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Home › December 2013
Manjari Mishra,TNN |
JABALPUR: A division bench of MP high court (MPHC) has issued notices to National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and the state government seeking explanation over the sorry state of NH 7. The petitioner, Citizen ConsumerForum, said journey between Jabalpur and Nagpur is proving a nightmare for commuters due to patch of almost nonexistent highway. Poor connectivity is proving highly risky for patients to Nagpur, the major health destination in the region.
The petitioner pointed out the highway between Jabalpur and Nagpur, known as a lifeline for many, everyday registers a good traffic of seriously ailing referred to Nagpur for better medical facilities. However, the poor road condition is causing a great deal of inconvenience in this segment. It takes nearly 10 hours to cover 275-km distance against five hours it took about a year ago, the petitioner claimed.
Due to delay and discomfort, the petitioner claimed commuters are now being forced to go via Chhindwara and Narsighpur. A particular patch – Khawasa border – between Jabalpur and Lakkhanadon is particularly bad with rubble and potholes, passing for a road, and journey over it is a big torture, the petitioner pointed out. “One has to take a diversion and go via Narsinghpur to avoid the patch has to log an extra 70 km. A big number of commuters going to Nagpur are in urgent need of medical attention. And the delay at times cost them lives.” the petitioner observed.
The petition highlighted callous attitude of the NHAI authorities and how they preferred to look the other way despite mounting complaints on this front.
The bench, presided over by Chief Justice A M Khanvilkar and Justice KK Lahoti, also ordered all eight PILs which deal with complaints of similar nature and are pending before different benches would henceforth be clubbed together to be heard by a designated bench. Next hearing in the case, the court directed, would take place on December 9.
Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Uncategorized
By Susmita Saha
Photograph by Jagan Negi
Enjoy an array of specialty tea and lipsmacking dimsums to go along, at the Yum Cha Festival, at The Claridges in Delhi
A sip of joy
Sure it’s a tea, but it’s one that may put champagne to shame. It’s priced over Rs 1 lakh per kilo and goes by the name of Da Hong Pao. To take a sip of this prized concoction, head to The Claridges in Delhi where the Yum Cha (tea drinking ceremony) Festival has been on since November 7. One of the few dedicated tea and dimsum festivals in Delhi, Yum Cha offers more than 11 varieties of the beverage, including Lapsang Souchong, Long Jin, Houjicha, Yunnan Red and Bai Mudan. A mix of white, oolong and black, the hotel’s tea inventory also boasts varieties that are therapeutic, floral or fruit flavoured and intensely fragrant. For instance, the Yunnan Red Tea or Dian Hong is often fermented with fruits like lychee and longan and releases golden-orange liquor when brewed.
Yum Cha teams these delicate brews with Cantonese small eats that straddle different food groups like pork, poultry, beef, seafood and vegetables. Mild-flavoured teas like Long Jin are ideally paired with dishes like steamed scallop and asparagus dumplings or mini prawn chang fen (prawn filling in long intestine-shaped casing). Says executive chef Neeraj Tyagi, “Indians are now taking to tea (the no milk-no sugar avatar) in a big way owing to its health benefits. So we decided to host Yum Cha to give Delhiites the best mix of tea and dumplings.”
Source- http://www.telegraphindia.com
| A STAFF REPORTER |
|
The state government has decided to cancel its contract with the private company building Calcutta’s longest flyover after one missed deadline and a cost-escalation claim that at least two agencies have independently endorsed.
Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), which was to complete the 8.14km Parama-Park Circus flyover this month, had submitted a cost-escalation estimate of Rs 230 crore more than a year ago. The project has progressed little since.
Sources said the finance department rejected the company’s demand for additional funds 10 days ago after a detailed review of the project.
“The contract will be scrapped and fresh bids invited soon,” urban development minister Firhad Hakim told Metro on Thursday.
Sources in the government said HCC was yet to be officially informed of the decision, a step the company might respond to with a claim for compensation from the Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority.
Officials at HCC, which built Mumbai’s spectacular Bandra-Worli Sea Link, declined to comment on the development.
The company’s cost-escalation estimate was based on delays allegedly caused by the state’s failure to give timely possession of stretches of the flyover route from Parama, on the EM Bypass, to Park Circus.
In the first stage of the project, officially said to be “63 per cent complete”, there was a delay in getting police permission to start construction on some stretches. Shifting underground utilities of various agencies was also a hassle, sources said.
Work on the flyover that was originally scheduled to be completed in August 2012 now looks unlikely to start until at least the middle of next year.
