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Bus corridor: Municipal corporation awaits ASI nod

Tuesday, 16 February 2010 10:26 administrator
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Indian Express 16.02.2010

Bus corridor: Municipal corporation awaits ASI nod

Tanvir A Siddiqui Tags : transport, corporation Posted: Tuesday , Feb 16, 2010 at 0537 hrs

Transport

The Shaking Minarets in Sarangpur area of Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad: Come March 6 and the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation will open tenders for the construction of a four-km long elevated corridor between the Dariapur Gate and the New Cloth Market, to be used as an exclusive passage for the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS).

The estimated cost of the project is Rs 162 crore and the AMC hopes to complete it in 34 months.

The corridor will pass through an area which has five protected monuments — namely, the Shaking Minarets, the Minarets near the old railway station, Kalupur Gate, Prem Darwaza and the Dariapur Gate. Though the JNNRUM directorate has sanctioned funding for this corridor, the AMC is still to receive permission from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for the construction of the corridor.

Anticipating nod from the ASI, the civic body has decided to go ahead with the project. No one in the AMC wants to say a word about the ASI notice of December 15, which had a deadline of six weeksIn fact, the ASI has slapped AMC a notice about the legality of all constructions carried out since 2006 when the ASI Directorate General had formed an expert advisory committee (EAC) to give advice on applications seeking special permissions for construction of around 600 ancient monuments in the country. The Delhi High Court had invalidated the Committee as outside the scope of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 saying there was no provision in the Act for such a Committee

This left the ASI with no option but to disband the Committee and issue notices to all concerned to settle the issue. Now the Law Ministry will have to come up with legislative intervention enabling the ASI to revive the Expert Advisory Committee.

A marathon meeting was held in New Delhi on Monday between the ASI directorate and Law Minister Veerappa Moily on the need to bring a fresh Bill on the subject.

Municipal Commissioner I P Gautam said he met top ASI officials in New Delhi a week ago. “We hope that since the ASI and the Law Ministry are busy finding a way out by way of legal solution, we should be able to get the permission to our pending application in around three months,” he said.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 16 February 2010 10:29
 

Centre commends KSRTC bus design

Monday, 15 February 2010 11:54 administrator
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Deccan Herald 15.02.2010

Says it can be a model of urban public transport for other States
Centre commends KSRTC bus design
S Praveen Dhaneshkar, Bangalore, Feb 14, DH News Service:


In what is a first in the history of a State public transport undertaking, the Ministry of Urban Development (MuD) has recommended the bus design drafted by the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) as a model of urban public transport for other States in the country to emulate, under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM).

  

The bus designed by KSRTC which has received commendation from the Centre. dh photoIn a circular from by S K Lohia, OSD (Officer on Special Duty), MRTS (Mass Rapid Transit System) to the principal secretaries (Urban Development) and principal secretaries (Transport) of all States/UT’s, a copy of which is available with Deccan Herald, the MuD has requested all States to consider the model designed and custom built by KSRTC and comply with directive from MuD at the earliest.

“The design of the bus drafted by KSRTC in-house has been found to be excellent and gives a totally distinct look to the JnNURM buses. All States are requested to consider this model or devise a better model. The ultimate objective being providing good quality, efficient buses for the public,” says Lohia.

The MuD, State government and KSRTC are financing buses under the ambitious JnNURM scheme for procurement of buses in the ratio of 80:10:10. KSRTC has procured 150 new vehicles at a cost of Rs 53.95 crore. Currently, 79 semi-low floor buses from Ashok Leyland and 30 ultra-floor modern Volvo buses are plying in and around Mysore City. They are all funded by the MuD, with a distinct JnNURM logo on its sides.

“The MuD directive has made all at KSRTC proud of our design capabilities,” C G Anand, Chief Mechanical Engineer, Production (KSRTC) who heads the design team said.

“After the design was made ready, the bus was built in a record time as per the specifications of the MuD. The first bus was built at the Kengeri regional coach building workshop and handed over to the Mysore City Transport Division of the KSRTC last year. A team of officials from the MuD even came over to Mysore in September and conducted a passenger/public survey and found the response encouraging. The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has also adopted the same design for its JnNURM buses.”

Each bus coach has cost the State-run undertaking Rs 19.5 lakh to build. Buoyed by the MuD circular, KSRTC now says it is ready to build buses for public transport corporations of neighbouring States. State transport undertakings of Goa and Chennai have implemented the KSRTC design on their buses procured under JnNURM funding.
Constructed on an Ashok Leyland chassis, the bus has been built with minimum standing space and is equipped with a LED passenger information system as per urban bus specifications.

 

City to be free from ‘stinking rides’ soon

Friday, 12 February 2010 10:18 administrator
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The New Indian Express 12.02.2010

City to be free from ‘stinking rides’ soon

Express News Service


THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The stench emanating from the Corporation garbage lorries would soon turn into a thing of the past. That is, if the air-tight vehicles to be launched by the City Corporation work out their magic.

The first air-tight vehicle was brought to the city on Thursday which would begin service from Monday. The body of the vehicle has been altered to suit the requirements of the Corporation.

If found suitable, nine more vehicles would soon arrive or else minor changes would again be made in the design and relaunched again.

The inner container of the vehicle is made of stainless steel so as to avoid rusting of the interior owing to leakage.

As of now, the Corporation has 43 tipper lorries to transport garbage from the city to Vilappilsala. It carries around 250 tonnes of garbage per day. On a single day, almost 45 trips are made.

Owing to widespread complaints about the stench wafting from the lorries, the transportation is usually done at night. Though Kudumbasree workers dump the garbage at daytime, the waste remains almost 24 hours in the lorries by the time it is transported to Vilappilsala in the night. The work is done between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. to avoid inconvenience to the public.

The highlight of the air-tight vehicles is that the transportation can be done at daytime, giving a much-needed reprive to the lorry drivers.

‘’In the first phase, ten such vehicles will be launched. Initially, it would be used to collect waste from markets and public places, where the stench causes much problems to the public,’’ said G.R.Anil, Corporation Health Standing Committee chairman.

The ten air-tight vehicles cost Rs 1.89 crore and has been funded under the JNNURM project. The vehicles have been supplied by Super Body Builders, Perumbavoor, and has been modified by an Engineer of the PWD.

Last Updated on Friday, 12 February 2010 10:23
 
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