New Delhi Feb 28 PTI Delhis Food and Civil Supplies Minister Imran Hussain conducted a surprise inspection of the fair price shops in Kasturba Nagar on Monday and examined the quality and stock of ration at these shops an official statement saidThe minister directed officials to take strict action in accordance with law against the erring ration dealersDuring the inspection Hussain checked the smooth distribution of free ration under the National Food Security Act NFSA 2013 and the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna PMGKAY to the beneficiariesThe minister expressed satisfaction with the quality of ration available in the ration shops The minister directed FS officers to take strict action as per law against erring ration dealers who do not open shops regularly collect the cost of food-grains illegally or distribute less than stipulated quantity of ration or indulge in any malpractices the statement saidDuring the visit various queries and grievances of the residents related to smooth ration distribution were addressedA few residents also met the minister during the inspection On the issue of pendency of applications for issuance of new ration cards and addition of beneficiaries in the existing ration cards Hussain said a review meeting of the department will be convened to settle the grievances PTI AKM RC

New Delhi Feb 25 PTI Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday said the roads in the national capital will be made pothole-free within a month and if any defects are found action would be initiated against the engineers concernedSisodia who was allocated the Public Works Department PWD portfolio on Wednesday also said the department will soon launch a mobile application where people will be able to register their complaints about poor road infrastructure according to an official statementThe deputy chief minister held a meeting with officials on Friday to review the progress of development projects after taking charge of the PWDHe said the Arvind Kejriwal government will develop world-class road infrastructure in Delhi The residents of Delhi would now get pothole-free roads within a month If there is a defect in the construction of any road the engineer concerned will be held responsible for it The PWD will soon launch an app which would enable the residents to register their complaints against the poor infrastructure of roads the Aam Aadmi Party AAP leader was quoted as saying in the statementAt the meeting Sisodia told the officials that the entire stretch of roads totalling 1300 kilometres that falls under the PWD should be inspectedPatches which require any repairs should be mended within a month He directed the officials to ensure that the roads are repaired in an efficient manner with no delays or nuisance the statement said PTI AKM RC

New Delhi Dec 27 PTI Amid a rising number of coronavirus cases in Delhi authorities have intensified vigilance activities and over 4425 people were fined for violating norms such as wearing masks and maintaining social distancing on SundayAccording to data provided by the city government on Monday enforcement teams slapped fine totalling Rs 8872 lakh for such violations on Sunday and FIRs were registered against 38 peopleAs many as 4342 challans were issued for not wearing masks while 68 people were fined for not following social distancing norms and 15 were penalised for spitting in public placesThe highest number of 692 challans were issued in North district followed by 606 in East the data showed According to the data the lowest number of 144 challans were issued in Central districtTill December 18 the authorities had fined over 68000 people for violating Covid normsDelhi recorded 331 fresh coronavirus cases on Monday the highest single-day rise in the citys COVID-19 tally since June 9 and one more death due to the viral disease while the positivity rate mounted to 068 per cent according to data shared by the city health departmentThe Delhi Disaster Management Authority DDMA has already announced a night curfew in the national capital from 11 pm on Monday restricting the movement of individuals except those falling in the exempted categoriesThe night curfew will be in place from 11 pm to 5 am till further orders PTI AKM RC

New Delhi Nov 20 PTI Delhis air quality remained in the very poor category on Saturday as the Air Quality Index AQI in the city was recorded at 374 according to the Central Pollution Control Board CPCBAuthorities said the AQI is likely to improve significantly from Sunday owing to relatively strong windsThe AQI in the national capital was recorded at 377 on Saturday morning It was slightly better on Friday at 370 according to the CPCBThe AQI in neighbouring Ghaziabad 346 Gurgaon 348 Noida 357 Greater Noida 320 and Faridabad 347 was also recorded in the very poor categoryAn AQI between zero and 50 is considered good 51 and 100 satisfactory 101 and 200 moderate 201 and 300 poor 301 and 400 very poor and 401 and 500 severeTo control air pollution the Delhi government on Wednesday announced a ban on the entry of trucks carrying non-essential items into the city and a closure of schools and colleges till further orders PTI AKM RC

