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Urban Planning

Fiinally,a roof takes shape

Thursday, 12 November 2009 11:48 administrator
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The New Indin Express 12.11.2009

Fiinally,a roof takes shape

Shibu B S



With the renovation work of the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium nearing completion, the state can soon host more national and international sporting events. Chennaibased Lloyd Insulations, which undertook the contract work, will hand over the renovated stadium to the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) by December first week.

“Ninety-five percent of the renovation work has been completed. The roofing work and maintenance of stands and shops at the complex are over. What remains is minor repair work and maintenance of flood lights,” said Joby George, managing partner of Godson engineering, sub-contractors of Lloyd Insulations.

“We will be handing over the stadium to the GCDA by November end or December first week,” he said.

Lloyd Insulations undertook the roofing work of the stadium almost three and half years ago for an estimated cost of Rs 10.5 crore. The work, which began two years ago, went beyond several revised schedules. November 2009 was the latest deadline set by the GCDA for the company to complete the renovation work. Sources with Lloyd Insulations said that the delay was due to the steep rise in prices of construction materials. “We signed the contract three-and-a-half years ago. But the cost of raw materials and labour charges have increased. So far we have spent almost Rs 15 crore for the renovation work,” sources added. Due to the inordinate delay, Kochi lost One- Day International Cricket matches that would have been held here under the rotation policy of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

GCDA chairperson M C Josephine said that before opening the stadium to the public, GCDA wants to replace the chairs to give the stadium a whole new look. “We will invite tenders for turfing work within a month.

After finishing all the work we will allot the stadium for regional, national and international sporting events.

We are hoping to complete the entire work within six months,” Josephine added.

Last Updated on Thursday, 12 November 2009 11:52
 

BDA to develop Arkavathy Layout

Thursday, 12 November 2009 09:59 administrator
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The New Indian Express 12.11.2009

BDA to develop Arkavathy Layout
N R Madhusudhan


BANGALORE: Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) is exploring the possibility of developing Arkavathy Layout and giving possession of the allotted sites to 9,000 allottees at the earliest without violating the stay issued by the courts or altering the properties that are in dispute. A formal decision in this regard is likely to be taken in the next few days after seeking legal opinion.

Though the BDA marked the roads and dug up drains in some parts of the land that it had acquired and allotted 9,000 sites, the original land owners had blocked the roads with boulders. They had also blocked most of the drains. The allottees were not able to access their sites due to lack of proper approach roads to them and intimidation of the land owners, though the allottees had paid for the sites and got them registered in their names. The allottees are seeking remedy to their problem from the BDA.

BDA was hesitating to take any action in this regard as some of the land owners had brought a stay from the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is keeping its orders pending in the case for two years. BDA had kept its plans to develop the layout pending, till the Supreme Court gave its verdict in the case.

BDA Commissioner Siddaiah said, “We have the responsibility of handing over the possession of the sites to the allottees and developing the layout as promised to them. The Supreme Court has issued interim orders with respect to 126 acres of land. Now, we are planning to develop the remaining land without violating the guidelines of the Supreme Court, after taking the opinion of legal experts. We will take a decision on the issue in another two days.” BDA had declared its intention to acquire 2,750 acres of land for the layout and it has acquired only 1400 acres so far. It is planning to acquire the remaining land, after it starts developing the acquired land.

Last Updated on Thursday, 12 November 2009 10:15
 

Panel to study extension of Metro to satellite towns

Thursday, 12 November 2009 08:08 administrator
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The Hindu 12.11.2009

Panel to study extension of Metro to satellite towns

Sujay Mehdudia

Hooda wants Gurgaon to be linked with Delhi airport

Photo: PTI

Union Minister for Urban Development S. Jaipal Reddy with the Lt. Governor of Delhi Tejendra Khanna, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Minister of State for Urban Development Saugata Ray at the 31st Board Meeting of the National Capital Region Planning Board in New Delhi on Wednesday.

NEW DELHI: Union Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy on Wednesday announced that a committee had been constituted under the Secretary, Urban Development, M. Ramachandran, to explore the possibility of expanding Delhi Metro rail services to satellite towns like Faridabad and Bahadurgarh in Haryana to improve their connectivity with the national Capital.

Talking to media persons after a meeting of the National Capital Region Planning Board here, Mr. Reddy said the committee would submit its report shortly.

The meeting also saw Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda pitching for Gurgaon being linked through the metro railway with Delhi airport, stating that his State was ready to bear the entire cost of the project including the portion falling in Delhi.

Mr. Reddy said this was the 25th year of the formation of the National Capital Region Planning Board and expressed satisfaction over its functioning which he said had led to a reduction in migration to Delhi. “It has made considerable progress in reducing migration to Delhi. Had it not been for this Board, the population of Delhi, which is already huge, would have been much larger,” he remarked.

Mr. Reddy informed that it had been agreed during the meeting to provide Rs.2,700 crore to the NCRPB for 2009-10 and 2010-11. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Ministers from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh also took part in the meeting.

“We are seeking assistance from the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank to finance projects like improving road and rail connectivity between NCR and Delhi,” Mr. Reddy added. The Urban Development Minister said three new cities -- Ambala in Haryana, Kanpur in UP and Dehra Dun in Uttarakhand -- have been added as “counter-magnet cities” in the NCR to reduce the burden on Delhi, which is a magnet city. “Counter-magnet cities” are developed to provide infrastructure so that people do not only go to Delhi for livelihood,” he said.

Asked about the difficulties faced by commuters in travelling from NCR cities to Delhi, Ms. Dikshit said there were some and these were being sorted out.

Rajesh Ahuja adds from Chandigarh:

Mr. Reddy also directed the Delhi Development Authority to take immediate action on the issue raised by Mr. Hooda of having a zonal plan in the Delhi area, according to a Haryana Government release here.

The Chief Minister had observed that in view of increasing traffic between Delhi and Haryana, new roads must be constructed for which a provision of a zonal plan in the Delhi area was necessary. Furthermore, this zonal plan must be implemented at the earliest.

Re-affirming the Haryana Government’s commitment to NCR development as per Regional Plan-2021, the Haryana Chief Minister said the infrastructure in Central National Capital Region (CNCR) towns should be at par with Delhi, if not better. “Only then can we make these towns relatively more attractive,” he added.

Mr. Hooda said the construction of the 135.65-km-long Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway was in an advanced stage. This would considerably reduce the through traffic causing congestion in Delhi. To promote planned development along this corridor in the NCR, the State Government had also prepared the KMP Expressway Global Corridor Plan envisaging development of a number of theme cities with world-class infrastructure. These include the Education City at Sonepat, Bio-Science City, Medi City and Cyber City at Sampla, Fashion City, Entertainment City and World Trade City at Gurgaon, Leather City near Nuh, Leisure City near Sohna and Dry Port City near Prithla in Palwal.

Drawing the attention of the Centre to Yamuna pollution, he said the water Haryana was getting from Delhi was highly polluted.

He asserted that the Delhi Government must ensure that the water discharged downstream by Delhi to Haryana should not have pollutants level higher than the level at entry to Delhi from Haryana.

Last Updated on Thursday, 12 November 2009 08:09
 
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