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Tamil Nadu News Papers

Chennai to get roads under PPP on Kerala model

Thursday, 28 November 2013 04:53
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The Hindu             28.11.2013 

Chennai to get roads under PPP on Kerala model

Aloysius Xavier Lopez

The State government is planning to develop urban roads in the Chennai Metropolitan Area under Public Private Partnership (PPP) based on the model adopted in Kerala.

Following the first meeting on PPP for urban roads held by the State government on Wednesday, the Chennai Corporation has decided to study the feasibility of using the model to design, construct and maintain urban roads in newly added areas.

“A number of neighbourhoods in added areas need new roads. Such areas may benefit from the adoption of the model,” said an official of Chennai Corporation.

The civic body has decided to complete 18,000 roads by May 2014. New roads to tackle traffic congestion may also be developed based on the model. The Union Ministry of Urban Development this month asked the State government to explore the possibility of construction, operation and maintenance of urban roads through a PPP model. The Ministry cited the model adopted in Thiruvananthapuram where a private entity was identified for urban road improvement.

“The roads developed under the model will be toll-free. This is done through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) with responsibility of design, operation and maintenance of roads for 15 years in an integrated manner. The traditional system of repairing the road has impaired the landscape and storm water drains,” said an official of Chennai Corporation.

The local bodies in the State, including the Chennai Corporation, have been trying to get funds from development banks from other countries to cope with insufficient budgetary allocations from the Union Government. The Union government is also promoting the PPP model to cope with issues pertaining to funding. The model adopted in Kerala identified a consortium to develop, operate and maintain urban roads.

Land acquisition and financial risks were, however, tackled by the State government and the concessionaire was responsible for investment. The recovery for the concessionaire is made by annuity payments from the central road fund.

 

Centre to recycle plastic waste opened

Wednesday, 27 November 2013 05:02
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The Hindu             27.11.2013

Centre to recycle plastic waste opened

Special Correspondent

The State government has sanctioned Rs.3.75 lakh to the federation of women self-help groups for recycling plastic waste for the purpose of laying roads as well as generating income for their livelihood.

Declaring open a centre for recycling plastic waste at Kooraikoondu panchayat, Collector T.N. Hariharan said that plastic waste had led to pollution at various levels apart from causing damage to water sources and soil.

Under the Mahalir Thittam, Kooraikoondu panchayat was chosen and equipment was purchased for cleaning the waste plastic and grinding it. Plastic waste available in panchayats, village panchayats and municipality would be collected, cleaned and grinded before being given to the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) for use while laying roads in rural areas.

 

Corporation may outsource sanitary work in 18 wards

Wednesday, 27 November 2013 04:53
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The Hindu             27.11.2013

Corporation may outsource sanitary work in 18 wards

S. Ganesan

Agency to be entrusted with the upkeep of storm-water drains

Faced with a severe shortage of manpower, the Tiruchirapalli City Corporation has proposed to outsource sanitary operations and solid waste management in 18 wards in the city, including the Central and Chathram bus stands and the Gandhi Market, as a pilot project.

As per the proposal, sanitary workers from contracted private agencies were to be deployed for sanitary work and solid waste management in wards 8 and 9 and the Chathram Bus Stand in Srirangam zone; wards 7, 28, 29, 61, 62, and 64 and the Gandhi Market in Ariyamangalam zone; wards 35-39, 63 and 65 and the Central Bus Stand in Golden Rock zone; and wards 40, 41, and 45 in K. Abishekapuram zone.

The workers would be engaged in primary collection of the garbage from the two bus stands, Gandhi Market, and 77,262 households in the 18 wards every day, segregate them at source into degradable and non-degradable waste and transport them to the corporation garbage dump. They would be required to clean the streets and storm-water drains in the wards.

The private agency would be required to clean and maintain the 21.25-km bus route roads in the 18 wards on a daily basis by using road sweeping machines.

Although the corporation has previously attempted to privatise sanitary work on a smaller scale covering the bus stands and the market, this is the first time that the initiative was planned on such a large scale in the city.

The move was expected to kick up much dust at the Corporation Council, which would consider an official proposal on the matter on Wednesday.

The civic administration justified the move pointing to the shortage of the sanitary workers, the rise in population, and expansion of the geographical spread of the city.

The city, spread over 167.23 sq km, has a population of 9.16 lakh and about 2.33 lakh households and 256 slums. Roads for 1,293 km and 776 km of storm-water drains had to be maintained by the civic body.

Solid waste management in the city was currently handled by 1,655 sanitary workers against the standard requirement of 3,636 workers.

The corporation had not been able to go in for recruitment given the government stipulation that the outgo on staff salary and pension could not exceed 49 per cent of the local body’s annual revenue.

Hence, there was no option but to go in for outsourcing, the officials said.

 
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