One New Metro Line Scheduled to open every month till 2010 CWG

The opening of the NOIDA line marks the beginning of Phase II of Metro getting operational. Now, a new Metro line will open almost every month till the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
The next section to open for public will be the 6.17-km Yamuna Bank to Anand Vihar line, which has a deadline for next month. After its commissioning, alternate trains from Yamuna Bank will go to NOIDA and Anand Vihar respectively. Like the NOIDA line, this is also anelevated line which runs along Vikas Marg and ends at the Delhi-UP border at Anand Vihar. The line will be further extended by 2.6km to Vaishali in Ghaziabad by September 2010.

The elevated portion of the Gurgaon line will open next in January 2010. A Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) spokesperson explained that only the stretch between Qutab Minar and Gurgaon (14.4 km) will open first as its construction will take less time as compared to the rest of the line , Central Secretariat to Qutab Minar, which is underground. ‘‘It was felt that by opening the Qutab Minar to Gurgaon stretch, residents of the sub-city will be able to come to the Capital and will also get a mode of commuting within Gurgaon where connectivity is very poor,’’ said a spokesperson. The remaining part of the line, spanning 12.53 km, will open in June 2010.

After these, the 15.15km-long Inderlok to Mundka stretch and Kirti Nagar to Ashok Park stretch, both of which will connect to the existing Line 3, will open in March.

In June 2010, the 4.91km stretch on the Badarpur line from Sarita Vihar to Badarpur will be commissioned. The rest of the Badarpur line (15.25 km) connecting Sarita Vihar to Central Secretariat will open in September 2010.

The Airport Express Link, which is the only Delhi Metro line to be built on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model, will open in two parts, the 19.2 km stretch from New Delhi Railway Station to IGI Airport in August 2010 and then a 3.5km extension till Dwarka sector 21 in September 2010.

The existing Line 3 will also be extended till Dwarka Sector 21 (by 2.76km) to integrate the normal Metro with the fast track line.

Unified Patrolling and PCR for Ghaziabad and NOIDA before 2010 Games

The UP Police declared on Thursday a slew of measures in order to improve the traffic and law & order situation in the twin districts of Gautambudha Nagar (GB Nagar, NOIDA) and Ghaziabad.

These new measures, expected to be put in place by March 2010, have been proposed keeping in mind the upcoming Commonwealth Games in the city. Announcing the measures, UP’s top cop, Director General ofPolice Karamvir Singh, said this was an effort to move towards greater coordination between the satellite cities.

According to DGP Singh, efforts are on to create a single virtual Police Control Room (PCR) for the police forces of NOIDA, Greater NOIDA and Ghaziabad. ‘‘Among the biggest challenges during the Games will be to ensure that the traffic movement remains smooth. This can be done when real-time basis sharing of data can be done across NCR,’’ said DGP Singh.

According to Akhil Kumar, SSP (Ghaziabad), the entire police force will be modernized and brought at par with the Delhi police. ‘‘The DGP told us to work for the modernization of the PCR. This will include procuring GPS based patrol vehicles, a digital mapping system for the twin districts, satellite imaging for proper city surveillance and a fully computerized data-filing system that can help share data in real time,’’ said SSP Kumar.

While the entire process is expected to be completed by the beginning of the CWG, the state government has agreed to fund a portion of the modernization process. ‘‘The UP police is presently preparing a roadmap for this. We will soon send the proposal to the Home ministry. Central government officials have made it clear that funds will not be an issue as the CWG involves the prestige of the country,’’ said a senior official from Lucknow who had accompanied Mayawati to NOIDA on Thursday.

Among other modernization programme is the induction of 35,000 cops in the UP police force by March next year. ‘‘In all, we have 1.75 lakh cops in the state. In the long run, we expect to induct another 2 lakh more by the end of 2012,’’ said DGP Singh.

SSP Kumar added that some new recruitment will be made for the Ghaziabad PCR. ‘‘The Ghaziabad PCR will be provided with 30 new patrolling vehicles in which GPS will be fitted. Another 300 constables will be deputed to the PCR and its vehicles and 150 traffic constables will be deployed on the city routes,’’ said Kumar.

Vigil Up For 2010

1. PCRs in Ghaziabad and Gautambudha Nagar will share data in real time
2. CCTV cameras will be put up at all important intersections in both cities
3. A digital map will be created for Ghaziabad and NOIDA to bolster emergency response
4. The police in western UP will get 35,000 more personnel by March.
5. Total number of policemen in UP to be increased from 1.75 lakh to 3.75 lakh by 2012
6. 30 new patrol vehicles, 300 constables & 150 traffic cops to be deployed in Ghaziabad & NOIDA, specifically for the Commonwealth Games

Punjab-trained private guards for CWG

Trained guards from Punjab will help private security agencies to secure the venues of the 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG) to be held in New Delhi October next year.

