyagraha

@gmail.comToI Sanitation Satyagraha 9898037740

Have a sanitation idea? Get in touch! You can also write/share pictures to highlight problems

● The fact that civic hygiene needs a Mayor’s Cup to motivate people reflects the sorry state of the city’s people and administrators. Non-performance of basic and fundamental duties at any level should invite penal action and not incentives. I feel incentives and awards should be reserved for those who give creative and innovative ideas — products and designs that improve our efforts to keep our cities, villages and roads pollution free | R U ASNANI

● Why are humans so inclined to materialism that for every cause we attach money/incentives. The cleanliness drive itself should be enough to attract and encourage people to be participative. Incentivizing the drive will limit its efficiency and volunteering will make the drive successful | SALONI SOLANKI

● It is great job and challenge taken up by TOI. I have been fighting for long, raising complaint on AMC helplines and educating society members, family members and colleagues. My MLA also assured me of immediate action. I drew his attention towards the waste near Vodafone House,Commerce House, Corporate Road but nothing happened | C A VINOD ATAL

102-Year-Old Woman Has Been Fighting For Cleanliness In Walled City For Past 60 Years

RAMABA BATTLES ON FOR BAPU’S DREAM

Shouldcleanlinessdrives be

incentivized?

‘Give incentives for creative ideas’

Kapil.Dave@timesgroup.com

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