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Home › November 2013
Stanley Pinto, TNN |
MANGALORE: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will introduce a toll on the 20-km stretch between Padil and BC Road by the year end.
Though the 37-km Surathkal-BC Road stretch was constructed by the same agency- Ircon International Limited (IRCON) – two different agencies will be appointed to collect the toll and do the maintenance of the road.
The toll booths have already been erected near Brahmarakootlu for this purpose.
NHAI project director Shriram Mishra said that the toll will be introduced on the Padil-BC Road in November. “The process for issuing tenders for toll collection is already under way in Delhi,” he added.
He also indicated that the maintenance will be done by a different agency.
However, the Padil -BC Road four-lane stretch does not offer super smooth drive.
There are several bottlenecks at many places including Farangipet, Thumbe and Brahmarakootlu. This will not allow the user to drive at a speed of 80 kmph throughout.
Near Thumbe, the road has developed a big crater which is in a blind corner. This has caused several accidents.
Mishra said near Farangipet NHAI cannot provide shoulders as a fish market is located there and it cannot be shifted as the land belongs to the railways.
Regarding the blind turn near Thumbe, Mishra said the road will be repaired soon. “But the curve improvement is not possible due to non-availability of land. We took almost eight years to complete the land acquisition process for this project. It’s very easy for NHAI to straighten a road, but what can be done if there is no land available. Moreover, when if we try to straighten a curve, objections come as to why the opposite side of the land is not being acquired,” he said pointing out at the intricacies.
On the Surathkal toll booth, he said shifting the toll booth to Hejamady is under consideration. It may be recalled that the toll booth near Panambur had invited protests from the local resident.
Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Default
Move in the wake of domestic developers keeping away from bidding for road projects
With developers in India staying away from bidding for road projects, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways plans to conduct road shows abroad to attract foreign firms to take up projects here.
According to sources, the road shows are expected to be conducted in China and Australia, among others, over the next few months.
A senior official in the ministry told Business Standard the ministry has prepared a presentation to be made to the Prime Minister shortly and “one of the proposals is to do road shows abroad to ask investors to participate in PPP (public-private partnership) projects in India”.A National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) official also confirmed that such a proposal is being studied.
The proposal comes at a time when many private road developers, including infrastructure majors GVK, GMR and Larsen & Toubro, have stopped investing in road projects owing to land acquisition problems and funding constraints, among other reasons. Some other developers have also walked out of road projects due to funding concerns.
With the general elections approaching and road construction turning out to be a crucial factor, reviving construction activity is a priority for the government. It has managed to award only less than 1,000 km so far this year.
Experts, however, say the government will need to sort out problems plaguing Indian companies before inviting foreign developers.
“The Indian road sector is at a crossroads and we need to take policy decisions to help Indian companies. Once the internal problems are sorted, will we be able to see some fruits from the decision to do road shows abroad,” said Vishwas Udgirkar, senior director at Deloitte India.
Private road developers in India have also been plagued by the quantum of premium that companies have to pay to NHAI. The firms have been asking the government to reschedule the payments so as to provide a breather for them. Private developers owe close to Rs 1.51 lakh crore to NHAI as premium over the next 20 years. The government has set up a panel under the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council chairman C Rangarajan to decide the terms and conditions of the premium rescheduling.
Premium is the amount a concessionaire pays NHAI for a build-operate-transfer project, on the assumption the returns will be very high. This is usually decided on the basis of future traffic flow at the time of bidding.
Source-http://www.business-standard.com
Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Bidding
Press Trust of India |
New Delhi: IL&FS Transportation Networks Ltd today said it has tied up loans worth over Rs. 3,029 crore for financing road projects in Jharkhand, West Bengal and Maharashtra.The loan agreements have been signed with IndusInd Bank, IL&FS Financial Services and Yes Bank, it said.
“The company was issued a Letter of Award by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for development and operation of six laning of Barwa Adda Panagarh Section of NH-2…in the states of Jharkhand and West Bengal,” the company said in a filing to BSE.
