New Delhi Jan 29 PTI Hundreds of gym owners on Saturday took out a protest march to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals residence here to oppose the DDMAs decision to keep fitness centres closed even as the number of Covid cases have come down in the cityDemanding that gyms and spas be allowed to reopen and raising slogans against the government demonstrators started their march from the Chandgi Ram Akhara to Flagstaff Road in the Civil LinesThey however were stopped by police a few metres away from the chief ministers residenceThough the Delhi Disaster Management Authority DDMA on Thursday lifted the weekend curfew and also allowed restaurants bars and cinema halls to operate with 50 per cent capacity gyms and schools in the city are still shutRestrictions had come into force under a yellow alert issued by the authority in December last year when the Covid positivity rate had crossed 05 per cent in the national capitalWe took out the protest march to make the government and the Delhi lieutenant governor L-G hear the plight of gym owners and others engaged in this business said Chirag Sethi the president of the Delhi Gym Association DGA under which the agitation was organisedThe fitness industry has already suffered a lot due to the Covid pandemic in the last two years and not allowing our establishments to reopen will prove to be a death warrant for our businesses he told PTIHe said that Covid cases in the city have come down drastically and other business establishments such as multiplexes restaurants and bars have been allowed to open Then why are fitness centres not being permitted to function Sethi askedThis is a genuine demand The government and the DDMA should consider it in its next meeting as soon as possible Sethi saidLater in a statement he claimed that fitness centres are open in neighbouring states but no surge in cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus is being seen because of gymsNo case of Covid transmission has been seen in any gym all over the world Sethi saidDo we want the people of Delhi to stay unhealthy unfit and obese If gyms are not opened soon then thousands of gym owners and their families will come on the road to protest against this he warned in the statementThe protest was attended by over 200 gym owners fitness trainers and staff members They demanded that gyms be opened immediately to save them from losing their livelihoodThe DGA on Friday had said that gym owners and its members would be staging a protest near the L-Gs residence but according to it they were not granted permissionSethi had earlier said that the DDMAs decision to keep gyms shut is affecting the livelihood of around 5 lakh people There are around 5500 gyms in the city he had saidThe number of daily cases in Delhi has been on the decline after touching a record high of 28867 on January 13Delhi on Friday reported 4044 fresh COVID-19 cases and 25 deathsThe positivity rate which was 306 per cent on January 14 now according to data released on Friday stands at 86 per cent for the city PTI AKM ANB ANB

New Delhi Jan 26 PTI Commuters travelling through Outer Ring Road between central and north Delhi will soon get rid of traffic snarls near Majnu Ka Tila and Chandgi Ram Akhara traffic junctions as the PWD has prepared a plan to decongest this 2-km stretch officials said on Wednesday According to Public Works Department PWD officials the agency will construct back-to-back U-turns and widen the road between Majnu Ka Tila near Signature Bridge and Chandgi Ram Akhara T-point also know as Metcalf House crossing Officials said that footpath along this stretch on Outer Ring Road will also be improved between the stretch so that pedestrians and cyclists do not merge with the heavy traffic Bids have been invited for the work After tenders are allotted the work will start This process is likely to take about a month The construction work is scheduled to be completed in four months time after it is started on ground a PWD official told PTI requesting anonymity According to the tender document the project will be completed at an estimated cost of around Rs 3 crore in four months The official said that long queues of vehicles can be seen during peak traffic hours in the morning and evening every day at traffic junctions near Mannu Ka Tila and Chandgi Ram Akhara on Outer Ring Road The PWDs plan is to do away with both the traffic signals here and develop back-to-back U-turns near these crossings This can be executed after widening the road which will be done These U-turns will facilitate commuters to go towards Civil Lines Vidhan Sabha Delhi University Kashmere Gate Timarpur without interrupting traffic movement the official said Sources said that earlier there was a plan to build a flyover at Metcalf House crossing to beat the the traffic snarls but that has now been changed and back-to-back U-turns will be constructed to decongest the stretch Official said that all the construction activities will be carried out following environmental norms and in a way that commuters are not troubled much The contractor shall at all times carry out work in a manner creating minimum interference in the flow of traffic as per direction of Engineer-in-Charge the PWD tender document stated PTI AKM RCJ RCJ

pDelhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai along with MLAs launched an awareness campaign at Chandgi Ram Akhara Red Light today Rai said that the councilors of Delhi will run a public awareness campaign on October 25 at Barakhamba Roadp

