{lOt Y1 Lo.rte 1?7)t7Ld~ 24/'7/1..1

Shooting o[safe passageActivists are battling-miqing.ao~;fa[ming .inthe Western_Ghats that are eating intotraditional animal corridors.lheir. camera traps show these zones are vital for wildlife

\said, "We undertook this project tounderstand if animals persist in travel-ing through corridors. Parks are likemonoliths. People believe thattherei~no wildlife beyond the periphery ofprotected areas, but they do not un-derstandhowimportantcorridorsare.Without these, there is no gene flow,and inbred species can go locally ex-tinct." Activist Vinod Jain added,"Corridors are especially necessary incase of forest fires, as animals gettrapped and have nowhere to escapetowithoutthem."

Environmentalists say wildlifemanagement is too protected area-centncrlghtnow. VidyaAthreya, biol-ogist, CWS, said, "Corridors fall on pri-vate land. People are aware of animalsusing this land, but it is nowhere inwildlife protection policies."

"Most of the corridors' land fallsunder the revenue department andbelongs to villages. Very soon, theseareas wi IIbecome conflict zones. Thefirst step is to accept that such pock-ets exist and that wildlife cannot beI ... " ..restricted by political boundaries,"said Anirudh Chaqji.DirectorvPug-marks Ecologix. ": :' ,.

Researchers suggest private landowners be integrated into the systemto protect wild animals. Jain added,"The government should bear the ex-penses for land owners to come for-ward to protect wildlife. If people arebuilding fences to demarcate land,they should leave a gap of some feet foranimals to travel through easily."

"If animals are restricted to certainareas, they begin to breed with othersborn in the same litter and bad geneticcombinations arise. The immunitiesof these animals are low, the proba bili-ty of them succumbing to diseases ex-tremely high," added Chao]i.

The Western Ghats are currentlyfadng the highest an thropogenicpressures in the country. "Disruptiveactivities like mining and plantationfencing are harming wildlife. Conser-vation challenges are immense, sincedevelopment is mostly unplanneda~? prolific," rued Pun jabi,

n increasing sense of alarm isbuilding amongst greenactivists in the state andbeyond, as unprotectedcorridors connecting

protected zones in the Western Ghatscontinue to shrink, endangeringmigrating wildlife along the richlybio-diverse belt.

A study conducted by the Centrefor Wildlife Studies (CWS), BangaloreintheWesternGhatsbetweenDecem-ber 2012 and March 2013, deployedcameras at 21 sites in Sindhudurg dis-trict, to observe the Sahyadri-Konkancorridor outside protected areas, con-necting the Sahyadri tiger reserve inMaharashtra with Dandeli in northKarnataka. Its findings captured aplethora of wild dogs, leopards andsloth bears and myriad prey travellingthrough these zones, emphasising theimportance of making corridors be-tween protected areas a part of theconservation rhetoric.

Jay Samant, ex-president of theBombay Natural History Society(BNHS), said, "Satellite imagery ofthe Western Ghats has shown thatthe width, density and extent of thecorridors has drastically decreased.With the numberofwind power pro-jects, agricultural expansion and in-crease in tourism, non-protected ar-eas like these corridors are becomingincreasingly vulnerable." Chief con-servator of forest (wildlife), State for-est department M K Rao said, "Largeanimals require a con tin uous stretchof forest for movement. Tigers, wilddogs and even elephants use thesecorridors. Without these, animalsstray into agricultural fields, causingman-animal conflicts. Bauxitemining, tapioca farming and rubberplantations are all putting pressureon the ghats' environment."

Girish Punjabi, researcher at theResearchers for Wildli fe Conservationthat::va:.e.ar~o! th_~.E~S i.~itia.tive,----------------------------------

IPriyam.Baggabmfeedback@gmail.colll

IN ?UNE

"'-fH5 Hf/1J n UTwo kmed r~; lr

~/ A senior citizen was one ofVtwo killed in separate acci-

dents in Yelahanka trafficpolice station limits Mondaynight.

Chandrakant M. '1

(3 ,a Bescom metre read> "Ie on t e spot when his

.bike rammed the median in: Attur Layout Oil Monday.

