Ujjain: Ujjain Municipal Corporation (UMC) commissioner Dr Vijay Kumar J along with water works committee in charge Kalawati Yadav, took a review meeting of works of PHED department for water supply during the summer. Executive engineer Dharmendra Verma and other officers were present in the meeting.

Due to increasing water demands in the summer, UMC has decided to supply tap water in old and new city on alternate days. This was done to deal with the decreasing water pressure with increasing water demand. The present arrangement of supplying water on alternate days to the whole city will be changed and from Wednesday, water will be supplied to old and new city on alternate days.

In the meeting, CMC instructed that a control room should be set up immediately for resolving water supply related problems. He also instructed that the new sub engineer of PHED should be present in the control room from 4 am to 12 pm for receiving complaints. He should forward these complaints to officers concerned and must file the complaint and its solution in a register. Three sub engineers were also deputed in different areas from 4 am to 9 am to monitor the water supply arrangements. UMC commissioner instructed that the water supply related complaints will be solved by three teams working in a shift of eight hours each.

He instructed all assistant engineers and sub engineers of water supply arrangements to be in touch with senior officials through wireless sets. He allocated four vehicles to sub divisions for maintaining water supply arrangements during summer. He instructed that hand pumps and power pumps should be restored immediately else action will be taken against the contractor concerned. He said that hand pumps and power pumps should be installed on new bore wells of the city.

He instructed that tankers of drinking water should be available in the workshop at affordable prices during need. The wells and other water bodies should be cleaned and covered with net where ever required, he added. He instructed to set up camps from April 8 in all 28 circles for legalising the tap water connections. Pending payment of water tax should also be done immediately and this should begin from government departments, he added. In case the payment is not received, water supply should be stopped immediately.

Reviewing the ongoing pipe line works in the city, he expressed anger on the slow speed of work done by Tapi Prestressed Ltd company and asked them to speed up the work. He also warned Shriram Krishi Seva Kendra, Khachrod, not to take any more assignment until the completion of their present works due to their slow speed of doing work.

Ujjain: The month of April has started on a hot note. Tuesday was a hot day in the city as the temperature rose to 39.4 degrees Celsius which was 2.4 degrees above normal. The minimum temperature was 20 degrees Celsius. According to Jiwajiganj Observatory in charge Deepak Gupta, humidity oscillated between 41 and 17 per cent. The maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to hover between 40 and 20 degrees Celsius, respectively.

This temperature rise can be seen in other cities of the country as well but being situated on Tropic of Cancer, Ujjain is witnessing hotter days and nights compared to other cities. The increasing temperature in just the first week of April has affected the lives of citizens. As the hot wind (loo) has begun to flow, the streets have begun to get deserted in the afternoon and those who do have to step out are seen covered from head to toe to protect themselves from heat stroke.

The business of shop owners is also affected due to summer and they are forced to sit idle. The children are most affected by the summer. With the schools opening for the next academic session, children are seen sweating as they return. They are also falling ill frequently.

The people have also started enjoying summer nights and streets are crowded till late night. The rush can also be seen at ice cream parlours and sugar cane juice shops during the night. The sale of earthen pots is also high with increasing temperature.

Ujjain: The route and halt stations of 188 km traditional Panchkroshi Yatra, which will be held from April 11 to 16, was inspected by divisional commissioner MB Ojha and collector Sanket Bhondve on Wednesday. During the inspection of the Kaliadeh Mahal halt station, the commissioner directed superintendent engineer of Ujjain Municipal Corporation to make necessary arrangements to clear the filth and beautify the area to attract tourists. For this, he called on the officials of the religious endowment department to get the required budget from the Government.

During the inspection of the Panchkroshi Yatra route, the officials visited the first halt station at village Pingleeshwar, which Ojha told officials was the most important place of Panchkroshi Yatra, being the first and last point of the journey. Arrangements for rest points of pilgrims, drinking water, toilets, light etc should be made available easily, he said.

He instructed the officers to arrange for clean drinking water, ensure cleanliness of the premises, availability of ambulances with medicines at major places on the entire Panchkroshi route. Summer having set in, there should also be a provision for water sprinklers en route and halt sites, he added. The commissioner further instructed that arrangements should be made to protect passengers from the insects, bees, snakes etc on travel routes and halt sites.

