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Mott MacDonald Group Limited, a UK-based engineering services consultancy, has secured a contract to provide the detailed design for six new metro stations on Phase II of the rapid metro rail network in Gurgaon, India.
Mott MacDonald stated that the metro is being developed by Rapid Metro Rail Gurgaon to help meet the transportation requirements between Gurgaon and Delhi.
Phase I comprises a 5.1km rail loop connecting Cyber City, NH-8 and Sikanderpur station on Delhi Metro Line 2. The construction work on the phase I began in 2008.
Phase II, worth INR1.5 billion ($27.27 million), will see a 6.5km rail line extend the network southwards and include six elevated metro stations, DLF Phase I, Sushant Lok, Sec. 42 Crossing, Sector 54-53, AIT Chowk and Sector 55-56. The stations will be situated above existing carriageways and will include residential and commercial spaces. Phase II is expected to be completed by late 2016.
Under the terms of the contract, Mott MacDonald will provide architectural, structural and building services design for the six stations. The project will be developed using renewable energy sources such as solar power, energy efficient design and rain water harvesting. The project will seek to achieve LEED sustainability certification.
http://www.worldconstructionnetwork.com
Mott MacDonald has secured a contract from Hindustan Construction Company–Samsung joint venture for providing detailed design services for phase III of the Delhi Metro project in India.
Pursuant to the contract, the company will provide geotechnical, civil and structural engineering services for contract CC34, which is part of the Janakpuri West to Kalindi Kunj metro corridor. The project is due for completion in 2016.
The scope of work involves designing and construction of a 4.5km tunnel from Janakpuri West to Palam. The tunnel will be built using shield tunnel boring machine. The other component of the project includes construction of underground metro stations at Janakpuri West, Dabri Mor and Dashrath Puri as well as interchanges with existing elevated metro stations.
Mott MacDonald Group Limited provides engineering, management, and development consultancy services to public and private sectors worldwide. The company is headquartered in Croydon, the UK.
Source-http://www.worldconstructionnetwork.com
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed an agreement with the Government of India to provide a financing package of $300 million to fund a road development project in the state of Bihar.
The country intends to use the funds for Bihar State Highways II Project, which will upgrade 254 kilometers of severely deteriorated highway in northern and southern Bihar. The project will widen existing sections of four highways to two lanes, build and maintain bridges, and strengthen pavement. This should optimize access to the state highway network for beneficiaries living in remote villages.
The project will also use a $1 million from the allotted funds to prepare a 20-year road master plan for Bihar state. The project will also focus on improving the road design that will help address future flooding. To offset carbon emissions, the project will plant 10 trees for every individual tree cut for road widening. Solar panels will be used at construction sites to sequester carbon and reduce carbon emissions.
Stated for completion in October 2017, the estimated outlay of the Bihar State Highways II Project is $375 million. The remaining funding for the project will be provided by the government of India.
Source-http://www.worldconstructionnetwork.com
Prashanth Chintala | Chennai/ Hyderabad
The company has 11 BOT projects of which, one is water and 10 are road projects
Hyderabad-based infrastructure company IVRCL Limited has decided to exit from all its build, operate and transfer (BOT) projects and focus on engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) activities.
At present, the company has 11 BOT projects of which, one is water and 10 are road projects. Of the 10 road projects, three projects are under operation and three more are expected to come under operation in the next five months, while the remaining four are still in a virgin stage.
“We have invested over Rs 2,000 crore in the six road assets and this amount will come into our kitty if I exit from them. Consequently, my profitability will go up,” IVRCL chairman and managing director, E Sudhir Reddy, said.
He said the amount realised from the sale of the six assets could be utilised for the companies EPC segment which has an order book of Rs 26,000 crore at present.
The road projects of the company, which are currently under operation, are Salem Tollways (53.53 km), Kumarapalayam Tollways (48.51 km) and Jalandar Amritsar Tollways (49 km).
“We will sell these three toll projects first while the other three projects which are under construction will be offered for sale after they are completed,” Reddy said.
Though the three toll projects have been put on the block for nearly a year, he said no deal had been finalised so far. Three firms, including Tata Realty and Infrastructure, have evinced interest in the projects but “nothing had been finalised till now.”
According to Reddy, infrastructure companies that have taken up road projects on a BOT basis have failed in their traffic assumptions and anticipation of interest rate hikes and dollar fluctuations. The execution of many projects has been delayed on account of various aspects including lack of environmental and forest clearances. Consequently, “95 per cent of the contractors who had jumped into these projects have lost money.”
