The truth of Govt. Engineering College, Daman @PMOIndia

The Administration of Daman & Diu has started Engineering College at Daman. It is not clear, what it will gain by this engineering college when there is almost 50 per cent of seats vacant in India.

In Gujarat, there are 138 colleges comprises 68,763 seats out of which 35 thousand seats will be vacant this year.

There are 6,431 colleges in India recognised by AICTE that makes available 30.93 lakhs seats, whereas 15.96 lakhs seats are vacant.

When in all India engineering colleges have vacant seats and colleges as closing down, what is the purpose of starting a new engineering college at Daman?

The Administration is not able to run Science, Commerce and Arts College properly, there is no regular principal or staff in that college. There is no regular principal in Govt. Polytechnic, Daman, all staff of engineering college is appointed on a short-term basis, it is perplexing to think about education standard at an engineering college.

This is nothing but a big scam to usurp public money in the name of education.

Who is speaking the truth?

In a newspaper article published in Asli Azadi on 19/04/2015, Shri Sandeep Kumar (IAS), Development Commissioner, Administration of Daman & Diu was reported as stating that “Shri Ashish Kundra, the Administrator of Daman & Diu has taken note of Corruption and ordered strict action on three engineers of District Panchayat, Daman…It is important to note that in March 2015, Development Commissioner Shri Sandeep Kumar had received a verbal complaint regarding works mentioned in tender published by District Panchayat about irregularities in publishing this tender. On receiving said complaint the Development Commissioner directed Shri J. P. Agrawal, the Chief Executive Officer of District Panchayat to inquire and submit the report…the Chief Executive Officer submitted a report to the Development Commissioner Shri Sandeep Kumar who in turn submitted said report to the Administrator of Daman & Diu, Shri Ashish Kundra…”

In an RTI request for said Inquiry Report conducted by Shri J. P. Agrawal, Shri Dharmesh R. Damania, the Public Information Officer & Block Development Officer of District Panchayat, Daman informed that they do not have any inquiry report conducted on three engineers by Shri J. P. Agrawal and that to after considering huge corruption carried out during said period.

Now, the moot question! Who is speaking the truth and who is lying? Whether the Development Commissioner Shri Sandeep Kumar spoke the truth or the PIO & Block Development Officer Shri Dharmesh R. Damania of District Panchayat is speaking the truth. Only one of them is speaking the truth but who?

Letter submitted about Errors in Draft CZMP Map published by the Administration of Daman & Diu

Date    : 24/05/2018

To,

The Member Secretary

DDCZMA

O/o the Member Secretary

Pollution Control Committee

1^st Floor, Udyog Bhawan

Bhenslore

Nani Daman – 396 210

Ref.: CCF/DNH/2017/160/2017-18/202 & 203 dated 10/05/2018

Sub:   Submission of Objections/Suggestion on Draft CZMP maps of Daman & Diu

Respected Sir,

With reference to above-referred Notices, I submit my Objections and suggestions as below:

1)                  Errors in Maps:

a)     There are many Rivers shown in the Map of Daman without any trace of water coming in and going out. In fact, these are ponds/tanks shown as Rivers.

b)     Kolak River is shown with a length of 1191 metres and is shown and measured upto NH 848B only in the Map. The length above it i.e. the landward side of Jani Vankad is not shown, whereas as per Google map total length of this River comes to 3600 Metres in Daman.

c)      Kalai River is also shown with a length of 1802 metres upto the Bamanpuja Bridge only, whereas same is measured as 3813 metres on Google Map in Daman i.e. River towards Thana Pardi is not taken into account.

d)     The moot question here is that when Damanganga River can be shown upto the boundary of Daman, why Kolak and Kalai Rivers are curtailed and not shown upto the boundary of Daman?

e)     There are no Creeks in Daman, there are only Rivers hence, classification as ‘Rivers and Creeks’ is unjustified. In fact, except three rivers Kolak, Damamganga and Kalai there is no creek or river in Daman. It should be corrected.

f)       There is inconsistency between maps prepared presently by the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), Ministry of Environmental & Climate Change, Chennai published with Draft CZMP Map for Daman & Diu and Institute of Remote Sensing, Anna University, Chennai published by UT Administration of Daman & Diu on dated 04/03/2014 with Draft Notification for CZMP.

g)     The Institute of Remote Sensing, Anna University, Chennai has depicted the correct position of these two rivers located on the boundary of Daman.

h)    Fishing Villages are shown 500 metres away from the sea. Fishing Village Kadaiya is not portrayed as Fishing Village in Nani Daman. Same way in Moti Daman, Villages Dholar, Bariyawad and Jampore are not marked as Fishing Villages. In fact, villages outside 500 metres are shown as local communities’ villages and villages within 500 metres are not demarcated as local communities in villages which is an error and would put a lot of difficulties for them later on. Local Community villages are outside the purview of 500 metres are out of the ambit of CRZ and therefore demarcating such villages as local communities are meaningless and give the impression of malafide.

i)       These maps have not considered the public petition to classify all Forts and ancient monuments of Daman & Diu in CRZ – II.