Ujjain: Ujjain Municipal Corporation (UMC) took action against encroachment on UMC’s land in Fazalpura on Wednesday and brought down noted criminal Chhainu’s ‘dhaba.’ Three other houses and 18 kiosks were also removed during this action.

Following the Chief Minister’s instruction to tighten the noose on anti social elements, the city police sent a list of 10 such people under Dewas Gate and Madhav Nagar police stations to the UMC, for identifying illegal constructions and encroachments done by them. This was done with a view to stop financial funding for these anti social elements. Kotwali police had also sent an application to the UMC informing them about the encroachment by Chhainu on UMC’s land.

Based on this, a team of UMC officials inspected the area on Tuesday and found that 18 kiosks, three houses including Chhainu’s Dhaba were built on UMC’s land. They issued notices to all these people, and even demanded a police force from Kotwali police station for security reasons. The kiosk owners also approached the UMC office demanding relaxation, but their pleas fell on deaf ears.

On Wednesday, a team led by executive engineer Arun Jain and assistant commissioner Subodh Jain removed all encroachments on UMC’s land in Fazalpura. Commissioner Municipal Corporation Dr Vijay Kumar J said the UMC would build a boundary wall on its land to protect it from encroachment in future.

Ujjain: Ujjain Development Authority (UDA) chairman Jagdish Agrawal and CEO Abhishek Dubey held a time limit and review meeting at UDA office on Wednesday. During the meeting, Agrawal instructed the officials concerned to sell vacant properties of UDA in Triveni Vihar, buildings and plots in Kshipra Vihar, vacant buildings in Vasant Vihar and Veersawarkar market and vacant shops in various shopping complexes as soon as possible. He also instructed officials to start procedure for selling terraces of shopping complexes and Nanakheda bus stand.

Agrawal instructed assistant engineer Mahesh Gupta to speed up the construction of Nanakheda shopping complex and directed the estate officer to fix the rate of vacant plots of amenities before selling as well as sell vacant plots at Bharatpuri administrative area. He also asked all the project in-charges to show up at the next meeting with full knowledge of their projects.

During the meeting, estate officer Jaideep Sharma complained that his department could not take action in many cases even after getting orders, and this had led to an unpleasant situation. To resolve this problem, the CEO directed the establishment section in-charge to give administrative rights to Sharma so that he could take action against the sub-ordinate project in-charges. The CEO said this would not only speed up their work, but also help UDA keep an eye on the proceedings of the project.

Giving details of tree plantations being done in Kshipra Vihar and Triveni Vihar with the help of the forest department, Assistant engineer PK Joshi said t around 6235 trees were planted and regularly watered by the forest department.
The chairman and CEO also instructed all assistants and deputy engineers to coordinate and present comprehensive details of all vacant buildings, plots, shops and terraces along with relevant maps within 7 days.

Ujjain: The prize distribution ceremony of the 29 th State level painting competition organised by Lokmanya Tilak Sanskritik Nyas in the memory of Padmshri Dr Vishnu Shridhar Vakankar, was held on Wednesday at Shahid Rajabhau Mahakal auditorim in the school campus.

The chief guest of the ceremony was educationist and senior painter Kailashchandra Sharma of Pune. Lokmanya Tilak Shikshan Samiti secretary, Bharat Vyas and executive officer, Girish Bhalerao presided over the programme. Shubha Marathe gave the welcome speech and outline of the programme.

The first prize of Rs 7000 was given to Sapna Soni of Indore for her painting titled ‘vikas har taraf’. The second prize of Rs 5000 was given to Chhaya Maramat for her painting titled ‘gramin vikas’. Two consolation prizes of Rs 2000 each were given to Neetu Jain of Indore for her painting ‘vikas ki udaan’ and to Eknath Chaudhary for his painting ‘zameeni gram vikas’. Dinesh Sharma of Manav Sanket Academy also gave a consolation prize of Rs 1001 to two paintings ‘gram vikas’ by Muskan Soni and ‘udaan’ by Sonali Tonk on behalf of the academy.