“The financial tie-up of loans aggregating to Rs. 1,704.40 crore has been achieved and the loan agreements have been executed with IndusInd Bank and IL&FS Financial Services Ltd,” the company said.
The project, estimated at Rs. 2,434.86 crore, is on toll basis with a concession period of 20 years, including construction period of 910 days, the company added.
In another filing, the company said it has been awarded project by NHAI “for four laning of Khed-Sinnar Section on NH-50…in the state of Maharashtra under NHDP Phase IV on design, build, finance and operate and transfer basis.”
“The financial tie-up of loans aggregating to Rs. 1,325 crore has been achieved and loan agreements have been executed with Yes Bank Ltd,” it said.
This project, with an estimated cost of Rs. 2015.29 crore, is also on toll basis with a concession period of 20 years, it added.
Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Uncategorized
TNN
KOCHI: Though the rains have come down, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) have continued to renege on their promise to repair the highway on the Vyttila-Aroor stretch and the Kaloor-Kadavanthra road.
While the NHAI is awaiting the approval from their headquarters to start the tender process for carrying out the road milling work on the Aroor-Kumbalam bridge, the GCDA has not yet solved its dispute with contractor over the road repair work.
The Aroor-Kumbalam bridge was closed after its surface was riddled with potholes which posed a threat to motorists. After inspecting the bridge, experts from IIT Madras had suggested breaking up the entire tarred surface of the bridge. Following this, the highway authority had come up with a plan to remove asphalt and concrete the stretch.
“We need the approval from headquarters to proceed with the milling work,” said NHAI project director C T Abraham. It has been pointed out that the regular repair and pothole filling work would be of no use in the present condition.
Meanwhile, NHAI authorities stated that except for the repair work on the bridge, they have completed the tendering process on other damaged stretches and works were being executed.
The highway authority said that they would complete them at the earliest.
GCDA officials said that the body had sought legal opinion to sort out disputes with the contractor. Though the Kaloor-Kadavanthra road was built with a five-year guarantee, the contractor has refused to repair the damaged portions saying that the agreement between him and the authority did not have a clause for executing such works.
“The GCDA will check whether the authority can take up the work independently. A decision in this regard will be announced in a week,” said GCDA chairman N Venugopal.
Brushing aside allegations that the damages on Kathrikadvu overbridge (ROB) have resulted in traffic congestion on the route, he said, “The opening of A L Jacob ROB and the diversion of traffic through the Thammanam-Pulleppady road have increased the movement of vehicles through Kaloor-Kathrikadavu road.”
Source-http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Some deals are stuck because developers are demanding high valuation, even though they are facing a liquidity crisis and banks aren’t lending to them
India’s ailing road sector may be in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, but that has not dimmed foreign investors‘ interest in acquiring and managing these assets, which are now available at relatively attractive valuations. That’s because developers are willing to unlock capital by selling operating projects to large domestic and global infrastructure funds as liquidity dries up and banks refuse to finance new projects.
Merchant bankers say almost every developer is looking at doing some kind of a deal today as nearly all of them are facing a cash crunch. The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has bid out 240 odd projects under private-public partnership so far, entailing an investment of Rs 200,000 crore. Of these 240 projects, 80 are operational road projects and 160 are under construction. According to investment bankers, developers are looking at doing a transaction-either equity dilution or outright sale-for nearly half of these operational assets.
In the last six months, at least six large deals involving nearly Rs 6,000 crore have happened where strategic investors/funds have acquired stakes in operating road assets. Some of the big players in the segment are SBI Macquarie Infrastructure Fund, IDFC Alternatives, Piramal Enterprises and Uniquest. And many other large foreign entities are sniffing around.
