The Times of India  11.08.2010

LUCKNOW: After being declared a no-hoarding zone, Lalbagh is all set to have a new park, this time near Bhopal House. On Thursday, Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) started dredging operations on the intersection along Bhopal House having a series of shops selling automobile spare parts.

JCBs were pressed into service to bulldoze the divider running in the middle of the road to pave way for a vacant piece of land. A posse of police was present on the spot. The traffic too was diverted around Bhopal House triggering chaos, which was, however, overcome by traffic cops soon.

The locality already has two parks -- Dayanidhan Park and Jhandewala Park -- which too would go for modification. Municipal commissioner S K Singh said that the new park would add beauty to the locality which is otherwise marred by traffic congestion and illegal parking lots. According to him, the park would cost LMC anywhere in the range of Rs 25 lakh to Rs 30 lakh in the process, while the executive committee of LMC would decide upon a name for the park.

The facelift of Lalbagh comes close on the heels of that of Hazratganj, which too has been declared a no-hoarding zone, with authorities planning to get the upmarket area painted in a uniform colour scheme.

The park, claimed Singh, would have benches and fountains for shopkeepers as well as visitors. "The area already had two parks which were, however, not being maintained as per the expectations,'' the municipal commissioner said.

Dayanidhan Park had fallen prey to encroachment. In fact, the park had a Jal Sansthan pumping station besides a garbage dumpyard. The pumping station was bulldozed recently, with LMC planning to get it constructed underground. Singh said that the dumpyard too would be made underground.

The Times of India  10.08.2010

Ahmedabad Metropolitan Region plan gathering dust

AHMEDABAD: Size does matter for Ahmedabad especially after the registrar general announced the Ahmedabad Urban Agglomeration (AUA) two weeks ago spanning 750 square kilometres, which will form the core urban area of city.

But few know that a plan for the Ahmedabad Metropolitan Region (AMR) spanning 10,222 square kilometres, much on the lines of National Capital Region (NCR)-Delhi, Mumbai metropolitan region (MMR) gathers dust in the state government.

CEPT University was roped in as a consultant for the project and asked to prepare a report on AMR which they submitted two years back. But since then has been tangled up in a variety of political and regional issues. However, CEPT had submitted a plan for Hyderabad-Secunderabad metropolitan region spanning more than 8,000 square kilometres and has been accepted by the Andhra Pradesh state government.

"The issue is complex as regional controls play a major role in decision making process. These include, village, taluka, and district level controls which is yet to be resolved. Earlier there were talks on a 3,000 square kilometres and 4,000 square kilometres of metropolitan area for Ahmedabad and was stuck in these vital issues," says a senior official in the Gujarat Industrial Development Board (GIDB).

Ahmedabad was talking big in AMR as the plan stretched the city's limits up to as far as Viramgam, Mehsana, Prantij, Petlad, Umreth, Tarapur and Nalsarovar. A big leap, given that just three years ago Ahmedabad was just a 198 sq km city when it gobbled up another 300 sq km to emerge as a mega city spread over 498 sq km and housing 55 lakh people.

To begin with, the plan suggests that Ahmedabad metropolitan will be powered by four immediate growth centres Sanand, Dehgam, Kalol and Mehemdabad. Later, it would also encompass seven new urban centres Anand, Tarapur, Nadiad, Matar in the south-east of the metro region and Kadi, Viramgam, Detroj in the north-west.

At least three options for urban agglomerate were submitted to the urban development department which included, plans for 1,880 sq km, 1,240 sq km and 944 sq km. The census department had mentioned an urban agglomerate for 750 sq km.

And just like NCR Development Authority lords over 30,000 sq km area as a policy making and planning body, Ahmedabad Metropolitan Region Development Authority (AMRDA) was to be responsible for planning growth in the region without confronting the authority and functioning of panchayats. Sources said while the AMR Bill is being drafted, a notification would be enough to kickstart the process.

With big ticket projects like Tata's Nano parked next door, special investment regions (SIRs) in Dholera all set to take off and the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) gearing up to drive through, Ahmedabad is dreaming big.