The prizes of the school level painting competition organesed in Vakankar’s memory were also given. In first category, a first prize of Rs 1000 was given to Anik Gupta and second prize of Rs 500 was given to Kanishth Rathore. In second category, first prize of Rs 1000 was given to Arpita Panchal and second prize of Rs 500 was given to Prerna Rathore. In third category, first prize of Rs 1000 was given to Neha Tiwari and second prize of Rs 500 was given to Richa Mishra.

The chief guest explained the rich artistic background of Madhya Pradesh with the help of a projector. He said that Dr Vakankar had showed the world paintings drawn on stones at Bheembaithika by ancient people. Bharat Vyas said that an artist could reach heights with his art, but should always remain grounded to his culture. Girish Bhalerao proposed the vote of thanks.

Ujjain: Non Government School Representatives’ Organization (NGSRO) demanded releasing payment of compensatory fee from the government for the academic session 2016-17 and 2017-18, for the students admitted under Child Education Right Act.

Members of NGSRO held a rally and handed over a memorandum addressed to the collector. Members said all private schools were facing a financial crisis over the last two academic sessions, as the Government did not release the fee amount to students admitted under the Act. In spite of repeatedly informing the matter to officials concerned, no action had been taken in this regard, members added.

Convener Jitendra Shinde said a grand rally was held under the leadership of NGSRO president Manish Bhardwaj and secretary Jitendra Nigam in this regard. The rally started from Shri Mahakaleshwar Temple at 9.30 am and arrived at the collectorate via Gudari Chouraha, Gopal Mandir, Chamunda Mata Square, Tower Chowk and Teen Batti square.

Bhardwaj stated that a prospective student was given admission in the school under the Child Education Right Act, but since the last two sessions payment of compensatory fees of many students had not been released to any private school and the procedures of releasing compensatory fees were very complicated, he added. Bhardwaj also demanded making procedures easy to release payment of compensatory fee.

Shinde informed that Vikramsingh Rathore, Mahendra Patidar, Jitendra Nigam, Amit Mehta, Manish Rawal, Mahesh Jaiswal, Rajesh Dwivedi, Dinish Choudiya, Ashfaq, Sushil Patel, Faraz Siddiqui, Rakesh Pande and many members of NGSRO were present during the rally.

Ujjain: The online process of registering names of families in the district on to the electoral roll is almost half way through, while a total of 17896 voters have been removed from the seven assembly constituencies in the district.

This information was given by collector Sanket Bhondve during a video conference held by the State Election Commissioner, Salina Singh on Thursday. The collector said the total number of deceased voters in the district was 7778, transferred voters 7419, absentee voters 85, and those with double entries 60.

Sixty-six polling stations with more than 1200 voters have been identified in the district. These include eight in Nagda-Khachrod assembly constituency, two in Mahidpur, 13 in Tarana, two in Ghatiya, 17 in Ujjain North, 18 in Ujjain South and six in Barnagar constituency,

Similarly, during the special short revision, 39 polling stations had more than 1200 voters in the district. During the video conference, the collector informed that there were 1,44,561 voters in the district and physical verification of 6.83 lakh voters had already been done. Salina Singh informed all district election officers that all work related to the election in their respective districts, should be updated in a time bound manner. Instructions were issued that the tasks being done in the elections should be taken seriously.

Ujjain: A meeting of the organising committee for the preparation of the proposed two-day Vikram Amrutotsav-2018 in Ujjain, was held on Thursday. It was informed that before the big event in August, a science model preparation competition depicting the astronomical significance of Ujjain, will also be organised at the higher secondary school and college level.

In view of the recognition of Vikram Samwat and Ujjain on a national as well as at international level, as the center of time measurement, Vikram Amrutotsav-2018 is proposed to be held in collaboration with the State government in Ujjain in the first week of August. The meeting of the core committee of the organising committee was held in the Government, Polytechnic College under the chairmanship of MLA Mohan Yadav. In the meeting, discussions were held to prepare an outline of the national event, the dates and venues of the programme.

It was suggested that this event should be focused on the rule of Emperor Vikramaditya, which was known for prospering and enriching the State and the country. Contribution of the nine gems of Vikramaditya’s court among the public, government and administration would also be propagated through the event. The consensus of the core committee was on team building for the preparation of the event and other works.

Ujjain: The District Congress Committee (DCC), handed over a memorandum addressed to the Governor to SDM Kshitij Sharma, on Thursday under the leadership of DCC senior vice president Om Prakash Lot. The DCC demanded a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each and a government job to be given to family members of the eight men who died during the Bharat bandh on April 2.

