Urban News

  • Increase font size
  • Default font size
  • Decrease font size
Towns and Cities

Raipur to get flyover, solar facilities, mayor promises

Print PDF

The Times of India        02.03.2013 

Raipur to get flyover, solar facilities, mayor promises

RAIPUR: Introduction of women's special buses in the city, 11km long fly-over from Tatibandh to VIP road, establishing a solar city, efforts to make city polythene free, installation of CCTV cameras on main squares are among the highlights of Raipur Municipal Corporation's (RMC) Rs 70.54 lakh deficit budget presented on Thursday.

Presenting the Rs 1,639 crore budget, mayor Kiranmayee Nayak proposed implementation of an underground sewerage project of Rs 300 crore through JNNURM and introduction of e-governance and online facilities for speedy grant of permissions for building construction, property tax collection, and registration of labourers of unorganised sector.

Elaborating on city bus project under JNNURM, she said that 65 out of 100 buses have already been launched which would be updated with advanced technologies like local display boards, ticket vending machines, setting up of bus stop waiting sheds and online tracking of services. Women special buses, with women drivers and conductors, will also be introduced.

Pointing out that the master plan for solar city has been approved by the Centre, she said RMC would work in collaboration with Chhattisgarh Energy Development Agency (CREDA) to set up a 10 KVA solar power plant and introduce solar street lights in the city. For the solar city, centre will provide Rs 10 lakh every year for a period of five years.

The mayor made budgetary provision for providing free martial arts training for girls in the schools being run by the corporation. A park, exclusively for women, is being developed in the city at Gurutej Bahadur Park near Rajbhawan.

For underground sewerage system, she said a hi-tech survey is being carried out using robotic cameras for which the first installment of Rs 300 crores has been received from the Centre. "This is one of the biggest achievements during my tenure," she said adding that work for setting up a facility for bio-medical waste would begin this year.
Last Updated on Saturday, 02 March 2013 10:39
 

Regular repair secret of NDMC's sturdy roads

Print PDF

The Times of India                02.03.2013

Regular repair secret of NDMC's sturdy roads

NEW DELHI: The difference is stark. The roads in Lutyen's Delhi are as smooth as can be. And the maintenance work is unobtrusive—so much so that you never get to notice if there is anything wrong with any road as a result of wear and tear. The obvious conclusion could be that since VVIPs live in this area, NDMC is super efficient. That is not the entire truth, say officials of New Delhi Municipal Council. A good drainage system and regular maintenance explain why the roads are durable, they say.

The focus, officials say, is on ensuring there is no waterlogging. Due to waterlogging, the bitumen surface becomes weak and cracks. "When a road is relaid, we first improve the drainage system. Also, there is green cover on both sides of the roads which absorbs the water. As a result, we don't face the waterlogging,'' said an NDMC official.

The three municipal corporations, on the other hand, don't undertake any work for strengthening stormwater drains every time a road, especially in residential colonies, is relaid. Though it routinely desilts drains, waterlogging is common in the rest of the capital. Every year, Delhi Traffic Police sends a list of stretches prone to waterlogging and civic agencies claim every year close to 1lakh metric tonnes of silt is removed. "If it rains continuously, we can't do anything. Every year, we carry out routine road repairs, especially before monsoon," a North corporation official said. Routine repairs on damaged stretches the year round is one reason why NDMC roads are in such good condition. "We immediately repair potholes. It is easier to fix a small pothole and difficult to level the big ones as they reappear due to heavy traffic flow,'' said an NDMC official. Residents in other parts of the capital claim civic agencies don't fix potholes in time and the patchwork is very poor. "I fail to understand why the area where the patchwork is done is not leveled. The road is uneven and difficult to drive on,'' said Manish Khanna, a resident of Lajpat Nagar.

The Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) had prepared a road maintenance plan in 2004 with recommendations for the civic agencies but it has not been implemented. Experts say the life of a road can be prolonged if the corporation does micro-surfacing, a practice common in the Lutyen's zone. A 4mm bitumen layer is laid and a chemical adhesion promoter added which seals the crater. Instead of relaying the whole road, the upper layer is removed and micro-surfacing done. For at least three years, no repairs are required. "It is the cheapest and most effective method...otherwise the road would have potholes,'' said PK Jain, chief scientist, CRRI. NDMC has done micro-surfacing of close to 30 stretches. Officials say roads that were dense-carpeted eight years back are still in a good condition due to micro-surfacing. But the corporations say it's expensive affair. "Micro-surfacing adds only three years to a road's life. It is expensive and not good for roads with heavy vehicle movement. PWD used it on two roads but it wasn't successful," said PK Gupta, commissioner, North corporation. Gupta added that they also use the stone mastic technique. "Stone mastic technique may make the road more durable but the cost is high. It takes a month for the road to set in but contractors open the road soon after the layer has cooled. It doesn't mean that the road has set in. It isn't only costly, but a hazard to environment as for preparing the aggregate, a temperature of 220 degree Celsius is needed which cause pollution. Instead of mastic, micro-surfacing is a better option and nowadays it is being used even on flyovers. Our experience in Hyderabad has been quite satisfactory," said Jain.

The usage of dubious material and no proper quality checks are the other factors for the terrible state of city roads. The corporations, which are now making cemented roads using ready mixed concrete technique, are still struggling to provide smooth roads. "If the compaction is inadequate, there are voids. It is important that quality checks are carried out," said Jain.

Last Updated on Saturday, 02 March 2013 09:55
 

Vadodara Municipal Corporation opposition objects to city bus service being awarded without bids

Print PDF

The Times of India                   01.02.2013

Vadodara Municipal Corporation opposition objects to city bus service being awarded without bids

VADODARA: The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) opposition has raised the issue of the contract for the city bus service being awarded without any bids to the existing operator with a minor rise in the annual premium.

The operator Vitcos Pvt Ltd has been operating the bus service since five years after it got the contract in 2008. It earlier paid Rs 18.55 lakh as annual premium that is proposed to be revised to Rs 19.62 lakh. But the operator has shot a letter to the VMC demanding that the premium be done away with. It has also given a list of demands that it wants to be fulfilled before starting the service again.

Opposition leader and Congress councillor Chandrakant Shrivastava said that the civic body should not bow down to such tactics. Shrivastava demanded that fresh bids should be invited for the service. This, he said, would bring competition and the VMC would not have to budge under pressure.

At the other end, sources said that there were few operators who were willing to run such services. "Nobody came forward for the service in Rajkot and eventually Vitcos was given the task there. Even it had to wind up the service as it was unviable within two months of commencement. Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) is struggling to find a contractor to run the service there. It has reduced the premium and deposit amounts drastically to find one," said the official.

Last Updated on Friday, 01 March 2013 11:50
 


Page 208 of 870