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BBMP gets park land for parking

Thursday, 12 January 2012 05:43 administrator
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The Times of India       12.01.2012

BBMP gets park land for parking

 
 
BANGALORE: The BBMP sure knows how to have its way. When the civic agency proposed to build an underground car parking lot at the Indira Gandhi Musical Fountain park on Chowdaiah Road a couple of years ago, environmentalists were up in arms.

The BBMP shelved the project only to revive it in another form: widen the road, gobble up the park area and use it not to decongest traffic but park vehicles. That the premier lung space, where a National War Memorial is now coming up, is being nibbled away is not the civic agency's concern.

Work on widening Chowdaiah Road is under way at a brisk pace on the half-a-kilometre stretch abutting the park. The park's compound wall has been pulled down and another wall is being built 5.5 metres deeper inside.

S Somashekar, chief engineer, BBMP (major roads), confirmed that the widened portion of the road will be used only for parking space. "The front portion of the park had been earmarked for road widening to decongest traffic, but now the requirement is to provide parking for four-wheelers. A new single lane will be built in the widened portion and about 50 cars can be parked on this half-a-km stretch. This lane will not be used for vehicular movement, only for parking," he explained. However, the Palike is not clear who will be entitled to use the parking lot - visitors to the proposed war memorial in the park or high court judges or visitors to Raj Bhavan. The earlier underground parking lot had been proposed to accommodate Raj Bhavan visitors.

WHAT THE LAW SAYS

The Karnataka Government Parks Preservation Act 1975 says parks cannot be used for infrastructure works. When contacted, horticulture deputy director M Jagadish refused to comment on the issue.

The Indira Gandhi Musical Fountain Park is maintained and owned by the horticulture department. He said the issue of widening Chowdaiah Road was between the BBMP and the public works department which originally owned the park land. "The PWD has given away the land to BBMP," Jagadish claimed.

 

GHMC to improve junctions

Thursday, 31 March 2011 09:49 administrator
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 The Hindu       31.03.2011

GHMC to improve junctions

Special Correspondent

SD Eye Hospital, Mehidipatnam, to get free left splay and FoB

Chaotic: Vehicular traffic goes haywire at Mehdipatnam, one of the busiest junctions in the city. — PHOTO: G. RAMAKRISHNA
Chaotic: Vehicular traffic goes haywire at Mehdipatnam, one of the busiest junctions in the city. — PHOTO: G. RAMAKRISHNA

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has decided to improve junctions at Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital and Mehidipatnam Rythu Bazaar area to make it pedestrian-friendly and ensure free movement for vehicular traffic.

Four to five properties will be acquired for demolition near the hospital and at the mouth of the P.V.N.R. Expressway to create a free left splay and a foot-overbridge would also be constructed for the benefit of patients coming to the hospital.

Committee

The high-level city coordination committee comprising top officials from various civic departments also resolved to provide more footpath space from Masab Tank to the Rythu Bazaar by removing the encroachments. Proposed road widening on the stretch has been put on the backburner, said Additional Commissioner (Development Planning) K. Dhananjaya Reddy.

Mr. Reddy, also the convenor of the committee, told the presspersons on Wednesday that several measures would be taken up to decongest the Rythu Bazaar area. The road would be widened by 15 ft. to 20 ft. by pushing the market boundaries inside and a gate would be closed.

U-shaped FoB

GHMC Commissioner and committee head Sameer Sharma directed the officials to construct another public convenience and a uniquely designed ‘U' shaped FoB because of the heavy pedestrian movement near the market. Bus bays too would be redesigned incorporating the need to provide space for vendors.

The Roads & Building Department would take up the redesign of Rethibowli Junction, while the Municipal Corporation would recarpet the road underneath the Expressway with Rs.1.5 crore of the Rs.6 crore to be released by HMDA.

Mr. Reddy disclosed that three ramps for the Expressway including two up ones at Lakshminagar, Aramgad and a down ramp at Indra Reddy Junction would be ready for inauguration within next fortnight. Another specially-designed flyover is to be built at Tolichowki crossroads, while the Raidurg Junction is also to be improved.

Top officials of HMWSSB, CPDCL, R&B, and traffic police participated in the weekly visit that was renewed after a considerable gap.

  • Four to five properties to be acquired near the hospital and at the mouth of P.V.N.R. Expressway
  • More footpath space to be provided from Masab Tank to Rythu Bazaar by removing encroachments

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    NMC starts demolition drive against speed breakers

    Thursday, 10 March 2011 10:37 administrator
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    The Times of India         10.03.2011

    NMC starts demolition drive against speed breakers

    TNN | Mar 10, 2011, 06.40am IST
    NAGPUR: Responding to a public interest litigation over speed breakers that flout norms laid down by the Indian Roads Congress (IRC), the traffic department of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has issued directives to the zonal offices to raze all illegal speed bumps.

    A senior traffic official from NMC told TOI that there are over a 1,000 speed breakers constructed over the 2,117km of NMC roads. Of these, only 109 speed breakers have been constructed as per IRC norms, while the rest are illegal, said the officer.

    The officer clarified that city engineer SS Gaikwad has issued directives to demolish the illegal road dividers. "Subsequently, we have issued directives to respective zonal officers to demolish the speed breakers constructed illegally," said the officer. According to the officer, zone one (Laxmi Nagar) has 36 speed breakers constructed by the NMC.

    As per the survey, the corporation had erected six speed breakers in Dharampeth zone, two in Hanuman Nagar, six in Dhantoli, five in Nehru Nagar, 15 in Satranjipura, six in Lakadganj, eight in Asinagar and 25 in Mangalwari. Interestingly, there is no speed bump in Gandhibagh zone.

    The officer further added that as per IRC norms, all 109 speed breakers will be painted. Besides, additional cautionary strip will be painted at a distance of 15 meters before the bumps. The department would also install cats' eye on them and erect precautionary boards ahead of these bumps.

    The NMC officer, however, pointed out that the corporation constructs speed breakers only when it receives a letter from the traffic police. Citing an example, he pointed out that if any person approaches the traffic police department, the cops direct the NMC to construct speed breaker. Sadly, the traffic police never inspect the road, he added.

    In the petition filed before the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court, lawyer Raghvendra Joshi pointed out that speed breakers in the city have a reputation of being better at breaking bones than speed. He also cited a road mishap which took place in MIDC Hingna area on December 19 that claimed the life of a traffic cop.

    Joshi expressed the concern over substandard work carried out by NMC on speed breakers. For instance, he said, recently the corporation had installed night reflectors on a speed breaker on Narendra Nagar road. However, the reflector was crushed by the movement of heavy vehicles. At most places, even luminous paints is missing on speed breakers, which leads to many mishaps.

    Box

    Fast Facts

    * Height of a speed breaker cannot exceed 10cm

    * White stripes need to be painted one metre before and after the breakers

    * No speed breaker should be built on a national highway or main road

    * Speed breakers can be built only in front of schools or other educational institutions, hospitals or temples, where people access those buildings from the road


    * Accident-prone sites are also considered for speed breakers. But that requires prior approval of the traffic police.

     
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