Despite the slowdown and policy paralysis that has hurt India’s infrastructure sector, foreign funds-sovereign, pension and infrastructure funds-are keen to acquire projects that will earn them annuities. According to investment bankers in the know, nearly 40-45 operating road assets are up for grabs. Subahoo Chordia, head of Infrastructure and investment banking at Edelweiss Financial Services, says that most developers are in various stages of discussion to monetise their assets as their other main business is going through liquidity issues. He says: “Other than known infrastructure funds, new platforms are also coming up which are interested in acquiring road assets in India. A few pension funds from Europe and Canada too are looking for opportunities to pick up stakes in operating roads in India. The currency volatility and other macro issues have slowed the pace of deals, but a few could be announced soon which will help in attracting further investment in the sector.”Road deals
There are four or five big players in the sector who are interested in buying road assets in India which are cash positive and operational. Suresh Goyal, chief executive officer and managing director of SBI Macquarie Infrastructure Fund, says: “The roads sector is an important sector for us and we have invested about $300 million in road assets over the last nine months. This is the first time we have picked up majority stakes in two road projects as so far our investment has been through minority stakes. This is changing as promoters are now more willing to divest assets, at least in the roads sector.” Macquarie owns infrastructure assets worth $100 billion across the globe and is a nascent player in India in the infrastructure space. The fund now runs road projects and has put a team in place to look after it. Unlike private equity funds, infrastructure funds look at managing the asset through its lifetime and earn annuities in return. Other infrastructure funds are also actively looking at acquiring majority stakes in operating assets, especially roads. While buyers are willing to buy a part of a developer’s portfolio, foreign funds are not looking at stressed assets which are facing cash flow issues or are unviable. However, contractors are willing to sell controlling stakes in projects if their overall portfolio is stressed.
Valuation matters
At the same time, not all deals in the road sector are due to stress. Some developers are also getting premium valuation in the market. Satish Parakh, managing director of Ashoka Buildcon, which has raised Rs 700 crore from SBI Macquarie Infrastructure Fund, believes the sector holds promise for investors as only 2 per cent of India’s highways are national highways and plenty of work needs to be done on the existing roadways. He says: “The sector will see a revival as serious investors who have a portfolio of assets globally are looking at India. However, players with viable experience in execution will score. We formed a holding company with seven road projects (six national highways and one state highway), and of this six are tolling. Macquarie has given us a premium valuation for the 34 per cent stake picked up in the holding company.”
However, not all projects are going for a premium, even if they are not being sold below book value (cost of building the asset). Developers are still not climbing down from their expectations, which is why a number of deals are stuck, but many of them could materialise soon. MK Sinha, CEO of IDFC Alternatives, which has also acquired a couple of road projects, does not think that deals are happening below book value. Also, merchant bankers say that since these are operating assets, they are valued on the basis of the cash flow they generate and not on the cost incurred in building the asset.
Valuations of road projects are also being driven by their viability. The road sector projects can largely be classified into two distinct phases. Projects that are most viable were bid between 2003 and 2006. Thereafter, things went awry and overbidding became the norm by 2007. Jayesh Desai, head of investments at Piramal Enterprises, which has acquired a stake in Hyderabad-based road developer Navayuga Engineering, says: “Road projects which were bid before 2006 are viable and have an internal rate of return, or IRR, upwards of 15-16 per cent.” While things did improve marginally in 2008-2010, the “blue-sky bidding” came back into vogue with developers offering unrealistic premiums to NHAI as order inflows started drying up from 2011 onwards.
Investors are looking at consistent returns rather than high returns, explains Parakh of Ashoka Buildcon. Even though traffic growth has fallen 4-5 per cent on a year-on-year basis, investors are happy to put their money in road projects that have been tolling for three to four years. Investors believe that things are unlikely to worsen from here and once interest rates start coming down, the IRRs will inch up from 16 per cent levels to around 20 per cent. It’s the anticipation of an improvement in the macro-economic environment and possibility of a fall in interest rates that is driving these deals.
