Bus purchase row: Keskar moves Lokayukta, accuses the two of unnecessary meddling
BJP corporator Ujwal Keskar on Monday filed a petition before Lokayukta on Monday against the Divisional Commissioner Dilip Band and Chief Minister’s personal secretary Nitin Kareer in connection with the purchase of 550 PMPML buses.
Keskar said Band and Kareer have been unnecessarily meddling in the bus purchase procedure and issued orders to that effect without the authority to do so.
His petition is also against Chief Secretary Johny Joseph, PMPML managing director Nitin Khade and Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad commissioners Mahesh Zagade and Asheesh Sharma respectively.
In the petition, Keskar has questioned the authority of Kareer in sending a letter to the divisional commissioner regarding the PMPML bus purchase. “Under JNNURM, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has been appointed as the nodal agency for PMC. Under JNNURM, 500 buses will be purchased for PMC, while 50 has been fixed for PCMC. Despite these moves, Kareer sent a letter, without any outward number mentioned on it, to Band on May 2, even though he does not have powers to do so. He is misusing his authority and imposing a decision that is against larger interest.”

Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki Festival organised by PMC corporator Ujwal Keskar in association with Aapala Parisar and Tarangini Sanskrutik Pratishthan to be held from February 20th  to 22nd 2009
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, PMC corporator Ujwal Keskar, who has organised the festival, in association with the Apla Parisar and the Tarangini Sanskrutik Pratishthan, said the three-day festival has lined up a series of varied and interesting performances by well-known artistes.
Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki’s son Shounak Abhisheki, who was also present at the conference, spoke about the idea behind the festival: “Pune is known as cultural city no doubt, and this event is an addition to the cultural festivals organised in the city and an attempt to offer city audience some more exposure to music.”
“The first day of the event will see a novel presentation titled Swar Taalyatra,’ conceptualised by tabla maestro Pt Suresh Talwalkar. It is a mixture of Bharatanatyam and Kathak, fusion music and singing,” Shounak said.
The second day will see a performance by one of Pt Jitendra’s disciples, Sameer Dubale, who will be accompanied by Abhijit Pohankar on keyboard and Roopak Kulkarni on flute. “Later, the event will see a performance by Pt Ratan Mohan Sharma, a disciple of Pt Jasraj, which will be followed by a dance performance by Pandita Shubhada. The festival will end with an audio-visual programme on Pt Jitendra which will encapsulate some of his achievements and also have some well-known people speak of him,” said Shounak.
Co-sponsored by a number of organisations, including the Pune Municipal Corporation, the event is free for all.

PMC corporator Ujwal Keskar said that he finds no reason why the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) should seek a Rs 76-crore bank loan when its expenses appear to be under control.
Making a scathing allegation on the administration, BJP spokesperson Ujwal Keskar said that the only reason the corporation could need the 'extra' money was maybe it wishes to oblige certain big contractors.
"The PMC appears to be in sound health and it will become obvious if the administration comes out with a white paper," Keskar said.
He also questioned the financial wisdom of the accounts department to go for a loan when the corporation had parked an earlier loan of Rs 100 cr as fixed deposit with the Bank of Maharashtra. "The situation is such that the bank has asked the PMC to either withdraw and use the money for whatever purpose it had applied for or return it to the bank. The fund cannot be used to just earn interest and do nothing," Keskar said.
The BJP leader said the corporation had forgotten the fact that it is sitting on another fixed deposit of Rs 500 crore for many years. "Why not use this money during a period that the administration calls as crisis?" Keskar questioned.

Ujwal Keskar demands  that the Ramnadi continue to be given the status of a river as stated in the 1987 Development Plan
The State has sent a letter to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) demanding why only a nine-metre green belt has been demarcated on either side of the Ramnadi instead of a 30-metre belt, despite it being been designated as a river by the PMC general body.

The State has also questioned the PMC's move to approve the survey of hilltops and hillslopes in Pune based on studies by a company called Monarch and not the one carried out by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC).
The questions were asked in response to BJP corporator Ujwal Keskar's recent letter to the State.
In the letter, Keskar had demanded that the Ramnadi continue to be given the status of a river as stated in the 1987 Development Plan. He had also objected to the PMC forwarding a survey of hilltops and hillslopes to the State without seeking the approval of the PMC's general body.