Few months back, when the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) had declared the Pushpanjali Complex in Koti, which houses more than 200 shops unsafe, it had also issued notices to the shop owners to vacate the premises in three days.
However, even after three months the GHMC is still sleeping on the issue.According to the notice, the shop owners were told to vacate as the Pushpanjali Complex was to be sealed off.Since, the building was in a dilapidated condition and did not possess proper fire-fighting equipments, the civic body had ordered for its closure.
The first major fire had broken out in the complex on February 5, 2006 causing severe damage to property and the building. The second fire mishap took place on February 4 this year.After the first incident, a technical committee was appointed by the GHMC to make a report on the structure and take a decision on the restoration.The report stated that structure was “very weak and unsafe” and suggested its strengthening.But, the GHMC officials are now delaying the matter with their excuses.
“Since we were short staffed and busy with election work, Pushpanjali Complex was not on our priority list,” said Mr Purusotham Reddy, the chief planning officer, GHMC.
Meanwhile, the shopkeepers too are not ready to vacate their shops. “We have been running our shop here for several years. We will experience heavy losses if the shops are shut down. We shall seek legal aid if we are forced to vacate,” said Mr Chandhrabhan Singh, owner, Rajhdhani shop.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Power cuts halt ticket booking
Frequent power failures are playing havoc with the computerised reservation system at the Kacheguda Railway Station. This is not only delaying booking of reservations but also compounding the suffering of people.
Mr Binoy Jacob, an employee with a multi-national company said, “I came to the station at 7 am for tatkal reservation of a ticket to Kerala. It is more than two hours and still did not get the reservation as the system broke down due to power failure. It is annoying and I have no idea how much more time it will take. It seems the systems here have no back-up power facility.”Adding to the woes only four counters are working at any given point of time of the seven existing ones.
“Whenever I come here for reservation, I find myself stuck in the queue for not less than two hours. Last week, I had to wait in the queue for more than 90 minutes to book a ticket to Delhi. I need to take time off from my office everytime I have to book tickets,” said Mr Ravi Kumar, a marketing executive in a pharmaceutical company.
The chief station inspector, Mr K. Srinivas Rao, said, “There is rush at the counters because of summer season. Normally, it does not take more than 20 minutes for one to get ticket. When there is power cut, the systems go out of order. We have brought the problem of frequent power tripping faced by the station to our headquarters.”
“There is need for opening more counters, keeping in view the rush. There is also need for regulating the queues at the station,” said Mr Tarun Rao, an employee with GMR.
Mr Binoy Jacob, an employee with a multi-national company said, “I came to the station at 7 am for tatkal reservation of a ticket to Kerala. It is more than two hours and still did not get the reservation as the system broke down due to power failure. It is annoying and I have no idea how much more time it will take. It seems the systems here have no back-up power facility.”Adding to the woes only four counters are working at any given point of time of the seven existing ones.
“Whenever I come here for reservation, I find myself stuck in the queue for not less than two hours. Last week, I had to wait in the queue for more than 90 minutes to book a ticket to Delhi. I need to take time off from my office everytime I have to book tickets,” said Mr Ravi Kumar, a marketing executive in a pharmaceutical company.
The chief station inspector, Mr K. Srinivas Rao, said, “There is rush at the counters because of summer season. Normally, it does not take more than 20 minutes for one to get ticket. When there is power cut, the systems go out of order. We have brought the problem of frequent power tripping faced by the station to our headquarters.”
“There is need for opening more counters, keeping in view the rush. There is also need for regulating the queues at the station,” said Mr Tarun Rao, an employee with GMR.
One in five teen surfers falls prey to paedophiles
Children, particularly teenagers, who browse Internet regularly, are falling prey to paedophiles. According to recent survey by International Telecommunication Union [ITU], over 60 per cent of children and teenagers talk in chat rooms on a daily basis. Three in four children on-line are sharing the information about themselves and their family in exchange for goods and services. And one in five children are being targeted by a predator or paedophile each year.
Teenager from 14 to 18 years are the worst affected due to large usage of community sites like Orkut, Face book ,Hi5, Beebo, MySpace and many more. "Even bullying has become a common phenomenon in cyber space with nearly 72 percent of teens reporting at least one incident of cyber bullying every month. Most of the bullied teens don't tell their parents about the on-line incidents. They try to deal with the problem on their own with a fear of parental restrictions on Net use. This some times leads to social mishaps, sometimes with tragic consequences," said Mr Suraj Prasad Agarwal, President, Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
"Because of the generation gap in electronic communication, however, parents and educators need to better understand both the positive and negative functions of teen on-line behaviour. Websites that give such dangerous information to children can cause much harm, and while such sites have to be regulated, parents should be alerted about what children are doing in their free time," added Mr Agarwal.
To combat with the increasing number of such cases the ITU's Child On-line Protection (COP) initiative is in line with its mandate to establish the foundations for a safe and secure cyber world for future generations and in this view a seminar is organised in city on Sunday to celebrate the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day. Every year a specific theme is chosen to celebrate this day and this year because of the importance and urgency for preventive measures for children and teenager from cyberspace the theme is, "Protecting Children in Cyberspace".