He was not wearing a hel-met and was rushed to a hos-

, pita! ~w"S declaredIJi~ought ' .. In the another accident, a

70-year-old man was killedon the spot in a hit-and-runon Bangalore-Bellary Ro~)~Monday night. /;

r: 11!~f1fNtJ vi Pc},; it-!;freas In north Bangatbre

face power cutBANGAlORE: Areas in NorthBangalore had to put up withnearly two hours' power cut onTuesday evening. BangaloreElectricity Supply Company(Beseem) officials blamed it on"failure in incoming supply." Areasincluding Peenya, Yelahanka,Sailakarnagar and Nandini Layoutas well as Peenya Industrial Areawere faced with a blackoutbetween 8.40 p.m. and 10.30 ~- Staff Reporter /?"

[1Satellne imagery has showncorridors drastically decreasing.With more wind power projects,agricultural expansion andtourism, non·protected areas aremore vulnerable

~~~~~~ri'corridor

s

IndialWWildlife Sanctuaries(WLS)

Camera traps between Dec 2012 and March this year show a plethora of animalslike (from top) dhole, leopard and nilgai navigating unprotected corridors

<70 lia!jil iff ({Ii io fCi ,, ~BHELto set up <f

power plantsThe Electronics Divi-sion of the Bharat

Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has bagged ordersfrom the National ThermalPower Corporation to setup two grid interactive so-lar power plants of 10 MW

, each. The orders are valuedat Rs 132 crore. The plantswill come up at Unchaharin Uttar Pradesh and Talch-z;er in Odisha. y

36

~5

D ~A:;{lden ~iscussesnuclear, deal with Manmohan

Aiming to take forward the -momentum in bilateral talks, USvice-president Joe Biden met PMManmohan Singh and held . =discussions on several issues, .' ~including the civil nuclear en~rgy. _ i@

.Indla, P"f '

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has made many promises on solving the garbage and infrastructure problems dogging the city. All will be well insix months, he told a meetiRg organized by the FICCI recently. But cynics feel the CM is only making more empty promises.

Deccan Chronicle picked the brains of civic activi§ts and experts to come up with pointers on what it will take to make the city more liveable

Six mont~sto])rananew ci y.

STINK G~@WS BURSTING ATSIEAMS

the concept of Metroplex seen inthe developed world, wheresmaller cities have theirown local governments,suggest experts. Forinstance, Whitefield,Bidadl, Kengerl andDevanahalli could bedeveloped as Individualcities, they suggest.

"The COP cannot bereduced to a zoning docu- •ment," stresses Mr Vlvek Menon,

advisor of CISTUP, Indian Instituteof Science and member,

',. Bangalore City Connect

II.,Foundation (BeeF).J ·l': "To decongest Bengaluru

we need to draft master. plans for its road and

drain networks, Its sani-tary lines and Metro con-

nectivity. Transit OrientedDevelopment is vital for pee-

pie to commute from oneplace to another. At present we

Sengaluru has transformed from aGarden City into a Garbage City overthe last year with rubbish littering Its

streets and making a mockery of the doorto door garbage collection system intro-duced a few years ago. Clearly a largenumber of people have no choice but todump their garbage in corners near theirhomes or commercial establishments asthe collectors seem to be giving them amiss: ..•. . .

Chief MInister Siddarernieh has nowasked Bengalureans to be patient for sixmonths more till he finds a solution to thestink raised across the city. In the mean-while, the people could help by takingsome responsibility for garbage disposalthemselves, suggests Ms Vanl Murthy,

member, Solid WasteManagement Round Table.

"My trash my respon-sibility," should be thenew motto, In herview. But the BBMPcannot shrug oHresponsibility either

and must decentralisegarbage management

to make It work better,she maintaIns .•• Every ward