With the CWG less than one year away, 33 managing directors and security experts from national and international security agencies Friday came to the Punjab Security Training Institute (PSTI) of Punjab police at Jahankhelan, 150 km from Chandigarh, to witness the passing out parade of a new batch of trained personnel here.

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who took salute from the 312 new passing out recruits here Friday, said that a new batch of trained female security guards would also be started soon.

Badal said that with security agencies facing shortage of quality trained security guards, the Jahankhelan institute is the only one in the country providing training to the security guards at par with Punjab police commandos.

'Each passing out candidate here is carrying a minimum four offer letters from security agencies,' he added.

'In the post 26/11 scenario, the importance of employing skilled and weapon-trained security guards has been understood by every employer. With state police having limited resources, unable to handle the security of every building, the security agencies' task to scout for trained security guards becoming increasingly tiring,' Badal noted.

The Punjab government had recently announced that it will train nearly 100,000 youth in security operations to fulfil the growing demand for workforce from the private security sector - both in India and other countries.

The PSTI, set up with an investment of just Rs.10 crore and managed by Punjab police officials, will raise its training capacity from 10,000 in 2010 to 15,000 in 2011.

Badal said that over 500,000 trained security personnel were required by agencies in India and a similar number in other countries.

Stressing the need for focusing on training our youths as security guards for other countries, he said that the youth would be made proficient in English, Arabic, Spanish and French besides providing them security training to make them employable in other countries.

The new recruits gave a practical demonstration of access control, frisking, anti-sabotage checking, cordoning off and sealing, evacuation, surveillance, chasing, over-powering and immobilisation of criminals and suspects, identification of IEDs, explosive and narcotic material, body search, premises and area search, defensive driving, first aid and other tasks.

Have to work overtime to finish Games related projects: Dikshit

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Friday reviewed the progress of several Commonwealth Games (CWG) related projects and stated that her government would 'have to work overtime to honour deadlines'.

The meeting was to review the progress of various projects of the Public Works Department (PWD) - Barapula elevated road, Ring Road bypass, Ghazipur grade separator and Uttar Pradesh link road - that are related to the Games, scheduled less than a year away.

'There is hardly any time left, we all will have to work overtime to honour deadlines. It will be in the fitness of things if these projects are completed by March-2010,' Dikshit stated.

The chief minister underlined the importance of quality construction. PWD Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan, senior government officials and representatives of various constructions companies were present at the meeting.

'It was decided that hindrances, if any will be resolved at the highest level. The contractors have been told to submit a detailed schedule of key indicators. Further they have been asked to submit daily progress reports,' said an official statement.

'The concerned departments are also being requested to issue necessary clearances on the same day the request is received in their offices,' the statement added.

The Barapula elevated road will connect Sarai Kale Khan to Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and provide an uninterrupted route up to main venues of the Games.

Scotland Yard chief to discuss security for 2010 Games

With less than a year to go for the Commonwealth Games, Scotland Yard chief Paul Stephenson will meet Indian officials here Saturday to discuss expanded cooperation between India and Britain in ensuring a sporting event free of terrorist incidents.
'Britain and India are engaged in counter-terror cooperation. Security of Commonwealth Games is a concern,' sources said here, while explaining the context of Stephenson's visit.

Speaking in Mumbai at a seminar of security experts on ensuring 'safe and resilient cities', Stephenson Friday shared Britain's experience in combating terrorism and a slew of preventive steps taken to avert terror attacks, specially in the aftermath of the July 7, 2005, terror attack on London.

'Terrorism is a challenge we must all confront if we are to protect our countries from fear and insecurity and, in taking on this challenge, we are safeguarding the most basic human right - the right of ordinary people to feel safe and go about their daily lives without fear,' he said at the conference.

Stephenson is the Commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police Service, the nodal agency responsible for policing within Greater London, which is also known as Scotland Yard.

'Terrorism is a threat that is global, diverse and sometimes unpredictable,' he said while detailing the British government's counter-terrorism strategy, called CONTEST, which is deployed for providing comprehensive security across the UK.

'But I remain optimistic that we can respond faster and more effectively than ever before, using the same technologies that allow that connectivity to happen,' he said.

The CONTEST strategy, he explained, has four key elements: prevent, pursue, protect and prepare.

It includes the prevention of people becoming terrorists or supporting violence extremism; the active pursuit of terrorists engaged in planning attacks through investigation; the protection of the country against terrorist attack; and the need to prepare to respond to an attack that cannot be stopped to mitigate its impact.