“Before inviting fresh bids for the contract, a settlement has to be reached with HCC. The project would surely be delayed further if the company seeks compensation from the CMDA,” an official said.
A bigger challenge would be to find a firm that would quote an amount less than what HCC had sought. “The cost of materials has increased by much in the period when the decision on HCC’s demand for more funds was pending,” the official said.
The urban development department had selected HCC from among six bidders in 2009. Work on the project, a part of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, started in 2010 with a budget of Rs 318 crore.
CMDA, the implementing agency, had sanctioned Rs 170 crore by way of cost escalation in January after initially refusing to entertain any claim. But the finance department overrode the approval.
“Cost escalation had been calculated on the basis of work left and the price of materials at that point of time,” a CMDA official said.
In January, the state government appointed a committee headed by the then principal secretary of the PWD for a final evaluation. The committee recommended a survey by an independent consultant and Rites was hired for the task in August. The report by Rites, submitted before Durga Puja, recommended a cost-escalation payout of Rs 260 crore.
“Ten days back, the finance department decided that it was not viable to increase the project cost to that level,” the official said.
Metro had highlighted in October how a letter from the Prime Minister’s Office prompted the Union urban development ministry to seek an explanation from the Bengal government for allowing a 70 per cent increase in the cost of building the flyover.
Larsen & Toubro, which is building a 600-metre stretch of the flyover above Bridge No 4 in Park Circus, has also faced problems. The railways has agreed to cooperate but has yet to give permission for construction over the rail tracks.
Several other infrastructure projects in the city are stuck for various reasons.
CHOKER RALLIES
Three rallies and the President’s visit will disrupt traffic at the city centre on Friday. Metro prepares a traffic guide for the commuter.
Which events might affect traffic on Friday?
A Trinamul rally at the Red Road-Mayo Road crossing from 1pm. A Left Front rally at Shahid Minar from 5pm. Indian SC-ST Council will pay tribute to Ambedkar at his statue off Red Road at 10am. Cops expect the Trinamul and Left rallies to have a “turnout of about a lakh each”. The President’s convoy will leave RCTC around 1pm for the Assembly and travel
down Red Road.
Which roads will be the worst hit?
CR Avenue, SN Banerjee Road, Strand Road, Queensway, Red Road and JL Nehru Road.
Will traffic be restricted?
Vehicular movement may be restricted on Mayo Road, Red Road, Dufferin Road and JL Nehru Road.
How long will the disruptions last?
Traffic will be worst hit from 11am till the dispersal of LF supporters after 6pm.
Will traffic be diverted?
Mayo Road-bound vehicles may be diverted through Queensway, Kidderpore Road,
Dufferin Road and Outram Road.
Source-http://www.telegraphindia.com |
Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Flyovers
Place: Indore | Agency: DNA
The road widening work of 85-feet wide road from Marimata Square to Banganga Railway Over Bridge is expected to gain momentum after counting of votes on December 8.
The drive had lost its steam due to assembly polls and pressure from all quarters mounting on officials to keep off the encroachers. As many as 307 structures including 16 temples were identified by the civic body as posing hurdles in construction of the road.According to a survey report prepared by the officials concerned carrying out the development, there were 150 structures including 9 temples on left side while as many as 157 structures including 7 temples are posing hurdles in the construction of right hand side part of the road leading from Marimata Square to Banganga ROB.
Apart from the statue of Lord Parashuram, 16 temples are reportedly coming in the way of the 85-feet road. Of these 16 temples, seven are said to be important.
The officials and the public representatives reportedly agreed that all the idols of the temples coming in the way would be put in a single premises and it was also agreed that they would be shifted only if it becomes necessary. However, the process took an around two months long pause due to the election.
“IMC has written to the district administration officer for proper relocation of the temples to carry out the construction. Besides, notices have also been served to those who have not removed the encroaching structures. The work is expected to speed up after December 8,” said an IMC officer wishing anonymity.
The construction on right side of the road has already been completed and once traffic will be started on this route, entry of vehicles will be banned on left side to carry out the construction work.
Source-http://www.dnaindia.com
Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Uncategorized
| – Notable MPs skip Union minister Oscar Fernandes’ invite |
| AMIT GUPTA |
 |
| Lifeline in limbo: A dilapidated stretch of NH-33 near Tamar |
Ranchi, : Union road transport and highways minister Oscar Fernandes, who invited all 20 MPs of Jharkhand today in New Delhi for a meeting on national highways criss-crossing the state, was greeted by notable absentees, including those from the BJP and JMM, making the attendance sheet politically charged.