New Delhi Oct 21 PTI Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Thursday said the Delhi government will implement all measures to control pollution in the national capital and it will also put in place steps under the Graded Response Action Plan GRAP if the need arisesThe GRAP is a set of emergency measures to be taken to reduce air pollution depending on the level of pollution in Delhi-NCRRai also urged the Centre to talk to states and work on putting an end to stubble burningHe was speaking at an event at the Chandgi Ram Akhara where all the MLAs had gathered to raise awareness about the Red Light On Gaadi Off campaignAfter this on October 25 the councillors of Delhi will run a public awareness campaign on the Barakhamba RoadDue to rains the pollution levels had gone down in Delhi since stubble burning had stopped in neighbouring areas But after the sun has come out the instances of stubble burning will increase We are taking all steps to reduce pollution in Delhi and running various campaigns to encourage peoples participation he told reportersThe minister said they will be holding a meeting with the SDMs and scientists of Delhi Pollution Control Committee DPCC on Friday to discuss how to make this a wider campaignThis campaign will be taken ahead to the Mohalla level In the meeting tomorrow based on the decision taken we will take up the scale of the campaign to a higher level he addedRai said BJP MLAs were also invited to be part of the eventAam Aadmi Party MLAs are present here but MLAs of other parties have not come Information about the event was given to all of them The government is emphasising on public participation and is running other campaigns including the anti-dust campaign Increasing the participation of people in this fight will reduce their share in pollution as well the minister saidWhen questioned about the implementation of GRAP to control pollution he said The pollution due to stubble burning cannot be controlled by implementing GRAP We had urged the Centre and states to spray PUSA bio-decomposer a microbial solution that can turn stubble into manure in 15 to 20 days to prevent stubble burning If it was sprayed responsibly farmers would not have had to indulge in stubble burning Rai said the government is also working to control dust pollution and vehicular pollutionIf the need arises we will bring in GRAP Whatever needs to be done we will do to control pollution in Delhi But I pray to the Centre with folded hands to work towards stopping stubble burning Otherwise despite the efforts of Delhiites they will have to face pollution due to stubble burning he said PTI SLB TDS TDS

New Delhi Oct 21 PTI Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said the government will implement all measures to control pollution in the national capital and it will also put in place steps under the Graded Response Action Plan GRAP if the need arises The GRAP is a set of emergency measures to be taken to reduce air pollution depending on the level of pollution in Delhi-NCR Rai also urged the Centre to talk to states and work on putting an end to stubble burning He was speaking at an event at the Chandgi Ram Akhara where all the MLAs had gathered to raise awareness about the Red Light On Gaadi Off campaign Due to rains the pollution levels had gone down in Delhi since stubble burning had stopped in neighbouring areas But after the sun has come out the instances of stubble burning will increase We are taking all steps to reduce pollution in Delhi and running various campaigns to encourage peoples participation he told reporters The minister said they will be holding a meeting with the SDMs and scientists of Delhi Pollution Control Committee DPCC on Friday to discuss how we can make this a widespread campaign When questioned about the implementation of GRAP to control pollution he said The pollution due to stubble burning cannot be controlled by implementing GRAP We had urged the Centre and states to spray PUSA bio-decomposer a microbial solution that can turn stubble into manure in 15 to 20 days to prevent stubble burning If it was sprayed responsibly farmers would not have had to indulge in stubble burning Stating that the government is working on controlling pollution inside the national capital Rai said they are working to control dust pollution and vehicular pollution If the need arises we will bring in GRAP Whatever needs to be done we will do to control pollution in Delhi But I pray to the Centre with folded hands to work towards stopping stubble burning Otherwise despite the efforts of Delhiites to control pollution they will have to face it due to stubble burning he said PTI SLB HDA