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Water supply situation turns precarious

Friday, 31 July 2009 04:55 administrator
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The Hindu Andhra Pradesh 31.07.2009

Water supply situation turns precarious

 

D. Chandra Bhaskar Rao

 

 

 

Collector urged to take steps for release of water from Palair reservoir

 

 

 

Residents told to make judicious use of water

Civic body decided to cut down supply time

 

 

 

— Photo: G.N. Rao

STOCK-TAKING: Municipal Chairman Afroze Sameena and councillors looking at the water level at the Munneu open storage at Danavaigudem in Khammam district on Thursday.

 

KHAMMAM: The monsoon situation, which is still precarious, has cast its shadow on the water supply in the district headquarters town. The municipal administration, in view of the water scarcity being experienced in the town, has made an appeal to the residents to make judicious use of water until the levels improved in the Danavaigudem open storage, which is the main source that had been supporting the supply system for decades. A decision has been taken to cut down the supply time from one-and-a-half hour to one hour daily.

Led by the Municipal Chairperson, Afroze Sameena, councillors from some 41 wards experiencing difficulties in water supply, made a visit to the filter beds at the Danavaigudem and took stock of the rapidly falling water levels in the open storage in the Munneru river on Thursday. The officials said that the water level at Danavaigudem touched the dead storage of 6.5 feet. It may support the supply only for a week or so. They voiced grave concern over the hardships in store for the residents in the town.

They made a representation to district Collector V. Usharani seeking release of water from Palair balancing reservoir to fill the open storage once again. The Collector assured them of steps to ensure water release by August 5. She also advised the civic body take steps to avoid wastage of the limited water resources available for the town. Modernisation works were in progress on the NSP canal including the 30 kilometre stretch from Palair balancing reservoir to Munneru.

Cooperation sought

 

 

Municipal Commissioner N. Satyanarayana said that the Collector had responded to the situation positively. The supply to the 20,000 odd domestic and public taps in the town could be augmented once the Danavaigudem open storage was refilled. He appealed to the general public to cooperate with the municipal administration.

The daily supply in the town is over five million gallons. The supply to over 36,000 households was depending mainly on Munneru open storage.

Municipal Vice-Chairman Ponnam Venkateswarlu said that the municipality should have had contingency plans to meet the scarcity conditions in the town. A majority of the councillors had been alerting the civic authorities well in advance about the adverse situation, but no concrete steps were taken to tide over water scarcity.

 

Corporation to terminate contract of Speck Systems?

Friday, 31 July 2009 04:12 administrator
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The Hindu 31.07.2009

Corporation to terminate contract of Speck Systems?

G.V.R. Subba Rao

Inordinate delay in GIS mapping project the trigger

 

Decision likely to be taken in a couple of days

The project was initially scheduled for completion by 2010

VIJAYAWADA: The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) is contemplating “terminating” the contract awarded to Hyderabad-based Speck Systems a year ago for preparing a Geographical Information System (GIS) map of the city, in view of enormous delay in execution of the project.

Official sources say that the corporation is not satisfied with the progress of the project in line with the targets set for its completion. Barring capturing of a few satellite images, the project has not made much progress.

The Corporation is likely to a take a decision on terminating the contract in a couple of days. The officials are considering various possibilities, such as calling for tenders once again or switching over to the SAP module.

The VMC, in January this year, thought of levying a fine of about Rs. 1 lakh on the Speck Systems for the tardy progress made in the project. The officials asked the agency to submit a revised schedule of the project.

The Speck Systems was asked to submit the pilot study report by February 18 this year. However, there was a lull thereafter. The project was initially scheduled for completion by 2010. Later, the Corporation has decided to complete the GIS mapping project before the commencement of the next decennial census in 2011.

The Corporation planned to spend nearly Rs. 1.4 crore for the proposed mapping, which is popularly known as GIS project. It asked the Speck Systems to provide colour images taken with a resolution of 0.6 metre by the QuickBird satellite.

Scientific system

The project is intended to evolve a scientific door numbering system by using the GIS mapping. The agency was asked to provide a unique and scientific door number to every property in the city.

The agency was also expected to provide door number plates to every property owner, so that people could identify houses easily.

As against the estimated 2 lakh properties in the city, 1.54 lakh properties have been assessed for the purpose of levying property tax. The Corporation had agreed to pay Rs.70 for every property that is given a door number by the Speck Systems. The VMC will also give integrated Property Tax Identification (PTID) numbers to all ratepayers and householders in the city.

These numbers will have all features covering property tax assessment, door numbers and GIS mapping. The PTID numbers would be a comprehensive exercise and is expected to bring uniformity in door numbers.

Last Updated on Friday, 31 July 2009 04:18
 

The price of delay

Thursday, 30 July 2009 12:13 administrator
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The New Indian Express 30.07.2009

The price of delay


KOCHI: The projects aimed at transforming Kochi into a dream metro will remain a distant dream if they are not implemented in a time-bound manner.

Land acquisition is a major hurdle for most of the master projects proposed under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Rural Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme. Of the nearly 15 projects that fall under the JNNURM, so far only four have been completed or are nearing completion.

Work on 10 projects is still in their initial stages.

The Central Government had already given an ultimatum to the Corporation to complete the work before 2012. If the work is not undertaken on a war footing, the Corporation will fail to reap the full benefit from it.

As per the JNNURM plan, out of the total project estimate, the Centre will bear 50 percent of the total cost, 30 percent will come from the State Government and the Corporation must find sources to fund 20 percent of the cost. With nearly 10 projects proving to be non starters, the Corporation is yet to utilise nearly Rs 650 crore that have been sanctioned under the JNNURM and Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Plan (KSUDP).

The projects that have been completed include the Brahmapuram solid waste treatment plant. The fund allocation was Rs 63.47 crore. Among the other projects, building of new houses under the DSUP project, which is intended to provide basic services to the poor, is progressing. The total fund allocation is Rs 130 crore.

The Corporation has initiated steps to speed up the implementation of public transport system project under which it will run 200 buses to improve the transport system. The total JNNURM allocation is Rs 73 crore.

The main project that is yet to start is the Maradu water treatment plant.

The total fund allocated for the plant was Rs 201 crore. Even though the Kerala Water Authority awarded the tender, land acquisition for laying the pipeline is a big challenge. An official from the Corporation said that the main obstacle in front of them was finding a source for the enhanced cost. “Land acquisition is a major barrier for which the Corporation will have to find an additional amount of nearly Rs 1000 crore. So there should be provisions for long-term loans.

Otherwise the projects will face unexpected delay,” he said.

Among the other major projects that are yet to be initialised is the sewerage project plan for which Rs 78.40 crore has been allocated under the JNNURM scheme. Some other projects like Atlantis Railway Overbridge are still in the initial stages.

The total estimate of the project was Rs 10.30 crore. The Corporation has set aside Rs 50 lakh for land acquisition, but so far no steps have been taken in this regard.

Opposition leader A B Sabu said that the main reason for the delay was the absence of a time-bound mechanism in implementing the projects.

“The delay in executing projects and finding revenue for the extra amount are affecting the progress of the projects,” he added.

Last Updated on Thursday, 30 July 2009 12:39
 
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