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Corporation seeks suburban railway

Friday, 27 November 2009 07:45 administrator
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The Hindu 27.11.2009

Corporation seeks suburban railway

Staff Reporter

KOCHI: Kochi corporation has decided to step up its campaign for a suburban railway system for Kochi.

The corporation council resolved to take up the case with E. Ahamed, the Union Minister of State for Railways. The Union Minister would be requested to convene a meeting in this regard, said Mercy Williams, Kochi Mayor at the council meeting.

The civic authorities have also decided to ask the Railways to implement the project, as it would help to reduce the traffic pressure on the city roads. Raising the issue in the council, Sabu George of the LDF said that a representation should be submitted to the railway authorities in this regard. He also suggested that the civic representatives should take up the issue with the Railway Minister.

A special meeting of the Corporation council will be convened to discuss the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission projects and the functioning of the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project, Ms. Williams said.

V.J. Hycinth of the UDF complained that the Sahodaran Ayyappan road project was dragging leading to widespread complaints from the general public. He suggested that the funds offered by the City Development Initiative for Asia should be used as the urban local body share for the proposed projects like flyovers and new roads.

He also suggested that the civic body should approach the State government and the Chief Minister with a request for declaring a road development package for Kochi.

Johnson Master urged the Kochi Mayor to take steps for including the Bund Road renovation programme in the agenda of the council meeting of the Greater Cochin Development Authority.

K.G. Dinesan, David Parambithara, T.J. Vinod and N. Venugopal were among those who took part in the discussion.

Last Updated on Friday, 27 November 2009 07:48
 

‘30 pc of space on the roads used for vehicle parking at present’

Thursday, 26 November 2009 10:10 administrator
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Deccan Herald 26.11.2009

‘30 pc of space on the roads used for vehicle parking at present’
‘10 multi-storeyed parking complexes to be developed’
Mangalore: Nov 25, DHNS:

Minister for Urban Development, Law and Parliamentary Affairs S Suresh Kumar said at least 10 multi-storeyed parking complexes will be developed in the City limits in the days to come.

Addressing a press conference after inspecting various developmental works in the City Corporation limits on Wednesday, he said parking has proved a serious problem in Mangalore since the space meant of parking has been misused by the commercial complexes.

“About 30 per cent of space on the roads is being used for vehicle parking since the commercial complexes have not allotted necessary parking lots. One multi-level parking complex has already been approved for Hampankatta,” he said.

Action against officials
The minister said he would be getting a list of violators from the Deputy Commissioner soon, as per which action would be taken against the officials concerned.
“Clear instructions had been given to the officials an year ago regarding the building rules; yet they have been violated again,” he noted.

Suresh Kumar hinted that fines would be collected from the owners of the commercial complexes who have violated the regulations, which would in turn be used for developing new multi-level parking complexes.

High-level meeting
The minister said a top-level meeting would be held in Bangalore on November 30 or December 1 where solutions would be drawn to the problems related to the self assessment system (SAS) of taxation, transfer of development rights (TDR) and the woes of those having less than 5 cents land under the new master plan.
He said the common cadre and recruitment (C&R) rules are before the Finance Department for approval, which will be out soon.
Once the C&R rules are clear, transfer of staff from one city corporation to another will be made possible, he said.

JNNURM for M’lore?
Suresh Kumar said he had discussed with the Union Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy with an urged to include Mangalore in the Jawharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

“Presently, only Bangalore and Mysore have come under the scheme. Mangalore was excluded due to the rules regarding the population. Jaipal Reddy is expected to announce the names of more cities to be included in the scheme during the first anniversary of the JNNURM to be held in New Delhi on December 3. We hope that Mangalore will get a place,” he said.

Urban devt policy
The government has published the draft of the first ever Urban Development Policy of the State ten days ago which is available on www.urbanaffairs.in. A state-level workshop is being held at Mysore on December 6 where the heads and officials of the different City Corporations and City Municipal Councils will take part, he informed.
The final draft of the policy will be tabled before the State Cabinet by January 15, he added.

Civic workers
Answering a query, the minister said though there are 17,500 paura karmikas in the State working on a daily-wage basis, the ones in Mangalore do not come under them.
“Mangalore’s is a special case. A cabinet sub-committee led by PWD Minister C M Udasi is looking into the issue. An action will be taken on regularising their service on the basis of the committee’s recommendations,” he informed.

Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Vishweshwara Hegade Kageri, District-in-Charge Minister J Krishna Palemar, Mayor M Shanker Bhat and others were present on the occasion.
 

MC to start four paid parking lots

Wednesday, 25 November 2009 11:46 administrator
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Indian Express 25.11.2009

MC to start four paid parking lots

The Municipal Corporation has decided to bring more parking lots under the ambit of paid parking system.

Tenders have been received for new parking lots in Sector 17 — near Hotel Shivalikview, Gurdev Studio and SBI. The sector already has nine paid parking lots.

Vehicular traffic in Sector 17, commercial hub of the city, is high. Also, parking lots near the plaza are more burdened than those around the sector.

The civic body is also considering a paid parking lot for the Sector-26 market, which has a large number of eating joints. In the coming days, the MC will invite tenders for it.

During the House meet in September, agenda for construction of four multi-level parking lots was tabled. Of these, three were proposed for Sector 17 and one for the Industrial Area. These sites had been approved by the UT Architecture department

But it was decided to have more surface parking lots to accommodate the increasing number of vehicles.

The Municipal Corporation generates around Rs 4.20 crore every year by auctioning paid parking lots. There are around 60 parking lots in the city, of which 26 are paid parking lots.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 25 November 2009 12:24
 
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