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Urban Encroachment

Encroachment stalls work at Worli sewage plant

Thursday, 11 February 2010 10:48 administrator
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Encroachment stalls work at Worli sewage plant

The civic body’s inability to stop the mushrooming of slums is hindering its own projects.

The sewerage operations department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) wants to set up a sewage treatment plant in Worli. Budget allocations have been made; all that is stopping the project are more than 3,500 huts that have encroached more than six of the 10 hectare required for the project.

Civic officials, along with Additional Municipal Commissioner Anil Diggikar, visited the site at Jijamata Nagar and tried to convince the residents to vacate the land in exchange of homes under the slum rehabilitation scheme.

The plant is supposed be set up under the Mumbai Sewage Disposal Project-II executed by the BMC which is funded under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

These plants have to be set up as its been made mandatory by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board to treat sewage water before letting it in sea.

Six more such plants will be set up across the city.

“We need 5.5 hectare to set up the plant, but there are five societies which have encroached and are not ready to move out,” said a civic official.

The plant will treat 490 million litres of sewage water daily which can be used for non–potable purposes.

“We have now asked the state government and the Slum Rehabilitation Authority to negotiate with them (the residents),” said Diggikar.

 

PCMC conducts day-long drive against encroachments

Thursday, 11 February 2010 10:35 administrator
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The Times of India 11.02.2010

PCMC conducts day-long drive against encroachments

PUNE: As part of its continuing measures to decongest the roads leading to the Pimpri market area, the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation on Wednesday conducted a day-long drive against hawkers. Nearly 225 hawkers were evicted during the drive, which began early in the morning.

Assistant commissioner and zone B officer, Dilip Gawde, told TOI on Wednesday that 47 tin sheds and 24 bamboo sheds were removed during the drive. Also, the small platforms erected by vegetable vendors were demolished. A total of 11 truckloads of debris were removed during the day.

Gawde said the PCMC had already appealed to shopkeepers not to display their goods on footpaths or roads. They had been told to remove all encroachments. Parking lots that had been encroached upon have now been cleared. With all these measures, traffic congestion can be avoided, he said.

The traffic police have been taking action against vehicles that are haphazardly parked on the roads and obstruct smooth flow of traffic. This is also helping in decongesting roads and allowing free movement of pedestrians, Gawde said.

The anti-encroachment drive included 25 labourers, while 19 policemen were deployed to provide security to the civic staff.

A large number of hawkers had been occupying both sides of the roads from Seva Vikas Bank office building to the Pimpri railway station and at the new vegetable market. It used to cause major traffic congestion in the area. Parking lots near the vegetable market were also encroached upon by vendors.
 

Encroachments on drains: GHMC to face more trouble

Tuesday, 09 February 2010 02:24 administrator
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The Hindu 09.02.2010

Encroachments on drains: GHMC to face more trouble

Drains will have to be widened to extent of flooding expected once every 5-8 years

 

Drains may have to be widened by at least 40%, says senior GHMC engineer

Estimates being made for works likely to cost 120 crore for 40 km length of drains

HYDERABAD: The GHMC is going to face more trouble with regard to encroachments on stormwater drains as per the latest formula worked out to re-model them to arrest flooding in the capital.

To once again give a push to repair the stormwater drains or ‘nalas’, Commissioner Sameer Sharma and his engineering wing held detailed discussions with three technical consultants to finalise the ‘flood return periods’ for primary, secondary and tertiary drains to take up works.

It was decided to have a flood return period of 50 years for the primary nalas of Murkinala, Hussainsagar surplus nala, Kukatpally/Begumpet nala and Balkapur nala while it’s going to be a five-year period for secondary and tertiary drains.

Roughly, this means that the drains will have to be widened to an extent of flooding expected once every eight years for the main ones and five years for others. “We will have to widen drains widths by at least 40 per cent more compared to the present levels,” admitted a senior engineer.

The complex calculations were arrived at following discussions with Kirloskar Consultants which studied the main drains only after the August 2000 deluge, Voyants Solutions which prepared the master plan for entire stormwater drain network and NECC Consultants, said Engineering-in-Chief P. Panduranga Rao.

Dr. Rao said estimates were being prepared for works estimated to cost Rs. 120 crore for about 40 km length of drains divided into four special zones for all the three kinds of drains.

The Town Planning wing will be enumerating the number of encroachments “whether they will be more or less” as per the latest figures.

Only solution

But, clearly encroachments will only increase from the current 13,500 across all three kinds of drains and 1,375 among the primary drains alone.

Just 373 encroachments were removed and Rs. 34.67 crore spent for works tuning to 31.73 km length till date while fencing work has been delayed.

“If inundations are to be prevented in the capital, this is the only solution as we cannot deepen channels throughout.

“We are going to cement the earth to increase water flow at select places.

However, there is no doubt relief and rehabilitation efforts have to be taken up seriously,” said a senior engineer.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 09 February 2010 02:25
 
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