should be abl, to manage its owngarbage. Once the system is In place, itshould be monitored properly by theauthorities and awareness created in thecommunity, especially through educationalinstitutions, about the disposal ofgarbage. If this does not work then peopleshould be fined for not doing their bit," sheunderlines.

Dr Meenakshl Bharath, member of theMalleswaram Swabhimana Initiative, feelsthe new mantra has to be "garbage man-agement" and not mere disposal. "Like InEurope and America we too need sustain-able waste management. The mindset ofthe city council and the government needsto change. If there is a value attachod tothe waste generated then people will read-ily segregate it~at source," she believes.

WIth the ComprehensiveDevelopment Pla·n (CDP)for the city either having

been misused or ignored, Bengaluruis seeing haphazard growth.Commercial activities are intrudinginto residential areas and destroyingwhat little peace they have left.

The solution could be adopting

BUMPYRIDE

TRAFFICWOES

work, says some basicsguidelines need to be fol-lowed. Not only should theauthorities make sure thatcontractors execute qualitywork when laying the roads,but also maintain them for aset period. The guidelinesgiven make it necessary forthe contractors and engI-neers to classify the roads

based on traHic densityto determine the

, thickness of the

2i asphalt to be used.l he points out.

"It's Important tocheck the nexus

. between contrac-tors and engineers

as contractors areknown to charge for work

not done or for asphaltingroads that don't need it,repeatedly. Third partyinspection must be manda-tory before the contractorsare paid," he suggests.

Pointing out that technolo-gy has advanced so muchtoday that potholes can befilled even In rain using coldtar, he says there's no excusefor the authorities to letthem remaIn unrepalred

-~during the monsoon.'

Sengaluru's roads thatare bumpy at the bestof times, begin to sport

crater-like potholes everymonsoon as the rain beatsdown on them, turningmany Into death- traps.Soma commuters losetheir limbs and someeven their lives asthey become vic-tims of accidentstriggered by themany potholesdotting the city.

The hue and cryraised sees the authori-ties hurrying to fill up thepotholes, but in such a shod-dy fashion that they openup once again come rain.

The officers in charge don'tSeem to have heard aboutfoolproof technology to fixthe potholes and so placethe lives of people at riskevery day.

Captain Raja Reo , formerchairman of the expert com-mittee constituted by thehigh court to look into the .quality of infrastructure'__ ~~ __ '_"""""';"' __ ._•...-..t-~",","-_,~.._~__._.....-...........,_~.

don't provide pave-ments for pedestrians, itis but natural that theybegin to use the seed

Bengaluru's roads itself," he points out.that are congested Initiatives like B·TRAC,most of the year, lane enforcement drives

become a nightmare for and Bus Day have notcommuters hi the men- contributed to easingsoon when traHlc BengaJuru'.s. traHic trou-moves at a snail's pace bles as they are notas rain batters the Implemented ascity. While a ,. ••• .,... •.••."" they should be,number of prof- ¥ \ he feels.ects are under- I \ Traffic expert,way to solve MN Sreeherlthe city'S tret- ~ too blamesfic troubles, it roadside park-does not have Ing for muchto walt for the of the trafficcompletion of the congestion in theMetro or commuter rail city. "The corporationor flyovers to breathe and the traffic policeeasy. says Mr·Pranav should jointly work toJha, founder, Praja get rid of this problem.RAAG (Research Our government wantsAnalysis and Advocacy to develop lnfrestruc-Group). ture on the lines of

As 30 to 35 per cent America and Japan but'of eHective road width in our condItions thisis lost to either illegal does not work. Aboveor ill planned parking, all we need an authorityenforcement of the law that will be strict inon this front can make a Implementing the rules

