Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation digs into utility service providers' habitual excavation
Tuesday, 19 November 2013 10:43
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The Times of India 19.11.2013 Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation digs into utility service providers' habitual excavation
NAVI MUMBAI: The civic body is engaged in some hard talk with public service providers like power, telecom and piped gas companies to accept its proposal of providing underground cables and pipes via ducts to prevent frequent digging of roads, or else be denied permission for digging in the future. The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has asked for detailed maps from various service providers in the next 10 days.
City engineer Mohan Dagaonkar is currently holding talks with various service providers over this. "There can be two separate ducts - one for general utility service providers and another for electricity cables," said Dagaonkar. "However, the Mahanagar gas pipeline comprises pressure pipes and to ensure the safety aspect; so we will exclude them," he added.
Dagaonkar said that the connectivity to plots in new areas needed to be planned ahead so that the roads are not dug up. This move is in keeping with the Rs 7,000 crore-One Time Planning proposed by Thane guardian minister, Ganesh Naik, to make Navi Mumbai a global city, said city mayor Sagar Naik. "The current locations of the networks would be overhauled, but it would be a one-time change,'' he added.
The mayor has suggested that the ducts be laid alongside roads or under pavements and manholes placed at regular intervals to expedite repair and maintenance work.
The cost factor has to be taken into account, by the various agencies
as the underground gas pipelines, power and telephone cables, fibre optic connections and the overhead cables for TV will have to pass through a common duct. The MSEDCL executive engineer, Vashi, S D Survade said, "We have agreed to the duct system in the new areas and will work as per the plan of the civic body. But total overhauling would require substantial money and the higher-ups will have to decide that.''
"All over the world, the mega cities have adopted this system. There are manholes at intervals for repair and maintenance work.
Our experience is that the roads are dug up frequently by various service providers and are never the same after digging. I have noticed the bad condition of roads. and the uneven, incomplete and shoddy that give way during rains, resulting in bumpy rides and health problems to those travelling by three-wheelers and two-wheelers
This move should put an end to it,'' said mayor Naik.
The NMMC has attempted to combine the forthcoming road repairs and laying of the duct as a joint effort to solve the problem. The civic body has a major road repair plan, the mayor said. The roads were dug up for the JNNURM sponsored water supply and sewerage pipeline networks. These roads were also dug up during the last two years by various service providers. Now, with the twin infra works over, the civic body wants to lay good roads and has initiated dialogue with the service providers to provide a long-lasting solution to end the menace of endless digging.
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Patna Municipal Corporation files FIRs against 15
Tuesday, 19 November 2013 10:34
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The Times of India 19.11.2013 Patna Municipal Corporation files FIRs against 15
PATNA: Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) conducted raids on two different apartments in the New Capital Division area on Monday. Two FIRs were lodged with the Sri Krishna Puri police station against altogether 15 persons for violating the building by-laws, fraud and criminal conspiracy.
According to executive officer, New Capital Division, Shashank Shekhar, Orchid Apartment was under scanner as it violated the Bihar Municipal Act, 2007. "On September 25, the building was inspected and after that a direction to stop construction was intimated to the builder, Rajesh Sikariya, and a reply was sought," said Shekhar. However, violating the directive, the builder not only completed the construction but also gave a few sections for commercial activities. "As per the rules, the occupants have to take Occupancy Certificate from PMC before moving in the building, but this rule too was violated," said Shekhar and added, "it is purely a case of fraud and criminal conspiracy as it is impossible that they were unaware of the litigation when we were intensely advertising our moves through public notices."
A team led by Shashank Shekhar and police officials from Sri Krishnapuri police station raided the apartment and allegedly found Ravindra Nath Rai, Dinesh Kumar Mishra, Arvind Singh, Niraj Kumar, Dilip Jha, Vani Israel Sheikh, Anil Asthana, Vishambhar Jha, Dhananjay Kumar Singh, Sanjay Kumar and Mohan Jha violating the norms of the PMC.
In another raid conducted by the PMC on Shakuntala Apartment on Mother Teresa Road in the same division on Monday, an FIR was lodged against four persons in a case of violation of the building norms. The civic body had demanded construction-related papers from the builder, Praveenji, on June 27. On his failure to produce the documents, the PMC asked Sri Krishnapuri police station to stop the construction work. On receiving information that the construction work still continued, the PMC, with the help of area police station, conducted the raid. An FIR was lodged against Siraj Ahmad, Mahesh Prasad, Mohammad Hanas and Mohammad Zafar with the Sri Krishnapuri police station.
Thane Municipal Corporation eyes half the slice of rental housing pie
Tuesday, 19 November 2013 10:31
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The Times of India 19.11.2013 Thane Municipal Corporation eyes half the slice of rental housing pie
THANE: A financially wobbly Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) is eyeing half of the profit private builders are making from projects being developed under the rental housing scheme. The idea could be a potential game-changer for the civic body, which is currently scratching its head on ways to develop greater affordable housing stock for city and funds to support the same.
A proposal to seek 51% of the profit developers are likely to make
under the scheme will be tabled before the general body meeting scheduled this week. The proposal has been moved by the corporation to seek approval from the general body (GB) for modifying development control rules (DCR) under Section 37 of the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Department (MRTP) Act, 1966. Once the GB gives its nod, the proposal will be moved to the state government for its approval and amendment.
According to official estimates of TMC development plan (DP) department, changes once made may generate revenue anywhere to the tune of Rs 500 crore to Rs 1,000 crore, sufficient to finance future cluster redevelopment schemes being planned by the TMC for dilapidated areas of Thane.
''If implemented in letter and spirit, this amendment has the potential to not only fund future cluster schemes but also make TMC one of the richest corporation in the country. The logic is simple, if the land belongs to the corporation, then it must get major chunk of the profit being made by the builder,'' said a senior official of the DP department.
According to the proposal, the builder will have to surrender half of profit being made by selling housing stock currently split between the government and the developer in a 1:3 ratio. According to official estimates, most schemes in Thane and surrounding regions are expected to yield at least 25,000 homes in the near future. The developers share as per the share ratio is likely to be three times more.
''If the government alone is generating 25,000 homes on its share of the ratio, you can imagine the killing developers are making by selling the stock three times more in size,'' said an official from the TMC.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority was appointed the nodal agency for the projects and has so far okayed close to 50 construction projects under the scheme and almost all are situated in areas of Thane, Kalyan, Mira-Bhayander and Dombivili. As many 150 projects under the scheme are expected to generate two lakh homes in the far-flung areas of MMR.
Under the scheme, units of the size of 160-square-foot are constructed and rented out for Rs 800 to Rs 1,500. The developer is in turn eligible for floor space index (FSI) of 3 (this was earlier 4 but was recently revised after criticism that it could lead to load on existing infrastructure). The housing stock thus generated is shared between the government and the developer in a ratio of 1:3.
The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority gets to claim 50% of the tenements from the government's share, which it allots through lottery. The remaining 50% is shared between the local corporation and the government that can then use it as transit camps or for accommodating project affected people.
The rental housing scheme, however, has turned out to be a failure with only 3,000 odd houses being constructed so far. The first of the two projects under the scheme based in Thane are ready, but haven't been alloted since. Of these 1,492 tenements are ready at Dosti Vihar Complex in Vartak Nagar and 1,429 at Dosti Imperia Complex in Manpada.
''The TMC can only hope to reap benefits of rental housing if the scheme itself takes off. Also, this is likely to discourage developers from participating in the projects,'' said a senior official of the Maharashtra government.
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