The Mayor-in-Council (MIC) today sanctioned a Rs 4.45 crore project to expand the existing capacity of the Worli Reservoir, which supplies drinking water to the city.Mayor Nandu Satam said the project will be undertaken by Reliance Construction Company, which bid lowest at 7.53 per cent less than that of its competitors. The existing reservoir contains 27 million litres per day (mld) water. The new reservoir will hold 21 mld water and will be constructed before March 31, 2000.
Satam informed that the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) will finance 60 percent of the project. The reservoirs will be later connected through a pipe and hold a total of 48 mld water altogether.
HC orders fencing of Borivli park
The Bombay High Court today directed the state government to build a barbed wire fence around the Sanjay Gandhi National Park at Borivli to rein in unauthorised encroachments.The court also directed thegovernment to locate alternative rehabilitation sites in Thane district for the 33,000 slum households inside the park. These pre-1995 settlers households are eligible for rehabilitation, the high court reiterated.
The Bombay Environmental Action Group filed a public interest petition against unauthorised slums and non-forest activities in the park. In May 1997, high court ordered rehabilitation of the slum dwellers and the construction of a compound wall in the park. The court today made a slight change in the order by substituting the wall instead of a wired fence. The government, which had originally expressed its inability to build the wall, also sought permission to utilise the funds originally meant for the wall for the fence.
Lala students protest debarring from exam
Students of the Lala Lajpatrai College of Commerce and Economics at Haji Ali today staged a vocal protest against the college authorities' decision to debar them from taking the University of Mumbai's exams.Althoughthe list of defaulters for the FYBCom, SYBCom and TYBCom were put up at the end of the first term in October, the students realised this only a couple of days back when principal M G Shirahatti counselled them on the need to find an alternate education if they were not to lose an year.
According to the principal, these students had less than the stipulated 75 per cent attendance as per the University of Mumbai rules. ``As some of them have attendance lower than 20 per cent, there is no way they can make up in the other terms,'' Shirahatti explained. Several students had also failed to turn up for the lectures in second term as well, he added.
While most of the 180-odd defaulters -- in all the three years together -- left in October itself, around 70 TYBCom students stayed back. Later, around 30 of them applied for an No Objection Certificate (NOC), says the principal.
The students claimed that the attendance records were fudged. ``Some of us were away on an inter-collegiate festival and couldn't attendclasses,'' said one. The others cited medical problems to a death in the family for not attending lectures. However, Shirahatti said the students were making false allegations.
The principal has also constituted a three-member committee, comprising the chairperson of the students' council and two professors with a legal background to look into the matter. The committee will take a decision by December five, said Shirahatti.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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