GoM Meeting for Games / UDM call for Green NCR

PM reviews C’wealth games preparations

(Hindustan Times)

HT Correspondent

New Delhi, October 26

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday chaired a meeting of the Group of Ministers to discuss ways and means for projecting India as a strong contender for the 2016 Olympic Games. Delhi Lt Governor B.L. Joshi and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit attended the meeting as special invitees.

Detailed discussions were reportedly held on creating the necessary infrastructure for the 2010 Commonwealth Games keeping in mind the 2016 Olympics.

Taking personal interest in the matter, the Prime Minister was reported to have directed the ministers to draw up plans to refurbish Delhi's image as a world class city.

While the routine evaluation and implementation of all schemes will be handled at the level of the GoM headed by HRD Minister Arjun Singh, the PMO is expected to keep a tab on the macro-management of the projects for speedy completion.

Discussions on adding the tourism dimension to the events were also were held. The Commonwealth Games and the 2016 Olympics are perceived as a great opportunity to showcase India as a major world player with its rich and divergent past and high-tech present.

Sources said the city’s infrastructure would be developed to boost tourism and beautify the Capital. Plans are also afoot to project India through several ad campaigns.

Sports Minister Sunil Dutt was made Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee. LG Joshi will head the infrastructure committee.

The Union Ministers of External Affairs, Finance, HRD, Tourism, Urban Affairs, Information and Broadcasting, Overseas Affairs, Youth and Sports also attended the meeting

Games GoM plans Olympic infrastructure

(Asian Age)

By Our Correspondent

New Delhi, Oct. 25: With an aim to develop an infrastructure capable of holding the 2016 or 2020 Olympics, the Group of Ministers on Commonwealth Games met on Monday.

The meeting, presided by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, deliberated on measures necessary to build quality infrastructure in the capital which could enable the city to bid for the Olympic Games, said sources.

The meeting was attended by the Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh, Urban Development Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Delhi Lieutenant Governor B.L. Joshi and Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit amongst others.

The said persons are the members of the GoM which was constituted recently to review the preparations for the upcoming 2010 Commonwealth Games.

"The Delhi government is the implementing agency for the Games and Dr Singh has asked the various agencies involved to begin with the associated tasks for building the infrastructure in all urgency," said Ms Dikshit talking to the reporters.

The GoM is akin to the GoM on the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation with an additional agency involved that is Commonwealth Secretariat, she said. The role of the secretariat would be apparently to monitor with their own sets of parameters that they have for such occasions, she added. Dr Singh is the convenor of the GoM

Also:

• C’wealth: Dikshit briefs PM, Arjun on preparation, Express Newsline
• Sunil Dutt to head C'wealth panel, Times of India

Azad has green plans for Capital

(Daily Pioneer)

Pramod Kumar Singh/ New Delhi

To provide better living environment and a lung space in and around Delhi, Union Urban Development Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has mooted a plan to develop city forests, district parks and regional parks. A greenery lover to the core, Mr Azad has written to the Chief Ministers of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan for their participation in the "green project" which will help in improving the air quality the National Capital Region (NCR).

There are already 24 city forests in Delhi. Mr Azad 's concern lies with the rapid growth and more and more areas in the city being urbanised besides densification of the existing areas. The towns and cities in NCR are no exception to this phenomenon.

The minister plans to extend his pet project further by involving the participation of Central Public Works Department(PWD) for preparing a green belt.

The minister has also proposed to bring this issue as an additional agenda item in the forthcoming meeting of the NCR Planning Board on October,28 in the Capital.

In his letter to Chief Minister of Rajasthan Vasundhara Raje, Mr Azad has expressed his concern about shrinking green areas. "The urban areas in the cities are registering rapid growth and more and more areas in cities are being urbanised besides densification of the existing areas. As a result, the green areas are shrinking very fast. The towns and cities in NCR are no exception to this phenomenon".

Azad has requested the Chief Ministers to identify areas withing their respective states in NCR which could be developed as city forests. While the ownership of the lands will remain with the state governments, NCR planning board may assist in the development of these city forests.

In this context, it is essential to develop city forests, district parks and regional parks. A concerted effort needs to be made so that every urban areas has well managed city forest and green cover both for providing lung space as well as recreational facilities to the urban population, the minister said.

Before coming out with the idea of city forests in the NCR, Mr Azad had proposed to create a lung space zone in Delhi starting from Lodhi Garden to Nehru Park.

The proposed green zone will provide clean air to the morning walkers and will also enhance the ambient air quality in the heart of the city

Go green, Delhi tells NCR towns

(Hindustan Times)

Aruna P Sharma

New Delhi, October 26

There is still hope of saving NCR towns from becoming concrete jungles. Developing forests in these towns will be on the agenda of the NCR Planning Board meeting on Thursday.

Union Urban Development Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has written to the chief ministers of Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, asking them to identify land in their NCR towns that can be developed for city forests.

The states will own the forests and the board may assist in developing them, Azad has said in his letters to the chief ministers.

The aim is to provide open space and green cover in these towns. Delhi has 25 notified protected forests, but their boundaries are not demarcated and their condition does not tally with the notification.

But the city has very few green places like Delhi Zoo and India Gate. City forests will be an additional agenda at the board meet, which will be attended by the chief ministers and officials of Delhi and the three other states. Azad believes that a strategy is needed for creating urban forests, which improve air quality and provide recreational facilities.

Ministry officials said that the concept of city forests will be expanded to other towns and cities of the country.

The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) has been asked by the Centre to identify government lands that are not required for any project and can be developed as forest areas