~~~n~0~~!.~7s~~~~:~i~e :~~,,~~~ ~~Vy~~ to pres---

have a good road network outsidethe city, but not Inside. This has tobe tackled. North. East, West andSouth corridors must be formed forseamless movement of transport,"he says, also suggesting the drawingup of a master plan for effectiveutilisation of water.

"Lakes must be rejuvenated andsewage treatment plants installed inall layouts to ensure that the sewagedoes not get mixed with stormwater:' he adds.

• Segregate garbage, compostwhat you can and use the rest togenerate electricity.

• Make ban on plastic more effec-tive

• Fix responsibility Oil contractorsand the people for garbage dis-posal

BI Create awareJ;oss on segrega-tion of waste among people

III Lay quality reads

• Use modern technology to fixpotholes

IIMake more efficient use of roadwidth by preventing haphazardparking.

_Appoint an authority with a willto act and enforce the rules.

• Draw up separate master plansfor road, drain, water and trans-port

• Revive lakes

• Set up sewage, treatment plantsIn all layouts

r)roduction of more elec-~ ~ tricity IS not a solution1. to power shortage. In-

stead, we shoUlI! Conserve en-ergy so there will be enough ofit for our needs. This sums upthemessage that participantsat the Times NIE Go Greenevent took home on Tuesday.

Held in association withSchneider Electric India Ltd,the event had students fromover 100 schools displayingmodels showcasing their un- children. Stress-derstanding of ing on the impor-eco-friendly con-; !It\~,~r::::"f\j""r:;:~ro<>.~r;1 tance of beingcepts, at Rashtri- ._ O!S 'O'~'J;~_ ••....e il! '. committed to theya Military ~ ••.•.•-"~;=,.,~.7-'-·".,7.--·-.-~· cause of energySchool, Hosur Road. They conservation, he told them topledged to protect the Earth be agents of change.and conserve energy, led by "You are the future con-principal of RMS, LtCol Bhu- sumcrs of resources, so it ispinder Kumar. your responsibility to save

"Save a watt to share a energy," Dr Kamala TN, pro-watt," said Srinivasa Chebbi, gramme director, Conservevice-president, building My Planet, Schneider Elec-business, Schneider Electric tric India, told the gathering.India Ltd, who addressed the Urging students to make

Ruth Dhanaraj ITNN

ECO-WARRIORS: Schoolchildren exhibit their green models

energy-saving a habit, she ex-plained how they can cut pow-er usage at home and encour-age their. parents too."Become power auditors.Monitor'how much power youare consuming, arrive at anidealistic consumption leveland ensure you use only thatmuch. Your parents will beimpressed when after twomonths the power bill is muchlesser than it is now," she said.

The studen ts' models werejudged by designer Shobha

a wattWINNERS ARE

.1prize - Preeksha S Madhava,Raghav S - Little Flower PublicSchool, Banashankari

ell Prize-Parthiv Kamath, to-kesh Bishwas - Sri Sharadha Vi-dyaniketan, Bannerghatta Road

Q IIIprize- Yogesh BP,Charan-Poorna Prajna Education Cen-tre, Yelahanka

SPECIAL MfNl'IO~~o Deepak, Sudarshan - Banga-lore International Academy,Jayanagar

I)Ashish, Udith- AirForceSchool, Hebbal

@ Pranathi S,DiyaWadhera - Na-tional HillviewPublic School,Rajarajeshwarinagar

Chhabria, former RJ and cor-porate trainer Poonam She nay,fine arts specialist Sapna Ma-hesh and Ashok Ahuja of TechMaali and A&C Computers.

1iDF"'SIT~~'Ey~'~~"'''''::~'~"'P6~~~PlantFrench giant signals revived foreign investor interest in ailing sector Barmer May

opmentsaid Meenakshi signed a Get ""37k-crbinding agreement with GDF The Spark is Back '\.Suez a couple of weeks ago. Due f.)diligence ison and more talks are GDFSUez •. , Re mervlikely before a full-fledged agree- Largest . , .ment is signed, they added. GDF independent power . '" n The UPAgov-may pay $200 million for the producer in world .. : . I ernment isplant. Meenakshi Group's CMD ""Devineni Suresh denied the 10,OOOmw under .. planning a _.

construction " . "'", 37 230 f' tdeal, but EThas learnt that rep- _ ." ,~ ", -crore re merv aresentatives from the two sides Barmer and has preparedhave been holding talks for awhile. "There are no talks going a note for the cabinet toon now for stake sale. We didn't give Rajasthan its secondsign any binding agreement "largest project, reportswith CDF Suez," Suresh said. Rajeev Jayaswal from

New Delhi. ~ 10

RACHITA PRASAD & CR SUKUMARMUMBAII HYDERABAD

French energy giant GDF Suezis close to buyrng a power plantowned by a little-known Hydera-bad-based company, indicatingrevived foreign interest in own-ing and running Indian powercompanies after a long hiatus.GDF Suez, the world's largest

independent power companygenerating more than half of In-dia's installed capacity of211,766mw, is in advanced stagesof buying a 900 mw coastal pow-erplantof Meen<ikshiEnergy.Three people close to the devel-