It further demanded a judicial inquiry of the whole incident, so that the atmosphere of chaos caused by this violent incident in the State could end. The memorandum was handed over to the SDM at the Baba Saheb Ambedkar statue at Tower square. They also garlanded the statue of Babu Jagjivan Ram on the occasion of this birth anniversary. Sanjay Thakur, Karan Kumaria, Surendra Marmut, Arun Verma, Shakti Verma, Anju Jatva, Mahesh Sisodiya, Prashant Yadav, Ashok Bhati, Rajshree Sharma, Sachin Yadav, Santosh Singh Rana and others were present.

Tributes paid to Bharat Bandh victims

Ambedkarwadi tatha Boddh Anuyayi Ahinsak Samaj paid tribute to the eight men who died during the Bharat Bandh and demanded compensation and government jobs for their families. The members garlanded the statue of Baba Saheb Ambedkar at Tower Square, lit candles and observed a silence of 2 minutes to pay homage to the deceased men. AJJAKS district general secretary Harendra Kumar Khatri, Dhannalal Solanki, Anokhi Lal Bharti, Deepchand Jatwa, Mamta Sahare, Manorama Jamgede, Anita Verma, Mala Lokhande, Neetu Khatri, Seema Jamulkar and Rajesh Sonagara were present.

Ujjain: Three separate accidents in the district over the past 24 hours have left five dead and three injured. A four wheeler ran over a bike, killing a woman and her grandson and injuring her son on Karondiya road at 11 am. Inder Bai Lal, 65, was a resident of Dewas and was on her way to Shankarpur along with her son Rakesh Lal and grandson Hritik Lal, to distribute marriage invitation cards for a family wedding due in a few days.

While Inder Bai and Hritik died on the spot, Rakesh was admitted to the hospital in a serious condition. The dead bodies were sent for post mortem. The police also made enquiries at Toll Plaza to get information about the unknown four wheeler, but found no clue.

In another hit and run case, a 65-year-old man was hit by a speeding motor cycle on Thursday morning. He was taken to hospital in a serious condition but succumbed to injuries and died at night. Deepak Nagar was crossing the road in front of his house in Rishi Nagar, when a speeding bike hit him. The biker left the bike and fled from the scene. A resident said that there were no speed breakers in the area and hence people drove their vehicles very fast.

Meanwhile, two men died after a tanker collided head on with a container on Unhel Road. According to Unhel police staff, tanker driver Dileep Motilaal was taking the tanker from Unhel to Ujjain when it collided with the container, near Khajuriakhaal. While the container driver Babulaal, and tanker driver died on spot, two men sitting in container, Ramchandra and Sohan Pur suffered serious injuries.

Ujjain: Ujjain Development Authority (UDA) marked houses and took action against encroachment on its property in Triveni Vihar and Kshipra Vihar. UDA CEO Abhishek Dubey informed that UDA’s land had been encroached upon for long, but now these houses had been marked and a notice had been served to the owners. However, since the owners did not remove the encroachment, the UDA team led by assistant engineer Mahesh Gupta went on to remove the encroachment on Friday.

In Triveni Vihar, a hut was removed in sector A and the belongings of the hut were handed over to the owner. In Kshipra Vihar, bricks kept on the land near Sanskar Public school by a man named Hemant Sen was removed by Nanakheda police staff, after Sen opposed its removal.

A roofless house near a crematory in Kshipra Vihar was also brought down along with some kiosks on Kushabhau Thakkare Marg. PK Joshi, revenue officer Mulchand Junewal, deputy engineer Arun Singh, Praveen Dubey, RC Jatwa, Sharad Barwe, Mahesh Yadav and other officers were present.

Ujjain: Ahead of the Panchkroshi yatra, collector Sanket Bhondve and other admistrative officers undertook a 118 km long bus journey on the ‘yatra’ route and inspected Panchkroshi Marg, on Friday. At the encampments, the collector instructed officials concerned to make comprehensive arrangements like adequate lighting, sanitation, bathrooms and toilet, tents and drinking water, for the comfort of travelers throughout the route. Keeping summer season in mind, the collector also asked officials to make arrangements of medicines for insect bites and heat stroke.

