06 | metro | HINDUSTAN TIMES, NEW DELHIMONDAY, JUNE 22, 2015

675 slum clusters to be safe from demolitionNEW PLAN Delhi urban shelter body clears proposal, clusters that came up before 2006 to get amenities too Neelam Pandey■ neelam.pandey@hindustantimes.com

NEW DELHI: Over 600 slum clus-ters in Delhi will soon get civicamenities and protection from demolition action with the Delhigovernment clearing a proposalto notify them.

The proposal was discussedand cleared at a meeting of theDelhi Urban Shelter ImprovementBoard (DUSIB) chaired by chiefminister Arvind Kejriwal. The board decided to notify 675 slumclusters in the city that came upbefore 2006. A copy of the meet-ing’s agenda is with HT.

Officials explained that slums, within these 675 clusters, thatwere constructed till February10, 2015 will also get protectionfrom demolition. But those that came up after this date will haveto face demolition.

The proposal also means that slum clusters that came up inthe city after 2006 will no longerenjoy any protection from demo-lition and action can be takenagainst them.

There are approximately 3 lakh slums in the city in which close to 15 lakh people live.

“We will now make a rehabili-tation plan for all these clustersand ensure that demolition isnot carried out in any of theseclusters,” said a senior Delhigovernment official. The list of675 clusters will be put up on thewebsite of the board.

The clusters have been taken

into account as they existed till2006, as per the provision of theDUSIB Act, 2010 and NCT ofDelhi Laws (Special Provisions)Act, as amended in 2014.

Sources said that DUSIB isnow undertaking a survey toascertain the exact number ofslum clusters that have come uppost 2006 and they will be liable for action and are also not likelyto get any form of compensationfrom the government.

“In order to fulfil the mandateof resettlement and relocation ofJJ clusters and also for providingbasic facilities in accordance withthe provisions of the DUSIB Act,

2010, it is essential to freeze thenumber of JJ clusters and notifythem under DUSIB Act, 2010. It isproposed that initially a noticegiving details of JJ clusters willbe issued and objections from gen-eral public will be invited withinone months’ time regarding addi-tion, deletion or any issue relatedto the clusters,” states the agendaof the DUSIB meeting.

Regularising slums has beenone of the major poll promisesof the Aam Aadmi Party, where it made a major dent into whatwas previously considered thevotebank of the then-rulingCongress.

Soumya Pillai■ soumya.pillai@hindustantimes.com

NEW DELHI: Thousands of treesin the Capital are slowly chok-ing to death, trapped in concrete, in areas under the New DelhiMunicipal Council (NDMC)despite various directives issuedbythe Centre, the Delhi high court and the National Green Tribunal.

A number of governmentagencies have come up withdirectives stating that a mini-mum ground space of 6x6 feet onall sides of a tree should be mand-atorily maintained. Environmentexperts say that at least 80% oftrees planted in the city do notfollow this rule.

The result: Every time a thun-derstorm or a squall hits thecity, around five to six trees areuprooted, three of which are fromNDMC areas. “This is because oframpant concretisation that hasbecome a common practice in thecity. The water does not percolateto the roots and this makes thefoundations weak. So even inminor storms, these trees face

the danger of being uprooted,”said Rohit Chauhan, an environ-mentalist who has been fightingagainst concretisation, metal treeguards around barks and nailingof advertisements on trees.

The Hindustan Times teamvisited four major NDMC areas tosee if the trees had ample groundspace around them.The treesthat stand tall on the pavementsaround Parliament Street havebarely a foot’s space around them.

For those that stand around theMandi House roundabout, thecondition is worse.

“We are trying to clear moreground space around trees but it becomes difficult to do so inareas where the movement ofpedestrians is high. Especially for trees planted on footpaths, ifwe remove the concrete tile it willcause discomfort to pedestrians,”said a senior NDMC official fromthe horticulture department.

HT Correspondent■ htreporters@hindustantimes.com

NEW DELHI:The future of app-basedcab companies such as Ola andUber may not be clear but theyare pumping in a lot of money tocapture the market and retain themaximum number of drivers.

Sample this: Both the com-panies are paying `2-4 per kmextra to every driver associatedwith them. After the incidentof rape in December 2014, Uberpaid `50,000 to every driver ascab services were banned andduring the recent crackdownby the Delhi Traffic Police, Ola decided to pay the challanamount to drivers.

As per rough estimates, Uberpaid ̀ 40 crore to drivers duringthe time they were banned andboth the companies are payingroughly `12 crore to driversevery month as incentives. “InDecember last year, Uber sus-pended its operation in Delhiand we decided to pay driversbased on their previous record.If on an average they were earn-ing ̀ 40,000 to ̀ 50,000, they werepaid that much amount. At themoment we want to be in themarket and we are committedto the Indian market till it lasts. We know this will take a lot ofinvestment,” said Karun Arya,communications head - SouthAsia and India at Uber

Ola takes 20% as commissionfrom every driver but Uber has

stopped taking even that afterthe December rape. “Our driv-ers get incentives based on theirconsistency in login and feedbackwereceiveabout them. Our aim isto make the driver entrepreneurand ensure that drivers are on a platform and are easily available.Wehave chosen not to look towardsprofit as of now,” said AnandSubramanian, Director, MarketingCommunications at Ola.