.... " ··· "11"""1'" •••.'''"" -

Power Sector Hit by Debts ~ 19

~.~""'~""""P'HJ rWP'SW'1D1a1l"ER't=i7'12""ft:"~- ------{;jjli:4N--Hb{ifj;rJ-----P-8-,'-~-----------------------------.--------------------------------

India, US fast-track civil,nuclear cooperationNEW DELHI, DHNS: India andthe United States (US)on Tues-day put on fast-track civil nu-clear cooperation amid indica-tions that an early worksagreement for building a nu-clear power plant at Mithivirdiin Gujarat could be inked dur-ing Prime Minister ManmohanSingh's visit to Washington inSeptember.

Seeking to arrest the drift inbilateral relations, US Vice-President Joe Biden and Singhdiscussed a range of issues, in-cluding ways to boost trade andease bottlenecks faced byAmerican companies in India.

A key highlight of the hour-long Singh-Biden meeting wasspeeding up the commercialaspects of the civil nuclear co-operation. India has allocatedtwo sites-Chhaya Mithivirdi inGujarat and Kovvada inAndhra Pradesh-to Westing-house Electric and GE-Hitachifor developing nuclear parks.

The two sides are expectedto sign an early works agree-ment between WestinghouseElectric and Nuclear PowerCorporation of India Limitedduring Singh's September visitto the US at the invitation ofUS President Barack Obama.

The two sides also discussedways to boost trade ties, withBiden expressing concerns ofAmerican companies on al-leged "discriminatory tradepractices" of India, particularlyon "intellectual property pro-tection and limits on foreign di-

•

US Vice-President Joe Biden's wife Jill Biden is greeted atKachhpura village during her visit to USAID 'Health of the Ur-ban Poor' programme near in Agra on Tuesday. PTI

rect investment't''The primeminister underlined the signif-icance of economic exchangebetween the two countries inhelping India to tackle a hostof issues relating to enhance-ment of the well-being of theIndian people," an officialstate-mentsaid.

National Security AdvisorShiv Shankar Menon, ForeignSecretary Ranjan Mathai, Am-bassador Nirupama Rao andForeign Secretary-designateSujatha Singh were presentduring the talks. Regional se-curity,particularly Afghanistanwhere the US is scheduled towithdraw troops next year, alsofigured in the talks. It is learntthat Biden urged Singh to play

a proactive role in trainingAfghan security forces. Vice-President Hamid Ansari, at adinner hosted in honour ofBiden, said India and the USshould "jointly': counter thethreats of terrorism and ex-tremism with a realistic per-spective of the dangers.

Biden also called on Presi-dent Pranab Mukherjee whosaid India-US relations werebased on shared fundamentalvalues and a growing conver-gence of interests. Biden willaddress the captains of Indianindustry at the Bombay StockExchange and interact withstudents at IIT-Powai onWednesday before flying off toSingapore for ~bilateral visit.

••

. ,~ - !-"?:'- -1HZ CJrj\i ---fF£'ii"}t~-fS-----Pj ---it ------------------------..----------------------

oily rules out reconsloerinsnew gas pricing policy.PUDUCHERRY, PTI: Union ed in a meeting of the HindiMinister for Petroleum and . Consultative Committee oftheNatural GasMVeerappaMoily Ministry ofPetroleum and Nat-today said there was no pro- ural Gas, said the issue was dis-posal before the government cussed with Lt. Governor ofto reconsider the new gas pric- Puducherry Veerendraing policy. Kataria.