The officers began their inspection from Nagchandreshwar temple in Patni Bazaar and then inspected encampments at Undasa, Pingleswar, Karohan, Nalwa, Ambodiya and Kaliadeh Palace. During the inspection at Undasa encampment, the collector instructed the home guards commandant to make arrangements for a guard and boat at Undasa pond. He further said sign boards should be installed at encampment sites. At Karohan encampment, the collector directed zilla panchayat CEO Sandeep GR, to appoint a nodal officer at each encampment site.

The CMHO was instructed to arrange adequate quantities of medicines at halt sites and provide a mobile medical vehicle throughout the travel route. After being prompted by the sarpanch of Karohan village, the collector instructed the Public Works Department officer to fill potholes on the side of roads before commencement of the journey.

Public Health Engineering Department was entrusted with the responsibility of drinking water arrangements. The officers of the Dairy Union were instructed to install cold water tankers at each stop. To protect passengers from heat stroke, the collector instructed that adequate quantity of tents should be installed for shade at halt sites. He also instructed the zilla

Panchayat CEO to issue duty orders to officials and employees two days before the journey commenced. During the inspection, zilla Panchayat CEO Sandeep GR, Ujjain Municipal Corporation commissioner Dr Vijay Kumar J, ADM GS Dabur, sub-divisional officer Ujjain Kshitij Sharma, Ghatia SDM SR Solanki and other officials were present.

Ujjain : Many campaigns have been tested and re-tested in Ujjain city for traffic compliance. As it stands, every year the local administration chalks out a seemingly meticulous strategy demanding strict obedience from residents. However, like every year, efforts in this direction could not bring about desired results, as neither the citizens themselves nor administration is concerned about road safety and public life. But, here is a man working relentlessly to overcome odds and forging ahead with his mission of creating public awareness on road safety norms and regulations.

Meet Nitin David, a fierce and bold personality, running a children’s academy in Azad Nagar, constantly making masses aware through his unique campaign “Helmet for the Family”. Free Press caught up with him recently, where he elaborated upon his mission with great candor.

On being asked him about his pioneering campaign he replied “Helmet for the Family” campaign is meant for those individuals who have utter disregard and apathy towards roads safety and their own lives. “As it is, people in Ujjain have little or no regard for compliance of traffic rules and regulations. Anyone can be seen flouting and violating rules on the roads mercilessly. It is a daily occurrence. Despite the scenario being so gloomy, we are leaving no stone unturned in driving sense into people against violation of traffics laws. Under this noble initiative, we provide helmets to the needy and to riders for free, so that in case they meet with an accident, their valuable lives can be saved,” he points out, adding that “during an accident head injuries can prove fatal for any individual, therefore wearing a helmet helps in protecting their lives. We have donated 600 to 700 helmets for free to many individuals, so far”

We asked him about what drove him to come up with such a campaign. An emotional David answers, “My only child my son Ronit died in August 2015 in Pune, in a road accident. His bike rammed a pole lying by the roadside. He sustained severe head injuries, which proved fatal for him and later on, he succumbed to his injuries. He was riding his bike without a helmet at that time. Had he worn a helmet, his life could have been saved. It’s great personal loss and the trauma my family and I have been suffering over these years is unfathomable. We have not come to terms with it. I do not wish to see any parent going through such horrific times, as we did. This led me and my wife Ravina David, towards this noble cause.”

When enquired about the funding for continuation of this campaign he says “This campaign is self-funded. We have no support from any government body or organization and we don’t want it either. Yes, the progress is not bourgeoning but we are moving slowly and steadily and doing our bit.” He also rued about the basic life support techniques which lacks in our elementary education.

When asked how he ensured credentials of a genuine and needy rider seeking helmet for free, he responded, “We do a thorough investigation and verify his credentials before giving away a helmet. We also note down their names and addresses and keep checking with them whether they are wearing helmets or not. If they bump into me somewhere in the city riding without helmet, I also chide them for not wearing it. Besides this, I also scold teenagers and youngsters if they are found driving rashly and recklessly on city roads.”

On being asked what message he had for youngsters he appealed “Your life is precious and invaluable not only for you but for your parents and family members also, as they are fully dependent upon you. So don’t forget to wear a helmet if not for yourself, then at least for sake of your near and dear ones, as they must be waiting anxiously for your return.”