According to experts, both thecompanies are currently tryingto have the maximum number ofdrivers with them and ready tobe in loss for a few years.

“We have stopped taking20% commission and this is thedecision we have taken after theunfortunate incident. The pointof doing business is to makemoney and we will get back tothe same business model but weare currently not focussing onthat,” said Arya.

Arya said that Uber is cur-rently in 11 cities in India andthey will be expanding theirbusiness. On safety concerns, both the companies have startedbackground checks of drivers.

Faizan Haidar■ faizan.haider@hindustantimes.com

NEW DELHI: The situation for this40-year-old Uber driver is strange.

Every time she receives a call,the person on the other side moreoften than not puts the phonedown thinking he has dialed a wrong number.

She then very patiently callsthe number back to confirm that she indeed is the driver of the cab they have booked.

Satyavati has been workingwith app-based cab service Olafor the past two months, but everytime she has a booking, she hasto call a customer back in orderto confirm that she is their driver.

At a time when radio cabs havecome in for a lot of criticism fortheir lax security measures, app-based cabs such as Ola and Uberhave been making a major pushfor women empowerment in thecity by hiring more and morewomen drivers for their fleets.

“I have been driving for sevenyears now but have never earnedmore than `15,000 a month. Butafter my association with Ola, I have started earning `40,000 to`50,000 a month. That has helpedme to fund the studies of my chil-dren,” she said.

Satyavati said she had twochildren and the additionalincome came in handy for their

educational expenses. Her son isdoing his B.Com with her daugh-ter studying at AIIMS.

“The passengers often getsurprised and react with a smileon seeing a woman behind thewheel. Woman passengers feelmore secure with me too. I wasassociated with an NGO earlier,but my association with Uber hashelped me to take care of my fam-ily in a better way,” said Santosh,a driver associated with Uber.

Another woman driver, Maya,who is also associated with Uber,said she is not afraid of drivingat night and has often receivedpraise from passengers. “I ferryschool kids in the morning and inthe evening shift, 4pm to 11pm, Idrive with Uber. This has helpedme get my four children admittedin good schools,” she said.

UBER DRIVER SAVE LIVESRecently Uber, through feedbackfrom a passenger, got to knowabout how their drivers hadsaved lives on the road.

One Uber driver — SanjayKumar — rushed an accidentvictim from Prithviraj Road toSafdarjung Hospital and thushelped in saving his life.

In another instance, driverMegh Singh rushed a manwho was stabbed in front ofNizamuddin railway station toa nearby hospital.

Invest in minimum 200 cars to operatein Delhi, govt tells taxi aggregatorsFaizan Haidar■ faizan.haider@hindustantimes.com

NEW DELHI: If the Delhi govern-ment has its way, app-based cabservices such as Ola and Ubermay have to purchase at least 200cabs to legally operate in Delhi.

Delhi transport MinisterGopal Rai told HindustanTimes that this is the minimumrequirement to run the service.

“You want to ply but do notwant to follow the rules. We willnot let this happen and are readyto frame a policy for them. Butfor that they will have to fol-low the conditions, which arethere to operate commercially in Delhi,” said Rai.

After a list of over 25,000 vehi-cles were submitted by the com-panies, the government exam-ined them and found that mostof them are registered outside Delhi and run on diesel. Rai saidthat they will have to convert toCNG — the fuel mandated forall public vehicles in Delhi — ifthey want to ply in the Capital.

But despite all the drama, thecabs are still running in Delhias the enforcement agencies areconfused over their status. “We have written to the transport department to clear the air asconfusion prevails after the highcourt order. We have stoppedchallaning them as of now andif the transport department‘in writing’ asks us to challanthem, we will resume action,”said Muktesh Chander, specialcommissioner of police (traffic).

The Delhi traffic police hadchallaned over 1,000 cabs afterthe transport department reject-ed a request by the cab aggrega-tors to grant them licence. “We do not want to comment on thematter since it is sub-judice butfor the moment, Uber is opera-tional,” said Karun Arya, com-munications head - South Asiaand India at Uber.

Anand Subramanian, direc-tor, marketing communica-tions at Ola said the judiciaryhas set things right. “It comesas a great relief for drivers andwe are working closely with theauthorities,” he said.

However, amid confusionover whether these companies should be treated as aggregatoror a taxi service, the other radiotaxi companies feel they shouldbe banned.

The Association of RadioTaxis said the ban by the Delhigovernment still applies toOla Cabs and Uber as they donot have the licence to oper-ate in Dehi under the ModifiedRadio Taxi Scheme 2006 of the transport department.

