National Highway-8 work to be completed by June 2015: Minister

July 30, 2014

ASHOK KUMAR

The six-laning of the Gurgaon-Jaipur section of NH-8, a total stretch of 225 km, is running almost four years behind the schedule

All pending work on the Gurgaon-Jaipur section of National Highway-8 would be completed by June next year, said Union Minister of State for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Krishan Pal Gurjar here on Friday. He said this following an inspection of the road from Rajiv Chowk to Manesar.

He accompanied Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari and Union Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh.

Briefing the media persons about their review of infrastructure and traffic situation on the road, Mr. Gurjar said that he had written a letter to the Haryana Government in this connection and all issues concerning the construction of underpasses and foot over-bridges on the road from Kherki Dhaula to Jaipur would be resolved within a month following which the construction would be completed within a year. The six-laning of Gurgaon-Jaipur section of NH-8, a total stretch of 225 km, is running almost four years behind the schedule.

Replying to a query on the delay in execution of Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway project, Mr. Pal said that the Union Government was willing to take over the project from the Haryana Government and complete it. “The decision in this regard would also be made within a month,” said Mr. Gurjar.

Running almost five years behind the schedule, the ambitious 135.65-km-long Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway project was conceived to reduce the commercial vehicles’ burden on Delhi roads. The project has made just 68 per cent progress since its commencement in 2006. No progress has been made over the past two years.

Mr. Singh said that the work on Hero Honda Chowk would commence soon and 75 per cent of the total expenditure on the project would be borne by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). “The work on underpasses at Signature Tower, IFFCO Chowk and Rajiv Chowk would be carried out by the NHAI while the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon provided the funds,” said Mr. Singh. The concept plan for the three underpasses has already been approved.

Source-http://www.thehindu.com/

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Default

Delhi-Agra parallel highways to compete for traffic

July 30, 2014

Even before Jaypee’s Yamuna Expressway was inaugurated, NHAI awarded R-Infra a project to upgrade the parallel NH-2, showing a lack of coordination between authorities

Dev Chatterjee |

For the Jaypee Group, which built the 165-km expressway between Delhi and Agra, the news Reliance Infrastructure would rebuild the parallel national highway between the two cities came as a dampener.

Inaugurated in 2012, Yamuna Expressway is still struggling to make money. It will be competing with National Highway-2 to attract traffic. Jaypee had built the expressway for Rs 13,000 crore, with a concession period of 36 years. But even before the project was inaugurated, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) awarded Reliance a project to upgrade the parallel highway to six lanes, at a cost of Rs 1,900 crore.

Reliance has already started collecting toll on the highway; the project will be ready in the next two years. The 180-km Delhi-Agra highway is part of the ambitious golden quadrilateral project, connecting the four metros.

Analysts say the NHAI project will snatch traffic from the expressway, owing to its lower toll rate. “In the current environment of limited infrastructure funding availability, efficient resource allocation is the need of the hour to improve infrastructure. This is a classic example of lack of coordination between authorities at the state and the Centre,” says an analyst with Ambit Capital.

Analysts say infrastructure and industrial projects are planned independently, without considering the supporting logistical infrastructure needs of the project and without collective assessment of the impact on the environment by several projects in a particular area. The key concern is the lack of sound planning for large projects and the absence of coordination between ministries.

While Jaypee did not comment on queries sent by Business Standard, Reliance Infrastructure officials said while bidding for the project, they factored in the traffic diversion to Yamuna Expressway. However, the actual diversion was much lower than expected, they added.

Reliance officials say the toll rate at Yamuna Expressway is about 85 per cent higher than at National Highway-2, and this will lead to the national highway breaking-even faster. The officials added there was severe traffic congestion on the Delhi-Noida road leading to the Yamuna Expressway.

Compared to the national highway, Yamuna Expressway is an access-controlled road, with all exit points located far from villages, making travel to these areas long and difficult. Also, the quality of service roads connecting these villages was questionable, said a Reliance Infrastructure spokesperson. “Roads such as Yamuna Expressway have a tendency of users driving rashly, increasing the risk of accidents on the expressway, as observed on the Mumbai-Pune expressway. Also, as National Highway-2 connects towns and villages, road users find this safer compared to Yamuna Expressway,” the spokesperson added.

Bankers say both projects are funded by public sector banks and if any of these turns sick, these banks will be asked to restructure the debt or takeover the project. They add to avoid duplication of work, each project should be meticulously planned from an engineering, financial, contractual, environmental and social perspective, along with inter-linkages and land acquisition before construction. “This will help save project developers, banks and the common public a lot of pain later,” says a city-based banker.

Soruce -http://www.business-standard.com/

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Highway, Jaypee, Reliance

Life in slow lane on Vikas Marg

July 30, 2014

Hindustan Times (Delhi)

Sidhartha Roy

CLOGGED ALWAYS One of east Delhi’s main arterial roads, commuting is no less than a nightmare for drivers and pedestrians as traffic rules are openly violated here

NEW DELHI: An arterial road that links trans-Yamuna region to the rest of the Capital, Vikas Marg is one of the lifelines of east Delhi.