2)                 Draft Notification of CZMP of Daman & Diu of 2014:

a)     This CZMP Map is published as per central Notification of 2011 but there was Draft Notification of Coastal Zone Management of Daman & Diu published on 04/03/2014 by UT Administration of Daman & Diu also. What has happened to that Draft Notification? The Administration of Daman & Diu has not come out clean with any clarification about it.

b)     This Draft CZMP Map does not depict any suggestions/objections given by the citizens and given during the public meeting held by the Administration on Draft Notification of CZMP of Daman & Diu of 2014.

3)                 Designation of Forts as CRZ – II:

a)     There was a unanimous demand during a public meeting held for Draft CZMP in 2014 to re-designate Forts and ancient monuments of Moti Daman, Nani Daman and Diu under CRZ – II since these areas are located inside CRZ – II and are densely populated by local native communities including fisherfolk.

b)     If these Forts are classified as CRZ – I, there may attract a restriction of No Development Zone upto 500 metres from the outer boundaries of Forts and ancient monuments, which will adversely affect the local communities.

c)      All these Forts are located within the Municipality boundaries. There are many people residing in those forts, this classification as CRZ – I will not give them an opportunity to renovate or expand their houses.

d)     There are already restrictions applied by the Archaeological Survey of India for these sites. There is no need for any new restrictions.

4)                 Restrictions and Constraints in Development:

a)     Coast Guard Airport has No Development Zone surrounding the Airport.

b)     Coast Guard also has height restrictions applicable in funnel area so vertical development is not allowed only horizontal development is possible.

c)      There is Forest land which cannot be used for development.

d)     The existing National Highway has rendered vast amount of land as unusable, now it is also learned that National Highway passing through Daman is being expanded, which will bring with it, acquisition of land and more roadside margins and hence, more unusable land.

e)     Daman & Diu Administration has adopted a policy that all new structures constructed should follow Fire Safety norms and for that, they require 7 metres of clear space all around the structures. This will further restrict land use.

f)       Now, CRZ will take away a major chunk of land available on the coastal belt of Daman leaving hardly 2 to 3 Sq. KM. for development.

g)     Do this mean that the local community including fishermen living on the coastal belt from last many centuries will have to move out and go to the mountain and do fishing there?

5)                 Conclusion:

a)     Looking at errors in the Map, it is best that this notification is deferred till new and proper map is prepared after correcting all errors.

b)     Clarification may be sought from the NCSCM for preparing maps with so many errors.

c)      Clarification may be provided on the present status of Draft Notification published by UT Administration of Daman & Diu in 2014.

d)     It is perplexing that when the central government has published Draft Notification for CZMP 2018, how prudent is to publish CZMP Map as per 2011, this will only create confusion and panic in people.

e)     All Forts be re-designated as CRZ – II keeping in mind dense population and public demand.

f)       The whole of Daman coastline be declared CRZ – II since the coastal area of Daman is highly populated from the time of Portuguese era and now due to acute scarcity of land as it is getting more populated.

g)     The proper depiction of Fishing Villages on coastline including Kadaiya, Dholar, Bariyawad, Jampore in the published map be ensured.

h)    No Fishing Villages could be 500 metres away from the coast.

i)       Diu should be declared island and benefits of island shall be given to Diu. 

j)       There is no provision for tourism in these Maps which is a lifeline of Daman & Diu.

k)     It appears that DDCZMA is hell bound to finish tourism industry in Daman & Diu.

l)       It appears from the plain reading from the Maps that these Maps are prepared without proper consultation with local communities and with ulterior motives.

Hence, these Maps should be kept on hold till process of consultation with local communities are completed and all errors are corrected and made error free. If these maps are notified without proper correction it will bring devastating effect on people of Daman & Diu.

Hume Pipe gutter near DMC Market at Char Rasta, Nani Daman

In November’16, the Daman Municipal Council had laid Hume Pipe gutter near DMC Market at Char Rasta, Nani Daman.

That time, I had raised a concern about the quality of joints executed by the then President of Daman Municipal Council, Shri AnilTandel and made him aware of my concerns and explained him the technical difficulties.

