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All low-floor AC buses to ply by year-end

Tuesday, 23 November 2010 12:35 administrator
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The New Indian Express  23.11.2010

All low-floor AC buses to ply by year-end

KOCHI: Transport Minister Jose Thettayil has said that all the lowfloor A/C buses introduced under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme will start plying in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram by the end of the year.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the meeting to elect the national executive of Janatha Dal (Secular) held in Kochi on Monday.

Thettayil said all these buses would be on the roads after rectifying minor manufacturing errors and completing procedures for issuing permits.

The lowfloor buses now plying under the limits of Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) will be extended to the suburbs soon, the Minister said.

There will be 150 lowfloor A/C buses in Kochi and 150 in Thirvananthapuram.

"The empowered committee headed by secretaries of Local Self Government and Transport departments have approved the recommendation for extending the services to suburbs," the Minister said.

Given the delay in decision making by the Union Government, the buses rolled out as part of JNNURM scheme will be run by KSRTC, he said. To a query on whether there is any difference of opinion with the Finance Department over bearing the financial burden of pensions, he said the KSRTC and the state government had been, and are, jointly bearing the burden. It is the finance department that wrote off the dues by the KSRTC coming to more than Rs 1,000 crore and gave a financial assistance of Rs 468 crore. And so there is no difference of opinion with the finance department.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 23 November 2010 12:36
 

160 motorists penalised for parking on pavements, cycle tracks

Tuesday, 23 November 2010 09:43 administrator
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The Times of India        23.11.2010

160 motorists penalised for parking on pavements, cycle tracks

PUNE: The traffic police, over the last two days, collected Rs 1.75 lakh by penalising 160 motorists for parking on footpaths and cycle tracks, in various parts of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. Deputy commissioner of police (traffic), Manoj Patil, said, "The traffic police's Facebook account has been receiving great response on this drive."

Patil said, ever since the drive, 2,400 people have posted their comments. "We expect this number to cross the 3,000 mark by the end of this week and 5,000 by the month end", he said.Patil said, people, while giving suggestions, also gave information about more vehicles parked on footpaths and cycle tracks. "They are also taking part in discussions. Responses from women and youth have been most encouraging," he said.

Regular updates on the drive were being posted on the Facebook account. "Footpaths are meant for pedestrians. However, in many areas, motorists have been found parking their vehicles on these spaces forcing pedestrians to walk on the road, putting their lives in danger and also reducing the carriage width (space meant for vehicular traffic) of the road", Patil said. The traffic police have created 35 teams, with 2-3 personnel on each team, to carry out the drive.

Chandmal Parmar, traffic activist and member of traffic mobility committee, Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation ( PCMC), said, "Pedestrians are neglected though they are major road users. Cycle tracks and footpaths are encroached on by vehicles, hawkers and handcart vendors. Hence, the traffic police should ensure that the footpaths remain free for pedestrians."

 

HUDA turns the heat on parking mafia in the city

Tuesday, 23 November 2010 09:34 administrator
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The Times of India          23.11.2010

HUDA turns the heat on parking mafia in the city

GURGAON: Miffed at finding its vacant plots being used for illegal parking slots in several sectors in Gurgaon, the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) is cracking the whip on parking mafia that is active in the city.

The apex housing body was shocked to learn that vacant plots around the Sector 29 Leisure Valley Park are being encroached upon by the parking mafia.

According to HUDA officials, these illegal parking slots are also making a deep hole in their pockets. Contractors are charging the money from vehicle owners, but the HUDA is not getting that money, said officials. Now, the HUDA has launched a drive to clean all these illegal parking lots and ensure that its vacant plots are not encroached upon, said HUDA administrator Nitin Yadav.

He said that the large plots in and around Leisure Valley will be the first to be tendered to contractors for running parking lots. At present, the vacant land is being illegally used by hundreds of motorists for parking daily. There are several places in underdeveloped residential areas where vacant plots are being used as parking sites for commercial complexes in the vicinity. The HUDA is also planning to issue notices to the plot owners and initiate action.

In addition, HUDA officials are also looking for other vacant plots which are being illegally used for parking. In certain sectors, said a senior HUDA official, the plots are being used for parking cabs and tourist buses during the day time. Since these pockets are already being used as parking lots, HUDA plans to add these places in the list of parking sites available. With this, the agency will try to streamline the parking mess that we get to see in many vacant places. Also, there will an accountability of contractors for running the site and, most importantly, the HUDA will earn money out of it, said the official.

The process of finalizing the parking sites is nearing completion. The agency has asked the contractors of 24 sites who are running parking sites beyond their contractual time limit. The contractors have been told to pay up the additional money as per the tender amount agreed before handing over the management of these sites. In the fresh tender, all the parking sites will given for a year and there will be review on a tri-monthly basis, said the official.
 
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