With a traffic volume of nearly 90,000 vehicles every day, it is a motorists’ nightmare. Built at a time when trans-Yamuna was not really a preferred address for Delhiites, the growing population and congestion over the years in the areas surrounding it has resulted in the road bursting at the seams.

The road continues to be congested despite two major interventions in the recent past — the arrival of the Metro and construction of a parallel road covering a drain that directly leads to the new Geeta Colony flyover.

The arrival of the Metro that runs throughout the road, from Karkari More to ITO Chungi, has not made any difference to the massive road traffic that crawls beneath its elevated tracks.

The new road, known as the Disused Canal Road, was intended to take some load off Vikas Marg. The canal road remains packed with traffic throughout the day, but it has hardly achieved its intended purpose.

The worst-affected part of Vikas Marg is the 2.7-km stretch between the main Laxmi Nagar intersection and Karkari More. This stretch remains perennially congested with slow moving traffic even at nonpeak hours.

Traffic on the road before this stretch and after Karkari More is still smoother if not completely congestion free. Within this stretch, the most congested and commercialised part is the are a between the Laxmi Nagar and Nirman Vihar Metro stations.

The localities on either side of this stretch, Laxmi Nagar and Shakarpur, attract thousands of students and young working professionals because of the affordable rents and proximity to central Delhi. As a result, these areas are one of the most thickly populated in the city, which also puts pressure on the road network.

Also, over the years, residential buildings on this stretch have been turned into rows of shops and showrooms. The biggest effect of this commercialisation is the parking of scores of cars not only on the narrow service lanes next to the shops but also on the main road.

There is no regulation on the parking of vehicles on this stretch and the haphazardly parked vehicles reduce space for traffic movement.

“The chaos commuters have to endure on Vikas Marg is the result of poor planning. The road was built with scope for growth in traffic in the next five years, not more,” said Ganesh Singh Rautela, officer on special duty, Global Initiative for Restructuring Environment and Management (GIREM).

“The area along Vikas Marg was developed as a residential area but has now become completely commercialised. Shop owners have extended their establishments and there is absolutely no scope for road widening anymore,” he said.

Rautela said that while there was an apparent lack of enforcement when it came to illegal parking on the roads, people also lacked civic sense.

The traffic intersections and many internal roads that merge with this stretch also create bottlenecks. There are five major intersections from Laxmi Nagar to Karkari More, each with more than two minutes of waiting time.

The volume of traffic from other roads that meets the oncoming traffic on the Vikas Marg is also high. Lack of road discipline is another major problem as vehicles coming from internal roads cross the stop line and almost come right up to the middle of the main road, waiting for the traffic signal to turn green. As a result, the main traffic flow gets disrupted with vehicles trying to drive around them.

Grameen Sewa vehicles, a rather recent arrival on the roads, are also becoming a major problem thanks to their unruly ways. These vehicles ply on two major routes – from northeast Delhi to Preet Vihar and from Jheel, Shahdara to Laxmi Nagar District Centre on Patparganj Road.

The passenger tempos pick and drop passengers near the busy Preet Vihar Metro station while taking up half the road space at this point and changing lanes at will.

They create an even bigger bottleneck at the Patparganj Road and Vikas Marg intersection, where they simply wait for passengers right on the road.

Then there are the slow-moving cycle rickshaws that ply on this busy road while not only affecting traffic flow but also putting at risk the lives of their passengers.

The battery operated e-rickshaws have only added to the melee.

Source-hindustantimes.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Traffic, Traffic Congestion

New CCTV tech to record number plates at 5 spots

July 30, 2014

MUMBAI: The traffic police intends to slow down speedsters in the city with advanced cameras which will be equipped with the ability to read number plates of vehicles. Traffic police have identified dangerous stretches in the city that are used for speeding or racing and have written to the agencies concerned to install cameras equipped with ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) technology.

The Bandra-Worli Sea Link (BWSL) is likely to get the technology by the end of this year. The other locations identified for the advanced cameras are Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), Godrej Junction at Vikhroli, Marine Drive and JJ flyover in south Mumbai.

ANPR rules out manual intervention and is used in most developed countries to detect traffic violations. “We conducted a study of locations across the city where cameras equipped with ANPR are becoming a necessity. Godrej Junction at Vikhroli is a cause of concern due to maximum fatalities. We have been in talks with a company to join hands with the agency which maintains the stretch,” said Quaiser Khalid, additional commissioner (traffic).

Instances of speeding are witnessed frequently on the iconic BWSL. “Motorists tend to speed after reaching the centre of the bridge. In September last year, a 54-year-old businessman from Kemps Corner had a narrow escape when his car hit the divider and turned turtle. It disrupted traffic for over half an hour,” said a traffic police official.

“A work order has been given out for cameras equipped with ANPR technology and they should be installed by the end of this year. One lane going towards Bandra and the other towards Worli will be fitted with the cameras. They will be positioned in such a manner that they cover maximum lanes. We have also asked for data on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway to study the feasibility of having advanced cameras there,” said a senior MSRDC official.