“If the BOT projects have to be viable, the government should increase the concession period by at least 3-10 years,” he said. At present, the concession period, depending upon the project location, ranged from 20 to 30 years.
Reddy denied reports that there was a delay in the execution of works pertaining to four/six laning of NH- 47 from Chengapalli, near Coimbatore, to Walayar on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border due to funds shortage. “Work was slowed down because we are awaiting the state support agreement, which is part of the conditions of the contract. In the absence of such an agreement, bankers are not releasing any loans,” he said.
Source-http://www.business-standard.com
Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under BOT, IVRCL
DC |
Visakhapatnam: Principal Secretary of Municipal Administration & Urban Development Dr Sailendra Kumar Joshi suggested that GVMC officials prepare a proposal on comprehensive transport system for the future traffic needs of the city.
He advised officials to replace existing street lights with LEDs as it would cut down 50 per cent of the expenditure.
He held a review meeting with officials here on Saturday. When officials told him that they would prepare a plan for eight BRTS corridors in and around the city with an estimated expenditure of Rs 2,200 crore, Joshi advised them to prepare the plan covering all areas of the corporation.
Source-http://www.deccanchronicle.com
DC | S.N.V. Sudhir
(Picture for representational purpose only.)
Visakhapatnam: The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation proposed to implement an Intelligent Traffic System (ITS) as part of the Sustainable Urban Transport Project in the city for meeting future traffic needs.
Officials placed the proposal in the City Development Plan to be implemented during 2013-2020. The system is now being implemented in Indore, Mysore, Pune, Naya Raipur, and Pimpri-Chinchwad in Maharashtra, according to officials.
Increasing traffic has resulted in increased problems like traffic jams, delay, accidents, pollution, etc, that pose a potential threat to the productive efficiency of the city population. The decadal population growth of 75 pc observed between 1991-2001 in the city and the urban agglomeration is also expected to increase to 35 lakh by 2021.
The registered growth of vehicles in the city between 2000 and 2006 was also estimated at 9 pc per annum. About 4.5 lakh registered vehicles were plying on the city roads in 2007, 90 pc of which are cars and motorised two-wheeler vehicles with 3 lakh trips.
Now, the number has increased to around 6.5 lakh and the projected travel is predicted to grow to 29 lakh trips per day by 2021. The GVMC has already taken up the BRTS project with two corridors.
The Government of India, in partnership with the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the World Bank and UNDP, has initiated the Sustainable Urban Transport Project. Basically, the proposed Intelligent Traffic System is aimed at the integration of ITS components into the proposed BRT system to improve travel time, accessibility, ease of use, and environmental impact.
Traffic signal prioritisation, centralised traffic control centre, surveillance and detection system with sensors and other facilities would be provided under the Rs 785-cr project.
Source-http://www.deccanchronicle.com
Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under ITS
Aditya Dev, TNN |
GURGAON: The two ambitious projects of Gurgaon traffic police — e-challaning and 3rdEye — to revamp the way challaning drives are conducted in the city, are yet to take off.While the e-challaning drive failed to cross the pilot phase, not once but twice, monetary and technical issues are bugging the 3rdEye project, due to which it has been lying cold storage for over one and a half years. It was first launched in August 2011.
The department had written to the state government to seek its approval for budgetary grant for the projects.
Joint commissioner of police (traffic) Bharti Arora said, “The projects are under process. The e-challaning project required monetary provision to buy equipments. We have written to the government. The permission might come in two-three months.”
“We are also looking into ways to restart 3rdEye,” Arora added.
Traffic police had conducted trial runs for e-challaning for the second time in June this year. With the e-challaning project, the traffic police wanted to replace the manual challaning. Under e-challaning, with the help of an electronic device, offenders would not only be given on-the-spot challan receipt, but would also be awarded enhanced fines if found to be repeat offenders.
During the trial runs, four cops were given the devices while a trainer conducted their classes. According to a source, the outcomes of the trial run were not that encouraging as there was marginal increase in number of challans issued with the help of the devices.
This was the second time the Gurgaon police conducted the trial run of e-challaning.