"The Cabinet Committee on Minister of State inPMO VEconomic Affairs has taken the Narayanasamy was also keenqecision and there is no pro- on augmenting power genera-posal to reconsider it. There is tion, he said.no idea to change it as it would M Veerappa Moily Moilypointed out that Chiefbe detrimental to the develop- Minister N Rangasamy had as-ment of the nation", Moily told Moily said ONGC would ac- sured expediting government'sreporters here. cord priority to make available initiatives like acquiring land

The decision was a consid- 20 lakh cubiLII1~rr~~fR,!~IJer and other allied work to boostered move, before which there a~l!()..the Puducherry power energy production. .had been a broad debate at var- Corporation limited in Karaikal He said ONCe would asso-ious fora and in public places.!.Oincreas_e.energy production .ciate itself with the stategov-anel hence there is no idea to from 32 MWto 800 MW. .. ernment in setting upa superchange the pricing policy, he- ONGC has agreed to meet specialityhospital at Karaikal,asserted. . this requirement on a priority :Moilyi~aid;9AIL'spipeline

The decision to enhance the. basis and would .also: ensureXl?r9j~CJ:..~Q.uld::nothave an.ael-gas price has attracted.criti- transportation·ofthegi!swithiri:;~iM~~iIh'· ...pn:agricultmeandcism, particularly from theJ,eft';tWoyear~, he said: ',"1~~'i!WffJ1',! ""-~IiH;1f9Bl\: RfTamilparties. ' \;:·.-:.:,t:J~~~o'¥~~b~~M~f~~~~-,:,-'- -~~~6~e\s.

~Alqum;iioftakTr;g~400bribe, KPTCL official still

\

fighting to get reinstatedHe was cleared of charges by Lokayukta court in 2005

IChetan R. chelan .rlid fflpp,;t(Qt'lllcsgnltll). (1)111

anumantha Rao wasjust beginning toenjoyhis job as a meterreader with the Karna-taka Power Transmis-

sion Corporation Limited(KPTCL) when life turned on itshead, thanks to bungling Lokay-ukta sleuths.

Rao was barely 26 years oldwhen he was accused of taking abribe of ~400. Now, more thantwo decades on, he is still run-ning from pillar to post to getback what he had lost. With hisappeals and entreaties going un-heeded,and witha wife, twochil-dren and an aged, bed-riddenmother to take care of, he hasnow decided to go back to thecourts which absolved him of thebribery charge eight years ago, toget KPTCLtoreinstate him.

"I have been waiting for thelast 21 years for justice and myfamily is literally on the streets,"Rao told BANGAI.OIII·. M lllIlOll.

WHY RAO WAS NAILEDRao was working in Bidar whenhe was 'trapped' by Lokayuktapolice in July 1992 while 'taking'a bribe of <'400 to set right an in-flated electricity bill. The com-plainant claimed that he was is-sued a bill of<1 ,780 (for 71 units)when the bill amount ought tohave been only <'52. The com-plainant alleged that Rao had de-manded ~OO to issue a bill withthe correct arnoun t. Subsequent-Iya trap was laid.

A departmental inquiry by aLokayukta deputy registrar of en-quiries (ORE) concluded that thecharges could not be proved.

Despite this, the Upa Lokay-ukta recommended that Rao becompulsory retired in 2001.However, in June 200S, a Lokay-ukta special court in Bidar acquit-ted Rao. T~ court observed thatRao was only a meter reader andhad no power to either reduce orinflate bills. The court also foundthat the complainant himselfhad become hostile and did nottestify. Besides, the prosecution

'i,~'~'-Hanumantha Rao

could not establish the demandand acceptance theory, the verybasisofthecase.

COURT ORDER IGNOREDBut the KPTCL, acting on the rec-ommendation of the Upa Lokay-ukta, had initiated proceedingsto retire Rao. He was finally re-tired in 2007 despite him beingexonera ted by the special courttwo years earlier. Rao refused toaccepteitherthe notice on there-tircrncnr or any of the benefits.He is still fighting to be rein-stated. He still has another 18years left in service.

C G Sunder, a senior advo-cate, reveals that the KPTCL's re-fusal to reinstate Rao is in viola-tion of Supreme Court and HighCourt judgmen ts.

"KPTCL gra vel y erred in com-pulsorily retiring the officialmerely on recommendation ofUpa Lokayukta," Sunder said."This is bad in law for the simplereason thatfirstiy, the official hasbeen acquitted by the specialcourt, which is final.

"Secondly, the enquiry offi-cer has found that the charges arenot proved. Moreover, in viewofthe decision of the SupremeCourt and High Court of Karna-taka, once a person is acquittedon merits in a criminal trial, hecannot be punished on the samecharge and the same evidence ina departmental proceeding, thattoo when EO has found thatcharges are not proved. KPTCL'sorder amoun ts to showing disre-spect to the lawofland."