"To ensure that children and teenagers can safely access the net and its valuable resources without fear of falling prey to unscrupulous predators in cyber space this seminar is being organised. The seminar discussions are meant for ICT professionals, sociologists, lawyers, parents, students, teenagers and law-makers and enforcers."
Teenager from 14 to 18 years are the worst affected due to large usage of community sites like Orkut, Face book ,Hi5, Beebo, MySpace and many more. "Even bullying has become a common phenomenon in cyber space with nearly 72 percent of teens reporting at least one incident of cyber bullying every month. Most of the bullied teens don't tell their parents about the on-line incidents. They try to deal with the problem on their own with a fear of parental restrictions on Net use. This some times leads to social mishaps, sometimes with tragic consequences," said Mr Suraj Prasad Agarwal, President, Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
"Because of the generation gap in electronic communication, however, parents and educators need to better understand both the positive and negative functions of teen on-line behaviour. Websites that give such dangerous information to children can cause much harm, and while such sites have to be regulated, parents should be alerted about what children are doing in their free time," added Mr Agarwal.
To combat with the increasing number of such cases the ITU's Child On-line Protection (COP) initiative is in line with its mandate to establish the foundations for a safe and secure cyber world for future generations and in this view a seminar is organised in city on Sunday to celebrate the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day. Every year a specific theme is chosen to celebrate this day and this year because of the importance and urgency for preventive measures for children and teenager from cyberspace the theme is, "Protecting Children in Cyberspace".
"To ensure that children and teenagers can safely access the net and its valuable resources without fear of falling prey to unscrupulous predators in cyber space this seminar is being organised. The seminar discussions are meant for ICT professionals, sociologists, lawyers, parents, students, teenagers and law-makers and enforcers."
Careless smoking causes fire
Rise in fire accidents due to careless smoking in public places, residential buildings and commercial complex in city is giving sleepless nights to the State Fire and Emergency Department.
The department had so far recorded more than 200 fire accidents in this year due to careless smoking at public places. Last year out of 1002 fire mishaps recorded 681 were incidents were caused due to careless smoking in twin cities.
The department officials say, luckily major disasters have not taken place so far this year since many of the incidents is either being reported at night or in the early hours when the offices are shut or less public is present at the spot.
The officials from department also say that the health officials should be strict on awareness programme of Ban on Smoking in public places once the law is fairly implemented the accidents can be reduced to a extent because most of the incidents recorded are in public places only.
Careless smoking is the main factors for increasing fire accidents in twin cities this year. This was confirmed by the Fire and Emergency Services Department after a detailed study conducted on the reasons for fire accidents that were reported during the last five months.
"Whether it is a residential building or commercial complex or a public place, smoking causes a majority of accidents and huge loss of properties too. Smokers casual in extinguishing the strike also contributed to the mishaps as thrown away butts still alight could spark the fire especially in open places" said, District Fire Officer, P.Deen Dayal.
Shockingly so far after the implementation of Ban on smoking in public places only 39 cases from twin cities have been booked by health officials. However District Medical and Health Officer Dr. Ch. Jaya Kumari, says "We can’t stop people smoking in public garden, railway platform or other open places we can only file cases against people smoking in pub, office or malls, not other places".
"Recently the fire accident in Falaknuma timber depot and Osmania university where people were present in large number cause due to careless smoking must have turned into major incident if the fire fighters would have not done fast action. Recently more than 30 huts in Shamshabad area was gutted due to careless smoking" said, official from fire department.
The department had so far recorded more than 200 fire accidents in this year due to careless smoking at public places. Last year out of 1002 fire mishaps recorded 681 were incidents were caused due to careless smoking in twin cities.
The department officials say, luckily major disasters have not taken place so far this year since many of the incidents is either being reported at night or in the early hours when the offices are shut or less public is present at the spot.
The officials from department also say that the health officials should be strict on awareness programme of Ban on Smoking in public places once the law is fairly implemented the accidents can be reduced to a extent because most of the incidents recorded are in public places only.
Careless smoking is the main factors for increasing fire accidents in twin cities this year. This was confirmed by the Fire and Emergency Services Department after a detailed study conducted on the reasons for fire accidents that were reported during the last five months.
"Whether it is a residential building or commercial complex or a public place, smoking causes a majority of accidents and huge loss of properties too. Smokers casual in extinguishing the strike also contributed to the mishaps as thrown away butts still alight could spark the fire especially in open places" said, District Fire Officer, P.Deen Dayal.
Shockingly so far after the implementation of Ban on smoking in public places only 39 cases from twin cities have been booked by health officials. However District Medical and Health Officer Dr. Ch. Jaya Kumari, says "We can’t stop people smoking in public garden, railway platform or other open places we can only file cases against people smoking in pub, office or malls, not other places".