ONE FOR THE ROAD
ROAD PROJECTS WHICH HAVE SEEN INVESTOR INTEREST IN THE LAST SIX MONTHS
ASHOKA BUILDCON
Assets on the block: Seven highway projects, of which six are tolling with concessionaire period of over 20 years
Investor/Acquirer: SBI Macquarie Infrastructure
Size of deal: Rs 700 crore. The holding company with these roads gets premium equity valuation (30 per cent of project cost) of Rs 2000 crore
Deal Structure: SBI Macquarie picked up 34 per cent in a holding company with seven road projects for Rs 700 crore
NAVYUGA ENGINEERING
Assets on the block: Seven road projects in different stages of development. Company owns 100 per cent in these assets
Investor/Acquirer: Piramal Enterprises
Size of deal: Rs 530 crore is what Piramal has invested in the holding company with seven road assets
Deal Structure: Investment through convertible debentures, stake rises or falls depending on the performance of the roads
GMR JADCHERLA EXPRESSWAYS
Assets on the block: Farukhnagar-Jadcherla highway in Andhra Pradesh
Investor/Acquirer: Macquarie SBI Infrastructure Fund & SBI Macquarie Infrastructure Trust
Size of deal: Rs 206 crore
Deal Structure: Acquiring companies buy 74 per cent in the road project
GMR INFRASTRUCTURE
Assets on the block: Sells 74 per cent in its Ulundurpet highway project in Tamil Nadu stretching over 73 km
Investor/Acquirer: IDFC Alternatives
Size of deal: Rs 222 crore paid to acquire 74 per cent in the special purpose vehicle
Deal Structure: Acquisition is in a single road project that will earn annuity for the investor
IVRCL
Assets on the block: Three road projects in Tamil Nadu: Salem Tollways, Kumarapalayam Tollways and IVRCL Chengapally Tollways
Investor/Acquirer: TRIL Roads, a Tata group company
Size of deal: Rs 2,200 crore
Deal Structure: Salem and Kamarapalayam project have been tolling for the last few years and the controlling stake gives buyer annuity income.
Source-http://www.business-standard.com
Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Uncategorized
Global Times |
By Ding Gang
Both China and India have drawn each other’s attention with major moves. India has welcomed a remarkable milestone in the development of its space technology by successfully launching its first Mars orbiter, the
Mangalyaan.Meanwhile, China extended its highway network to the last untouched county, Motuo, located in southeastern Tibet. The road, which took decades to complete, has provided the once isolated plateau with a gateway to the world.
These two accomplishments are enough to make Indians and Chinese feel proud. However, they seem to have caused mutual suspicion instead, and even been misinterpreted by some netizens as measures against each other.
With rapid development in many areas and in particular defense over the last decade and more, China and India have become more suspicious of each other’s intention, which reflects long-term distrust in their bilateral relationship.
Problems in the Sino-Indian relationship are mainly triggered by boundary demarcation. The foremost way to reduce mutual suspicion is to lay down some basic rules in tackling border issues to control frictions and prevent conflicts.
The Border Defense Cooperation Agreement between India and China signed in Beijing last month marked an important step toward this. If New Delhi and Beijing can strictly abide by the pact and conduct frequent dialogues between officials at different levels near the Line of Actual Control, there will be fewer chances of conflicts.
The two nations can then begin considering how to make substantial progress that promotes business and trade in border areas and benefits the general public.
In recent years, Beijing and New Delhi have been engaged in road projects near border regions, and have also made plans to build railways. Mutual suspicion will increase if the highways and railways cannot be connected between the two countries. But if the two can be connected, the entire region can prosper.
Currently, China and India conduct trade mostly by sea. A large bulk of Tibet’s imports from and exports to India has to pass through the port of Tianjin and then be shipped to the harbors of Calcutta.
If the two countries can connect their highways via Nathu La, a mountain pass in the Himalayas, trading cost will drop enormously. Nathu La is located 460 kilometers from Lhasa, and there are several highways from this historical place to northern India, eastern Nepal and northern Bangladesh.
