Urban News

  • Increase font size
  • Default font size
  • Decrease font size
Urban Infrastructure


Varachha flyover set to generate gardens, income

Print PDF

The Times of India         16.09.2014

Varachha flyover set to generate gardens, income

 

SURAT: Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) doesn't have a pay and park facility under the city's longest flyover. This, when the civic body earns Rs 4 crore annually from its 28 parking set-ups, a majority of which are under the bridges. The SMC officials are unable to explain this dichotomy and why it took them so long to realize the revenue potential of the 2.5-km-long Shreenathji flyover at Varachha.

"We have been losing Rs 2 crore on an annual basis for not having a pay and park facility under Shreenathji flyover. SMC has decided to develop the area under the bridge on a public private participation (PPP) basis. The private partner will operate and maintain the whole facility and sponsors will be allowed to develop the underground area in a phase-wise manner," a SMC officer said.

A detailed plan has been worked out for the beautification of Varachha flyover. It envisions development of 77 gardens, 34 parking slots, 13 road crossings and a number of fountains under the 100 spans of the bridge.

"The work would be outsourced and it will be the responsibility of the private partner to collect parking fees and to keep the area free from encroachments," city engineer Jatin Shah said.

Former deputy mayor Kumar Kanani, who is now BJP MLA from Varachha, said, "SMC should hand over the area for development to a private party."

The SMC plans to give the contract for the beautification project to a private party at the earliest. The private party would develop and maintain the project and share the revenue with the SMC, sources said.

 

NMMC to give some fire brigades Rs 1.5cr upgrade

Print PDF

The Times of India      08.09.2014

 NMMC to give some fire brigades Rs 1.5cr upgrade

Navi Mumbai: To minimize risks and ensure safety of its firefighters, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) will soon procure advanced fire fighting equipment.

During the civic general body meeting on Saturday, administrative approval was sought to buy cooling vests, rope launchers and portable self-oscillating monitor sets. The estimated cost has been pegged at around Rs 1.54 crore.

"Firemen risk their lives while conducting rescue operations. There are regular innovations made in ensuring safety of those dousing fire. Few of these gears are to be procured for all the four fire stations and their staff," said chief fire officer Vijay Rane.

These are in addition to the demand made by the department for adding to the fire proximity suit worn by firefighters while attending calls.

"The cooling vest is an essential gear because it will enable firemen to handle soaring temperatures. The rope launcher will be useful while rescuing a person stuck in water and the portable self-oscillating monitor uses advanced technology to douse fire and is ideal for unmanned operations," said a source from the office.

 

EDMC gets 28 new garbage trucks

Print PDF

The Hindu       08.09.2014 

EDMC gets 28 new garbage trucks

A total of 28 new garbage collection trucks were added to the East Delhi Municipal Corporation’s fleet on Saturday, with Mayor Meenakshi flagging off the vehicles. The corporation also launched a sanitation drive.

The Mayor said the corporation would focus on micro-level monitoring of overall cleanliness as well as the timely collection of garbage. The EDMC is taking measures to arrest the spread of water and vector-borne diseases. — Staff Reporter

 

SMC to launch smart Surat pilot project in December

Print PDF

The Times of India       27.08.2014   

SMC to launch smart Surat pilot project in December

SURAT: Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) has decided to start a pilot project by December 2014 for real time integration of basic infrastructural sectors like water supply, sewerage, transportation and solid waste management. This is a first step towards making Surat a smart city.

A workshop was held in the city on Tuesday in this regard. It was attended by experts from technical institutes, agencies and SMC officials.

"We have got many suggestions from experts on how to integrate and incorporate data into our core services so that they become more efficient and effective," said Jatin Shah, city engineer, SMC.

The SMC has already given work for preparing a GIS-based application to Antriksh.

Vikram Patel, principal, SVBIT Engineering College, Gandhinagar, who is an expert in structural engineering; Dr Hitesh Chinkanlwala, an expert in data mining; Dr Ashish Jani, an expert in cell phone application; Haren Shah, an expert in ICT and e?governance; Parth Shah, an expert in ICT and embedded systems and Dr Priti Garg, professor and head of department of public administration of Veer Narmad South Gujarat University (VNSGU), were among those who attended the workshop.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 27 August 2014 11:22
 

Plan for one sewerage for Patna, Phulwari?

Print PDF

The Times of India      27.08.2014  

Plan for one sewerage for Patna, Phulwari?

PATNA: The Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) along with Bihar Rajya Jal Parshad has come up with an action plan to keep low-lying areas of the city free from waterlogging.

The state urban development department had directed the civic body to prepare such a report so that long term steps could be taken to rid these areas of waterlogging. The topography of the city is saucer shaped, posing difficulty in flushing out water from areas such as Sipara, Hind Nagar, IOC Colony, Ramkrishna Nagar, Shivaji Chowk and Lalu Path besides Kankarbagh, Rajendra Nagar and Kumrahr areas.

At present the rainwater of east and central Patna capital area is being drained out through Pahari and Nand Lal Chhapra drain to Badshahi and Khanua drains. The Badshahi drain needs to be widened and strengthened, says the report.

Areas such as Pakari, Dashratha, Etwarpur, Sipara, Dhalwan and Gopalpur, lying south of bypass, suffer from acute waterlogging problem. Also unplanned constructions without proper sewerage in these areas aggravated the problem. These areas have since 2008 seen massive constructions which eventually turned the sparsely populated areas into densely populated ones. The report suggests the need of an integrated drainage network to ensure proper drainage system in Patna civic body and Phulwarisharif civic body areas.

As for accumulation of rainwater in Jakkanpur is concerned, accumulated water earlier used to flow into Mithapur's agricultural fields. But now new institutions and constructions have come up on the vacant land, due to which rainwater flows to low-lying nearby areas such as Karbigahiya, Postal Park, Ashok Nagar etc. The report suggests construction of a sump house north of NH 31 and a drain along the railway line up to Badshahi drain to free these areas of waterlogging.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 27 August 2014 11:12
 


Page 5 of 109