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NDMC hikes parking fee, new rates in three months

Thursday, 11 April 2013 00:00 administrator
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The Indian Express                        11.04.2013

NDMC hikes parking fee, new rates in three months

New Delhi Municipal Council on Wednesday approved a hike in parking rates, which council officials said will be implemented in three months' time.

A K Mishra, Director, Public Relations and Chief of Enforcement department said NDMC will be able to implement the new rates after inviting fresh tenders for its parking sites. "We have a period of three months to implement the new parking rates," Mishra said.

The approval for a hike in parking rates was deferred in the last council meeting, after BJP MLA and member of council Karan Singh Tanwar objected to the rates.

According to the new rates, the hike will be the maximum for those parking their vehicle for two hours at a time, officials said. Sixty-seven per cent of the cars are parked for up to two hours, for which the percentage of increase in parking fee will be much as 300 per cent, officials said.

Council officials have proposed a rate of Rs 20 per hour as compared to existing rate of Rs 10. The rate will go up by Rs 20 for every one hour of parking space used.

The decision has come at a time when the city's three corporations have categorically rejected Lieutenant Governor's direction to increase parking rates a month ago.

Officials have now suggested that NDMC's parking sites be divided in two categories — A and B.

The council has 54 parking sites that have been divided in to five groups. Of these, 13 parking lots were allotted on Bhagidari basis to various institutions and government offices.

The remaining 41 were divided in to five groups, which have been allotted on tender basis for a period ending March 31, 2013.

Parking meter

Period New rates Existing rates % hike

0-30 minutes Rs 20 Rs 10 100%

0-1 hour Rs 20 Rs 10 100%

0-2 hours Rs 40 Rs 10 300%

0-3 hours Rs 60 Rs 20 200%

3-4 hours Rs 80 Rs 30 166%

4-5 hours Rs 100 Rs 40 150%

5-6 hours Rs 100 Rs 50 100%

6-7 hours Rs 100 Rs 60 66%

7-8 hours Rs 100 Rs 70 43%

8-9 hours Rs 100 Rs 80 25%

9-10 hours Rs 100 Rs 90 10%

 

Civil bodies protest against 'privatization' of water supply

Wednesday, 10 April 2013 11:56 administrator
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The Times of India                  10.04.2013

Civil bodies protest against 'privatization' of water supply

GUWAHATI: Several citizens' bodies on Tuesday staged a protest at the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) office, decrying a possible move by the state government to privatize and commercialize upcoming urban water supply projects in Guwahati.

The newly floated citizens' forum, Guwahati Sanmilita Nagarik Adhikar Suraksha Mancha, under the leadership of noted intellectual Hiren Gohain protested against privatisation of water.

Policemen were deployed in the GMDA office where the protestors gathered shouting slogans against the 'commercialization and privatization' of water supply in Guwahati.

"Water supply projects have been undertaken without due consultation with citizens. There are reports that they are aimed at privatizing water supply in the city. Such a move violates the UN mandate that the right to water is a human right and also the Supreme Court's view, which has directed that the right to water be recognized as part of the fundamental Right to Life guaranteed by the Constitution," said Akhil Ranjan Dutta, professor of Gauhati University.
Last Updated on Wednesday, 10 April 2013 11:59
 

International journal pat for KMC's speedboat response to dengue

Wednesday, 10 April 2013 11:49 administrator
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The Times of India                  10.04.2013

International journal pat for KMC's speedboat response to dengue

KOLKATA: After being mired in controversies over the last few months, here's a reason to smile for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, an Oxford-based British journal, has recognized the civic body's contentious move to use speedboats along city's canals for the purpose of destruction of mosquito larvae.

Evidently, Atin Ghosh, the member, mayor-in-council, appeared happy after the news reached him. He looked confident on Tuesday when he announced that the civic body would extend the service this year too. "We had been telling that this system of killing mosquito larvae is proven and scientific. But the opposition did not believe us. They wanted to laugh at us without going into the details of the method. Now with the famous international journal recognizing our efforts, we feel encouraged to extend the service to all major canals as part of our fight against dengue and malaria," Ghosh said. This year, special emphasis will be given on plying of speedboats along all major canals to prevent seasonal vector-borne diseases, Ghosh said.

The British journal in its March issue had published the special paper sent to it by a team of civic doctors and researchers including Debasis Biswas, T K Mukherjee, Baisakhi Biswas, Bithika Mondal and Atanu Banerjee. The paper mentioned that plying of speedboats along major canals last year had a unique effect on the mosquito larvae.

"That the waves created by these speedboats actually kill mosquito larvae has been proved beyond doubt. We are encouraged by such results and will continue to apply this method this year," Debasis Biswas said. T K Mukherjee, the chief municipal health official, felt that it was a rare honour for a civic body to get recognition from an international journal. "Though we are a service-oriented organization, this type of research work will help build our image," Mukherjee said.
Last Updated on Wednesday, 10 April 2013 11:54
 
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