Now they have started the renovation of said Market and for that, they are excavating ground. Wherein from above photographs, it is clearly seen that there is no jointing performed on the bottom between two Hume Pipes and dirty water is leaking from those Hume Pipe Pipes.

This is dirty water which is leaking, which will be soaked into the ground and will spoil the ground water and will also damage the surrounding structures due to constantly wet ground.

The President had assured me of the quality of execution but the end result depicts something else.

If in future groundwater is spoiled making it non-drinkable and damage to surrounding structures and roads occurs, who will take responsibility?

When will Administration of Daman & Diu take action against illegal buildings?

There are altogether 52 illegal buildings now, 53 buildings after adding new building under construction near Manchha Complex at Mashal Chowk, Nani Daman in Daman which is held up for one illegality or another.

These buildings are marked to be demolished and for demolition, the tender is also floated. Now, everyone is eagerly waiting for the demolition to be carried out, so that common man knows that now all buildings are legal and he can buy any flat without worrying about illegality.

One more thing is learnt that after issuing Construction License within six months Show Cause Notice is issued to all 53 buildings for one violation or another. Builders never give a reply to that Show Cause Notice and they complete buildings as scheduled.

If they get some buyers, it is the fate of the buyer otherwise they will wait for appropriate time to get Completion Certificate. Once they get Completion Certificate, their all illegalities turn into legalities and they can sell that property at price of their own.

Is Administration of Daman & Diu in the iron clutch of builders? What is stopping the administration from the demolition of illegal buildings? The administration is overzealous in the demolition of illegal huts, compound wall falling in the road margins, illegal temples, etc. why not illegal multi-storied buildings?

Benefits of being the brother of an RTI activist

On Monday night i.e. 16/04/2018, my brother Shri Tushar Dalal was hauled from meeting at Manchha Complex and beaten before asking to call me at the venue. Since I was not in Daman they tortured him for almost 2 hours before they could let him go.

There is one building coming up at Mashal Chowk, Nani Daman on Survey No. 419/3 in-between Manchha Complex and Manchha Empire. The project was given clearance by Daman Municipal Council on dated 22/12/2016, within 4 months of issuing License, a Show Cause Notice was issued for violations in front set back and side setbacks on dated 12/04/2017 but without any effect on the builder. The work of the project was carried out in full swing, within a year project is ready for possession.

I made an RTI inquire about the status of Show Cause Notice wherein the Chief Officer-cum-Public Information Officer of Daman Municipal Council informed that they have not received any reply to said Notice and also informed me that he is ready to visit the site with me. On dated 12/04/2018, I along with Shri Vaibhav Rikhari, the Chief Officer, Shri Rakesh Patel and Shri Keyur Patel, both Junior Engineers from Daman Municipal Council visited the project site and found that even after issuance of Show Cause Notice, work on the project is going on full swing and no corrections were made to the project as per the observation in the Notice. The Fire Department has also denied NOC for this project.

Because they knew that they have done illegal work, the builders got frightened and from the meeting, they dragged Shri Tushar Dalal, my brother, outside of the meeting venue and started thrashing him. Shri Bhavesh Kanti Patel, Shri Rajani Uttam Patel, Shri Rakesh Uttam Patel, Shri Kiran Uttam Patel along their goons had taken an active part in the beating. Wife of Shri Rajani Uttam Patel was also present and she was directing Rajani and encouraging him. Wife of Rajani is a teacher in Government School in Daman. It can be very well imagined the type and quality of education such kind teacher of imparts.

This is how Whistle Blowers are treated if Govt. fails to act on time. If DMC had taken action at the time of Show Cause Notice and had taken steps to stop the project, RTI wouldn’t have been made.

There are already 52 buildings in Daman with irregularities which are held up for want of Completion Certificate and this building in an addition to those 52 buildings, now there are 53 buildings being held up.

The moot question here is that what is the fault of buyers? Buyers don’t get their property nor money back, who is responsible for such malpractice? The responsibility should be fixed on someone and the whole amount should be recovered from that person.

I salute my brother Shri Tushar Dalal for his bravery. He stood alone before those goons and took their pressure for almost two hours.

Illegal construction in Daman

There are almost more than 52 buildings in Daman at various stages of completion, work on which are stopped due to many irregularities. Crores of rupees are blocked of innocent people in such buildings.

In recent time, it has come to light that even after so many buildings are held up due to irregularities, one more building is under construction to whom Show Cause Notice is issued by the Daman Municipal Council but it appears that builder has not given reply to said notice and even continued further construction of building and readying it for possession without Completion Certificate.

Buyers Beware!