Civic body to review, overhaul its disaster management programme
Thursday, 09 October 2014 11:57
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The Times of India 09.10.2014 Civic body to review, overhaul its disaster management programme NAVI
MUMBAI: The civic body has chalked out a three-phase programme to review
its disaster management plan. The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation's
(NMMC) disaster management cell has also made plans to conduct a
year-long study on how well the city is equipped to handle any hazard as
well as its impact on the society.
In the first phase, the
disaster management plan will be reviewed by Tata Institute of Social
Sciences. "The institute will be reviewing the steps taken by the civic
body in any disaster. It will study in detail the impact of various
disasters on the city and the different actions taken by the disaster
management team to deal with it," said a senior official from the
disaster management cell.
The institute is expected to conduct
its study specifically on the impacts of nine disasters such as
earthquakes, floods, dilapidated building collapse, chemical accidents,
tsunami, riots and landslides. Work on the month-long project has
already started.
The cell will be updated about any new course of action to be implemented and ways to better its ways of functioning.
The second and third phases will be a study of how vulnerable the city
is to any hazard and its social impact. "This will be a year-long
process where we will test the infrastructure's vulnerability to hazards
such as earthquakes with the help of simulation techniques. A decision
will be taken at the earliest," added the official.
J
Sinnarkar, in-charge of disaster management department, said that they
are engaged in lot of activities. "Reviewing the disaster management
plans is one of the processes," he added.
BDA drags its feet over plan approval
Tuesday, 07 October 2014 12:14
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The Times of India 07.10.2014 BDA drags its feet over plan approval BHUBANESWAR:
The Bhubaneswar Development Authority is taking an average 104 days to
approve a building plan compared to the stipulation of maximum 60 days
set in the Odisha Right to Public Services Act, 2012. BDA authorization
is a must to begin any construction by individuals or real estate
developers in the state capital.
BDA plan approval figures
between March 2013 and September released on its website bdabbsr.in,
shows the planning branch disposed only around 21 per cent applications
within 60 days. The time to dispose plan approval applications ranged
from a minimum seven days to maximum of over 400 days in the period.
Though Odisha implemented the right to public service in January 2013,
building plan approval was brought under purview of the Act two months
later in March that year.
BDA data showed it disposed of 3,829
applications between March 2013 and September 2014. Of them, 3,599
applications were approved while the remaining 230 were rejected. Only
814 applications (21.25%) were disposed in 60 days while the rest
exceeded the upper time limit.
The planning branch, led by a
member (planning), is responsible for disposing the applications. BDA
member (planning) Pitabasa Sahoo, when contacted, declined to comment as
he said he was "not authorized to speak to the media".
Another
senior BDA officer said the planning branch was missing the deadline
because of two major reasons. First, the applicants are not submitting
applications that are complete in all respects with all the required
documents. Secondly, some applicants did not deposit fees for several
months even after their requests were processed. This delayed issuance
of the plan approval by the authority. Applications complete in all
respects were disposed much earlier than the allowed time of 60 days, he
said.
According to provisions of the Act, if the designated
officer (junior town planner/assistant town planner) fails to provide
the service without sufficient and reasonable cause by the deadline,
s/he may be imposed a penalty of Rs 250 per each day of delay and a
maximum penalty of Rs 5000.
Developers feel the inordinate
delay in plan approval by BDA is because of the complicated process.
"The process should be simplified so that it becomes easy to understand
and comply with the stipulations for the common man," said Pradipta
Kumar Biswasroy, president, Real Estate Developers Association of
Odisha.
Step 2: The architect/engineer/planner prepares a plan
following BDA norms, helps the developer fill up the building plan
approval form and submits it to the BDA planning branch along with proof
of land ownership and fees (for scrutiny and processing). The amount
varies depending on project size and type
Step 3: A BDA officer
(Amin) or a team (depending on project size) inspects the project site.
Depending on their recommendations, the planning branch processes the
request and asks developers to submit no objection certificates from the
fire department, municipal authorities, highway authorities (if it is
located near the highway), among others. Individuals applying to build
houses for residential purposes don't need such NOCs
Step 4:
The development plan and building plan (DP&BP) committee of the BDA
considers the site inspection report and NOCs and issues the plan
approval by charging a sanction fee of Rs 15 per square feet. In case of
individuals, the assistant town planner of the planning branch issues
such approval
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Bangalore learns Swedish lessons in urban planning
Tuesday, 23 September 2014 10:34
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The Times of India 23.09.2014 Bangalore learns Swedish lessons in urban planning BANGALORE:
Sweden is at least 600 times bigger than Bangalore city but their
population is almost the same. On an average, 250 people die in Swedish
road mishaps against 750 in Bangalore. Sweden has also managed to cut
down on its carbon emissions by about 10% over the last 15 years.
