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Kankaria to get multi-level parking facility

Monday, 15 November 2010 11:04 administrator
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The Times of India          15.11.2010

Kankaria to get multi-level parking facility

 AHMEDABAD: The parking woes at Kankaria will soon come to an end. The city's first multilevel parking complex is being set up at the Machichhipeer area in Kankaria. The multilevel parking will be constructed at the cost of Rs 19.98 crore and will have a capacity of 250 cars.

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has already initiated the process for the construction of the same. Officials said that four ambitious mechanised multi-level parking projects of AMC have been planned at Kankaria, Maninagar, Iscon and Shivranjani. But not many bidders have accepted AMC's invitation for construction of these mechanised multi-level parking lots on the build-operate-transfer scheme.

AMC has now decided to go solo for the construction of two multi-level parking buildings in Navrangpura and Kankaria. Officials said that AMC will be setting up its first mechanised multi-level parking facility at the Machichhipeer area near Kankaria.

AMC officials said that the facility has been designed in such a way that the motorist gets the vehicle back in a maximum of three to four minutes.

Officials said that the facility will have seven parking levels, including space to park two-wheelers. AMC has zeroed in on German technology for the facility at a cost of Rs 19.98 crore. The system will have seven levels, which will accommodate 250 cars apart from two-wheelers.

Each level will be 1,600 to 2,200 mm high and will accommodate cars of 5,000 to 5,500 mm in length, width of 2,200 mm and weight of 2,500 to 2,700 kg. Officials said that one needs to park cars on a platform at the entrance and let the system do the rest of the job. The platform lifts the car and accommodates it in an appropriate slot. The whole system is mechanised. Once done, the attendant hands you over the car keys.

 

New park to instill traffic sense in children

Monday, 15 November 2010 11:03 administrator
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The Times of India            15.11.2010

New park to instill traffic sense in children

AHMEDABAD: In an ambitious effort to instill traffic discipline in children, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and city police have decided to come up with a new Children's traffic park on SG Highway which will be a miniature replica of the city!

The city already has a traffic park at Sardar Baug near Nehru Bridge, and the new park will have the city's BRTS corridor and the proposed metro rail. The idea of the new park is a joint venture between city traffic police and AMC and will come up opposite the Gujarat high court on SG Highway where the traffic branch has a collection centre for towed vehicles.

Talking about the project, Mohan Jha, joint commissioner of police (traffic), told TOI that the new park is still at a nascent stage and the designing of the park is expected to be completed by mid-2011. "We had approached CEPT for its concept and designing and have got innovative ideas for educating children on traffic norms. Now, the whole plan has been sent to AMC for final approval. Once the formalities are over, implementation will start from early January," he said.

OS Tiwari, sub-inspector of traffic branch and in-charge of children's park, told TOI that the first aspect about this project was mere scale. "We have 8000 sq mt of land on SG Highway where we can implement a number of activities. With increase in number of participants over the years, we wanted something bigger and closer to reality," he said.

The new park will have miniature BRTS buses, the proposed metro rail, underbridges, overbridges and flyovers to simulate real driving experience on city roads, said officials. Tiwari said that children's park attracts more than 300 children every month which doubles during vacation time. "The location of the park will be an advantage which will attract more children from the western parts of the city. Leveling of the land has already started," said Tiwari. The park also has a separate section for parents' counseling and interaction with road safety experts.
 

Ways to streamline public transport

Monday, 15 November 2010 11:02 administrator
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The Hindu  15.11.2010

Ways to streamline public transport

Biju Govind

More autorickshaw permits will be issued since the city limits have expanded.

Kozhikode: The Kozhikode Corporation, City Police and the Regional Transport Office are jointly working out the modalities to increase the number of permits issued to autorickshaws plying the city following the merger of three grama panchayats with the civic body.

The district administration had already recommended to the State government to issue additional permits to 250 autorickshaws to run services in the city.

However, the civic authorities not only want an increase in the number of permits issued, but also permits for existing autorickshaws plying in the three erstwhile grama panchayats — Elathur, Beypore and Cheruvannur-Nallalam.

As of now, 4,101 autorickshaws have been given licence to ply the city limits.

These permits were issued in 2000. An equal number of autorickshaws ply the city illegally meeting the requirement of the residents and the floating population.

Deputy Mayor P.T. Abdul Latheef said the Corporation would hold talks with the City police to permit the existing autorickshaws in the three grama panchayats to ply the city, the boundaries of which have been extended now from the Chaliyar river in the north to Korappuzha in the south.

Demand exceeds supply

Residents in the city are already facing a lot of hardship on account of shortage of autorickshaws. The proposal to increase the existing permits by 250 would not meet the demand of the over 6.5 lakh population.

Besides, more people from the neighbouring grama panchayats of Feroke and Olavanna depend on the city for various activities.

Regional Transport Officer P.T. Sasidharan Nair said the Regional Transport Authority headed by the District Collector would have to take a final decision based on the policies of the State government in increasing the number of autorickshaws in the city.

No ceiling yet

So far, the authorities have not fixesd a ceiling in allotting permits to autorickshaws to ply the grama panchayats unlike in the city.

Residents too have a slew of complaints against autorickshaw drivers. They say most drivers refuse to take passengers to certain destinations, particularly residential localities. Some charge exorbitant rates. This violation gets worse after dusk when commuters are forced to pay even double the fare, said Arangil N. Vasudevan, a retired Joint Registrar of Cooperative Societies.

Special permits

Suggestions such as giving special permits to autorickshaws to ply during night hours would solve the problem to a great extent. Earlier the traffic police had worked out such a system but to no avail with many drivers failing to cooperate.

Last Updated on Monday, 15 November 2010 11:03
 
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