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No repairs sans AMC sanction

Wednesday, 01 August 2012 08:48 administrator
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The Times of India    01.08.2012

No repairs sans AMC sanction

AHMEDABAD: To curb surreptitious building repairs in the walled city, municipal commissioner Guruprasad Mohapatra has issued a notification restricting any repair works of listed heritage properties without the permission of the AMC. The notification says that the new heritage laws are part of the general development control regulation and any owner caught doing unlawful repair works will face strict action.

The notification was issued on July 24. It states, "Owners and stakeholders of listed heritage buildings are hereby directed not to demolish any listed heritage building or structure, unless a written permission is obtained from the competent authority of the AMC. Any violation of this notice will be dealt strictly under the provisions of the GDCR." The list has been accredited by the Heritage Conservation Committee ( HCC) which has jurisdiction over heritage properties within AMC and Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority ( AUDA) limits.

A detailed list of more than 12,500 heritage properties of the walled city has been put up by the AMC on its website. "There have been few demolitions in the walled city even after a gazette notification was brought out few months ago. The recent public notice is to warn the owners who are indulging in unlawful repair works of their buildings. We even have information that some heritage structures are being pulled down to turn them into commercial properties," says a senior AMC official.


Last Updated on Wednesday, 01 August 2012 08:52
 

Make development plan public, activists tell Pune Municipal Corporation

Saturday, 28 July 2012 09:55 administrator
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The Times of India    28.07.2012

Make development plan public, activists tell Pune Municipal Corporation

PUNE: Civic society groups have said the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) should comply with the RTIAct and make copies of the Development Plan (DP) public.

"We are unhappy that only select people have access to the draft DP proposal, while the public at large is kept in the dark. The PMC claimed it was in the best interest of the city not to publicize the plan and that it had only been shared with the City Improvement Committee (CIC).

This claim proved bogus when an RTI activist recently leaked the draft Development Control (DC) Rules, clearly showing that the plan was, in fact, being circulated. This has raised serious questions about vested interests at work, while the public is denied the right to this same information," stated the press release issued by civic groups on Friday.

The groups include Parisar, Shelter Associates, Surajya Sangharsh Samiti, Pune Cycle Pratishthan, PMP Pravasi Manch, National Societies for Clean Cities, etc.

"The draft DP proposal was given to the CIC in December 2011. It was always assumed that the draft DP was to be kept a secret and not to be shared with the public for sensitivity of reservations. However, with the advent of the 2005 RTI Act, it is now mandatory for a public authority to make all information, documents, minutes of meetings and decisions available to the public. By default, everything is public unless it is explicitly excluded under one of the clauses of section 8 of the RTI Act," said the groups.

Members of the groups negated PMC's claims that the "proposal" to the CIC is only a pre-draft and since it contains sensitive information, it cannot be made public. "The Hon'ble Delhi high court in a recent ruling, related to the Dr Madhav Gadgil Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel report submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Forest, categorically stated that no document can be denied on the grounds of it being a draft and that widespread public consultations are essential and it can only help strengthen public policies and keep vested interests at bay," stated thegroups' press release.

The press release said while the PMC will have to comply with the statutory 30-day period of public scrutiny as per Section 26 of the (amended) MR&TP Act, it must also make public the proposal as required by the Right to Information Act, especially given the inordinate delays in the preparation of the plan and the possibility this raises of influence by vested interests, who clearly already have access to it.

Releasing this document to the public will allow greater and meaningful participation of the public and ensure that any chance of "behind the door" deals will be nipped in the bud.

Last Updated on Saturday, 28 July 2012 09:56
 

Price rise will not be a cause for Metro delay: Urban development minister

Saturday, 28 July 2012 09:40 administrator
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The Times of India  28.07.2012

Price rise will not be a cause for Metro delay: Urban development minister

JAIPUR: Urban Development and Housing (UDH) minister Shanti Dhariwal on Friday assured that the current price rise in building materials and inflation will not be allowed to become a cause for delay in the Metro project.

During a visit to the metro sites on Friday, the minister informed that a meeting was held between contractors, UDH department officials, Delhi Metro (DMRC) and Jaipur Metro (JMRC) officials to come out with ways and means so that the construction can be completed on time.

While talking to the media Dhariwal said, "The state government will solve the situation amiably and work will be completed within the given deadline - June 2013. We are having meeting with the contractors on a regular basis and the state government will help them to overcome the situation."

The minister asserted that the DMRC and the contractors will be hold responsible if there is a delay after so much efforts. Supporting the minister's statement, DMRC managing director Mangu Singh said, "The work will be completed within the deadline. We had a meeting with the minister on Thursday and assurance has been given to the people after our commitment."

With the rise in prices of steel and cement recently, the input cost of construction for the project has increased. This has affected the project badly as contractors believe the project as a loss-making effort and so they have started showing less interest.

Jaipur Metro, if completed on time, could make a world record for the fastest construction of a Metro rail project. So far, the project has witnessed many stumbling blocks. Work at several sites on the 9.25 km-long stretch from Mansarovar to Chandpole came to a halt after the Rajasthan high court banned mining from Banas river in May.

Similarly, work between Shyam Nagar and Ram Nagar stations was delayed as the land owner of Dhamani Garden, where rehabilitation for residents of 12 houses of Ved Vatika colony was proposed, moved court.

According to a DMRC official, the corporation was planning to complete the civil work before December 2012 when an inspection team from the Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) will conduct a number of oscillation trials. However, due to delay in the land transfer process earlier, the trial run of Jaipur Metro has to be delayed by two months.

DMRC officials claimed that land acquisition led to a three-month delay. "We are hopeful to complete the work before June 2013. But the time given for the project was very demanding and filled with interruptions which made it more challenging. We are taking all the measures to complete it in the stipulated time," DMRC project director Lalit Meghnani said.

Last Updated on Saturday, 28 July 2012 09:42
 
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