State beiefs

The spot,called Sankalp Bhoomi,is maintained by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) as a site of historical importance because of its association with Dr Ambedkar which dates back to the times of the late Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III.

The tree was over a century old and the VMC had started maintaining the spot as Sankalp Bhoomi since 2006. V R Shikhalia,head of parks and garden department of the VMC,said the trunk had already started showing signs of decay and the civic body was now consulting botanical experts to find the possibility of raising a new tree from the remaining trunk in order to save its historical importance.

“We have consulted the botanical experts in our department and even from outside to find out the possibility of raising the tree anew,and they have said it is possible. We understand the historical importance of the tree and will try our best to preserve it,” he said. ENS

BJP youth wing’s voter awareness drive today

Ahmedabad: BJP’s youth wing will launch a Young Voter Awareness Drive on Friday. BJP Yuva Morcha general secretaries Hitesh Patel and Hiren Hirpara,in a statement on Thursday,said the nine-day drive will continue till October 5.

Yuva Morcha workers would fan out in academic instistutions and industrial units to exhort youths to see that they registered as voters and exercise their franchise. The drive has been launched at the instance of Morcha president Pradipsinh Vaghela.

Three wings of Madhav Park evacuated due to heavy rains

Vadodara: The heavy showers that lasted for three days left an impact on a residential colony in Tandalja in Vadodara.

On Wednesday,three wings of Madhav Park flats were evacuated after the ground floor of the building sunk by almost a feet.

Police forces were deployed to ensure that no one gets into the unsafe structure.

The ground floor of the triple-structure complex,Madhav Park Flats,in Tandalja began sinking at around 1 pm on Wednesday afternoon. According to the police,residents as well as shop owners at the ground level were evacuated as the building had shown signs of crumbling.

A police officer said,“We have barricaded the entrance so that people do not get in. The lower floor sunk into the ground,causing the stairway to become weak. Immediate evacuation was mandatory.”

Shop owners in the complex were moving out their belongings till late evening.

A shop owner,who runs a hardware store in the building,said,“We hope that the building will not give way. People who own residential and commercial property here have invested their hard-earned money.”

Police said they were gathering information about the building as well as awaiting the structural audit of the same.

AMC clears resurfacing projects worth Rs 75 crore at one goAHMEDABAD: The municipal corporation standing committee on Thursday cleared an unusually high number of projects for resurfacing of city roads,all of which together will cost Rs 75 crore.

The committee took up 23 proposals from engineering departments of six civic zones,except the central zone that covers the 600-year old walled city of Ahmedabad. Most of these repair proposals were brought earlier this month.

City engineer Tarun Lad,however,denied that these were damages caused due to monsoon. “These roads have been damaged over a period of five years,” he told The India Express. Curiously enough,the committee has no details about the exact length of roads to be resurfaced or when they were first built. They also could not provide any information regarding the contractors or what the guarantee period was or for that matter the cost of building them.

A total of Rs 75 crore has been awarded to six contractors. The party to get the biggest order was Shakti Construction with work worth Rs 25 crore being allotted to them in the south,east and north zones. The committee has not declared the time limit for completion of these projects,one-third of which are to be done in the West Zone areas.

ens