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Civic body gears up to intensify anti-encroachment drive across Aurangabad

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The Times of India       23.09.2014 

Civic body gears up to intensify anti-encroachment drive across Aurangabad

 

AURANGABAD: The Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), which has been razing encroachments in the city for the past few days, is all set to intensify its action from Tuesday.

Shivaji Zanzan, in-charge of the anti-encroachment department in the AMC, said the civic body would take action against illegal occupants in the Beed Bypass area in the next two-three days. "It will be a major action against those occupying public utility lands for long. Similar aggressive drive will be carried out in other parts of the city very soon," he said while talking to TOI on Monday.

Zanazan also said market places, major roads and public places would be made free of encroachments.

On Saturday, the municipal body removed illegal occupants form Jadhavwadi, State Bank Colony and Connaught Place in the city. Zanzan said the eviction drive passed off smoothly. "There was slight resistance from the occupants but overall it was peaceful," he said.

In Jadhavwadi, the authorities demolished roadside shops and clear the road. "Local residents have been complaining about it for quite some time. Most of the structures were built on the encroached land," he said.

In the State Bank Colony area, the AMC staff removed temporary shops and those occupying public utility land. "A considerable portion of the road was encroached by the shopkeepers and vendors. The entire stretch was freed from the clutches of the vendors," Zanzan said.

In Connaught Place, the owner of one of the restaurants had expanded his set up illegally. The anti- encroachment staff demolished the expanded portion.

The civic body had demolished illegal extensions of restaurants and eateries in other parts of the city in the last three-four days. Residents had been complaining that the restaurants had made expansions and alterations.

 

Panel constituted to split BBMP

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The Times of India         23.09.2014 

Panel constituted to split BBMP

 

BANGALORE: The Karnataka government on Monday constituted an expert committee to split BBMP.

Former chief secretary BS Patil will head the committee, while former BBMP commissioner Siddaiah and urban affairs expert V Ravichander are its members. The panel will recommend the ways and means to split the palike and take up administrative matters. It has been given three months to submit a report.

Bangalore district incharge minister Ramalinga Reddy had written a letter to chief minister Siddaramaiah in August 2013 batting for splitting BBMP. Besides Reddy's letter, promise of splitting BBMP found mention in the Congress manifesto of the 2013 assembly polls.

The government has cited administrative set ups in London, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi cities for the reason for splitting BBMP, which has over 800sqkm
An official order says Mumbai has 603 sq km and has 8 municipal corporations and 9 city municipal corporations (CMCs). Kolkota with 186 sq km has 100 wards and 38 CMCs.

The government has also compared London and said that the capital of England has the same population of Bangalore but has 32 independent city regions.

Sources in the urban development department (UDD) said that a proposal to split palike on the lines of Delhi is also working.

The 272-member Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was split into three in 2012 by creating new North, South and East MCDs. The north and south MCD has 104 counselors each, while the east MCD is a 64-member body. All three MCDs have elected mayors. New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) consisting of VVIP areas and Lyten's Delhi also exists, but is governed by Union ministry of home affairs (MHA).

BMP was upgraded to BBMP in 2007 and poll was held to 198 wards was held in March 2010. The election to BBMP is scheduled in March/April 2015.


 

 

Bangalore learns Swedish lessons in urban planning

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The Times of India        23.09.2014   

Bangalore learns Swedish lessons in urban planning

 

BANGALORE: Sweden is at least 600 times bigger than Bangalore city but their population is almost the same. On an average, 250 people die in Swedish road mishaps against 750 in Bangalore. Sweden has also managed to cut down on its carbon emissions by about 10% over the last 15 years.

With the Scandinavian republic's roads having become the world's safest and pollution free, a workshop here on Monday provided a perfect opportunity for Bangalore to look at that nation's best practices.

How did Sweden do this? In 1997 the Swedish devised a plan called "Vision Zero", promising to eliminate road fatalities and injuries altogether. "We simply do not accept any deaths or injuries on our roads considering the impact it makes on families if he or she is the sole bread-winner. Sustainable urban transport coupled with better planning played the biggest part in reducing accidents. Roads were built with safety prioritized over speed or convenience. Low urban speed limits, pedestrian zones, cycle tracks and barriers that separate cars from bikes and oncoming traffic helped," said Matts-Ake Belin, project manager, Vision Zero Academy, Swedish Transport Administration.

Jonas Hafstrom, ambassador and senior advisor to the minister of trade in Sweden, said: "We developed companies that could offer solutions to sustainable urban transport."

Additional chief secretary K Ratna Prabha, who led a six-member delegation recently to Sweden to study urban transport, solid waste management and investments, said: "Their solid waste management plant looks exactly like a mall in Bangalore and is located in the heart of the city without causing any harm to public health. They recycle their entire waste and convert it into biogas and biofuel for use in public transport. They even import waste to recycle."

A round table conference later in the day looked at SymbioCity — a Swedish concept that integrates community planning and urban development from an ecological, social, economic and spatial perspective.

 


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