Though confirmation of who did and who did not attend the central meeting is trickling in slowly, it is known that BJP MPs Nishikant Dubey, Yashwant Sinha and JMM Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Kumar chose not to go to Delhi.
Ranchi MP Subodh Kant Sahay of the Congress and Rajya Sabha MP and former state Congress chief Pradeep Kumar Balmuchu, however, attended the meeting that seemed to become a miniature UPA affair.
In the absence of a full show, those who went, voiced their grievances before Fernandes. The Union minister, predictably, promised to fast-track the revival of highways criss-crossing the state.
Jharkhand has a national highway length of 1,850km, of which around 500km — including the 330km-long state lifeline NH-33 and parts of NH-2 — is maintained directly by National Highways Association of India (NHAI). State road construction department (national highways wing) looks after the rest.
Ranchi MP Sahay, also former Union minister, told The Telegraph over phone they had stressed on the dilapidated NH-33 and, to a lesser extent, NH-32 stretches.
Chief minister Hemant Soren, on the other hand, told The Telegraph that NH-33 was not being repaired despite prods.
Asked if he held the view that the powers-that-be in Delhi did not want to repair roads for the fear that Hemant and JMM would get credit, the chief minister, faced with a tight-rope walk of coalition compulsions, kept quiet. “Efforts of even Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh went unheard,” he said.
“The road is under NHAI’s jurisdiction otherwise state government would have thought about investing its own resources to maintain them,” the chief minister added.
Not present at the MPs-only show today, Hemant added he had a discussion with Fernandes on the matter and that he would try to meet the Union minister during his Delhi stay. Hemant is in the national capital till tomorrow.
Sahay said they stressed on pitiable parts of Ranchi-Jamshedpur and Hazaribagh-Barhi stretches of NH-33 and Dhanbad-Purulia-Chandil parts of NH-32. “We requested him to ensure their proper maintenance for the areas alongside to reach their full economic potential,” Sahay said.
The Jharkhand delegation also raised the issue of the “much-needed bypasses” in Chandil and Govindpur-Dhanbad (NH-32) and near Ramgarh district town (NH-33).
Sahay reported Union minister Fernandes was “very cooperative”.
An NHAI senior official told The Telegraph already as many as 29 reminders have been given in past six months or so to the concessionaire, Madhucon Projects Limited, to improve the condition of the existing two-lane stretch between Ranchi and Jamshedpur.
“They are doing the repair work in bits and pieces. But the progress is far below satisfaction,” an NHAI engineer said.
Currently, the onus of major repair and maintenance lie with Madhucon, the agency entrusted with the Rs 1,479-crore four-laning work. In April 2011, Ranchi Expressway Limited, a special purpose vehicle of Madhucon, had signed a concession agreement with NHAI for the widening project under BOT-annuity basis, with a semi-annuity of Rs 133.50 crore. The agency was to complete the project by June 2015 and maintain the road for 15 years. But the work could be started only early this year.
On October 20, Hemant even threatened to take legal action against the agency if it failed to improve the stretch within stipulated deadline of November. November came and went.
Source-http://www.telegraphindia.com
|
Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Uncategorized
Stanley Pinto,TNN |
MANGALORE: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) stopped toll collection at the Panemangalore Nethravathi toll booth temporarily on Thursday following protests by BJP, Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and other organizations.
Residents of Bantwal Taluk had warned NHAI that they will carry out protests if they open a road toll booth at Brahmarakootlu without closing the Panemangalore bridge toll plaza.
Earlier, NHAI had notified that toll collection would commence at Brahmarakootlu on Mangalore – Bangalore National Highway on Thursday.
The BJP took the lead to organize the protest with former MLA Padmanabha Kottari, Rukmayya Poojari, former ZP member Thungappa Bangera and others blocking traffic at Panemangalore toll booth. NHAI officials, who arrived at the spot, held discussions with the BJP leaders and assured them that the uncertainty over the two toll booths will be cleared in three days and they will bring the matter to the notice of their higher ups.
Though some party workers started dismantling the toll booth, the leaders managed to pacify them.
Meanwhile, SDPI members carried out a protest asking NHAI to suspend toll collection till all work pertaining to NH is completed.
The new toll booth at Brahmarakootlu caused traffic jams as the approach road to the toll plaza was narrow. The Brahmarakootlu toll collection, which was stopped due to public protests, resumed after they were given police protection.
