Ayaskant Das, TNN | Apr 26, 2012, 03.28AM IST

GREATER NOIDA: To make travel within the city easier, the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) has now extended its services to cater to residential sectors in Greater Noida. Twenty buses that picked up passengers only from Pari Chowk to go to Noida or Delhi, will now circulate within residential and internal sectors across the city.

Passengers, who earlier needed to come from their homes or offices to Pari Chowk to catch a bus to Noida or Delhi, can now get a bus from near their homes. To begin with, buses will go to areas like Sector P-3 near the Senior Citizens Society, P-7 near Judges Colony, Jalvayu Vihar, Amity Chowk, Jagat Farms and Knowledge Park.

“Till now, residents who wished to go to Delhi or Noida from areas like the Greater NoidaAuthority, Amity Chowk and Senior Citizens’ Society had to first come to Pari Chowk to catch a bus since there was no direct route to the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway. However, now, the buses pick them up from near their residences or place of work, saving them time and effort,” said K K Sharma, UPSRTC assistant regional manager for the Greater Noida region.

“A total of 20 buses have been assigned for the new route but for now, we are running 15 buses. According to the new route, these buses do not need to touch Pari Chowk anymore. Instead, after picking up the passengers from their designated sectors, they will go to the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway via the underpass near Yamuna Expressway Authority,” said an official.

According to UPSRTC officials, the new service has received an “encouraging feedback” from the public and they will soon add more buses to the new schedule to cater to all the major sectors in the city.

However, many residents are complaining that because buses have been assigned new routes, passengers at Pari Chowk are forced to wait for over half an hour for UPSRTC buses to go to Noida. Residents complain that while the UPSRTC buses have never actually stuck to a schedule, since last week, the frequency of buses has drastically reduced.

Sharma though, claims that this problem is temporary one. “The new schedule is not well advertised so many residents still wait at Pari Chowk. Besides, a total of 69 UPSRTC buses ply between Noida and Greater Noida at an interval of 12 minutes,” he said.

Ayesha Arvind, TNN | Apr 26, 2012, 03.31AM IST

NOIDA: The Noida Authority on Wednesday afternoon continued with its sealing drive and conducted checks in Sector 31. The sealing squad inspected six locations; illegal operations had been stopped in four locations, and a warning was served in the other two cases.

On finding that a guesthouse had been ignoring all directions by the Authority to stop unauthorized activity from its residential premises, the administrative officer of Noida instructed that the allottee be served a notice for lease deed cancellation. The officials, however, did not seal a single property.

Officials of the enforcement department of Noida have also been ordered to conduct an inquiry and submit a report on the alleged violation of the sanctioned building plans of the allottee of C-1/7 and C-1/8 in the sector. All other property owners who were issued notices for illegal operations from their residential areas were also asked to pay a penalty equalling 1% of the prevailing sector rates. “During our survey, we found 17 properties in Sector 31 to be conducting non-sanctioned activity from their premises and we issued notices to shut shop immediately,” said Rajesh Prakash, administrative officer, Noida. “If these property owners fail to pay up, their lease deeds will be cancelled, which will invite a stiffer fine,” said Prakash. “The property owner of the Surya guesthouse being run from C-1/7 and 1/8 has had his lease deed cancelled earlier as well,” Prakash said. “Once we cancel the lease deed, he will be charged 5% of the current sector rates on restoration,” the AO said.

During sealing operations, officials had found that besides two banks and four clinics, two paying guest accommodations and two general stores were being run illegally.

“Of the 17 properties identified, we also found six guesthouses operating in the sector,” Prakash said. “Of these, we found two to have closed down. They had stored their furniture and other goods in their basements,” Prakash said.

Vandana Keelor, TNN | Apr 26, 2012, 03.44AM IST

NOIDA: A week after irrigation and PWD minister Shivpal Yadav directed the authorities to clear the Yamuna and Hindon floodplains, Gautam Budh Nagar district administration held a meeting with officials from revenue, irrigation and drainage departments to formulate a plan of action. The district magistrate instructed officials to conduct a physical verification of the entire flood zone area grabbed by land mafia and submit a report within a week. Strict action will be taken against all encroachers and illegal properties will be demolished, he has warned.

The district magistrate has formed a three-level committee and instructed officials to list encroachments in three categories. “During the survey, we found that land had been encroached upon for construction of farmhouses and carving out small colonies. Village land, too, has been usurped,” said M K S Sundaram, GBN district magistrate.

“Officials will now conduct detailed inspections of the area, check for approvals, scrutinize documents, which have permitted construction on floodplains,” Sundaram said. “They will also check how land was allotted in the area and who has approved it,” he added.

Laying stress on transparency, Sundaram said he had urged officials to conduct inspections and verifications with great care, precision and without prejudice. “Action will be taken against officials found to be patronizing land grabbers and illegal developers,” Sundaram said.

Once the report is ready, action will be taken, including demolition of all illegal structures, whether it is a farmhouse, a small building or construction on land belonging to the nearby villages. “We will be clearing up all encroachers who are gobbling up the floodplains and selling land to ‘unsuspecting’ buyers,” said Sundaram.

Officials at the district magistrate’s office said the regulations for floodplains say land can only be used for farming, and only temporary structures are allowed to come up. “Construction on the floodplain includes concrete farmhouses as well as residential structures. These violate the regulations. The land belongs to the irrigation department. Some villages have come up on the floodplains as well,” said an irrigation department official.

A drive to clear the floodplains had been launched in February. At that time, the presiding DM had not only demolished structures and freed up nearly 200 acres of encroached land. “The floodplains belong to the irrigation department and no project in the area has ever been approved,” said an official of the irrigation department.