This trade route boasts great potential. The India-China trade volume in 1957 amounted to a peak of 110 million silver dollars at Nathu La Pass, accounting for more than 80 percent of the total bilateral trading volume.
Another route, which extends about 500 kilometers, could connect Tengchong, Yunnan Province, to Ledo in northeastern India via Myitkyina in Myanmar.
Many businessmen from Myanmar have been transporting Chinese goods to India through this passage over recent years, and there are a variety of Chinese-made products in the markets across India-Myanmar border areas.
Interconnections between western China and northeastern India will not only benefit the two countries, but also be conducive to the establishment of the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor that is now being discussed. Plus, it can help shape a critical economic circle to provide more vigor and dynamism to Asia and the whole world.
In addition, the political role of the new economic zone can not afford to be neglected. As complicated conflicts often occur among a number of ethnic minorities and tribal groups there, it will be difficult to push forward political reconciliation if economic development remains sluggish.
Economic growth is the foundation of addressing these problems, and providing real benefits for the people will facilitate the process of negotiations over the border. Investment and ideas that advance China-India economic and trade cooperation are far more important than building army posts and deploying artillery and planes.
The author is a senior editor with People’s Daily. He is now stationed in Brazil
Jenny Rogers |
Global Road Technology’s soil stabilisation and trench compaction products will be used to build highways in India. Pic: Supplied
BUNDALL-based infrastructure company Global Road Technology has inked a $115 million road-building deal with Indian construction and energy giant Triace.
The three-year contract will enable the company to put its instant highway technology to work on projects covering 7000km of Maharashtra, India’s most populous and third largest state.
The Triace deal followed the recent signing of a joint venture agreement between GRT and India’s Pearls Group to form Pearls GRT.
Pearls Group is the parent company of Pearls Australasia, which bought the Sheraton Mirage resort for $62.5 million in 2009 and undertook a $26 million makeover.
GRT’s technology director Ben Skinner said the deal was a sign of the Gold Coast-based company’s intent to be a world leader in road infrastructure development.
“Our technology provides a cost-effective and time-efficient solution to the development of road infrastructure in both remote and developing nations,” he said.
He said up to 6000sq m of road would be applied a day using GRT’s products, as opposed to traditional methods that take up to a month to lay a kilometre of road.
GRT uses special compounds to build roads that are stronger, safer, cheaper, longer-lasting and quicker to install than conventional roads.
Their technology makes it possible to quickly seal poor roads in countries such as India and China to reduce fatalities.
GRT already has a presence across Asia, India and South America.
The company is working with major companies across the mining, oil and gas and government sector.
Mr Skinner said GRT polymers could be mixed with in-situ materials to create a range of road surfaces across a variety of landscapes.
Source-http://www.goldcoast.com.au
Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Tech
Saikat Das |
SUMMARY- EPC route was adopted for projects that received or were expected to receive poor response in PPP bid
The column “Toll time for UPA” (FE, September 25, goo.gl/3yr40K) highlighted a few issues and included a commentary on the reported reluctance on the part of NHAI to follow the government policy of building highways through PPP. Here, I aim to clarify the issues raised in the column (in bold).NHAI is not keen on following government policy of building projects through PPP but wants to go back to the bad old cash contracts wherein NHAI engineers decide whether a road has been built properly and then release payments.
NHAI has awarded more than 150 projects on PPP since FY10 under the model concession agreement (MCA) and most of these are in various stages of implementation. However, since FY13, a large number of projects under PPP mode did not receive any response from the bidders. Seventeen projects on BOT (toll) and three projects on BOT (annuity) did not receive any response even though these projects were put to bid at least once, and even five times in some cases. The reason for poor or no response to the bids for BOT (toll) road projects is acute shortage of equity and over-leveraged and deeply stressed balance sheets of the prospective developers. Private equity funds and other players are not willing to fund the equity requirements of new or under-construction PPP projects. For want of suitable empowerment, NHAI is not able to proactively manage the concession agreements even in situations where the underlying conditions have undergone a drastic change. Even if NHAI gets bids in few BOT (toll) projects, it is likely to be sub-optimal. In such a stark backdrop, NHAI had proposed that all projects, where there has either been or there is likely to be poor or no response, should be taken up under EPC mode. However, NHAI is not against PPP and is still inviting bids on BOT (toll) basis in appropriate cases.
