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Surat Municipal Corporation confident of making metro rail project a reality by 2017-18

Wednesday, 25 July 2012 11:49 administrator
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The Times of India   25.07.2012

Surat Municipal Corporation confident of making metro rail project a reality by 2017-18

Himansshu Bhatt, TNN | Jul 25, 2012, 06.54AM IST

SURAT: Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) is confident of making the metro rail project a reality in the city by 2017-18. The confidence comes on the heels of guarantee of 20 per cent assistance from Centre as soon as the detailed planned report (DPR) is approved by Union urban development ministry and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's offer of assistance to the project.

Municipal commissioner Manoj Das attended a joint meeting along with representatives of eight other cities with Union urban development ministry officials in New Delhi on Monday. Das said, "We have number of town planning (TP) schemes on draft level. Therefore, it will be easy for us to acquire the required land for the project." Top officials of Jaipur, Kochi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Surat, Patna and Lucknow attended the meeting.

Surat is looking at 100 km of integrated metro rail line. The population of the twin cities of Surat-Navsari is estimated at 1.20 crore in 2026. The project has a cost bearing of Rs 150 crore per km for rail on ground, Rs 250 crore per km on elevated corridor and Rs 400 crore per km in under ground section. The city also plans to link BRTS to the proposed metro. The 100 km of metro rail will incur a cost of Rs 15,000 crore.

Central Government recently said that every city with over 20 lakh population should have metro rail and had conducted a survey of metro rail facility in 12 cities, which included Surat and Ahmedabad. The working committee on urban transport estimated an expenditure in next five years for these 12 cities to the tune of Rs 175 crore per km for the construction of metro rail. Central government plans to disburse 50 per cent of finance for the projects in 12th Five Year Plan.



 

 

Kochi’s master plan sans prestigious Metro project

Friday, 13 July 2012 10:19 administrator
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The Times of India                   13.07.2012

Kochi’s master plan sans prestigious Metro project

, TNN | Jul 13, 2012, 12.13AM IST
KOCHI: If you thought our civic bodies serve the best interests of citizens, here's further proof that they are just hot air.

The prestigious Kochi metro, which received the centre's nod last week after a near decade-long struggle, does not figure in the master plans of either the corporation or the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA), which has been moving heaven and earth for a berth on the director board of the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL).

Even as the state is getting ready to begin the construction work, the corporation and the GCDA have maintained that they were clueless about developments associated with the project.

Surprisingly, even a project such as the second phase of Marine Drive development, which has not even received the all important environmental clearance, figures in GCDA's Vision 2030 plan!

The Kochi corporation, meanwhile, has claimed that they have not received metro's alignment and consequently has failed to include the same in their master plan. According to Kochi mayor Tony Chammany, the corporation does not have a clear picture regarding the alignment of Kochi metro. "Apart from holding discussions related to the construction of the North Railway Overbridge, and the agreement to provide nine cents of land near Town Hall, no major talks have been held between Kochi corporation and metro authorities. The corporation is yet to get the final alignment of the metro project," he said.

The corporation said they required the final alignment, including details of land required for stations and parking lots, and associated buildings. Town planning committee chairman K J Sohan pointed out the civic body required data regarding consumption of electricity, water and disposal of waste and debris. These details are required while including the project in the master plan for the city.

With many water, power and civic projects in various stages of planning and execution, the metro maze may turn out to be huge headache for the civic body, which also has the responsibility of clarifying doubts on the impact of construction activities. "It's equally important to know how vehicles, especially fire engines and ambulances, will travel through the city when the actual work begins. We have to bring in various government departments and agencies and work out a strategy. But this may take time," he added.

Though the corporation, nine neighbouring municipalities and 21 panchayats fall under the GCDA, the authority has not received updates about changes to metro's alignment. "The metro passes through regions which are under the GCDA. It is currently being executed as an isolated project. We have not included it in the Vision 2030 project," said GCDA chairman N Venugopal, adding that the plan includes the suburban railway scheme. 
 

MCD to check number of vehicles at parking lots

Friday, 13 July 2012 09:39 administrator
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The Hindu           13.07.2012

MCD to check number of vehicles at parking lots

Staff Reporter

To check the number of vehicles parked in a day at a particular parking site, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation will insist that sensors be installed by contractors to record the entry and exit of vehicles.

Addressing the Standing Committee on Wednesday, Municipal Commissioner P. K. Gupta said that data was incomplete on the number of vehicles parked in each site costing the Corporation much needed revenue. “Hand-held devices will be installed so as to monitor the number of cars that use the facility,” he said.

The North Corporation currently operates 119 parking sites of which contracts have been awarded to 76 sites. “Tenders for the remaining 43 sites are under process,” said Mr. Gupta.

New initiatives for North Delhi’s parking spaces came up after Deputy Chairman Vijay Prakash Pandey brought the attention of the Standing Committee to disputed parking sites at Dangal Maidan and Ramlila Maidan. Calling the failure in executing proper facilities as the “connivance of junior officials and indecisiveness of higher officials”, Mr. Pandey demanded that a status report be prepared for all sites falling under the Corporation.

Standing Committee Chairman Yogender Chandolia asked for a detailed report to be prepared before the next meeting. “If the first bidder has pulled out and the contract given to another bidder then the reasons should be given. Also, details on when the tender was granted to contractors should be specified in the report,” he said.

 
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