A few days ago, the issue was raised at a meeting called by MP Nalin Kumar Kateel with NHAI officials. Social activist Govinda Prabhu had said that Panemangalore bridge toll collection should be stopped as the new toll booth is just five km away from it.
At the meeting the villagers had pointed out that NHAI cannot operate two toll booths within a stretch of 60 km. However, NHAI project director Shriram Mishra had clarified that the restriction on toll gates is separate for roads and bridges.
Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Uncategorized
YASHODHARA DASGUPTA, ET Bureau
(The government has decided…)
NEW DELHI: The government has decided to take back several road projects from the Border Roads Organisation(BRO) to reduce its workload and help it focus on its primary task of developing and maintaining ‘strategic roads’ that serve border areas.
Officials familiar with the development said the government is also considering setting up a new company or wing under the highways ministry for the development of national highways, which, too, are of strategic importance and can improve connectivity with neighbouring countries. This company or wing could be set up in the next 5-6 months, they said.
The decision to withdraw some projects from BRO was taken at the “highest level”, an official said, because the organisation has been struggling to develop roads and highways in its portfolio, many of which have not taken off for several years.
BRO was set up primarily to service the connectivity needs of the armed forces.
The highways ministry has in a joint exercise with the BRO already identified 2,940 km of road projects from its portfolio of 5,229 km that would be transferred to state Public Work Departments (PWDs) and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), another official said.
This includes some road projects in Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Tripura, Sikkim and Nagaland. BRO, however, has indicated that of the 2,940 km, it would like to retain 715 km for “operational necessity”. The move to transfer roads out of BRO has also been agreed to by the defence ministry.
Officials familiar with the development said more road projects would be pulled out of BRO and given to the new wing or company. “If this vertical is in place, we can develop many more stretches,” another official said. “Most of these roads are in difficult areas that require special technology or know-how, which state PWDs may not be able to do while NHAI is already stretched. For instance, high altitude highways that is being planned in states like Uttarakhand, so they are not affected by floods.”
The highways ministry will be taking a note to the Cabinet this month, which will seek to propose conversion of 7,000 km of roads in various states into highways. Of this, 2,000 km of roads along border areas have been identified for conversion while 5,000 km of state roads have been identified for the same, so that district headquarters can be connected to the national grids. Officials said roads like the Manali-Leh highway, which are under BRO but are yet to be developed adequately, are likely to be made part of this proposal.
Source-http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com
Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Uncategorized
Santosh Sonawane, TNN
NASHIK: The construction work of the underpass at Vilholi is likely to start within a month as the work on the service road on either side of the highway has already begun.
An PNG Tollways official said that the work of the underpass will begin in a month’s time after completion of work on the service roads. As of now, the work of shifting electrical poles on the highway has commenced. The construction company said that work of the underpass has been approved by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) head office and is likely to be completed in the next six months.
There was a rising demand for the underpass to be constructed ever since the road from Gonde to Pimpalgaon was widened by the NHAI. Once the work of the service road is completed, the construction of the underpass will begin. The highway traffic will then be redirected to the service roads. Villagers said that an underpass was necessary ever since the highway was converted into four lanes. Villagers find it extremely difficult to cross the entire stretch of the four-laned because of the speed of the commuting vehicles.
Police constable Anil Dhumse of the Nashik Taluka police station who is posted at Vilholi said, “Petty accidents happen almost on a regular basis. Villagers cross the four-lane highway looking onto one side of the road. In some cases, cars and trucks have run off the road and turned turtle in a bid to save someone crossing the road. In March, a young girl was killed while she was crossing the road. The underpass will be of great help to motorists as well as pedestrians in crossing the highway.”
On March 20, an 18-year-old girl Sonal Gaikwad was crushed to death after a speeding car hit her near Vilholi. Sonal, a resident of the Sangharsh Nagar slum by the highway was crossing the road to get drinking water on the other side of the highway when the incident occurred.Nashik :
The much awaited work of the underpass at Vilholi is likely to get underway within a month as the work of the service road on either side of the highway has been taken up.
Officials of PNG Tollways said that the actual work of the underpass will get underway within a month’s time after the completion service roads. As of now the work of shifting the electrical poles has been taken up on the highway. The construction company said that the work of the underpass has already been approved by the head office of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and is likely to be wrapped up within the next six months.