The contention that NHAI is planning to go back to the old EPC contract on item rate basis is misplaced. NHAI has adopted the EPC mode whereby the design and construction responsibility is assigned to the contractor for a lump-sum price and the monitoring and supervision is to be undertaken through a qualified firm selected through a transparent process as per the new EPC guidelines. In fact, India’s PPP success story is almost entirely attributable to NHAI which carried out over 240 highway projects through PPP mode.
Instead of junking privatisation process, NHAI can moot for higher VGF.
As per the MCA, VGF is limited to 40% of the TPC which is roughly equal to 50% of civil cost. Any further increase in VGF will undermine the private partnership in the project. There is a need for a judicious mix of PPP and EPC projects on the basis of viability and optimally roll out of projects available on shelf.
NHAI engineers’ insistence on more over-bridges instead of underpasses raises the cost as it does not make sense to make a 4/6 lane road go over an existing 2-lane structure.
The myth that NHAI is insisting on sub-optimal solutions, providing overpasses (wherein the crossroad will go over the highway) instead of underpasses is not based on technical considerations but seems to be based on the experience of green-field motorways abroad without taking into account ground realities from an Indian perspective.
NHAI’s proposal for stopping toll collection during construction period of 4/6 lane projects shall increase financial stress to the developers.
Our proposal is based on experience, public perception and future perspective. During construction, many road diversions are created, resulting in a constraint of carriageway, hampering smooth flow of traffic. Taking advantage of the present MCA, the concessionaires, under the pretext of NHAI’s default on account of non-availability of land in isolated pockets, do not carry out the work with due diligence even on the available fronts. It was observed in most of the four- to six-lane projects that the concessionaire does not get any bonus from additional revenue for early completion of the project as toll collection commences from the date of commencement of construction.
NHAI need not counter-sign every loan refinancing, which is the crux of its dispute with IDFC on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway, as long as the amount it pays on termination of a project remains unchanged and the agreement to get a part of the upside toll once traffic on a road exceeds a certain target.
Breach of trust, hoodwinking concession agreements cannot be good business practice. However, the matter is sub-judice. As per the concession agreement, the concessionaire shall not make any modification to any of the project agreements without prior written consent of NHAI where the modification has or may have the effect of increasing or imposing any financial liability or obligation on NHAI in any manner. One cannot jump to any conclusion at this juncture.
The author is DGM, LA & coordination, NHAI
Source-http://www.financialexpress.com
Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Uncategorized
By Express News Service – TIRUPATI
The raids conducted by the transport department officials against private operators revealed how the private buses are flouting the norms.
First among the violations is that most of the private bus operators, who took contract carriage permit, completely violate the norm. According to the contract carriage permit, the operator should transport a group of passengers from one stage to a fixed destination without allowing any passengers in and out of the bus in the middle of journey between the starting and ending points. But, a majority of the bus operators pick up the passengers for filling up vacant seats.
Similarly, about 50 per cent buses operated to various parts from Tirupati do not have the prescribed mechanical condition and other tools like fire extinguishers. The norm of the presence of two drivers in long journey buses, more or less remained on the RTA rule books as no private bus plying between Tirupati and Hyderabad having such a facility.
“Hardly it takes 10 hours for reaching Hyderabad from Tirupati and we don’t think there is a need for additional driver,” said a private bus operator on the condition of anonymity.
When asked a transport department official over the violation of the norms by private bus operators, he said that they are limited to converting crime into revenue. “Following the mishap in Mahbubnagar district, we swung into action and are levying fine on private bus operators for flouting norms, which is nothing but using such incidents as a source of revenue generation.”
