Pune beat

After a death, PMC decides to get into the act!Municipal Commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad on Monday assured an immediate appointment of a ju...

After a death, PMC decides to get into the act!
Municipal Commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad on Monday assured an immediate appointment of a junior and assistant engineer for maintenance of corporation-run school buildings.

Gaikwad8217;s decision came after a furore raised by the corporators over the death of five-year-old Altaf Shaikh who met a tragic end when the gate of the PMC-school number 25 crashed on him.

Raising the issue at the general body meeting, corporators Ankush Kakade lashed out at the civic apathy while corporator Vikas Mathkari claimed that a paltry sum of Rs five lakh was spent towards the maintenance of school buildings when there was a budgetary provision of Rs 80 lakh last year.

Other corporators including Jyotsna Sardeshpande, Shashikala Kumbhar, Usman Hiroli and Shyam Satpute raised the problems of water leakage in PMC-run schools, especially in the 38 fringe villages which were merged within corporation limits.

Gaikwad who made further inquiries following Altaf8217;s tragic demise told the house that the school principal had complained about the gate on March 11 this year to the PMC. Gaikwad said he had directed the city engineer Madhav Harihar to inquire as to who was responsible for the technical lapse to take necessary action against the person.

He admitted that the school board had time and again demanded more staff for maintaining the buildings and assured to appoint one junior and assistant engineer towards the purpose. A time-bound programme has been chalked out for assuring educational material and infrastructure at schools. Regarding fringe villages, Gaikwad said that the school buildings were still under the aegis of the Zilla Parishad and had to be handed over to the PMC.

PM to inaugurate NHI on June 26
Deendayal Research Memorial Hospital has established National Heart Institute8217; NHI within its premises in Pune. NHI will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister on June 26.

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Set up to the tune of approximately Rs 9.5 crore, this new project aims at reducing disability and death from cardiovascular disease for the people of Pune and beyond.

The project is being equipped with the latest technology, which costs around Rs 3.5 crore and is imported from the US and Japan. Some of the technology that has been brought in boasts of an advanced version of the image management system which helps the patient with the minimum cost and risk. The hospital plans to go on-line in a couple of months wherein it will also have a website.