Two inaugurations and a dispute

On Friday, District Guardian Minister Ajit Pawar, while praising NCP, took a dig at city MP Suresh Kalmadi for hogging the limelight.

8220;Despite being rejected by the citizens in the last municipal elections in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, some people Kalmadi have not yet matured. People pulled them Congress out of power, but I don8217;t understand what more jolts they need to grow up,8221; Pawar said, adding, 8220;Citizens of Pune are clever enough to choose the right candidate in the election.8221;

Pawar was speaking at the inauguration of a subway near Balewadi. Mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale and Municipal Commissioner Praveensinh Pardeshi were also present.

Pawar, without mentioning Kalmadi, said, 8220;The Balewadi stadium was built through the timely efforts of NCP chief Sharad Pawar. When the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was unveiled last week at the stadium, not even Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, let alone Sharad Pawar, was invited. Politics is being dragged into everything. This might be because he Kalmadi is not attached to the people of Maharashtra. There is no need to show who loves the Marathi people more.8221;

8220;Till the NCP came to power in the PMC, roads were in dire straits. That created a bad impression about Pune and deterred industries from others states from investing money in the city. The rain continued to play havoc in the last two years as well, yet we did not compromise on the quality of works. Overcoming all odds, we laid down good roads. This is mainly because we took decisions, keeping in mind the requirements of the coming 25-30 years. But we are not looking at publicity.8221;

8220;However, they Congressmen are splashing their pictures all over and projecting themselves as the change-makers. In reality, this is being achieved through the efforts of the PMC, PCMC and the state as well as Central governments,8221; he said.

Reacting to statements made by Pawar, Kalmadi came out with a press note in the evening urging the citizens to remove posters showing his name and photographs.

8220;Remove all posters containing my name and photos. It is not only me who is responsible in making the Commonwealth Youth Games successful. It is due to the collective efforts of all of you citizens, which is making this event a success,8221; Kalmadi said in the press note. He has appealed to citizens to give more publicity to the mascot of CYG, Jigrr.

City gets its first CNG station

The Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited MNGL on Friday started the first compressed natural gas CNG station in the city. MP Suresh Kalmadi launched it at Bharat Petroleum Company Limited BPCL outlet, Vardhaman petrol pump, in Warje area. The station will cater to the CNG buses of the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited PMPML that will run during and after the Commonwealth Youth Games CYG.

While the CNG will come in caskets from Mumbai for the 20-odd buses supplied by Ashok Leyland, the city is also getting ready for its first piped natural gas PNG connection next week.

During the CNG station launch, R K Goel, chairman of MNGL, announced that the residents of Pimpri-Chinchwad area will get PNG within a week. 8220;Once the ongoing pipeline tests are done, the mother station at Chikhli will start functioning. The MNGL will start PNG supply to 1,000 households in the city and Pimpri-Chinchwad by March 2009,8221; Goel said.

Dr U D Choubey, Chairman and Managing Director, Gas Authority of India Limited GAIL, announced the commissioning of the 250-km pipeline for supplying natural gas to the city. 8220;The 30-inch diameter pipeline has been laid from a tap-off point at Kargaon on the Dahej-Panvel-Dabhol pipeline of GAIL to Pune,8221; he said. Goel said MNGL had signed MoUs with 10 industrial units in and around Pune for the supply of CNG. He refused to give details.

Kalmadi, who also flagged off the first CNG bus, said, 8220;Just as the first CNG station has coincided with the CYG being promoted as green Games, the first piped gas connection could be given to the hostel of Shiv Chhatrapati Krida Nagari Balewadi.8221;

Announcing further ventures, Goel said MNGL plans to set up two more daughter booster stations by next week and three more by mid-November. 8220;There will be at least 14 CNG stations by the end of March 2009,8221; he said.

The investment envisaged for the city gas distribution project in Pune in the first phase is Rs 220 crore by December 2009.

8220;In the first phase, around 40,000 vehicles including buses and autos will be converted to CNG. The stations are expected to go up to 29 by then,8221; said Choubey. The total investment in Pune is to the tune of Rs 460 crore over 10 years, he added. The Centre has allocated 0.4 million standard cubic metre per day MMSCMD of natural gas for Pune, while the total potential of natural gas for the city gas distribution network for Pune is estimated at 2.5 MMSCMD. Santosh Kumar, director Projects, GAIL, Subrao Patil, chairman and managing director, PMPML, Shama Sundara, managing director, MNGL and others were present for the function. MNGL is a joint venture company promoted by GAIL and BPCL to implement gas distribution projects.