Tag Archives: Wheeler Island

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Bio-toilets Fail to Flush out Open Defecation in Bhadrak

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By Express News Service Published: 23rd August 2014 09:05 AM

BALASORE: The much-touted bio-toilets are lying defunct in Bhadrak district for over a year as technical details of construction of the toilets are neither available with District Water and Sanitation Mission (DWSM) nor its State counterpart.

The bio-toilets were installed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on a pilot basis in Dhamara and Basudevpur of the coastal district which houses India’s strategic missile test facility at Wheeler Island.

Sources said of 12 such loos set up in 2012, only three are in working condition now. While eight bio-toilets, dubbed as E-loos, were installed in villages, four were set up in Basudevpur NAC area. The toilets were constructed for community use at Jayadurgapatna, Amarnagar, Dhamara, KK Pur and Mandari.

The villagers alleged that the toilets lack water supply and proper ventilation. “The toilets lack adequate space for use and do not have ventilation ducts. The toilets were used only for a few days after installation and most of them are lying in an abandoned state now,” said a local, Gouranga Panda.

The residents claimed that the bio-toilets were not user-friendly. While the excreta was not getting flushed out, the water supply was irregular. Later, the doors of the toilets were damaged.

The units were so small that people felt suffocated inside. As foul smell started emanating from the toilets gradually, people stopped using them. Surprisingly, the district administration has turned a blind eye to the issue, they alleged.

Deputy Secretary of Rural Development (RD) Department Subash Chandra Das said the Department was unable to repair the bio-toilets as it did not have technical details.

Though the DWSM and Bhadrak Collector have asked the DRDO authorities to make these toilets operational as well as supply technical details, there has been no response yet.

With the toilets lying defunct, around 1,020 families are forced to go for open defecation. Of those families in four villages except Mandari, who depend on the bio-toilets, only 170 have individual household latrines (IHHLs). Mandari comes under Basudevpur NAC where four bio-toilets were constructed.

Das said the BDOs of Chandabali and Basudevpur and Executive Officer of Basudevpur NAC have been instructed through the Collector to issue work orders for construction of IHHLs in these villages.

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Jairam Ramesh’s pet project ‘Bio-toilet’ stands abandoned in Odisha

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By Hemant Kumar Rout – BALASORE/BHADRAK Published: 14th August 2012 11:45 AM
Union Minister for Rural Development, Drinking Water and Sanitation Jairam Rameshs’s ‘India Dream’ to free the country – the rural populace in particular – from open defecation, seems to have faced a setback with people unwilling to use DRDO made Bio-toilets raising a stink.

Villagers have blamed the DRDO for poor quality installation work near Dhamarai temple as one portion of the toilet has depressed and its fiber body disfigured. Express photo.
Villagers have blamed the DRDO for poor quality installation work near Dhamarai temple as one portion of the toilet has depressed and its fiber body disfigured. Express photo.

After launching the bio-digesters in Odisha’s Dhamra village, close to Wheeler Island from where India test fires its all long range missiles, the Minister on June 24 even called it no less important than the Agni missiles. Today, the bio-toilets stand abandoned.  The villages are reluctant to use it claiming that they lack required facilities.

The e-age toilets were formally launched at a glittering function by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) at Dhamra in Bhadrak district.

The toilets are so small and air-tight that a person feels suffocated after a few minutes. There is no system for air circulation, says villagers. PTI photo
The toilets are so small and air-tight that a person feels suffocated after a few minutes. There is no system for air circulation, says villagers. PTI photo

While initially at least six bio-toilets, christened as eco-friendly loo (ELoo) were installed in five villages in Dhamra and Basudevpur areas, the DRDO had assured to install more such toilets along the 90-km Jamjhadi-Dhamra stretch. Though the DRDO claimed that these toilets were opened for public use after their successful trials in Siachen and Jammu and Kashmir, people here are not ready to buy it.

Malati Majhi, a villager from Dhamra said the toilet installed in the village lacks water supply and proper ventilation. “It does not have a window or a space for ventilation. As the inside area is inadequate, it is difficult to sit there. The toilet was used only for a couple of days after their installation. We don’t use it now for its stinking smell,” she said.

The Minister too had expressed his dissatisfaction over the lack of ventilation facilities in these toilets during the inauguration. The loos are so small and air-tight that a person feels suffocated after a few minutes. There is no system for air circulation as these are fully covered with fiber body.

The technology used to develop the bio-toilets is anaerobic processing system that treats excreta, typically with small volumes of flush water. This is usually a better process than the aerobic decomposition, which requires supply of oxygen either as compressed air or by agitation and process culminates into water and CO2.

The Bio-digester technology has been developed by Gwalior based Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE) and Tezpur based Defence Research Laboratory (DRL) which claimed the ELoos can effectively function in extreme conditions and temperature ranging from – 6 degree C to 50 degree C.

As per the claims of the DRDO, there is a bio-digester underneath where the temperature is maintained at 5 to 30 degree Celsius and the Psychrophile bacteria break down the waste. There is no foul smell, disease-carrying organisms or solid matter. The bio-gas is released into the air continuously and the residual liquid can be drained without any ill effect.