Ujjain : A 27 year old woman was found hanging in Bhatpachalana police station area on Friday evening. According to the police Nidhi, resident of village Badia committed suicide, due to some unknown reasons.

Her husband, Sachin Bairagi said in his statement that his wife was alone at time of the incident. The police took custody of the body and sent it to hospital for autopsy.

Ujjain : Youth Congress (YC) workers staged a symbolic demonstration for the unemployed youth at Tower Chowk here on Saturday.

Holding the Union and State Government responsible for unemployment amongst the youth, they demonstrated covering their faces with black bands and shouting various slogans. They were led by Ujjain parliamentary area vice-president Chandrabhan Singh Chandel. There was also a mention of youths migrating from the city due to the problem of unemployment and failure of the BJP governments.  Corporator Rahim Lala, Rituraj Singh Chauhan, Kuldeep Singh Rathore and Keshav Sharma were present.

Ujjain : The Corporator handed over a compensation demand letter duly signed by affected residents to the municipal commissioner on Saturday.

Corporator Maya Trivedi handed over a compensation letter on behalf of residents affected by the widening from KD Gate to Imli Tiraha and Kartik Chowk area. Corporator Trivedi demanded UMC commissioner Vijay Kumar to hear out affected residents and bring about a solution to their problems. The corporator informed that affected people were heard by the commissioner. Advocate Dharmendra Sharma, Puspendra Chavada, Anand Pancholi and Siraj Khan were present.

Pneumococcal vaccine drive launched on World Health Day

Ujjain : Ujjain’s chief medical and health officer Dr VK Gupta, district vaccination officer Dr KC Parmar and other health officers were felicitated by Governor Anandiben Patel during a programme at Bhopal on Saturday. They were awarded for exemplary work in the field of pulse polio campaign.

Health minister Rustam Singh and senior officials of health department were also present on the occasion. A pneumococcal vaccine drive was also launched to mark the occasion of World Health Day.

The government has now launched the vaccination drive against pneumococcal disease since it has been noted that in children below five years of age, the biggest cause of death was from infectious diseases, with bacterial pneumonia being a primary killer disease, the main cause of which is pneumococus.

The risk of pneumonia may increase in children with weak resistance due to malnutrition or any other illness, environmental factors like pollution of air in homes, large crowds in the house and threat from smokers in the household.

Ujjain : A youth was stabbed to death in the Mahakal police station jurisdiction limit, late night on Friday by some anti social elements over a rift that took place in the recent past. The youth was a florist by profession. The florists of Shri Mahakaleshwar temple area shut shop as a mark of  protest over the incident.

According to details available, Sanjay Lodhi, a resident of Bada Ganpati was returning home after closing his shop around 11.30 pm with his friends Krishna, Koushal and Vivek, when five antisocial elements on a bike approached him and stabbed him several times. The victim died on the spot and his friends were injured during the incident. They then fled from the spot. On being tipped off, Mahakal police authorities took stock of the situation and sent the body of the florist to hospital.

TI MS Parmar informed that the friends of the deceased were identified as Vishal Kahar, Atul Thakur, Raju Mirchi, Shankar and Kabbu all residents of Kaharwadi area.

The police also said there had been a rift between the deceased and the accused on April 1, over some issue. Raju and Vishal were arrested, while the search is on for rest of the three accused.

Ujjain : Atleast three incidents of rape were registered at two police stations of the city on Saturday. A 17 year old girl was raped by Jitendra, a resident ofShastri Nagar, in the first incident.Jitendra was a tenant in the same house in which the girl lived. The girl was with her younger brother and sister in the house when the incident happened. On being tipped off,Neelganga police staff arrested the accused and registered a FIR under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code.

In another incident, a 30 year old woman was raped by Vishal, resident of Gujarat at a lonely place after she was threatened that her children and husband would be killed. The victim lodged the report with Neelganga police stationwith the help of residents of the area. The police then registered a FIR against the accused and succeeded in nabbing him.

One more incident of rape was recorded with Mahakalpolice station. According to police, Shakib, a resident of Lal-Masjid FawwaraChowk raped a 19 year old girl in a lonely place, and threatened to kill her if she informed anyone.The victim registered an FIR against the miscreant.