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Road Development

Road to be widened

Tuesday, 21 January 2014 05:25 administrator
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The Hindu              21.01.2014

Road to be widened

Special Correspondent

The buildings obstructing the expansion of the main road at Anakapalle should be removed as the owners have agreed to withdraw cases in courts, Minister for Investment and Infrastructure Ganta Srinivasa Rao has said. The removal should begin as soon transferable development rights are handed over to the owners. The Minister held a meeting on Sunday with the District Collector, the Joint Collector and the Municipal Commissioner at Anakapalle.

 

BDA to begin work on PRR by Feb-end

Thursday, 09 January 2014 09:52 administrator
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Deccan Herald             09.01.2014

BDA to begin work on PRR by Feb-end

With the Union Ministry of Urban Development giving its approval to the Rs 5,800-crore peripheral ring road (PRR) project, Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) hopes to commence work on the much-delayed infrastructure project in a month’s time.

BDA Commissioner T Sham Bhat on Wednesday said they aim to start work by February-end. “The project is before Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, for approval of funding from Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Once approved, tenders will be floated. Also, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah wants the construction work to start by March,” he said. Once the work gets underway, it will take 36-40 months for completion. Final notification for land acquisition has been issued and acquisition going on, he added. 

According to BDA officials, a team from JICA is likely to visit the proposed project sites before the works start. The State Cabinet has approved the project and agreed to link part-1 of PRR to existing the NICE corridor. The NICE corridor which links Tumkur Road to Hosur Road via Magadi Road, Mysore Road and Kanakapura Road; was part-2 of PRR, according to BDA's original plan. The 65-kilometre PRR part-1, will connect Tumkur Road with Hosur Road via Doddaballapur Road, Bellary Road, Old Madras Road and Sarjapur Road. The BDA needs 1,910 acres of land for construction.


Bhat pointed out that farmers were agitated as they were not happy with the compensation schemes. Now, they should be satisfied as they have three options to chose from. They can either opt for developed land in the ratio of 60:40, or TDR or cash. But, monetory compensation is yet to be finalised.

Land losers agitated

However, PRR-1 Affected Families Welfare Association Secretary P Rajan questioned how the BDA can commence work on the PRR when there are 37 cases pending in the High Court.  In 2010, the court had quashed 1.26 acre of land which BDA had acquired for construction of toll booth, he added. Associationpresident S Shankar said BDA has changed the alignment many times, only to please the influentials.
 

Thane Municipal Corporation plans to bridge gaps in city

Thursday, 09 January 2014 07:29 administrator
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The Times of India                09.01.2014 

Thane Municipal Corporation plans to bridge gaps in city

THANE: The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) is planning a high capacity mass road transit project to connect various parts of the city.

The project will ensure a seamless commute by a six-lane road that could be a mix of surface and elevated one passing through several areas of the city. The areas that could be connected by this route are Thane railway station east, Kopri, crossing over the tracks at Anand Nagar, Teen Hath Naka, Nitin Company, Laxmi Park, lake in Pokhran, Chitalsar-Manpada, then crossing over the Ghodbunder Road through Swastik Complex, Balkum, crossing old Agra road to reach Thane jail along the creek side and then crossing over the tracks to reach Kopri.

The stretch would provide dedicated two lanes on each side for private vehicles and the middle lanes could be used as bus corridors in the future. Also, space could be made for development of metro or mono rails along the median considering future growth and requirements.

"The plans are currently in the conceptual stages. If implemented, it could ease commuting woes," said city engineer K D Lala.

Further boosting the public transport usage among citizens, the entire corridor of around 20 kms could have landings at around 16 spots that could also serve as hubs where citizens could get feeder bus or auto services for accessing internal areas of the city. A plan for developing a multi-level car parking at these spots for those taking public transport services can also be planned, said a civic official.

However, the project is likely to be affected because it involves a lot of resettlement-rehabilitation as a sizeable area already under encroachment in addition to some section of the route coming under the Coastal Regulation Zone possibly delaying or trashing the plans, said an official from the public works department.

Experts and activists have criticized this plan and insisted the TMC first do a reality check of what the city actually needs. Activist Chandrahas Tawade said he has already approached several authorities in the past regarding seamless connectivity in the city. Activist Milind Gaikwad said that better coordination between agencies could also help the city to a large extent. "Residents should be taken into confidence when the authorities plan projects for a city like Thane. Not only can the authorities get instant support from the locals but they can also share some suggestions as they will be the end users of any such developmental project," said Gaikwad.

 
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