A local Bikartan Behera said no such degradation is done here. “Every time bad smell is coming out from the toilet making it unviable for use. People have to carry water from a faraway place to use the toilet, which is not possible always. The facilitator needs to equip the toilet with water supply,” he said.

The villagers also have blamed the DRDO for poor quality installation work near Dhamarai temple as one portion of the toilet has depressed and its fiber body disfigured. A retired defence employee N K Sahu said the bio-toilets were first tried between 1993 and 1998. However, systems failed because of foul smell, breeding of cockroaches and flies, maintenance requirement, need for daily addition of bio-enzymes.

“But now though the DRDO claims to have used the bacteria Psychrophile in the toilets, but the loos should be made user friendly with spaces for ventilation and round-the-clock water supply. Or else it would be left unused,” he said.

Local defence officials though admitted the shortcomings in these toilets, but none agreed to comment on it. They said all the problems would be sorted out soon and more toilets installed in the area to curb the habit of open defecation.

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Defence Secrets in Danger

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By Pradip R Sagar
Published: 26th Apr 2015 06:00:00 AM -The Sunday Standard
DRDO logo1It’s akin to contract killing of the country’s defence research establishments. With their easy access to classified and secret information, thousands of people working on contractual or temporary basis in India’s top secret defence projects have turned out to be the biggest threat to national security. A spate of arrests for spying has alarmed the government. But the country’s premier defence research agency—Defence Research and Development Organisation—has a strength of more than 50,000 temporary or casual employees who have complete access to all its classified and research activities.
The recent arrest of a photographer employed on contractual basis at DRDO’s Integrated Test Range in Chandipur (Odisha) for passing confidential information on various missiles test-fired from Wheeler Island to his ISI conduit in Kolkata has raised the alarm bells in the corridors of the Ministry of Defence (MoD).Sunday-Standard-26 April - 2May-2015 pic

Soon after, a contractual employee working for the MoD was picked up by the Delhi Police for espionage. The issue put South Block in panic mode and an alert was issued in March, which clearly said that ‘Contractual/ casual employees should not be posted in sensitive locations and not allowed to given access to the classified information’.
A senior defence ministry official recalled how a high-level inquiry was ordered during AK Antony’s tenure as defence minister in 2010 into the episode of giving out a critical missile design project to a private contractor by a top DRDO scientist.
Despite such cases in the past, over 55 laboratories of the DRDO, mandated to develop products and technologies to modernise our armed forces ranging from missiles to combat aircraft, have roped in over 50,000 casual employees to assist scientists. According to an insider, contractual employees are generally hired under two categories—technical and non-technical.Sunday-Standard-26 April - 2May-2015

 

 

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Interceptor missile fails; DRDO to conduct another test soon

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Written by: Dr Anantha Krishnan M Published: Monday, April 6, 2015, 22:15 [IST] OneIndia
Bengaluru, April 06: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) faced a setback today after an Advanced Air Defence (AAD) interceptor missile fell into the sea seconds after its launch. The missile was test-fired from DRDO’s launch facility in Wheeler Island, off the Odisha Coast.

intercepter missile
interceptor missile

DRDO officials, who spoke to OneIndia said that they would be back with another launch of the missile by the end of April after studying what went wrong. “These are part and parcel of every missile trails. We had six successive missions of the interceptor missile. We suspect that one of the sub-systems in the missile might have failed,” a top scientist not wanting to be named, said. He said that Monday’s test was to assess the performance of the composite motor rocket and the missile’s ejection from the canister. “These two parameters have been successfully tested. There was no target today. But one sub-system misbehaved and we are now analyzing some more data,” he added. DRDO says the missile’s basic systems are all intact and worked as per the textbook. “Random problems can occur while dealing with complex systems. We will be back by the end of this month for another launch,” he added. He said that the missile caught fire after falling apart. This was DRDO’s 7th interceptor missile test.

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Agni 5 Launch ‘Best Farewell Gift’, Outgoing DRDO Chief Avinash Chander Tells NDTV

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WHEELER ISLAND: Speaking from Wheeler Island to NDTV after the successful launch of Agni 5, the outgoing Director General of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Avinash Chander assured the country that the missile was now in a “deliverable configuration”.

On his last day in office, he said he was feeling “elated and happy on this accomplishment”.

“I am going, leaving behind a dynamic young team that can lead India to greater heights. India will now be autonomous in missile capability,” said Dr Chander.
On a poignant note he said, “This was a great event and I could not have asked for a better farewell gift from my team which has worked hard to make India a missile superpower.”

Explaining the technicalities of the launch, Dr Chander, who is also the scientific advisor to the Defence Ministry said, “The missile lifted off 20 metres above the ground from the canister then took a sharp turn towards the target and all the events went off like clockwork. Two ships monitored the event in the Indian Ocean and the terminal event which was validated and it hit within metres of the target.”

Dr Chander’s contract ends on today – January 31, 2015. He had joined the organisation in 1972.

