The Times of India            30.10.2013

BMC inks deal for 600 RAY houses

BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar municipal corporation (BMC) on Monday signed an MoU with National Building Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC) for construction of Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) houses at Gadakana here.

Sources said the RAY houses were to be constructed at Rangamatia. Following opposition from locals, the BMC instead chose Gadakana, where 600 houses would be constructed over five acre by NBCC, a public sector undertaking under ministry of urban development.

"The model for the houses has been approved. There will be four floors. It will help rehabilitate slum dwellers of Mancheswar Munda Sahi, Patra Sahi and Dasaraj Basti. The total cost of the project is Rs 54 crore," said RAY project officer Srimanta Mishra.

He said while Union government would share 50% of the project cost, the state would chip in with 30% and the beneficiaries 20%.

The central sanctioning and monitoring committee (CSMC) on RAY approved the funding for the BMC.

The city has 436 slums and after a survey, about 70,000 households were identified under RAY. In May, the civic body roped in a Hyderabad-based private company for demarcation of slum areas through a geographic information system (GIS).

The company put up pillars at the slums for demarcation of the actual area, where RAY houses would be constructed. The civic body would get the satellite imagery of slum areas and keep them as proof for socio-economic survey. "We will integrate the satellite imagery of slums with the socio-economic survey, which includes collating data of individual slum dwellers. The information will help us offer RAY houses to them," said BMC commissioner Sanjib Mishra.

The commissioner said the BMC got Rs 2.4 crore under the centrally-sponsored 'challenge funds' for the proposed street vending project last month. "As many as 19 locations have been identified for vending zones. About 547 vendors will be rehabilitated," he said.

The Hindu            30.10.2013

Open tenders to be called for restoration of civic infrastructure

Staff Reporter

Restoration of civic infrastructure damaged in the recent downpour will be taken up by awarding works in open tender process.

Priority will be given to roads, drinking water supply lines, streetlights, followed by drains, culverts, and retaining walls.

Municipal Commissioner M.V. Satyanarayana said a list of prioritised works should be submitted through Chief Engineer B. Jayarami Reddy.

Officials favoured short-tender process rather than nomination for restoration and awarding works to several contractors rather than one.

For Zone I, II, and Bheemunipatnam, Nagendra Kumar and Superintendent Engineer Suryahyothi; Additional Commissioner Ramesh and SE V. Chandrayya (Zone III and IV); Additional Commissioner P. Purnachandra Rao, and Superintendent Engineer Umamaheswara Rao (for Zone V, VI, and Anakapalle) have been asked to supervise the execution of works.

Officials said roads at Malkapuram, Tatichetlapalem, and Akkayyapalem were worst-affected. Three of the seven breaches caused to Raiwada canal were plugged. Yeleru canal suffered 11 breaches.

Initial estimate of damages in the corporation is put at Rs.25.7 crore.

Priority will be given to roads, drinking water supply lines, streetlights, followed by drains, culverts, and retaining walls.