The Union Government has sanctioned Rs 50 lakh to the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) for preparing an action plan to introduce solar power system in streetlighting and to bring about awareness among people over non-conventional energy to reduce carbon monoxide emissions in thickly populated areas.

As part of the scheme, VMC has called for tenders to select a consultant to prepare a roadmap for identification of places where carbon monoxide emission is high and submit proposals to the Corporation.

The tenders evoked good response with five companies coming forward for technical bidding. The project would be continued for a period of five years.

VMC officials are also planning to introduce solar power in Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) houses coming up at Jakkampudi village, near here. They are planning to introduce Light Emission Diodes (LEDs) to reduce the emission of carbon monoxide.

The Corporation authorities are also planning to introduce solar lighting on the Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) roads on a stretch of 1 km. The Corporation would implement the solar city project in collaboration with Non-conventional Energy Development Corporation of AP Ltd (NEDCAP).

The main objective of the Solar City Project is to promote the use of renewable energy in urban areas by providing support to municipal corporations, to address energy challenges at city level, to build capacity in urban locol bodies and create awareness among all sections of society.

The Union Ministry has already initiated various programmes in the urban sector for promoting solar water heating systems in homes to save power.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is going to announce a national solar energy policy on November 14. The State Government is also initiating plans to popularise the solar energy systems.

BBMP will widen the road from the railway bridge (entrance of Tannery Road) up to Yelahanka (connecting Bellary Road). The road will be widened to 80 ft and it will be a connecter from Tannery Road through Nagavara-Tannisandra- Hegde Nagar to Yelahanka. It will be an alternate link to the Bangalore International Airport (BIA).

The widening is essential because this will make it easier for traffic from Shivajinagar, Frazer Town and other eastern parts of the city to reach the BIA. The widening of the stretch between Nagavara and Tanisandra is underway. It was easy to acquire land here as there were not many constructions, said a senior BBMP official.

However, the residents on Tannery road are not happy with the TDR option because, under the scheme, the property owners can have an additional built-up area on the remaining portion of the land.

This additional built-up area can be used by the owners either for themselves on the remaining portion of the land or for land owned by them in other parts of the city.

However, there will be no monetary compensation under this scheme, explained the BBMP official.

While few properties will have to lose a major portion of land, some have to lose the entire portion.

“To resolve the issue with those who will be losing their entire portion, a proposal has been submitted to the government and we are awaiting response,” the official added.

But the residents are demanding monetary compensation. “Monetary compensation is being given for land acquired for metro. Why should BBMP not follow the same procedure for us?” asked Saniulla, a resident on Tannery Road.

Reacting to the demand, BBMP officials said that the only option they have is TDR and only the government can decide if anything else can be done. The official said, “At present, we are trying to convince the public about the TDR concept, but the majority is not happy about it.” The problem is that many have already constructed additonal floors violating building by-laws and they would not gain anything from the TDR scheme. “That is why they do not want TDR,” explained the official.

The work will take more than 12 months to complete.