N E W C O N D I T I O N S F O R A P P - B A S E D C A B S

Cab companies pump inmoney to retain drivers

Number of womendrivers increase in Uber, Ola ranks

■ The Delhi traffic police had challaned over 1,000 cabs after the transport department rejected arequest by the cab aggregators to grant them licence to ply in the Capital. HT FILE PHOTO

■ A ride in Uber is available at`7 per km and for Ola it is`8 per km

■ The driver gets `11-13 perkm and the difference was paidto them by the company

■ The company takes 20% ascommission but Uber has cur-rently stopped taking thatamount

■ Ola also gives `2,000 to`3,000 per day as incentivesto drivers if they complete eight or more trips

■ Uber paid `40,000 to`50,000 to every driver even when they were not operationalafter the December rape

■ Ola paid challan amount to drivers,when the crackdown began

OLA TAKES 20% AS COMMISSION FROM DRIVERS BUT UBER HAS STOPPED TAKING EVEN THAT AFTER THE DECEMBER 2014 RAPE

Trapped in concrete, treeschoke to death in Capital

DILEMMA FOR UBER AND OLA CABSThe govt examined a list of vehicles submitted by the firms and found that most of them are registered outside Delhi and run on diesel.

■ A tree engulfed by a wall on Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Marg (top)and another choked by concrete near Bengali Market. RAJ K RAJ/HT

C O N TA M I N AT E D WAT E R

NGT seeks response from govt on dirty water DJB gets a 50KW solar power plantNEW DELHI: The Delhi Jal Board(DJB) has commissioned a solarPV power plant of 50 KW capac-ity, at its Varunalaya office com-plex to cut down on its operationand maintenance costs.

A statement issued by DJBon Sunday read that the solarpower plant is presently gener-ating 6,600 units of electricityevery month and this is earningan immediate saving of `55,000per month for the department.

The installation has cost DJB`53.55 lakh.“DJB has made inno-vative use of space by install-ing solar panels on the rooftopof the Underground Reservoir.DJB is striving hard to look atnon-conventional sources ofenergy which will reduce DJB’spower bill,” a Delhi Jal Boardspokesperson said. HTC

HTC and PTI■ htreporters@hindustantimes.com

NEW DELHI: The National GreenTribunal has taken suo motocognisance of a report on watercontamination carried in theHindustan Times and soughta response from the Delhi gov-ernment regarding contamina-tion in piped water as well asgroundwater.

Hindustan Times had, onFriday, reported how waterin the supply lines as well asborewells is contaminated andcausing serious health issues.

A bench headed by UD Salvi,after taking suo moto cognisanceof the report, issued notices tothe Delhi government, Delhi Jal Board (DJB), Central Ground

Water Authority (CGWA), DelhiPollution Control Committee(DPCC), Central PollutionControl Board (CPCB) and thefour municipal corporationsasking them to submit a statusreport regarding the quality of

water being supplied. “The status report shall also

reveal before us the quantity ofwater received from water sup-ply lines to various locationsin a day. The status report shallplace before us the facts regard-

ing the quality of groundwateravailable through the commu-nity bore wells and hand pumpsspread over the city of Delhi,”the bench said.

The matter is listed for thenext hearing on July 14.

Hindustan Times, on Friday,had highlighted how the mixingof sewer water with drinkingwater, ground water contamina-tion and problems in consumers’supply pipes lead to contaminationof water that reaches our homes.

The green panel noted that the newspaper report revealed that “stinking and dirty” waterwas flowing through water sup-ply lines and the borewells too are pumping out contaminatedwater. This is due to the complete“mismanagement of affairs”regarding water supply and efflu-ent treatment, the bench noted.

REHABILITATION 3lakhslums

in Delhi

15lakhpeople live inthese slums

1The group ofjhuggis is

unfit for humanhabitation

2 It isinhabited by

at least fiftyhouseholds

SOME OF THE CLUSTERS ARERanjeet Road near Lok Nayak Hospital, DelhiGate, JJ cluster Janta camp railway nurserybehind Pragati Maidan, Balmiki Basti at ITO, slumcluster at Mathura Road, Press area behind OldSecretariat (Civil Lines), behind police stationVasant Kunj sector C pocket 9, Outram Line infront of Gurudwara in front of Kingsway Camp,Harijan camp - Meherchand Market, Lodhi Road

■ There are 675 slum clusters in Delhi forwhich the process of notification has startedand government will seek objections andsuggestions

■ Approximately 40% of the slums are on Delhigovernment land

■ Jhuggi Jhopri basti means any group ofjhuggis which the board may, by notificationdeclare as a jhuggi jhopri basti in accordancewith the following factors:

DELHI’S DIRTYDRINKING WATER■ Hindustan Times had, on

Friday, reported how water in the supply linesand borewells is contami-nated and causing serioushealth issues in the city

■ The green panel notedthat “stinking and dirty”water was flowingthrough supply lines.

19 June, 2015

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Hindustan Times 22 june 2015