Montek has all the answers

VC of Planning Comission has solutions to major problems of the Capital- power crisis, shortage of drinking water and congestion in traffic, reports C Chauhan.

Updated on: Apr 23, 2007, 22:37:48 IST

None | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

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If Delhi is looking for a solution to its problems, vice-chairperson Planning Commission Montek Singh Aluwalia seems to have a plethora of solutions.

He wants Delhi government to incorporate consumer satisfaction norms in the new agreements to be signed by distcoms next year. Aluwalia has also advised the city government to conduct a survey of efficiency and consumer satisfaction levels attained by the distcoms. "This provides an opportunity for reviewing the agreements for better serving the needs of consumers and for upgradation of distribution system," he said, in a letter written to Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

Aluwalia also asked Delhi Government to keep in mind uncertainty over supply of gas at a reasonable price while planning to set up new power plants in the Capital. He, however, admitted that Delhi has been forced to face power shortfall because of unauthorised withdrawal of power from northern grid by some other states.

The letter also wants Delhi government to look at the option of transferring electricity, water and sewerage to the local bodies and has sought specific proposal from the government in this regard. He admitted that multiplicity of authorities was, in a way, blocking speedy development of the Capital into a global city.

The vice-chairperson has three other major issues --- dirty Yamuna, shortage of drinking water and city's chaotic traffic --- on his agenda. Appreciating Delhi Jal Board's proposal for interceptor sewer, Aluwalia cautioned against designing an in house system and instead wanted DJB to appoint a consultant with an expertise in the area. He is also against the Jal Board's proposal to construct huge walls along the drains and instead want drains to be covered and green area to be developed around them.

Aluwalia also believes that water supply for Sonia Vihar water treatment plant will remain uncertain and therefore, asked the city government for options like building a concrete lining of the canal from Munakpur to Haiderpur to provide adequate drinking water to the citizens.

On traffic, he assured that the commission will assist the government in planning multi-modal transport system constituting of ring railway, high capacity bus service, mono rail and light rail transit system. "Look at the traffic scenario of Delhi in the next 20 years," he has suggested.

After giving 70 per cent hike in plan allocation for Delhi for the current financial year, Singh wants the city government to keep his suggestions in mind when they come to meet him to discuss proposals for the 11th five-year plan.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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