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Vadodara to finally get its new railway flyovers

Monday, 20 January 2014 06:22 administrator
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The Indian Express               20.01.2014 

Vadodara to finally get its new railway flyovers

Vadodara is all set to get the two long-awaited crucial railway over-bridges that would bring the expanding city closer. The Kalali ROB and the Dandia Bazar-Akota flyovers are nearing their completion in the near future. While VMC officials say that the Kalali ROB will be ready for inauguration within a week, the Akota bridge is expected to be ready by mid-February.

Ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the BJP-administered VMC has requested Chief Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate the ROBs, along with a list of other corporation projects. After four years of wait, Vadodara will finally get its ROB, connecting Kalali, Makarpura and Old Padra Road and reducing the commuting time to areas where the city is now expanding. Although Chief Minister Narendra Modi has promised to arrive in the city for the formal inauguration, VMC says that the ROB will be thrown open for public use the moment it is ready.

Standing Committee Chairman of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation Dr Hitendra Patel said, “The lighting work is pending on the Kalali ROB, which will be completed within a matter of days. We will open the ROB for the public shortly, as the CM is busy right now and we cannot keep the ROB shut and inconvenience the people. We will have a formal inauguration later.”

The VMC has also planned the inauguration of the Manjalpur sports stadium, the newly-constructed bus depot as well as a hospital in Gotri, at the hands of Modi at one go. Patel said, “The total cost of the four projects is Rs 120 crores. They are remarkable projects and the CM is expected to give us a date within 15 days. The Akota-Dandia Bazar ROB, however, will take another two months to be completed as the Railways is handling the portion that has to be constructed over the rail lines because it involves shifting of some high tension wires.” The VMC has also begun beautification of the circles that will stand at the ends of the Kalali flyover. 

 

City to get more night shelters soon

Monday, 20 January 2014 05:29 administrator
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The Hindu               20.01.2014

City to get more night shelters soon

Seeking to set up more night shelters in the city, the GHMC on Saturday night carried out a preliminary survey to identify locations where the homeless sleep.

A full-fledged identification process would be taken up at midnight on Monday.

The GHMC presently has a total of 14 night shelters spread across different circles of the city, with a total capacity of 387.

The civic body plans to immediately start two more shelters. Realising the need for more such facilities, it had decided to take up a survey of different points where the homeless usually gather around to sleep in the nights.

“As of now, we propose to set up two shelters – below the Begumpet flyover and one near the Basavatarakam Cancer Hospital,” an official said.

“The visit [on Saturday] was a bit early in the night. We realised not many had returned to the usual haunts frequented by the homeless. Thus on Monday, our teams will start late and carry out the assessment beyond midnight,” an official said.

Review meet

At a recent review meeting, GHMC Commissioner Somesh Kumar asked the Urban Community Development (UCD) wing to form teams for the survey of places in the city where homeless sleep and also wanted them to identify open spaces or buildings which could be converted into night shelters.

 

Work on drainage system to begin in three months

Monday, 20 January 2014 05:21 administrator
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The Hindu               20.01.2014

Work on drainage system to begin in three months

The government approved a Rs. 66-crore underground drainage project for Moodbidri town, said K. Abhayachandra Jain, local MLA and Minister of State for Youth Affairs, Sports and Fisheries.

He was addressing a gathering at a function organised by the government to lay the foundation stone for building an eight-lane 400m synthetic track at Swaraj Maidan here. M. Veerappa Moily, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Minister for Environment and Forests (MoEF) laid the foundation stone.

Mr. Jain said that the Union government would bear 80 per cent of the project cost under the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns. The balance would be borne by the State government.

The Minister said that the work would begin within three months. Meanwhile, sources in the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board told The Hindu that the Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada had issued the preliminary notification for acquiring 23 acres of land for the project.

Mr. Jain said the synthetic track in Moodbidri, to be built at an estimated cost of Rs. 4.25 crore, will have water sprinklers, which the synthetic track laid in Mangala Stadium in Mangalore does not have. It will also be green inside, unlike the Mangalore track. The Moodbidri track will be useful for all, including students from engineering and polytechnic colleges in the taluk.

Mr. Moily said that a project on how to develop sports talent in Moodbidri taluk could be submitted to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for financial assistance.

He told M. Mohan Alva, Chairman, Alva’s Educational Institutions, Moodbidri: “If you want to promote sports, please make a project and come to Delhi, from the corpus fund or running fund, we can do something so that athletes can shine at the national and international level.”

Mr. Moily said that a post-graduation centre of Mangalore University could come up in Moodbidri. He also laid the foundation of a Kannada Bhavana for Bharat Scouts and Guides in the town.

 
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