With the Scandinavian republic's roads having become the world's safest
and pollution free, a workshop here on Monday provided a perfect
opportunity for Bangalore to look at that nation's best practices.
How did Sweden do this? In 1997 the Swedish devised a plan called
"Vision Zero", promising to eliminate road fatalities and injuries
altogether. "We simply do not accept any deaths or injuries on our roads
considering the impact it makes on families if he or she is the sole
bread-winner. Sustainable urban transport coupled with better planning
played the biggest part in reducing accidents. Roads were built with
safety prioritized over speed or convenience. Low urban speed limits,
pedestrian zones, cycle tracks and barriers that separate cars from
bikes and oncoming traffic helped," said Matts-Ake Belin, project
manager, Vision Zero Academy, Swedish Transport Administration.
Jonas Hafstrom, ambassador and senior advisor to the minister of trade
in Sweden, said: "We developed companies that could offer solutions to
sustainable urban transport."
Additional chief secretary K
Ratna Prabha, who led a six-member delegation recently to Sweden to
study urban transport, solid waste management and investments, said:
"Their solid waste management plant looks exactly like a mall in
Bangalore and is located in the heart of the city without causing any
harm to public health. They recycle their entire waste and convert it
into biogas and biofuel for use in public transport. They even import
waste to recycle."
A round table conference later in the day
looked at SymbioCity — a Swedish concept that integrates community
planning and urban development from an ecological, social, economic and
spatial perspective.
DDA amends policy, installing lifts now easier
Tuesday, 16 September 2014 05:56
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The Times of India 16.09.2014 DDA amends policy, installing lifts now easier NEW
DELHI: Installing lifts at DDA apartment blocks in the capital is set
to become easier with the Authority scrapping a clause requiring an
affidavit stating that no modifications have been made to the building's
terrace.
The affidavit was the biggest impediment in
applications for installing lifts. Over the last few months, several
residents and RWAs have written to the Urban development ministry
seeking scrapping of the clause. Residents had argued that, in some
cases, the flats were over two decades old and that to expect no
alterations to the terrace was impractical since the authority has
turned a blind eye to the issue all this while.
The policy on
lifts, which has been revised several times, was last amended on
September 1. In March, Delhi Development Authority had also made it
mandatory for residents to get an NOC from residents of the building's
ground-floor flat while installing lifts. However, due to a poor
response from residents, this clause was later scrapped. A 21-day
deadline for processing applications for lifts was also put in place.
"We have been tweaking the policy to make it suitable for everyone.
While considering the clause, we felt unauthorized construction was a
separate issue that should not be mixed with granting permissions. So,
we decided to do away with the clause and simplify the process for
residents," said Balvinder Kumar, vice-chairperson, DDA.
Another reason why the authority decided to do away with the clause is
because DDA doesn't use of lifts till the terrace, so having a
restriction based on modifications to the terrace didn't make sense.
DDA officials said they have received 56 applications since the policy
was amended. Three of these have already been sanctioned and other
applications are being considered. "We have contacted residents in cases
where the paperwork is not complete. So far, we have tried to avoid
turning down any applications," said an official, adding that most
applications are Vasant Kunj and Alaknanda.
Some residents feel
the police on installing lifts should be simplified further. "There is a
clause that puts the lift application in abeyance if any party takes
the issue to the court. This can happen if a resident, in most cases it
may be the people living on the ground floor, takes objection to the
plan. The process will become simpler if DDA itself identifies the land
on which to build the lift," said R K Sareen, president, Nehru Apartment
RWA, Kalkaji.
The revised policy will benefit around 4 lakh
homeowners. In the amended form, it has eight requirements that
applicants need to fulfil—a recommendation by the lift manufacturer,
certificate from a registered structural engineer, four sets of building
plans, consent of at least 50% residents who use stairs, certificate
mandating proposing members bear installation and operational costs, NOC
from the RWA, indemnity bond against claims and NOC from the chief fire
officer. DDA amends policy, installing lifts now easier
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