Saying that unlike the forest and excise Acts, the Motor Vehicle Atc (MV Act) does not have authority to confiscate the vehicles flouting norms, he added that as per the MV Act they are only permitted to seize a vehicle for violation and will have to release the same after collecting some money in the form of fine. But, in case of the forest and excise Acts, the question of releasing the seized vehicles will not arise, he said and sought such ruling in the MV Act. As the Volvo bus will will cost at least Rs one crore, no owner will dare to violate the prescribed norm as they don’t want to loose their vehicle, he observed.
Though, it is not at all a financial burden to place fire extinguishers and hammers in side the bus, which are required tools in case of emergency, the operators adopt negligent attitude due to lack of serious punishment, said another official.
Admitting that the transport department is not in a stage to take up drives at regular intervals, the officials attributed it to the staff crunch. As we have to deal with office work like issuing licenses, registrations and other tasks, we are only limited to take such drives only on some occasions, they said.
When contacted the Tirupati regional transport officer (RTO) MSSB Prasad, he said that about 50 per cent of buses do not have required conditions as well as flouting the norms. Particularly, on weekends, private bus operators are plying unconditioned buses. To cash the passengers rush on these days, they are bringing up the substandard buses on to the roads playing havoc with the passengers lives, he said.
Stating that they are taking up raids on the private buses time to time, he said that they are going to organise an awareness meeting soon to drivers of private buses.
On the lines of flights, where the air-hostess explains the passengers about the emergency exits and availability of balloons and parachutes, the bus drivers should also explain the passengers about the emergency windows, hammers and how to use them during emergency before starting journey, he said adding that the proposed awareness meet is aimed to deal with such issues.
Source-http://newindianexpress.com
Pavan M V, TNN |
BANGALORE: If Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike’s plan for plastic waste piling up in dump yards is executed, your ride on city roads could be much smoother.
BBMP may soon provide land for a plastic waste recycling company which will produce granules which will be used for asphalting roads. The company will also produce items like plastic buckets, mugs, etc. The civic body feels using plastic granules for asphalting will not only improve the quality of roads but also ensure they last longer.
The proposal is to lease out land to the company for 10-15 years and it’ll be tasked with collecting plastic waste at the ward level. This will not only reduce the quantity of plastic waste going to landfills but also save money used for transporting them. Plastic waste is non-biodegradable and hence poses a grave threat to the environment. The details and timeline of the project are likely to be finalized later this week.
The Palike spends around Rs 800 crore annually for solid waste management. Of the 5,000 tonnes of waste generated every day, 3,000 tonnes is dry waste including 15-20 tonnes of plastic.
Since 2005, BBMP has asphalted around 2,000km of road using plastic in different parts of the city, including stretches of MG Road, Trinity Circle and Old Airport Road. BBMP has taken up a project of asphalting roads at a cost of Rs 400 crore.
A BBMP source said shortage of plastic granules has resulted in not mixing sufficient amount of plastic in asphalting units.
BBMP commissioner M Lakshminarayana said a discussion with engineers will be held soon to implement this project. “In future, plastic granules will be used to the maximum for asphalting roads,” he added.
Expert speak
“It’s a good project and 8% of plastic can be used for asphalting. Currently, BBMP gets Rs 5 to Rs 6 for every kg of plastic waste but pays Rs 26 per kg of plastic granules. This is a commercially viable project where BBMP gets processed plastic. We have to see what benefits will accrue to BBMP for providing land”. — V Ravichander, civic analyst
Times View
The BBMP’s plan to tackle two pressing problems at one go bodes well for the environment as well as for motorists. The scourge of plastic waste has been difficult to eliminate and the proposal to put it to good use for asphalting roads is a great example of waste to wise. It’s now up to the civic body to issue all the necessary clearances swiftly so that the project can be implemented. The city can surely do with less plastic waste and smoother roads, and the sooner the better.
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