The Indian Express              28.10.2013 

VUDA a step closer to redeveloping Madhavnagar, Keshavnagar 

Almost a month after the Vadodara Urban Development Authority (VUDA) decided to redevelop the Madhavnagar and Keshavnagar colonies, the authority has now finalised its tender process.

According to VUDA officials, the authority will float the online tender by the end of the coming week, before Diwali, so that the bids can be finalized by mid-November.

The residents of the Madhavnagar and Keshavnagar societies had been promised, in writing, of finalizing the tender within November. Accordingly, VUDA decided to open the e-tender process. The redevelopment plan was approved at one of its board meeting on October 3. The bids are expected to be finalized by the middle of November.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Assistant Chief Engineer and Assistant Town Development Officer AC Vyas said, "We have laid down the prerequisite qualifications required for the bids and will invite e-tenders by next week before Diwali. Once the bids come in, we will select the one that meets the criteria and finalize it."

It was decided that the two colonies will be reconstructed under a Public Private Partnership (PPP), after residents opposed the authority's plan to combine the two colonies into a single re-developed colony in Madhavnagar.

Vyas said the ground plus five-storey structures in both the locations will be used for rehabilitation of the families, and once the families have been settled, the remaining land will be utilised by the developer for private sale. "Decision on the number of buildings to be constructed on each plot has not been taken. We will give the builders the liberty to chalk out a plan," Vyas says. The developers will be allowed to construct taller private buildings.

The Indian Express              28.10.2013 

CP project in mess, NDMC scouts for new contractor

New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has decided to dismiss Engineers India Ltd (EIL), the agency responsible for Connaught Place redevelopment, because of their "casual approach" towards the project.

The council has also decided to outsource the remaining work to a "more professional company".

According to the chairperson of NDMC, Jalaj Srivastava, the work left unfinished by EIL will be handed to another company that can be penalised for not finishing the given task on time. "We will monitor the work closely on real time basis," Srivastava said.

"First, EIL missed several deadlines. Then, a blame game began when unfinished work that they should have taken care of was flagged out. We cannot penalise them because there is no clause for the same in their contract. We have now decided to take the project in our hands. We are going to remove EIL from all the works and we will carry out repair and maintenance ourselves," the chairman said.

The Rs 300-crore project took three years to reach completion, and yet, there are many areas where work is still incomplete. In fact, the project was scheduled for completion in October 2010 before the Commonwealth Games. But EIL kept missing deadlines.

While taking over the reins of the project, Srivastava also said NDMC would stick to the original plan to make offices, hotels and shops in Connaught Place centrally air-conditioned.

"The air conditioners placed on windows look ugly. The centralised air cooling system will improve the energy efficiency and will help in making the area look better," he said.