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Road Development

Thyagaraya Road gets a makeover

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The Hindu             17.02.2014

Thyagaraya Road gets a makeover

Traffic along Thyagaraya Road in T. Nagar is likely to ease after relocation of the Pondy Bazaar vendors —PHOTO: B. Jothi Ramalingam
Traffic along Thyagaraya Road in T. Nagar is likely to ease after relocation of the Pondy Bazaar vendors —PHOTO: B. Jothi Ramalingam

At last, Thyagaraya Road in T. Nagar looks like a six-lane stretch.

After the relocation of roadside vendors, the road that stretches from Panagal Park to Anna Salai-Teynampet junction looks broad and wide. Traffic markings indicate that it indeed is a six-lane road but for years, it remained clogged as vendors had occupied a part of the road, mainly the Pondy Bazaar stretch.

Now, the vendors are slowly moving into the shopping complex built by the Chennai Corporation. On Sunday, all shops on the first floor were open. On the other floors, only a few shops were open. Despite the relocation however, there is the possibility that some of the hawkers could go back to the road.

Already, half-a-dozen shops sell their wares from outside the complex despite being allotted space inside. Hawkers in the complex allege that some shops have been sub-let. However, Mohammed Hakim, secretary of Rajiv Gandhi Footpath Shops Association that represents footpath shops on Usman Road, said all shops allotted to them have been taken.

“I have a shop on the second floor and sell belts and footwear. Some of them don’t have the money to establish their shops and are taking time setting them up,” he explained. According to Mr. Hakim, all persons who have been allotted space will move in within two months and the rest of the hawkers must approach the government and seek relocation.

Shopkeepers say they are yet to form an association but on each floor, the occupants have appointed a person to sweep and mop the floors every day. “We collect a small amount every month towards maintenance of our space,” said S. Syed Ibrahim, who sells curtains.

The T. Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association members, however, are still sceptical. “We are fed up with the government and police inaction. We are worried that the expansion plan for the Usman Road flyover will result in more hawkers,” said K. Swaminathan, a resident of Usman Road.

 

85% of new roads bad; to be re-laid

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The Hindu               15.02.2014

85% of new roads bad; to be re-laid

shoddy job:Kothwal Chavadi’s Anna Pillai Street was re-laid on February 7 but has failed lab tests. The contractor has been asked to work on it again —Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam
shoddy job:Kothwal Chavadi’s Anna Pillai Street was re-laid on February 7 but has failed lab tests. The contractor has been asked to work on it again —Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam

Contractors engaged by the Chennai Corporation to lay roads will have to buck up and deliver on quality hereafter.

After finding 85 per cent of the newly-laid roads screened this week to be of inferior quality, the civic body has sternly told the contractors to scrape the roads and relay them as per specifications.

“As many as 23 of the 27 roads have failed the test on the required binder content. We have issued notices to the contractors to scrape out the entire road and carry out the work again,” said a senior official.

From this week, the civic body’s newly-created quality control wing has been enforcing the norms of road re-laying.

Following a major administrative revamp of the civic body, the 21-member wing collected samples for ‘core cut sample test’ from 27 roads in the first few days.

Officials have collected samples from areas such as George Town, Royapuram and Manali. “Anna Pillai Street in the busy, commercial neighbourhood of Kothwal Chavadi was re-laid on February 7. But, with just 2.85 per cent of the 3.3 per cent of bitumen mix required, the road has failed lab tests. The contractor did a shoddy job. We have issued notice and ordered the road be laid again,” said an official of the quality control wing.

Some other roads, such as MMDA 9{+t}{+h}Street, 14{+t}{+h}Street, 102{+n}{+d}Street in Manali zone, also failed the lab test.

R.K. Nagar First Street in ward 57, Umberson Street in ward 56 and Davidson Street in ward 56 have also failed the test.

“We will visit other parts of the city shortly. Contactors will be forced to carry out the work again if roads fail the test,” said an official.

A few weeks ago, the civic body had completed a video-recording of newly re-laid roads in the 15 zones. Potholes were identified on a few stretches and contractors were asked to repair them.

But the new initiative through the quality control wing will facilitate complete makeover of the roads as the contractors will have to adhere to quality norms, officials said.

The civic body has already enhanced the guarantee period of roads to five years, in most projects. Road contractors have to maintain the stretches in good condition for the period, as per their agreement, an official said.

 

Vellore Corporation Goes Hi-tech for Streetlight Upkeep

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The New Indian Express             01.02.2014 

Vellore Corporation Goes Hi-tech for Streetlight Upkeep

The Vellore Corporation is set to introduce a high-tech system to monitor and maintain streetlights.

In the next couple of weeks, a Geographic Information System (GIS) to monitor streetlight would be implemented as a public-private partnership project at an estimated cost of `8 crore.

The project aims at cutting down the power consumption and improve the efficiency of monitoring and maintenance.

Corporation Engineer A P Baskaran said the new system, among facilitating other things, would help the Corporation in getting immediate feeedback about the performance of the streetlights,

This would help cut down the power consumption and the electricity bills by at least 40 per cent, he added. 

The Corporation presently has around 17,726 streetlights within the city limit.

A Coimbatore-based company had conducted a study on the wastage of illumination, pole placement, lighting ambience and replacing the current lighting pattern with advanced LED/CFL lighting system, covering all parts of the city in the past two months and had  come up with a report.

The company analysed also the lighting pattern and the electricity consumption in the last three years, that was taken as the baseline for the study.

This report would be validated by a third party and the project would be implemented in the next couple of weeks, Baskaran said.

“It may be completed in the next three or four months,” noted the Corporation Engineer.

Once the project is implemented, the entire streetlights could be monitored by a team of professionals from the company working on a contract basis for the next 10 years.

They would be provided with vehicles and uniforms by the Corporation.

Complaints about the street lights would be addressed instantly as the entire street lighting could be monitored by the Corporation online.

 


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