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Community Development

KUL to design residential project for slum dwellers

Wednesday, 08 September 2010 09:37 administrator
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Business Standard  08.09.2010

KUL to design residential project for slum dwellers

Kumar Urban Development Limited (KUL), today said it has taken up a project to design two bedroom-hall-kitchen (2BHK) flats for slum dwellers. The move comes after a survey was conducted to understand the requirements of those who reside in shanties.

KUL will build total 5,045 flats in 48 buildings at its eco-friendly site — 45 Nirvana Hills. The flats will be given free-of-cost to the slum-dwellers of Survey number 44- Erandawane-Kelewadi Slum Rehabilitation Project, as per the SRA scheme launched by the Government of Maharashtra.

“We have come out with this unique solution after conducting a socio-economic survey and understanding issues faced by slum dwellers residing in this area. We had committed, while taking up the project that we would work towards setting up a benchmark in the country’s slum rehabilitation movement. We have all worked constantly with the poor slum-dwellers taking their feedback and looking into their requirements,” Lalit Kumar Jain, chairman and managing director, KUL said in a press release. 

Last Updated on Wednesday, 08 September 2010 09:40
 

Tenders for new centre at Mysore

Wednesday, 25 August 2010 10:42 administrator
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The Times of India  25.08.2010

Tenders for new centre at Mysore

MYSORE: Two days after mismanagement at the destitutes' rehabilitation centre here came to light, officials of the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) have decided to construct a new facility for inmates.

MUDA has invited tenders for construction of a new beggars' home at Jyothinagar with a nine-month deadline to complete the Rs 83.55-lakh project. The tender documents will be uploaded on its website in two days, and bids have to be filed by September 22.

Officials seem to be speeding up the process as the pre-tender meeting has been slated for September 15. Technical bids will be opened on September 24. However, the dates for open financial bids will be announced to eligible bidders at a later stage.

MUDA's assistant executive engineer, Panduranga, told TOI that the present centre is in a dilapidated state, hence the bids for a new structure. He said the new building will be L-shaped and will have two floors, with seven rooms each. The building will have a built-up area of 10,000 sq ft and will have a solar facility.

The construction will be funded from the beggary cess collected by MUDA. The official said this was the third time that the authority was inviting tenders for the purpose. Tenders were earlier called for a year ago, and again six months ago, but no bids were made, he said.

The in-charge secretary of the centre, Mayadevi Galagali, who is also the district officer for backward classes and minority cell, said at present the centre has eight dormitories. Of this, two are reserved for women and the rest for men, the mentally unstable and sick. The centre spreads over two -and-a-half acres.

Galagali took charge at the centre two months ago after the district social welfare officer, who is also the ex-officio secretary to the centre, was charged of mismanagement.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 25 August 2010 10:44
 

Beggars Colony loses land to encroachment

Wednesday, 25 August 2010 07:37 administrator
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The Deccan Chronicle  25.08.2010

Beggars Colony loses land to encroachment

Aug. 24: The Beggars Colony on Magadi road, where 27 beggars have died in the last week alone, has huge property on paper. But in reality a large portion of the 310 acres gifted to it in 1948 by the Maharaja of Mysore has been either encroached upon or leased to various agencies and not recovered although some of the lease periods have expired a long time ago.

Today the colony is left with 160 acres, while 150 acres have been cut into pieces and given to government agencies and even individuals. For instance 8.3 acres have been given to the BDA, 4.86 acres to the BWSSB, a 250 ft x 200 ft plot to one Srinivasakumar to run a petrol bunk, another 200 ft x 200 ft plot to M.N. Muniraju, to also run a petrol bunk, a 100 ft x100 ft plot to B.Ravindra, for a petrol bunk again, a 250 ft x150 ft plot to a shopkeeper and six acres to the Sarvodaya Education Society.

As much as 6 acres of land has been encroached by a cluster of unauthorised buildings, which have not been evicted although the colony has a Supreme Court order on its side.

The colony also doesn’t seem to care that the Unani Hospital which has taken 55 acres and 36 guntas of its land on lease, has not reserved 20 per cent of its beds for its inmates as required under the agreement.

