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Corporation hikes rent 340% on cos laying underground cables

Wednesday, 26 June 2013 10:10 administrator
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The Times of India             26.06.2013

Corporation hikes rent 340% on cos laying underground cables

CHENNAI: Corporation of Chennai is preparing for a windfall : It has hiked the rent it charges companies to lay cables and pipelines by more than 340 % and expects this to earn it an additional 6 crore a year .

It has increased the rent from the earlier rate of 9,400/ km a year to 32 ,450/km a year.

Among its customers are telephone and high speed internet service providers who need to install cable and fibreoptic networks under corporation-owned land and roads . Bharti Televentures Ltd is its top customer, paying the corporation track rent of 1.15 crore per year for the 1,231 .9 km of cables it has laid under 7,164 roads in the city.

But customers are not limited to telecom companies. Apollo Hospitals last year became the first non-communication entity to pay track rent, shelling out 1.27 lakh for a 69-metre-long pipeline.

"The corporation has not increased the track rent since 2000," said a civic body official. "We have increased the fee according to the present rates. We also plan to raise the track rent by at least 10% every year."

Officials said the additional income will help the fund corporation projects and provide civic amenities. "For instance , we are removing weeds and dense undergrowth along the Adyar and Cooum rivers , Buckingham Canal and other waterways in the city to counter the mosquito problem in a project that costs 6.8 crore ," an official said . He said the civic body also needs more funds to relay and repair damaged roads, especially in the expanded areas.

The civic body had recently written to the government, asking for permission to increase the track rent, which was last fixed in 2000. The civic body collected 2.8 crore in track rent in 2011-12. Officials said the corporation does not charge Metrowater and TNEB any rent as they provide essential services.

Telecom companies say a hike in the track rent will cut into their revenue. "We have not received any official communication from the corporation on this so far," BSNL spokesperson G Vijaya said. "If the rent is hiked it is bound impact our revenue."

Residents, for their part, would like to see the corporation use its extra funds to fix the roads after they are dug up to lay cables. "Telecom companies dig up roads to lay cables, but neither they nor the corporation repair the roads after they've dug them up ," said Anantha Raman , a resident of Kodambakkam .

According to a 2001 government order, all restoration work after cable laying in urban areas should be carried out by the applicants at their own cost after the work is completed. 

 

“Enough with the polluting of Chennai drains”

Wednesday, 26 June 2013 05:09 administrator
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The Hindu             26.06.2013

“Enough with the polluting of Chennai drains”

Staff Reporter

To rid the city of illegal sewer connections in stormwater drains, the Chennai Corporation is set to launch a drive to screen all 1.5 lakh commercial establishments across the city.

Those found to be polluting stormwater drains by letting in sewage will be penalised. A number of hotels including luxury hotels have allegedly been polluting stormwater drains through illegal sewer connections. Such establishments could be in trouble this week.

On Wednesday, the Corporation Council is likely to pass a resolution directing zonal officers to screen all commercial establishments in the city. Those units letting sewage into stormwater drains will have their trade licences cancelled by the civic body.

However, residents who have illegal sewer connections will not be regulated in the first phase of the drive.

Of the 11 lakh property tax assessees in the 15 zones of the city, 1.5 lakh properties are classified as commercial. The Corporation, however, has issued only around 25,000 trade licences. The drive therefore, is expected to only cover business units that come under the trade licence net. Other commercial establishments will have to be regulated by invoking the Public Health Act or the Chennai Metrowater Supply and Sewerage Board Act, an official said.

In January this year, the council took a major step towards streamlining the system to issue trade licences. The number of licensed trades under the old city limits was 194. Trades such as furniture, plastic work, electrical goods, fruit stalls, pickles, bakeries and tea stalls were among those included in the original list of the old Corporation limits.

The new proposal covers 575 trades including flower shops, book binding, animal skin processing, hair processing, pizza, pollution control equipment, computer stationery and Thanjavur plates. All such shops will be under the scanner.

 

Unauthorised bus shelters removed

Tuesday, 25 June 2013 08:33 administrator
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Deccan Chronicle           25.06.2013

Unauthorised bus shelters removed

The bus terminus at J. Jayalalithaa Nagar (Mugappair west) awaits inauguration.— DC
The bus terminus at J. Jayalalithaa Nagar (Mugappair west) awaits inauguration.— DC
 
Chennai: Chennai corporation on Monday removed unauthorized bus shelters in some parts of the city and several illegal structures used for promoting private advertisements were also pulled down by the civic officials.
 
The top brass have instructed to remove all encroachments including bus shelters erected by private parties. The drive has begun in parts of Anna Nagar zone. Encroachments near New Avadi Road and Natha­muni junction will be focused and the drive will be expanded to other parts in phased manner, a corporation official said.
 
The civic body has planned to construct several modern bus shelters and legislators can also allocate funds from their local area development funds for constructing new shelters. Soon three new bus shelters will come up along the arterial New Avadi road”, Villivakkam legislator J C D Prabhakar said.       
 
The corporation has proposed of constructing 500 bus stands in the city and has already invited tenders to construct 108 shelters in the first phase. The bus shelter facility and road beautification project will be taken up simultaneously, corporation sources said.
 
“New bus shelters have been a long pending dem­and of the local residents and private parties constructed a few bus shelters in the area and promoted bill boards. The corporation should also ensure that such illegal structures do not mushroom”, opined civic activist Ayanavaram Ramadoss. 
 
‘Tax’ing problem delays bus stand inauguration
 
S. Sasidharan | DC
 
A badly needed bus terminus at the thickly populated J. Jayalalithaa Nagar (Mugappair west), whose construction was completed over two months ago, is yet to be opened to the public as MTC, the city’s public transport provider, is yet to pay tax to the Metro Water authorities.
 
Maduravoyal MLA G. Beemrao who allocated Rs 53 lakh to construct a proper terminus with a concrete floor, drinking water and restroom facility, said that the officials had promised to pay the tax amount in a few days. This was his poll promise, he added.
 
Officials from MTC, which contributed funds towards erecting the shelter, told Deccan Chro­nicle that they were about to pay the tax on Tuesday and that they would soon inaugurate the bus terminus.
 
The MTC has been identifying sites for new bus depots and constructing new bus terminuses for the convenience of the public, but residents of J. Jayalalithanagar have only seen their wait to use the facility grow longer.
 
As many as 40 buses operate from this bus terminus, making nearly 200 trips a day. Commuters have been boarding buses outside the terminus over the past year, braving the scorching heat of summer and now the rains pelting down, without a shelter while waiting for buses. The terminus has no roof nor seating, and the approach area is pothol -ridden. 
 
Residents said that it lacked even basic amenities and were suitably relieved to see construction of the bus terminus begin a year ago. But now, two months after completion, it still remains closed, according to Uma Maheswari, a resident. “If authorities open the bus terminus our decades long ordeal will come to an end,” she added.
 
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