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डीआरडीओ में ताजमहलो का निर्माण – दूसरी क़िस्त

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माननीय श्री नरेंद्र मोदी जी                                                                       दिनाक 18 जुलाई  2014
प्रधानमंत्री
कक्ष संख्या  152 पीएमओ
साउथ ब्लाक  नईदिल्ली -110011

 

विषय : डीआरडीओ में ताजमहलो का निर्माण – दूसरी क़िस्त

माननीय श्री प्रधानमंत्री जी एक तरफ हम समाचार  पत्रो व् टी वी में पड़ते व् देखते  है कि

” Modi austerity drive, no new cars for ministers, PMO to monitor spending               by Marya Shakil, CNN-IBN Jun 25, 2014 at 08:57pm IST.

Modi, whose working style had garnered headlines in less than a month of assuming office, has also asked the ministers to take PMO’s approval for any purchases above Rs 1 lakh, according to sources.

वंही दूसरी ओर डीआरडीओ में ताजमहलो का निर्माण बदस्तूर जारी है I इसी सन्दर्भ में करप्शन इन डी आर डी ओ   वेबसाइट   को एक ईमेल द्वारा आज जानकारी मिली डी आर डी ओ  द्वारा कि लॉन्ग व्हीलर आई लैंड में करोड़ों रूपए खर्च करके सिर्फ चार अदद कमरो का एक वी आई पी गेस्ट हाउस का निर्माण कार्य जा रहा है जिसकी खास बात यह है कि उसके हर कमरे का डिजाइन दुबई के एक सात सितारा लक्ज़री होटल के कमरो के अनुरूप किया जा रहा है I

यह निर्माण कार्य 100 मजदूरो द्वारा रात दिन लगातार कार्य जा रहा है और अगले सप्ताह इस   गेस्ट हाउस का उद्घाटन होना है I यह सब निर्माण कर्नल सत्पथी के देख रेख में चल रहा है जो की लभग दस वर्षो से वंहा कार्यरत है  इसके अलावा एक लक्ज़री बोट भी किंग्स एंड क्वीन कंपनी से खरीदी  गयी है I क्या आपको लगता है की किंग्स एंड क्वीन की बोट में बैठ कर जाने से मिसाइल ज्यादा सटीक निशाना लगाएंगी I जंहा एक और सामान्य कर्मचारी सरकारी आवास समस्या से जूझ रहे है काफी लम्बी प्रतीक्षा सूची चल रही  है वंही दूसरी ओर इन  तथाकथित विज्ञानिको को विलासिता सूझ रही है I

आपसे नम्र निवेदन है कि शीघ्रता पूर्वक इन तथाकित वैज्ञानिको को देश के बहुमूल्य पैसो की बर्बादी से रोके सादगी का सन्देश दे क्योंकि कोई भी रिसर्च के लिए इन सब विलसिताओं की कोई भी आवश्कयता नहीं होती I सर जे सी बोसे ने कोई भी अविष्कार फाइव स्टार होटल में बैठकर नहीं किया था I

ऐसा न हो की आप अपने सांसदों  व् मंत्रियो को सादगी का सन्देश देकर  देश का लाखो रुपये बचाये और दूसरी ओर ये  तथाकित वैज्ञानिक देश का करोड़ो रुपये बर्बाद कर दे I

धन्यवाद

प्रभु डंडरियाल
21-सुंदरवाला, रायपुर, देहरादून
फ़ोन  0135- 2787750, मोबाइल – 9411114879,
e-मेल  id prabhudoon@gmail.com  वेबसाइट  www.corruptionindrdo.com

सलग्न  – करप्शन इन डी आर डी ओ वेबसाइट को प्राप्त ईमेल

prabhudoon@gmail.com” <prabhudoon@gmail.com>
date:   Fri, Jul 18, 2014 at 6:57 AM
subject:           Corruption new inputs
mailed-by:      guerrillamail.com
Received: by 10.152.131.193

Prabhu ji, I want to inform S.A. saheb’s latest gift to himself a multi crore guest house with just 4 rooms with 7 star facility at wheeler island. He is going to inaugurate it next week. Each room is modelled as per designs from Dubai luxury hotel and more than 100 labourers are working day and night under Shri.Col. Satpathy who is the permanent Construction c.c.e. for the past ten years at the same sensitive and maney making post at Baleswar and Kolkata for the past 10 years. He has made similar seven star guest house in Kolkata also for his VVIP bosses to please them. A luxury boat(yact) is also being purchased for the Kings and queens of D.R.D.O. in Wheeler Island. Please do something to stop this. Like the fake degree scam, another big chunna to govt is by employees building houses in same station with H.B.A. and still staying in lab quarters by renting their house. Such like artificial scarcity of quarters is created and the waiting list is too long. moreover, taking this artificial shortage into account new quarters are being built by the construction department at exorbitant costs (much higher rates than C.P.W.D.)our department has become more of a construction dept. than R&D. That too contracts are issued only to some big fish contractors close to these corrupt officers without any transparency. When the whole country is following e-mail tendering, our dept. follows selective tendering. These construction engineers have even started taking projects from other than our dept. due to the huge kick backs provided in the over priced contracts. Please please do something otherwise we are going to be doomed. Wellwisher.