Source-http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Joel Joseph, TNN |
GURGAON: The Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon has asked RITES to conduct a survey and submit a report mentioning whether or not the advertisements can be displayed on the 14 foot overbridges (FOB) it intends to build across the city.The FOB project has been in the pipeline for over two years now and was caught in a limbo after Punjab and Haryana high court, while hearing a PIL, directed all municipal bodies in the state to ensure that there are no advertisements on roads that distract the attention of motorists, leading to accidents.
Initially the MCG planned to construct the FOBs on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis wherein the agency that would get the contract to build them would get rights to display advertisement on them for a specific number of years. However, following the high court order, the construction model had to be re-looked since the advertisements could no longer be installed.
Not willing to spend its own money, despite being cash rich, the MCG has now asked RITES to conduct a survey of all the 14 locations and report in which all spots the advertisements can be displayed without diverting the attention of the motorists or being a traffic hazard.
According to a source, depending on the report, if there are spots which are non-hazardous, the contract for these will be given on BOT basis and for the rest the MCG will spend its own money in constructing them.
The lack of foot over bridges in the city is leading to a rise in traffic accidents in the city. The latest data from the traffic police shows an increase in the pedestrian deaths as they are forced to brave traffic in order to cross the road. Out of the 14 locations that will have FOBs, the first is to come up on the old Delhi-Gurgaon road near the Delhi border.
PUNE: Parking in no-parking zones or straying into bus rapid transit system (BRTS) lanes in Pimpri Chinchwad may soon attract heavy penalties ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000, with a new proposal from the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) awaiting the nod.
The traffic police and the civic body will share the fine amount equally if the proposal comes through.
The civic administration has tabled the proposal for the city improvement committee’s (CIC) approval. The proposal explains how motorists park their vehicles haphazardly on and along roads, obstructing vehicular
traffic and causing congestion. It states how the traffic police have the right to impose fines on such errant individuals under the Motor Vehicles Act, but the fine amount is significantly low to act as a deterrent for repeat offences.
With rising vehicle numbers, such offences are only expected to increase. The traffic police has been long demanding that the PCMC grant powers to them on the lines of Pune Municipal Corporation, under Section 208 of the Maharashtra Municipal Act, which allows them to impose fines on all vehicles that are parked without authorisation, parked in no-parking areas and are driven in BRTS lanes. The Pune civic body had granted such powers to the traffic police in 2004.
The Pimpri Chinchwad civic general body had approved a resolution in August 2009 to grant powers to the traffic police to take action against only commercial vehicles. The traffic department has been seeking the powers to take action against all types of vehicles. The approval of the city improvement committee, standing committee and general body are necessary to grant such powers to the traffic police.
A PCMC official said that the proposal was kept pending by CIC, since its members have sought more information from the traffic police.
Vikas Patil, president, Paryavaran Sanvardhan Samiti said, “The fine is not a solution for disciplining people; it might increase corruption. The civic body must remove all vehicle repair, washing and selling centres located on pavements. Banks, ATMs and shops facing roads must make adequate parking arrangements for their customers to prevent roadside parking. Basements must be used only for parking vehicles.”
Source-http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
TNN/
PUNE: The state government will stick to the elevated metro plan proposed by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for Pune, setting aside all the objections raised by NGOs, civic groups and the state finance department, deputy chief minister AjitPawar said on Saturday.
He was speaking during an interaction with the media at the Pune Union of Working Journalists.
Pawar said, “It is a fact that the metro project has been delayed. We have heard all the suggestions made by NGOs, experts, citizens and political parties. For the last few years the city has debated about (the merits and demerits of) underground and elevated metro. However, the fact is the city cannot afford an underground metro and hence we have decided to go ahead with the original plan (proposed by the DMRC).”
Pawar said, however, the state was not in a position to announce an exact date of completion for the metro project.
He added, “Recently, a delegation from a citizens’ group headed by Vijay Kelkar submitted a memorandum saying Pune should have an underground metro. We need to understand that an underground metro project is unaffordable and the resultant fares will also be high. The motive to have public transport will be defeated if citizens refuse to use metro because of high fares.”
Pawar said the state finance department has raised objections to the financial model for the project. “The state government will overrule objections raised by the finance department and go ahead with the project. The finance department has its own views, which are not binding on the cabinet. (For instance), the proposal of pensions for MLAs was opposed by the finance department, but the cabinet approved it.”
Finance department officials have suggested that the municipal corporation’s share in the total project cost be hiked to 20% from the existing 10%, while the state and central governments should put in 20% each. The rest should be raised by the Special Purpose Vehicle.
Source-http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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