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Time of India
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Revamp over, NDMC plans to reopen Srijan Art Gallery in Nehru Park
New Delhi: New Delhi Municipal Council has completed the refurbishment of Srijan Art Gallery in Nehru Park and will open it to the public soon. The open-air gallery near gate number 1 of Nehru Park will serve as a platform for young, budding artists to showcase their artwork. "The place was revamped recently, and the civil department also installed grills around this place. There is a provision for a shed with spaces created for displaying artworks and lights installed to highlight art pieces. We will inaugurate the facility soon," said NDMC vice-chairman Kuljeet Chahal. Exhibitions will be organised frequently at the gallery, with a nominal or no fee for the visitors. "Young national awardees will be given space here to display their works. Considering several people come here for morning walks and other recreational activities, it would be the perfect place to display artworks with so much greenery around," said Chahal. Aiming to implement projects related to art and culture in a more creative manner after engaging expert artists, NDMC set up an art and culture department in May. A budget of approximately Rs 40 crore, 1% of its expenditure account, has been earmarked this fiscal for implementing related projects. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Air conditioners without external unit. (click to see prices) Air Condition | Search Ads Search Now Undo They include beautification through street art, music in the park, art exhibitions in subways, an annual Mandi House art festival, and creating art plazas and rehearsal spaces. NDMC earlier also shared plans to form a committee in collaboration with institutions like Sahitya Kala Parishad and Triveni Kala Sangam to promote art and culture. Plans include developing an art gallery at Navyug School in Sarojini Nagar and rehearsal spaces for artistes in schools. A summer art workshop was also organised in Navyug School in May. Areas like Khan Market will be adorned with vibrant street art to enhance pedestrian experiences as part of the art on public places initiatives. "If it turns out to be successful, this initiative will be extended to other major markets," Chahal had said. NDMC has already started organising its 'music in the park' series at Nehru Park featuring performances by renowned artistes. To increase footfall in the subways that sometimes become isolated, there is a plan to hold art and culture exhibitions in Connaught Place subways, giving emerging artists an opportunity to showcase their talents, he had added.
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Blue signs given the green signal in Lutyens' Delhi
Lutyens' Delhi is set to change colour ; all road signs in the 42.7 sq km part of the Capital that houses offices and residences of top functionaries and officials of the executive, legislature and judiciary are to now have a blue background, with white lettering, in keeping with norms laid down by the Indian Roads Congress, according to people familiar with the matter. According to the guidelines issued by the national body which prescribes design standards for roads, green signboards of the sort currently found in the area, which is under the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), are to be used only on state and national highways. The signboards in the NDMC area are green, with names written in white in English, Hindi, Urdu and Gurmukhi. The council will also rectify any mistakes and add around 100 new signs to indicate schools, hospitals and community spaces. Other parts of Delhi, where roads come under the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and state Public Works Department (PWD), already have blue signboards. The project to install around 6,500 blue signboards is likely to cost around ₹18 crore and will begin in October. A senior NDMC official said preparatory work for the project was recently completed after approvals were secured from the council members of the civic body. 'We will begin this project after the monsoon is over, around October, and the deadline of March 2026 has been fixed for its completion. We normally start the road repair works after the monsoon rains and this project is likely to be run in parallel with road re-carpeting and repair work,' the official added, asking not to be named. NDMC manages 1,298km of roads in Central Delhi, along with 52 roundabouts where 6,439 road signs are currently in place. Apart from colour, some of these signboards also differ from those in the rest of the city in terms of shape; NDMC signboards are both circular and rectangular; in the rest of the city, the boards are rectangular. CHECK The last major street sign replacement program was executed by the civic body in 2009-10 in the run up to the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Since then, many of the boards have faded. NDMC vice chairman Kuljeet Chahal said that a series of initiatives are being taken by the council to improve the road infrastructure as well as street furniture in the New Delhi area under which signage will also be soon upgraded. S Velmurugan, chief scientist and head of traffic engineering and safety division of Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), said that road signs, their colour and shapes play an important role in road safety and such glaring deviation should not have been allowed. 'According to the Indian Road Congress (IRC) guidelines,signboards with blue background are meant for urban roads and green boards are used for state and national highways. There are no highways in the Lutyens' Delhi area. The informatory signs are for making commuters aware that they are on a highway or in an urban environment.' He added that rectangular signs are informative in nature and provide details like road names. The triangular signs are cautionary in nature and indicate upcoming curves or signals, and the circular signs are regulatory in nature. Besides colour, the replacement should also weed out other flaws.' Velumurgan said that normally the triangular and circular boards should have no coloured background as per IRC guidelines except in certain circumstances like construction zones and blue background in case of no parking zones. A second NDMC official, aware of the matter, said that the survey of all signs in New Delhi was completed by the executive engineers of the road division in 2024 and an approval from the council was secured last year. 'All signage in the NDMC area will be designed through a software for uniformity and consistency as per IRC guidelines.' He added that the corporation will reuse the frames of signs that are in good shape. According to civic officials, the change was supposed to take place ahead of the G20 summit in 2023 but the project was delayed. In the annual budget for 2024-25, presented in December last year, the NDMC chairman stated that road signages were 'installed mainly in 2009-10 with reflective sheets and have outlived their life.' He added: 'Indian Roads Congress has revised the specifications with reflective sheets. To achieve proper safety, it is proposed to replace road signages in the NDMC area in next 2024-25.' The project has finally secured the green signal now.
