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Non-inclusion in Greater Chennai irks Vanagaram

Tuesday, 03 August 2010 11:05 administrator
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The Deccan Chronicle 03.08.2010

Non-inclusion in Greater Chennai irks Vanagaram

Tags: . omission of Vanagaram, civic amenities, greater Chennai corporation limit
Aug. 2: The omission of Vanagaram, near Ambattur, in the proposed greater Chennai corporation limit has irked the public and political functionaries of the locality. They have sent petitions to the state government demanding that Vanagaram be included in the corporation limit explaining that 30,000 people will benefit with better roads and civic amenities if congested and polluted Vanagaram is included within the city corporation’s ambit.

Speaking to this newspaper, Mr N.V. Seenivasan, chairman, Vanagaram village panchayat, said the residents of his panchayat were disappointed that Vanagaram was not included in the proposed expansion plan despite the inclusion of faraway places like Karambakkam and Porur. Vangaram is much closer to the corporation limit compared to several other areas included in the corporation expansion plan, said the chairman.

On behalf of the local body, a petition has been sent to the state government. The local body representatives and local MLA B. Ranganathan have met the municipal administration and water supply department secretary, Chennai mayor and Chennai corporation commissioner to explain the public opinion. Besides, petitions to the chief minister and deputy chief minister’s special cell have been sent seeking their intervention and timely action, the chairman said.

“Several residents welfare associations have sent petitions to the government seeking its intervention in the issue and Vangaram is a potential area to be included in the corporation limit as it connects several suburbs with the city,” said Mr A. Balasubramaniyan, executi-ve committee president, federation of residents welfare associations (Palani-yappa Nagar, Krishna Nagar and A.V.N. Garden).

Official sources said the Tiruvallur collector has demanded that the local body submit the details and population of Vanagaram.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 03 August 2010 11:09
 

Flyovers may not solve traffic troubles: Experts

Monday, 02 August 2010 06:00 administrator
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The Deccan Chronicle 02.08.2010

Flyovers may not solve traffic troubles: Experts

Tags: traffic woes new flyovers

Aug.1: City corporations officials are so confident that flyovers are the answer to all the traffic woes of Chennai that new flyovers are being built on a regular basis. The city now has 15 flyovers and three more are in the pipeline.

Experts, however, are not sure that flyovers are such a good idea. While acknowledging the fact that flyovers play some part in preventing traffic snarls, experts and civic activists believe that in the long run flyovers will cause more problems than they solve in the short term.

“City planners are oblivious to the fact that flyovers, which they put forward as solutions for traffic snarls, just shift the traffic bottlenecks from one spot to another,” said Abdul Razak Mohammed of the department of planning, Anna University. “Add to this an inefficient traffic management system and the whole problem of traffic congestion unveils before you.”

“If the government wants to erase the problem, then it needs to prepare a comprehensive plan, integrating the city with the growing suburbs,” he added.

Hariesh K. Sankar, chief architect, BeenBee Consultants, is also of the opinion that planners should come up with projects on the outskirts and not focus only on the centre of the city. “Several European cities faced the same problem as Chennai, but their town planners managed with practical solutions,” Mr Hariesh said.

“Instead of more flyovers, congested areas like Panagal Park and T Nagar should be made vehicle-free zones, with only bicycles allowed. Ancient cities like Milan have been able to retain their charm through such initiatives,” he pointed out. According to data collected from the state transport department, as of March 1 this year, 30,53,870 vehicles are jostling for space on the roads of Chennai.

Last Updated on Monday, 02 August 2010 06:04
 

Corporation to take over conservancy operation

Friday, 30 July 2010 06:11 administrator
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The New Indian Express  30.07.2010

Corporation to take over conservancy operation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 CHENNAI: Upset over Neel Metal Fanalca’s poor performance in maintaining streets and roads “litter-free” in the four zones that were privatised, Chennai Corporation is set to take over full conservancy operations in all of its 10 zones from April 2011.

The civic body’s intention to take over full operations became clear after the Corporation Council on Thursday gave its nod to buy 93 high-calibre compacter lorries (used to transport huge volumes of garbage), at a cost of Rs 20 crore, to be used in the four zones – Pulianthope, Triplicane, Kodambakkam and Adyar – managed by Neel Metal Fanalca since 2007.

The Chennai Corporation had in March 2000 privatised three city zones – Triplicane (zone 6), Kodambakkam (zone 8) and Adyar (zone 10) – and engaged private conservancy operator CES Onyx. But after the public complained against the firm’s poor performance, the civic body declined to extend its contract with it in 2007. After high drama in 2007, where even policemen were asked to assist in the civic body’s conservancy operations, the Corporation appointed Neel Metal Fanalca (NMF) for conservancy works in these three zones. Pulianthope zone was also given to the NMF after a year. But, like Onyx, NMF also failed to perform the work properly in the areas given to them.

The civic body reclaimed Ward-128 (Zone 8) in June. But instead of absorbing the 50-odd experienced staff, rendered jobless due to the takeover, into its other wards to improve operations, the agency preferred to send them home!

Last Updated on Friday, 30 July 2010 06:24
 
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