There was a rising demand of the underpass ever since the road widening between Gonde to Pimpalgaon was taken up by NHAI, given the villages on either side of the highway at Vilholi. Once the work of the service road is over the traffic on the highway will be shifted on the service road to take the work of the underpass. Villagers said that the need of the underpass was always felt ever since the highway was converted into four lanes. Villagers, but mostly the elderly people find it extremely difficult to cross the entire stretch of the four-laned highway and are not able to gauge the speed of the vehicles.
Motorists too find it difficult to control their speeding vehicles when they find a person suddenly crossing the highway. Police constable Anil Dhumse of the Nashik Taluka police station who is posted at Vilholi said, “Petty accidents happen almost on a regular basis. Villagers cross the four-lane highway looking at only one-side of the road. In most of the cases, cars and trucks have run off the road and turned turtle in a bid to save someone crossing the road. In March, however, a young girl was killed while she was crossing the road. The underpass will be of great help to motorists as well as pedestrians in crossing the highway.
Incidentally, on March 20, an 18-year-old girl Sonal Gaikwad was crushed to death by a speeding car near Vilholi. Resident of the Sangharsh Nagar slum by the highway, near Vilholi, Sonal Bhaurao Gaikwad was on her regular course to get drinking water on the other side of the highway when she was hit by the speeding car.
Source-http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Uncategorized
Ashish Roy,TNN |
NAGPUR: City truckers have expressed surprise that the toll operator of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) for recovering IRDP expenses was incurring losses. They claimed that the toll operator staffers charged their truck drivers more than the prescribed toll.MSRDC has five toll plazas around the city at Katol Road, Hingna Road, Umred Road, Ring Road between Hingna-Amravati Road and Wadi-Katol Road. Sahkar Global operates four of them. MSRDC is not finding takers for the three-year toll collection contract. Sahkar has been asked to continue its contract and it is reluctantly doing so.One of the reasons given by the operator and MSRDC officials for low revenue collection is reluctance of truck drivers to pay toll at night. A MSRDC official had told TOI that many truck drivers had beaten up toll plaza staff to avoid paying money.
Faizan Khan, secretary of Truck Owners and Brokers’ Association, claimed that it was the other way round. “The operator’s men extort money from drivers. At least ten to fifteen people are present at a toll booth at night and they easily intimidate one or two people in a truck. Truckers from outstation suffer the most,” he alleged.
According to Khan, the truckers have lodged several complaints with Wadi police, MSRDC and local politicians but to no avail. “The toll receipts do not mention the vehicle number. As a result, if a truck driver is charged extra, we can’t prove anything. The plaza staffers many times charge two-way toll from the trucks, which have no possibility of returning that day,” he further charged.
Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Uncategorized
Tokyo,
The electronic toll collection (ETC) system operating by radio frequency identification (RFID) equipment supplied by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) began commercial operation on an expressway in India’s Gujarat state. The system, involving RFID readers installed at toll plazas to detect in-vehicle adhesive RFID tags and collect tolls, will contribute to easing of traffic congestion and to preservation of the country’s environment. The event marks the first supply of an RFID based ETC system to India from Japan.
MHI provided the major equipment comprising the RFID based ETC system including 30 sets of RFID readers. The equipment was ordered by KENT Intelligent Transportation Systems (India) Private Limited, an Indian toll collection system integrator. The ETC equipment provided by MHI complies with Indian national standards and communicates with the RFID tag which is distributed for the ETC operation under regulations in India. MHI delivered RFID equipment newly designed dedicated for ETC operation.
The newly inaugurated RFID based ETC system is in operation on a 95-kilometer (km) highway connecting Ahmedabad, the largest city in Gujarat, and Vadodara, the state’s third-largest city, operated by IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd, a leading road concessioner in India. It marks the country’s first fully access-controlled expressway. It encompasses a total of 59 lanes at 6 tollgates, of which 28 lanes are equipped with the new RFID based ETC system.
While motorization has been making rapid progress in India in tandem with the country’s steady economic growth, road infrastructure is needed to keep pace with this development. To rectify the situation, Indian governments and road concessionaires are now focusing on improving the nation’s road network, and installation of the RFID based ETC system is part of that broad initiative.
MHI is a supplier of comprehensive ETC system and Intelligent Transport System (ITS). The company has an abundant track record of deliveries both at home in Japan and overseas. Gaining momentum from its introduction in India, going forward MHI aims to further strengthen its marketing activities for various ETC systems suited to the needs and conditions of each country.
Toll gate at main road in Ahmedabad
RFID tag
Source-http://www.mhi.co.jp
Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Uncategorized
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