Vandana Keelor, TNN | Apr 26, 2012, 03.46AM IST

The Noida police have sought a dedicated helpline number exclusively for property investors. The police have submitted a proposal to the city administration regarding the same. The move has come after a number of cases related to property fraud were reported in the last fortnight. Police
officials claimed that there had been an increase of real estate fraud by at least 40%. This helpline will also give details about legal status of the land.

“We have submitted a proposal to the Noida administration to start the helpline number where a land buyer can call and ask details about the property. There are many brokers, who are blacklisted by the police and authority and executives working for this helpline will have entire data of such people,” said Praveen Kumar, senior superintendent of police.

The helpline will also have a provision to keep the detail of caller a secret as most of the investors deal in huge amount.

Noida police have also formed a special unit to register and investigate property related cases.

“Most of the property fraud cases are time consuming which drains out the manpower of the police station. So we have stopped investigation at the police station level and all cases are transferred to the property fraud wing which is based out at police control room at Sector 14 A,” said Kumar.

GREATER NOIDA: In a bid to improve connectivity and sanitation facilities in the city, Greater Noida Authority has identified five key infrastructure projects which need to be taken up on a priority basis and submitted the list to the department of industries, Uttar Pradesh. The projects include expansion of Metro services to Greater Noida and early bird projects of Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC).

Earlier this month, Noida Authority had also charted out five top-priority projects under its jurisdiction and dispatched the list to the chief minister for approval. “We have sent the list to chief minister Akhilesh Yadav after receiving a communique to identify vital projects under the Authority,” said an official of Greater Noida Authority. “Work on the projects can begin only after receiving the chief minister’s nod,” added the official.

NOIDA: Two days after TOI highlighted that Noida Authority is flouting norms that ban the use of stadiums for purposes other than sports, the Gautam Budh Nagar district administration sprung into action. District magistrate MKS Sundaram conducted an inspection of the stadium on Monday and ordered that it be cleaned up immediately.

The DM said that as soon as a new CEO takes charge at Noida Authority, a meeting will be convened with the official to formulate stricter norms to check the ‘misuse’ of stadium premises. “The stadium is not meant for any activities other than sports,” Sundaram said while reprimanding Authority officials summoned by him for the inspection. “Using the stadium for weddings and other cultural, social and private activities is a clear violation of norms,” Sundaram said.

NOIDA: Acting on the recent directives of PWD and irrigation minister Shivpal Yadav to de-silt the Okhla barrage at Kalindi Kunj, the district magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar has submitted a report to the government proposing a plan to clean up the reservoir. The administration has urged the government that the action plan to clean the 3km catchment area be put into operation at the earliest.

During his visit to Noida last week, Yadav had issued directions to clean up the Yamuna and its choked canals. Yadav had pointed out that the deposition of silt and garbage at the barrage – which has not been de-silted in 25 years – had seriously affected its water storage capacity. “At present, the water at the barrage can meet only two hours’ supply against the standard storage capacity of seven days,” Yadav had said, promising to change this situation, soon. The water stored at Okhla barrage is supplied to Delhi, Noida, Agra and Mathura

Farmland For Sale in Sector 165, Noida.  This is a Freehold Property in Prime Location near Yamuna Expressway.  Delhi only 25 Minutes.  Step By Step School, Lotus Valley School, Metlife Insurance Company are adjacent.

TWO- TIME world champion Sebastian Vettel took pole position for the first time this season on Saturday, edging out McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton at the Bahrain Grand Prix, where security remained tight amid expectations of fresh anti- government protests.

Vettel, whose best finish this year was second place at the season- opening Australian Grand Prix, clocked 1 minute, 32.422 seconds in his Red Bull.

The German’s time was 0.98 seconds quicker than championship leader Hamilton, who like Vettel is looking for his first win of the season. Hamilton has finished third in all three previous races this season.

Vettel’s Red Bull teammate Mark Webber was third followed by the other McLaren of Jenson Button.

Mercedes’s Nico Rosberg, who won his first grand prix in China last week, took fifth place on the grid but his teammate Michael Schumacher didn’t get past the first qualifying session and will start down in 18th.

Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo will start sixth in his highest ever grid postion in his short F1 career.

Ferrari, meanwhile, continued to struggle with pace. Fernando Alonso qualified ninth, although he didn’t run in the final qualifying session in order to save a set of tyres for the race, which is expected to be particularly hard on tyres.

Felipe Massa was down in 14th Brazil, failing to get past the second qualifying session.

Force India’s Paul di Resta also didn’t run in Q3 and will start 10th. India’s Narain Karthikeyan in the HRT- Cosworth will start the race in last place.

DEATH PROBE

Security was tight following days of sometimes violent antigovernment protests in Bahrain.

Bahrain authorities opened an investigation on Saturday after the body of a man was found near the scene of Friday’s clashes between protesters and security forces – in an area about 20 kilometres from the circuit.

Opposition groups claimed the man was killed by riot police in another possible blow to the Gulf nation as it struggles to quell unrest during the highly awaited return of the race after it had to be cancelled last year.

A statement by Bahrain’s interior ministry said a probe was under way but the death nonetheless will likely intensify a wave of expected protests against the race later in the day.

There were checkpoints on the roads leading to the Bahrain International Circuit. Additional security troops have been deployed around the circuit and across the capital, Manama. But there were no signs of protests early on Saturday anywhere near the circuit.

Demonstrators have called for the race to be cancelled until the ruling Sunni dynasty enacts meaningful reforms aimed at addressing the concerns of the Shiite majority.

Social media sites urged demonstrations as part of an opposition effort to use the worldwide spotlight on the race to press demands for a greater political voice. Bahrain’s Shiite majority claims it faces widespread discrimination at the hands of the Western- backed Sunni monarchy.

AP