"Recently the fire accident in Falaknuma timber depot and Osmania university where people were present in large number cause due to careless smoking must have turned into major incident if the fire fighters would have not done fast action. Recently more than 30 huts in Shamshabad area was gutted due to careless smoking" said, official from fire department.
No foul play in ‘D’ block fire
The three-member official committee headed by the principal secretary (political), Mr R.M. Gonela, on Friday, ruled out any sabotage in the fire accident in the ‘D’ block of the state Secretariat.
The committee, in its report to the government, has suggested implementation of fire safety measures in all the blocks in the Secretariat at the earliest. It also wanted rectification of electric wiring system as a short circuit caused the mishap.
“No important files or data stored in computer was destroyed and net connectivity has been fully restored to all the 400-odd computers in different sections of the two floors. A detailed report will be submitted by the CID investigating the case,” said Mr Gonela.
“The Secretariat will have an exclusive fire station on its premises. Two garages, office and storerooms will come up on a 1,000 square yards land adjacent to the ‘K’ block. It will be operational in a couple of months. A ‘Hazmat’ emergency vehicle, which is used to respond to hazardous material accidents, and two more fire tenders will be stationed in Secretariat,” the director-general of fire services, Ms Aruna Bahuguna, said
The committee, in its report to the government, has suggested implementation of fire safety measures in all the blocks in the Secretariat at the earliest. It also wanted rectification of electric wiring system as a short circuit caused the mishap.
“No important files or data stored in computer was destroyed and net connectivity has been fully restored to all the 400-odd computers in different sections of the two floors. A detailed report will be submitted by the CID investigating the case,” said Mr Gonela.
“The Secretariat will have an exclusive fire station on its premises. Two garages, office and storerooms will come up on a 1,000 square yards land adjacent to the ‘K’ block. It will be operational in a couple of months. A ‘Hazmat’ emergency vehicle, which is used to respond to hazardous material accidents, and two more fire tenders will be stationed in Secretariat,” the director-general of fire services, Ms Aruna Bahuguna, said
Files gutted at Secretariat
Fire broke out in the D-Block of the Secretariat housing finance and information technology departments on Thursday afternoon destroying computers and peripherals.This is the fourth fire that broke out in the Secretariat this year. The Mahakutami was quick to allege that the fire was deliberately triggered by the ruling Cong-ress which wanted to dest-roy “sensitive” documents as it faced electoral defeat.
The senior Telugu Desam leader, Mr Kodela Sivapra-sad Rao, said he suspected foul play behind the fire and demanded a high-level inquiry. “The IT department is under scanner for the Satyam and Maytas deals, forest department for Obulapuram mining and finance department has key papers on the economic situation,” he said.
In the wake of these allegations, the state government asked the CBCID to constitute a Special Investi-gation Team to investigate the fire mishap.The fire broke out in the computer server room in the second floor at 2.30 pm. Soon thick smoke engulfed the whole area, causing suffocation to four employees who were rushed to the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) for treatment.
Though the building has been issued no-objection certificate by the Departm-ent of Fire and Emergency Services, it did not even have mandatory fire sprinklers.Firefighters broke the window panes of the second floor to let the smoke out. It took nearly two hours for 12 firefighters to bring the flames under control. Three of them sustained minor injuries in the incident.
It took nearly half-an-hour for the fire department to bring its newly imported snorkel right behind the D-Block where the flames were coming out of windows. “Several employees including women were trapped inside the building and some were caught in lifts,” said Mr G. Jacob, director of the AP Secretariat Employees’ Cooperative Society. “All were rescued.”
“We suspect that it was a short circuit in the server room which caused the fire but it needs a full investigation,” said Ms Aruna Bahuguna, DG, Fire and Emergency Services.
The senior Telugu Desam leader, Mr Kodela Sivapra-sad Rao, said he suspected foul play behind the fire and demanded a high-level inquiry. “The IT department is under scanner for the Satyam and Maytas deals, forest department for Obulapuram mining and finance department has key papers on the economic situation,” he said.
In the wake of these allegations, the state government asked the CBCID to constitute a Special Investi-gation Team to investigate the fire mishap.The fire broke out in the computer server room in the second floor at 2.30 pm. Soon thick smoke engulfed the whole area, causing suffocation to four employees who were rushed to the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) for treatment.
Though the building has been issued no-objection certificate by the Departm-ent of Fire and Emergency Services, it did not even have mandatory fire sprinklers.Firefighters broke the window panes of the second floor to let the smoke out. It took nearly two hours for 12 firefighters to bring the flames under control. Three of them sustained minor injuries in the incident.
It took nearly half-an-hour for the fire department to bring its newly imported snorkel right behind the D-Block where the flames were coming out of windows. “Several employees including women were trapped inside the building and some were caught in lifts,” said Mr G. Jacob, director of the AP Secretariat Employees’ Cooperative Society. “All were rescued.”
“We suspect that it was a short circuit in the server room which caused the fire but it needs a full investigation,” said Ms Aruna Bahuguna, DG, Fire and Emergency Services.
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