The authorities have done nothing about recovering 63.02 acres from the Summanahalli Leprosy care centre, although the 30-year lease period expired three years ago.

While land sharks are lying in wait to grab its property, they seem content with receiving Re 1 as the lease amount for some of the land in their possession, showing as much disinterest in administering it as in caring for the beggars, living in inhuman conditions in the colony.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 25 August 2010 07:39
 

State Govt apathy left MCD handicapped: Mayor

Thursday, 19 August 2010 10:08 administrator
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The Pioneer  19.08.2010

State Govt apathy left MCD handicapped: Mayor

Paritosh Kimothi | Dehradun

Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli has accused the State Government of sabotaging the functioning of the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun. While talking to The Pioneer, Chamoli said that in spite of the importance of the works being undertaken by the MCD, the State Government has created a situation wherein the civic body has become handicapped.

Presently the MCD is solely responsible for collection of house tax, relief measures in waterlogged areas and civic sanitation in addition to various other urban development and civic facilitation works. However, due to the protracted apathy of the State Government MCD has become isolated and not in a position to undertake its tasks efficiently in spite of spending its limited resources.

It is pertinent to mention here that early in August the Mayor had called on Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank requesting him to facilitate the implementation of the 74th Amendment in Uttarakhand to empower urban local bodies so that they could execute their functions efficiently. However, the Mayor is unhappy with the apathetic attitude of the CM office and the State Government regarding the condition of the MCD and other civic bodies.

Though the State Government had announced its plan to upgrade a couple of municipal councils to municipal corporations, presently the MCD is the only municipal corporation in the State. Considering its importance, one would expect the MCD to be well equipped and efficient enough to meet the requirements of a developing town like Dehradun.

However, both elected public representatives and Government officials acknowledge that the condition of the MCD from the organisational and efficiency point of view has substantially deteriorated due to the apathy of the State Government since Ramesh Pokhriyal replaced Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri as the State Chief Minister.

Examples of the apathy of the State Government are the deteriorated condition of the historical MCD building and the protracted inefficiency of the MCD to tackle waterlogging, deterioration of civic sanitation and unauthorised constructions on land owned by the MCD. Following heavy rains in Dehradun the MCD building has started leaking and as a result the area in front of the notice board is covered with up to 2 inches deep water.

Mayor Chamoli states that he had sent a proposal for renovating and developing the MCD building at a cost of ` 20 crore but the Government recommended to execute the task under the PPP mode.

Chamoli says that the MCD cannot build its own building and town hall under PPP mode because that will make it more of a commercial enterprise whereas the MCD is of and by the people and authorised to have its own building and construct a town hall for the public. According to the Mayor, the State Government has sabotaged the functioning of the MCD and is neglecting the condition of the MCD and the resulting problems being faced by the citizens of Dehradun.

In effect, when the MCD is facing the ire of the public for problems related to waterlogging, civic sanitation and encroachment, it is actually the apathy of the Sate Government which is responsible for the inconvenience being faced by people in Dehradun.

Last Updated on Thursday, 19 August 2010 10:10
 

BKC may soon have its own 'Habitat Centre'

Wednesday, 18 August 2010 10:15 administrator
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The Times of India  18.08.2010

BKC may soon have its own 'Habitat Centre'

MUMBAI: The Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) may soon have a cultural as well as convention centre on the lines of Habitat Centre in New Delhi.

Discussions are on at the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) for such a centre. The authority may even go in for a tie-up with Habitat Centre.

MMRDA officials said that there was a great need for such a centre in Mumbai and they had discussed the issue earlier with architect Charles Correa, but the plan did not take off.

The officials said that the Habitat Centre in Delhi has several halls and 20 concurrent events can be organized there at any given time.

"It is a meeting place for the NGOs, music and art groups and has over a half a dozen restaurants with a wide range of food choices. It also has an archival system with built in projector facilities in its halls and a well equipped secretariat and documentation centre with covered parking for 1,000 cars,'' said an official.

This cultural centre will be distinct from the convention centre coming up as part of a hotel project at BKC. However, nothing has been decided so far, said MMRDA officials. "The last time the project was discussed in detail, it was put on the back burner. We hope that it will come through this time around,'' they said.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 18 August 2010 10:17
 
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