S Selva Kumar, who has re-cently taken over as KPTCL Ma-naging Director, said he was notaware of the case. "However, wewill certainly look into it ifhe ap-proaches us," he told BM.

f~OW Jj~;~IG~~~landedFrom page 1Curiously enough, San deep ja- The bid submitted by AFJS-jodia. managIng director of CO to the Afghanistan govern-Monnet Ispat and Energy is ment proposes developmentson-In-law of the late industri- of the Haiigak iron ore depos-alist OP Jindal and .brother-in- Its In the Bamlan province tolaw to the two Jindal brothers. carry out COmmercia] produc-

This IS the first -time that non of Iron-ore. The consorti-Indian public and private see- urn also proposed setting up .tor companies have come to-· of a 6.12 million tonnes pergether to jointly bid for an annum (MTPA). steel plant inIron ore asset abroad. The Afghanistan in two phases.consortIUm has mqjority . The plan envisages installa-stake by public sector compa- . non or an 800 MW ·pOwerrues With SAIL, NMDC and plant In two phases of 400R1NL holding a combined MW each to 9.ter to the oper-stake of 56%. SNL being the atIons of the' mine and steellead partner holds an equity plant. As part of building nee-stake of 20% while NMDC and essary Internal infrastructural .R1NL hold 18% each. Accord- support, the consortium pl<Insing' to Mr"V S Jain, who was to build 200 kms each of railthe CMD with SNL until 2008 road and transmission· lin~and Jindal Stainless Ltd after network for the mine an·dhis superannuation told dna steel project. The total invest-that as a maharatna SNL did ment by AFJSCO on all of thenot need any pennission to above ISestimated to be aboutengag US$12 billion in phasese -any other private Wh . , -player. However, he refused to. ' en contacted ;by ;dna, :comment on the fonnation of ~ ,Monnet & Ispat Ltd ~te(j: "It :'this particular consortium.·~ wrong tONlew that the pri-

Sources in the indus . ,ate mel}1bers are connected "that the -deci~ion to i~u~~ ~~~~ne family since t~~ Win-,"Jindal companies in the con- th was open foral! SIncniJsortium was done without a .e pr?ject has a very long'~'scrutiny by the Steel Minis ny, ;:statlon penod.'& has many ',twhich oversees SNL Thou ~'M cunry threats for It being inthere were eight other st!1 di3hanIstan,. many companiescompanies from India that M not partICipate,.. they said ..showed interest in the pro iect r eanwhile JSPL In a writtenafter sUlVeying the I ~ eply told dna that It would

. Iron ore not be able trnme blocks, only com ani· .0 comment on therelated to the Jindal famifs Iss~e(' at this point. Both JSWwere chosen, SOurces said y ~ :, 'VL did not respond till

. e t,. ne of gOing to press.

~ . DNA'- t(oad accidents claim'"two lives '-A Bescom employee, Chandrakanth M37, ~tAttur -Layout, died after he fell o;~~dar,mo orcycle whIle riding on Major lt UnniKnshnan Main Road in Attur on late MondanI~ht. lOSing balance over the vehicle GOwaw ~Wqsnot ~earing a helmet, hit th~ road ar,me. Ian and dIed on the spot. In anotheraCCIdent, a ':lan appearing to be in hisseventIes, died after an id "over him on BIAl Road punl,.entitled vehicle ran

. .. . a Ice are yet totascertaln hiS Identity and have shifted the b do a mortuary Yelah k' 0 y

"registered both casesan a traffiC police h~

T CONOMIC TIMES I BANGALORE I WEDNESDAY I 24 JULY

NTPC Set to Invest i~Own Mines to CutImported Coal ShareThis will also helpNTPCreduce itsdependence on CoalIndia for supplies

DEBJOYSENGUPTAKOLKATANTPC will· invest ~8,900 crore to de-velop its own mines and cut theshare of imported coal in its totalconsumption to 10% in three yearsfrom 21 % despite a near 40% rise ingeneration capacity.

