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Bridge on Buddha Nallah approved amid protest

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Indian Express    16.06.2010

Bridge on Buddha Nallah approved amid protest

Raakhi Jagga Tags : Councillors, Buddha Nallah issue Posted: Wed Jun 16 2010, 23:44 hrs

PEOPLE

Councillors argue with MC Commissioner A K Sinha in Ludhiana on Tuesday. Gurmeet Singh
Ludhiana:  The general house meeting of the municipal corporation once again turned out to be a stormy affair. The house took important decisions like making changes in building bylaws, announcing projects worth crores. However, the house was divided over Rs 1-crore project to build a bridge on Buddha Nallah near Dhobi Ghat.

This project was earlier cleared by the finance and contract committee and the tenders were also floated. However, for the same project, another letter was circulated stating that senior deputy mayor Parveen Bansal had rejected the proposal. The area councillor Raju Thaper questioned the importance of both letters. Bansal maintained that bridge is not required in the area.

The Congress councillors, however, took a stand on the issue and said why were the tenders floated and later cancelled. The councillors staged a dharna in the house and later after much argument, the house cleared the project. Senior deputy mayor’s recommendations were declared null and void. Interestingly, no one from the BJP came up to support their partyman Bansal.

During the meeting, Congress councillors were seen dominating the show as most of the SAD-BJP councillors did not get any chance to speak at all. The house approved the amendments in building bylaws giving a nod to highrise skyline in the city. Most of the change in land use(CLU) cases were approved.

However, it was alleged that most of the development projects of making railway over bridges, elevated roads etc were within the city and nothing was being done to for the outer wards. 

Congress Councillor Anil Malhotra questioned about the grant worth Rs 50 crore which MP Manish Tewari got sanctioned for cleaning the Buddha Nallah.

On this the mayor replied that no funds had been received till date and the claims about the release of money were wrong. The sewerage board, meanwhile, was questioned about the delay in projects.

Commissioner A K Sinha pulled up officers and said,” An amount of Rs 6 crore is lying with the sewerage board and still the work is going at a snail’s pace.”

Councillors questioned the existence of 453 gardeners who were never seen in parks but allegedly at officers’ houses instead.

The commissioner stated that the number of gardeners had been distributed zone wise and Monday the names of the gardeners in each zone will be circulated to councillors so they can keep a tab.

Councillor Sanjay Talwar said that a well constructed road in Khud Mohalla had been laid again at a cost of Rs 4 lakh while another councillor stated that a road near Dholewal which had been laid 8 months ago was being re-laid.

Meanwhile, the house has also approved the indoor shooting range near Sunet village for which land has been given to the rifle association.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 16 June 2010 09:58
 

GHMC short of 1,000 parking lots

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Deccan Chronicle      15.06.2010

GHMC short of 1,000 parking lots

Tags: GHMC, parking lots, parking spaces, street parking, vehicle

Hyderabad, June 14: The number of vehicles plying on city roads increases every day, far outstripping the number of parking spaces that are required. Greater Hyderabad is short of hundreds of parking lots making street parking the only option.

The GHMC and traffic police have jointly identified 160-odd paid parking lots in the city. But a city like Greater Hyderabad with over 22 lakh vehicles requires more than 1,000 parking lots. Space meant for parking in commercial complexes and other business establishments has been turned into shops and is being used for all types of activity except the one for which it was intended.

Due to lack of parking lots, people park their vehicles on either side of the road, causing obstruction to the free movement of traffic.

The police impose fines for parking on the road, but since no parking is provided by establishments such as banks, ATM centres etc, people have no option but to park wherever they can. No rules have been framed to make it mandatory for all structures, commercial or residential, to compulsorily provide parking space within their premises.

Towing away illegally parked vehicles has had little impact because people have no alternative.

Five years ago, the GHMC planned to construct multi-level parking complexes. It proposed to convert municipal markets located in the heart of the city into parking lots. Nothing has come of this proposal.

The additional commissioner of police (traffic), Mr C.V. Anand, says the GHMC and traffic police are working in co-ordination to identify parking space and have already given approval for nearly 150 parking lots at various places in the city.

The most sensible solution comes from a senior transport department official. Only providing parking lots won’t solve the issue, “We require a mass public transport system and a policy to discourage use of personal vehicles at specified times, probably during peak traffic hours.”

Most big cities in developed and some developing countries have recognised that cheap, efficient mass public transport systems are the only way to counter huge car populations.

 

Rejected, plans DDA can’t get cleared

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Indian Express    14.06.2010

Rejected, plans DDA can’t get cleared

Express News Service Tags : DDA, Commonwealth Games Posted: Mon Jun 14 2010, 23:09 hrs

Sports stadium

 New delhi:  Yamuna Sports Complex, Plan found lacking

Clock ticking, but no DUAC clearance for two Games venues — Yamuna and Siri Fort sports complexes

While the Delhi government claims all Commonwealth Games-related projects are on schedule, two of the venues for the mega event are yet to obtain clearance from the Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC).

Practice venues for badminton and squash at the Siri Fort Sports Complex and for table tennis at the Yamuna Sports Complex respectively, are still awaiting DUAC’s approval. In a meeting held last month, the commission noted that project plans for both venues were found wanting in many respects. It noted that the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the civic agency in charge of the projects, had failed to comply with the earlier observations of the art body.

There was no plan for external traffic circulation, including connectivity with the city network for the TT venue, the commission found. The DUAC also noted that the DDA had not complied with its earlier observations regarding the paving of a large area at the Siri Fort complex and the temporary foot overbridge spanning the Siri Fort wall.

With regard to the tennis stadium, the commission found that none of the drawings submitted by the DDA showed any provision for unhindered public access to the venue from the common parking lots for cars and buses. The access shown in the plan was blocked by a parking lot and a road, it noted.

“The commission was dismayed to note that the same observations given in earlier meetings have not been complied with by the DDA. The drawings and the model were still not tallying with each other,” read the observation recently published on the official DUAC website.

The DDA had recently asked a private company — Sportina Payce Infrastructure Limited — to pay a compensation of nearly Rs 6 crore for the “slow pace” in the work at a swimming practice venue, fitness centre and athletic tracks for the Games.

The DDA has now been directed to resubmit the plans after brining them in line with the DUAC observations at the earliest.

Last Updated on Monday, 14 June 2010 10:55
 


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