The Tims of India                  01.12.2010

VUDA okays changes in road widening plan

VADODARA: The Vadodara Urban Development Authority (VUDA) board has approved proposed changes in road lines to broaden six major roads in the city, including major entry roads. In the proposed second revised development plan of the city, VUDA proposes to make the changes in the width of roads subject to necessary approvals by the state government.

The proposed widening of road lines was taken up based on the suggestions of Vadodara Municipal Corporation ( VMC). Six roads have been selected for the purpose and the chief executive officer of the development authority has been empowered by the VUDA board to take up the matter with the state government.

The roads include the national highway (NH) bypass from GSFC Ltd at Chhani to Jambuva. It has been proposed to make the road 40-metre-wide. The road from Pratapnagar to Yamuna Mill and Genda Circle to the Narmada Canal have been proposed to be made 36-metre-wide, while that from Tarsali bus stand to the NH bypass is proposed to be made 30-metre-wide.

Similarly, the road from Maneja to Parshuram Bhattha is proposed to be widened to 15 metres, while the one from Faramji Compound in Alkapuri to Gorwa is proposed to be made 18 metres wide. Also, the road from Subhanpura town planning scheme-II to Gorwa ITI is proposed to be made 21 metres wide.

Sources said that if VUDA took up the task of altering the road lines on its own, it would have implied a complicated process of holding public hearings and then proceeding with the alteration. However, if the state government cleared the road lines in the revised development plans, this can be avoided.

The Deccan Herald  29.11.2010

Banaswadi marches against road widening

Bangalore, November 28, DH News Service :

The residents of Banaswadi along with civil society groups, on Sunday, marched in protest against the State government’s proposal to widen roads in their area.

They accused the government of working on behalf of land sharks and proposed alternative solutions for traffic management without undertaking road-widening.

Banaswadi road is being widened as part of the State government’s plan to widen 800 kilometre of road space on 216 roads. Civil society groups estimate that nearly 37,000 properties in the City will have to be acquired for the  project. The BBMP Opposition leader Padmanabha Reddy termed the proposal as unscientific.

Referring to the highly criticised Banaswadi flyover, he warned residents of the perils of a poorly planned traffic system. “The flyover has led to more traffic problems in the area after it came up”, he said.

S Kumar, Joint Convener of Save Bangalore Committee, slammed the State government for pushing the Transferable Development Rights (TDR) scheme instead of paying compensation to property losers due to the scheme. He traced the origin of TDR to protection of heritage buildings in the US, and pointed that TDR was meant to protect property, not destroy it.

“Instead of providing TDRs, the government must fix a compensation, like they have done for the Metro”, he added.

He alleged that the State government was hand in glove with real estate developers to push for road-widening. He pointed that the implementation of TDRs in cities like Mumbai and Hyderabad have come in for a lot of criticism.

Kumar also questioned the basis for road-widening. He argued that Bogota in Colombia was able to reduce traffic by 24 percent by improving public transport.

The groups sought to know why a mall near Mukunda flyover was granted permission. Their contention was it will increase the traffic significantly. “When the plan is to de-congest Banaswadi Road, how has sanction for this commercial property been allowed,” asked a protester.

The march was organised by the Residents’ Association of Banaswadi and Wheeler Road, Save Bangalore Committee, and Hasiru Usiru. People marched from ITC flyover on Banaswadi Road to Sevanagar flyover.