Coal imports will decline from 24million tonne this year to 13 mt by2017 as the state-run power majorwill meet almost 17% of its coal re-quired from its own mines by 2017.This will also help NTPC reduce its

dependence on Coal India, ils large-stsupplierfrom81.7% now to72% in2017. "We have already spentaround n,400 crore in the six minesthat have been allotted to us. Anoth-er n,500 crore will be spent in thenext four years," chairman, ArupRoy Choudhury told ET.

"NTPC's plan to get into miningwas part of its initiative to attainfuel securi ty, both in terms of qual i-ty and quantity. Accordingly thegovernment allotted six coal blocksto NTPC. These are Pakri-Barwa-d ih, ChattiBar iatu, Kerandari, Du-langa, Talaipalli ancl Chatti-Baria-tu (South) These blocks have anestimated geological reserves ofover three billion tonne," said RoyChoudhury. NTPC hopes to producearouncl3miliion tonnecluring2013-14, which is expected Io touch 37 mtby2016-17.The coal m in istry had earl ier de-

allocated Chatti-llariatu, Koranda-ri and Chatti-Bariatu (South) coalblocks, but has wi thdrawn the de-al-location on January 23,2013. Blockdevelopment activities have recom-menced since then. "The companyhas alreaqy achieved substantialprogress 111 obtaining essentialclearances from various state, cen-tral authorities, ministries," a se·

JSW Steel EyesStemcor Mines forDolvi PlantMUMUAlln a strategy to secure cru-cial raw material iron are for itsDolvi plant in Maharashtra, JSWSteel is scouting to acquire iron aremines in Ddisha and ChattisgarhBloomberg on Tuesday reportedthat J5W is considering buying localassets of Stem cor Holdings to gainiron are mines. According to a se-nior J5Wofficial, the company islooking at assets as a strategicmove to secure assets for its Dolviplant, which it acquired from IspatIndustries.

nior NT PC official said."The company's Pakri-Barwadih

project is a t the most advanced stageof development and the coal minis-try has already approved its miningplan and it has received environ-mental clearance from the ministryof and forest," the official said.

About 2;536 acres of forest land inPakr i-Barwadih project and 319acres of forestland in Chatti-Baria-tu Project are available. in fact,NTPC has already appointed a minedeveloper-cum-operator (MOO) forPakri-Barwadih and Chatti-Baria-tu coal blocks and production ex-pected to start during the current fi-nancial.

/0 C . . ....-...... --- (f'Cld e. NO •• O.~)

Bescom employeekilled in aCCident

Bengaluru: A Bescom metr~ader died after he rammee~

me~s tWo-wheeler into a roadIan on Attur main road inYelahanka New Town on

Th Monday nighte deceased, Chandrakath'

37, was a resident of Att 'He '. ur,M IS survIved by wife

amatha and three-year-'old

Chandraka~thu~~~e~:~~u~~a.home after visiting a rel/-. tive's houss at

Chlk~abettahalli on Mondanight When the . y

occurred Ch d accIdent, an rakanth who

was allegedly riding th~ bikeh rashly, lost control of the

ve Icle and rammed into theroad median H '

severe head iniuri~sS~~t~I~~~rushed to a priVate hosPital

nearby, where he wasdeclared brought d

Yelahanka traffic police heaav~regIstered a case

~

TJfi)vtV,f)JHEL bags order

for solar plantsStaff Heporter-BANGAlORE: The Electron-IC:. Dlvis.ion of BharalHeavy Electricals Ltd.(BHEL) has bagged turn-key orders valued at Rs.132,crore from the Nation-al 1hennal Powel- Co '., . IpO-

, Ianon Ltd. for commissi, O~ll1g two grid interactive

so ar pOwer plants of 10MW each, The plants wilJbe commissioned at Un-chahar In Uttar Pradeshand Talcher in O·BI-J. nssa.

EL wdl be responsiblefor concept and commis-SIOnlIlg, as well as oper-anon and millntenance f .'1 ye 01'. ar, a release said. The

(

IJr.s~ consignment COllJ-

Pllsmg solar photovoltaicm~dules Was flagged off

, her e on Tuesday.