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Public Health / Sanitation

Rs 600-crore river restoration project promises to solve city’s sewage problem

Wednesday, 27 October 2010 11:19 administrator
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Indian  Express   27.10.2010

Rs 600-crore river restoration project promises to solve city’s sewage problem

Express News Service Tags : project, Mahratta Chamber of Commerce Industries and Agriculture, MCCIA Posted: Wed Oct 27 2010, 03:10 hrs

Pune:  Rs 600-crore river restoration project to be implemented jointly by the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA) and city-based consultancy agency Naik Environment Research Institute (NERIL) on a public-private partnership basis promises to find a solution to the city’s sewage problems.

The project will stretch from Vitthalwadi to Kharadi, a distance of about 17 km, and is expected to be complete in three years. A level of 0.6 TMC will be maintained through the stretch.

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) treats 567 million litres per day (MLD) of the 700 MLD sewage water generated in the city that comes from 45 canals. Instead of a large 200 MLD sewage treatment plant, the plan proposes to make 20 smaller plants at several points.

D D Naik, chairman and managing director, NERIL said, “So far the project has been approved by 73 per cent non-government organisations in the city. Of the total project costs, while Rs 60 crore is to be raised by corporates and other sources, the remaining 90 per cent would be soft loans from financial institutions like the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. A 25 year pay-back period is being estimated for the project, for which the revenue will be raised through transportation and tourism that is expected to thrive once the project becomes operational.”

The special purpose vehicle company named Pune Restoration and Navigation Co Ltd, which will handle the project has industrialist Atul Kirloskar and technocrat Ravi Pandit, Naik and Malhotra as its directors. Mukesh Malhotra, former president MCCIA, said if all goes according to the plan then the boats that will run the waterway will have a carrying capacity to 1.5 lakh two-wheelers per day.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 27 October 2010 11:21
 

Garbage to be cleared twice a day in Shimoga

Wednesday, 27 October 2010 09:35 administrator
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The Hindu  27.10.2010

Garbage to be cleared twice a day in Shimoga

Special Correspondent

Officials blame absenteeism among workers for waste piling up


Verbal duel:Councillors discussing cleanliness issue in Shimoga on Tuesday.

SHIMOGA: Shimoga City Municipal Council (CMC) here on Tuesday decided to take up cleaning of the streets and clearing of the garbage twice a day. This was in response to the unanimous demand of the councillors from all the parties at the council meeting.

K.B. Prasannakumar (Congress) drew the attention of the House to the problem of piling up of garbage and the stray pigs, which had become a menace.

He said although the garbage bins were overflowing, they were not cleared. “The problem of hygiene has become so acute that the councillors are reluctant to face the citizens,” he said.

CMC president K.S. Gangadharappa said it was regrettable that the problem had persisted despite his best efforts in extracting work from the staff concerned.

Engineer Manukumar said that there were 1,000-km long drains, 800-km roads and 74-km long conservancies in the city and for the cleaning 180 regular workers and 78 workers hired by various agencies were being engaged. The regular work gets hampered as 10 per cent of these workers abstained from work daily, he said.

Councillor Ramu pointed out that the cleanliness work was being taken up by many municipal bodies in the State twice a day while it was not being done even once in Shimoga. . The former CMC president M. Shankar said the cleanliness be taken twice daily immediately and it was the responsibility of the administration to extract work from the workers who were reluctant to do their work.

Several Congress members led by H.C. Yogish rushed to the dais to protest against the irregularity in holding the meetings to take stock of the havoc caused by the rains recently.

They took exception to the survey conducted on the extent of damage caused by the rains without bringing it to the notice of the councillors concerned.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 27 October 2010 09:40
 

Panel okays betterment charges, garbage cess

Wednesday, 27 October 2010 09:31 administrator
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The Hindu  27.10.2010

Panel okays betterment charges, garbage cess

Staff Reporter

Betterment charges rate has been reduced by Rs. 50 for all categories

Bangalore: The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike's (BBMP) Standing Committee on Taxation and Finance on Tuesday approved the proposal to collect betterment charges and garbage cess from citizens. It will now come before the BBMP Council for approval.

Sources said that the betterment charges rate had been reduced by Rs. 50 for all categories. It has been proposed that the owners of sites measuring up to 30 ft X 40 ft (111 sq m) pay Rs. 150 per sq m, those owning sites measuring up to 60 ft X 40 ft (222.96 sq m) pay Rs. 200 per sq m, while those owning larger sites pay Rs. 300 per sq m. The committee decided to award garbage tenders either sub-division-wise or ward-wise and okayed garbage cess on property tax. The BBMP hopes to collect at least Rs. 150 crore under this head.

Sources said that the committee members decided to not award the tenders/ contract to those against whom the Vigilance Cell had recommended criminal action. The 30-odd contractors had gone to court. However, the court has now directed the Commissioner to look into the charges levelled by the Vigilance Cell and initiate appropriate action against the contractors.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 27 October 2010 09:33
 
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