New Delhi Nov 19 PTI To reduce vehicular pollution in the national capital the Delhi government launched the second phase of its fortnight-long Red Light On Gadi Off campaign at 100 traffic signals in the city on FridayDelhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai visited the ITO crossing and appealed to the public to make the fight against pollution successfulThe campaign was started on October 18 and was to end on November 18 but seeing the spike in the pollution levels the Aam Aadmi Party AAP government decided to start its second phase from FridayRai said researches have shown that nearly 30 per cent of the pollution in Delhi is due to internal sources with vehicular emissions being the biggest contributorHe said every day one person on an average burns fuel for 20-25 minutes at traffic junctions This is wastage and also a major source of pollution he addedThe main aim of the Red Light On Gadi Off campaign is to reduce vehicular pollution in the city We have now decided to extend this campaign for 15 days from today and it will continue till December 3 Rai told reporters at the ITO crossingHe requested the public to participate actively in the campaignRai said the Delhi government has been taking all necessary steps to control pollution including a ban on the entry of trucks except for those carrying essential goods and a 100 per cent work from home for all government employeesLater in a statement the government said various survey reports have been collected from all over Delhi regarding pollutionThe research and analysis from these show that while 70 per cent of Delhis pollution is sourced from outside vehicular pollution is the biggest contributor in the remaining 30 per cent that comes from within the city the statement saidOn the Centres decision to repeal three contentious farm laws Rai said it is a victory of the farmers protesting against the legislationsThis is a big victory of the farmers movement The Centre should not only formally take these laws back in the next Parliament session but should also make a law on the MSP minimum support price for the farmers benefit he saidDue to the fear of upcoming elections the farm laws are being withdrawn which is the first victory for the farmers the minister was quoted in the statement as saying PTI AKM RC

New Delhi Oct 31 PTI Markets across Delhi witnessed a huge rush over the last weekend before Diwali with the market associations struggling to manage the crowds amid the coronavirus pandemicThe markets that saw huge crowds include Sadar Bazar Chandni Chowk Lajpat Nagar Lal Quarter Krishna Nagar Karol Bagh Kamla Nagar Rajouri Garden and Tilak NagarSadar Bazar Market Association president Devraj Baweja said it was complete chaos as those who thronged the market to do last-minute shopping ahead of the festival hardly followed any COVID-19 protocolFestivals generally attract a big crowd but the authorities should have made elaborate arrangements to ensure that people follow Covid-appropriate behaviour No one was seen wearing a mask or observing social distancing he told PTIHealth experts have already warned about a possible third wave of the pandemic after the festive season and advised strict adherence to Covid protocols Last year after Diwali Sadar Bazar had emerged as a Covid hotspot and the market was shut subsequentlyBaweja said in the name of arrangements police have only put up barricades that can stop vehicles not peopleHe claimed that the civil defence volunteers were nowhere to be seenWe can only ask those who come to our shops to wear masks We cannot go check if people walking on the road are wearing masks or adhering to social distancing This exercise should be carried out by the civil defence volunteers who were hardly seen at the market Baweja saidA similar situation prevailed at the Chandni Chowk market as wellChandni Chowk Sarva Vyapar Mandal president Sanjay Bhargava said the crowd has swelled at the market due to Diwali but there is a need to increase vigil by the administration as violations of Covid guidelines are rampantWe have issued strict guidelines to the shopkeepers that no one without a mask should be allowed inside the shops and their thermal screening should also be done But we cannot do anything about the unauthorised vendors as they do not follow the Covid norms The shoppers at such vending kiosks also hardly follow any guidelines he saidBhargava said at a recent meeting he had apprised the deputy commissioner of police of the area about the violations of Covid guidelines by the shoppers and urged him to increase vigil and deploy more teams to strictly enforce social-distancing norms at the marketHowever according to traders at the Lajpat Nagar and Karol Bagh markets the shoppers were largely seen following the Covid guidelinesTraders Association Lajpat Nagar TALN general secretary Ashwani Marwah said as a sign of good business the market has been buzzing with shoppers this festive seasonHe said the market association along with the administration is ensuring that the shoppers follow Covid-appropriate behaviourWe have on our own deployed 10-15 volunteers to manage the crowd and ensure that people wear masks and observe social distancing to the best possible extent In comparison to 2020 and 2019 this Diwali season is turning out to be good in terms of business he saidTraders at the Karol Bagh market also said they are happy that business is getting back on track this DiwaliMurli Mani president of the Ajmal Khan Road Vyapar Mandal at Karol Bagh said Business is picking up this season and to ensure that it does not fall prey to another Covid wave we have issued instructions to the shoppers to follow social distancing norms We have deployed 15 guards who educate people about wearing masks and following social distancing We also give masks for free to those who do not have one he added PTI AKM RC

New Delhi Oct 28 PTI To ensure that there is no adulteration in food materials during the festive season of Diwali the food safety department of the Delhi government has formed a special task force to check such practices according to an official statement issued on ThursdayThe task force will have two teams of officials who will gather information about food adulteration practices and take action against the offendersThe statement said the task force will conduct special drives to check the quality of the products widely used in the festive seasonTwo teams of senior officers have been formed to check adulteration of food items especially for materials used in the festive season such as milk khoya paneer ghee and oilThe team wills specifically gather information related to adulteration food fraud and non-compliance of the Food Safety and Standards Act Commissioner Food Safety Neha Bansal was quoted as saying in the statementIt is often seen that traders and others engaged in the food business indulge in the use of adulterated products or sell stale food items during the festive seasonBansal said the enforcement teams will inspect manufacturing units wholesale markets and other such areas where these food products are sold or stored in large quantitiesOur idea is to stop the sale of these items before getting to the market she saidThe commissioner said the department is also reaching out to the public for information related to food safety adulteration and non-compliance through email ID cfssdelhinicin and helpline number 1800113921 PTI AKM RC