Time of India
15-06-2025
- General
- Time of India
Sump wells in Golf Links to control waterlogging
New Delhi: New Delhi Municipal Council has finalised the construction of three sump wells in Golf Links with a combined capacity of 30,000 litres as part of its monsoon preparedness plan. This low-lying area experienced severe waterlogging last year. A larger sump well with a 5-lakh-litre capacity near Purana Qila is also under construction and scheduled for completion by June 30. Another similar facility at Bharti Nagar is also expected to be ready by the same deadline. "These facilities are among the initiatives taken to ensure no waterlogging occurs in low-lying areas. Preparations are underway to avoid waterlogging in areas surrounding Purana Qila. At Bharti Nagar, a sump well with a 40,000-litre capacity is under construction," said NDMC vice-chairman Kuljeet Chahal. NDMC has reported the completion of all desilting operations. "Our area comprises of an extensive network of stormwater drains, manholes, bell mouths and gully traps designed to manage rainwater runoff and prevent urban flooding. With growing urbanisation and changing climatic patterns, maintaining these drainage lines has become critical," said Chahal. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Over 40 and Struggling With Belly Fat? Try 1 Teaspoon Daily (See Results Fast!) getfittoday Undo "To ensure timely desilting, cleaning and unclogging of the drainage infrastructure, the council approved Rs 5.2 crore to buy a hydraulic high-pressure jetting-cum-grabbing-cum-rodding machine in a meeting on June 12," he added. On desilting the covered portion of Sunehri Nullah, NDMC said lieutenant governor, in an earlier meeting, stressed taking up its desilting as the topmost priority. "It was further decided that MCD will send communication to Delhi Metro and NDMC. Delhi Metro will implement the desilting work, prepare estimates for project and submit them to NDMC. Based on communication, the council has sanctioned a budget amounting to Rs 70.4 crore for the desilting/cleaning of Sunehri Nullah on Lodhi Road. " Municipal Corporation of Delhi has completed 85% desilting and will take time beyond the June 15 deadline to conclude the remaining work. According to an MCD official, while the targeted silt has been collected from drains, approximately 10,000 tonne still need to be transported to landfills. "We will consider the work to be completed only when all silt reach the designated site. Work is on at all sites in full swing," said the official. Follow more information on Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad here . Get real-time live updates on rescue operations and check full list of passengers onboard AI 171 .
Time of India
14-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
NDMC to spend 31cr on smart water meter plan
New Delhi: New Delhi Municipal Council has approved a sum of Rs 31 crore for its long-pending project to provide smart water meters in areas under its jurisdiction. The work includes replacing conventional mechanical meters with new smart meters. At present, there are 20,709 water connections in the NDMC area. There was earlier a Rs 14 crore proposal for replacing 5,397 defective mechanical water meters with smart water meters. This has been extended also to the remaining 15,312 meters to achieve 100% accuracy in operations and to ensure the longevity of the water meters. "We have a preliminary estimate of Rs 30.8 crore for installing smart water meters in consumer connection lines. These meters will have advanced metering capacities, are highly waterproof, magnetically sealed, have no moving parts and are capable of measuring both low and high water flow," claimed Kuljeet Chahal, NDMC vice-chairman. The proposal underlined that the smart meters were relatively costlier but provided accurate data without manual intervention. Their life expectancy was 15-20 years compared with 5 for mechanical meters. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Use an AI Writing Tool That Actually Understands Your Voice Grammarly Install Now Undo These meters can eliminate entrapped air so can accurately measure water consumption, the proposal said, adding, "These cannot be tampered with and have an in-built provision to raise an alarm if any unauthorised tampering is done. Most importantly, no manpower is required for physical meter reading at the site, unlike conventional meters, as the reading will be directly available at the meter data management." Given such features, NDMC decided on June 12 to get the current meters replaced by smart meters to instil confidence in the consumer. "These types of meters are now installed by most water-supplying departments across the country. Since NDMC has already granted administrative and expenditure sanction for the project, we expect the work to be completed by July 2026," said Chahal. Bansuri Swaraj, member of Parliament and ex-officio member of NDMC, said that upgrading essential civic facilities employing modern technology would significantly enhance efficiency and bring transparency and ultimately benefit citizens while improving service delivery. A proposal for the procurement of smart electricity meters for the mass replacement of existing static-type operated electronic energy meters was also approved by NDMC. An official said that the process for replacing conventional meters with smart electricity meters is already underway, with 60% of the work completed. The new proposal is meant to procure the remaining smart meters. Follow more information on Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad here . Get real-time live updates on rescue operations and check full list of passengers onboard AI 171 .
Time of India
14-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
NDMC schools achieve record pass rates in boards with remedial support
New Delhi: The pass rate for Class XII students in the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) schools rose to an impressive 98.4%. The Class X results also showed notable improvement, increasing to 99.4% from 98.5% the previous to officials, the education department implemented several initiatives to support student performance, including from Jan to March 2025, special parent-teacher meetings for one-on-one discussions and structured counselling sessions. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "Our schools recorded unprecedented results in the CBSE classes X and XII examinations for the academic year 2024-25," said NDMC chairman Keshav Chandra. After the pre-board results, remedial classes were conducted across all 30 secondary and senior secondary schools on Sundays and holidays without break, he added. "Teachers provided individual attention to students, helping them overcome academic challenges and build confidence. After identifying the gaps, school teachers worked on their improvement." NDMC vice-chairman Kuljeet Chahal said the special PTMs of heads of schools and teachers with parents aimed to motivate them to send their children to these remedial classes on a regular basis. "Professional counselling was also used to boost their confidence and overcome exam fear," he added. Library hours were also extended to give students access to quiet study spaces and reference materials during the evening. "This year, seven schools in Class XII and 22 schools in Class X have achieved a 100% pass percentage," Chahal also appreciated the enthusiastic participation of students in Pariksha Pe Charcha initiated by Prime Minister.