Two-wheelers are banned on both the BWSL and JJ Flyover. “Between 2002 and 2010, JJ Flyover witnessed 254 accidents, among which 183 involved two-wheelers. Of the 33 people killed in this period, 31 were motorcyclists. This prompted the ban but motorcyclists tend to flout it at night when traffic personnel aren’t around,” said a traffic official. “Several instances of racing were observed at BKC, a business district deserted after office hours,” he added.

ANPR technology uses optical character recognition on images for reading vehicle registration plates. Some can even be configured to store a photograph of the motorist. The information will be stored at the traffic police headquarters and using the RTO’s database, challans will be sent to the speeding motorist’s address. Earlier this month, the MMRDA announced plans to install 12 ANPR-equipped CCTVs on the Eastern Freeway.

Source:Times of India

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, CCTV Surveillance, Maharashtra

Start-ups offer commuters a smooth ride

July 30, 2014

Bangalore has at least 10 start-up companies that are helping commuters pool together to commute using technology to inform them who they can share their transport with and when. Some start-ups provide cabs, some others offer mobile phone applications to tell people when someone else has a seat avaliable in their vehicle.

However, they want more people to go online to increase the probability of finding another person commuting to the same place at the same time.

Four start-ups that have been offering these services in the city are Ridingo, Rideally, Urban Drive and MoveInSync.

Ridingo (wwww.ridingo.com), which has 7,000 registered users — with 200 to 300 logging in everyday, is targeted at office commuters. It fixes the cost of the trip and the driver earns Rs. 3 per km.

When asked about how safe it is for acquaintances to travel together, Vardhan Koshal, one of the founders, said there are enough details taken for the police to track down people, if required. Besides, it does not allow men to share women’s vehicles.

Mr. Koshal said the “aim is fill all empty seats in cars so that everyone travelling by is comfortable and secure.”

Taxi sharing

The second start-up, Rideally (www.rideally.com), is an open platform to connect people for sharing a taxi. It offers a free application for smartphones and targeted at those living in apartments, corporates, and college students. An average of 30 people each day use the application.

For safety, commuters can choose who they want to share their vehicle with: public, community or group, much like privacy levels in social media.

Hariprakash Agrawal, founder, Rideally, said the company would soon have its own cabs for hire as well.

Similarly, Urban Drive provides shared taxi services on a monthly subscription-basis for commuters. The company has a tie-up with three cab companies.

Jitin Gupta, one of the two founders, said it is targeted at companies that do not provide transport for its employees.

Patented technology

MoveInSync has patented a technology that manages transport fleet (pick and drop), tells passengers where the vehicle is, how long they will have to wait till it reaches them; and says it is safe for women. It allows the control room to track the vehicle, find the distance it has covered, and identify cabs with women travellers. The “auto clubbing” feature suggests which passengers could travel together. Commuters have a PIN-based authentication.

Deepesh Agarwal, founder, said 10,000 people are using 1,000 cabs in Bangalore with the help of the technology.

Source:The Hindu

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Default, Karnataka, Tech

Toll plaza at Vagaikulam to be ready in a month

July 30, 2014

Many expressed discontent over paying toll at existing location

Site of change:A view of the new toll plaza near Vagaikulam in Tuticorin district.— Photo: N. Rajesh

A new toll plaza under construction at Vagaikulam on NH 7 A (Tuticorin-Palayamkottai Bypass Road) will be ready in a month, says NHAI Project Director.

After discontent started brewing among heavy vehicle users over paying toll at the existing plaza at Thattaparai junction on Palayamkottai Road, the toll plaza was being shifted to Vagaikulam.

The plaza comprising six toll collection counters with approaching lanes and other infrastructure facilities was being constructed at a cost of Rs.1.4 crore, K. Thangavel, Project Director, NHAI, Madurai, who is in-charge of Tirunelveli, told The Hindu on Tuesday.

He said bhoomi puja for the toll plaza was performed on May 1 and works started immediately. Since local truck operators and other vehicle drivers registered in Tuticorin were reluctant to pay the toll after demanding the shifting of the plaza beyond Vagaikulam airport approach road, the toll agency withdrew from collecting toll.

The toll plaza is a key component of the 47.2-kilometre port connectivity project, which commenced in May 2010 on NH 7A. The toll collection was resumed here from May 1 this year after a gap of 10 months.

The Project Director said the revised toll fee notifications were awaited. Communiqué on this special purpose vehicle project, a joint venture of V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust, Tuticorin and the NHAI, had already been forwarded to the NHAI, New Delhi. Once the project was completed, the notification would be implemented at the new toll plaza.

The 47-km-long four-lane road project from the port to Palayamkottai commenced in May 2010. After completing the work, the project contractor collected toll initially in April 2013.

After a scuffle between road users and toll staff in June 2013, personnel deployed at the counters left their jobs fearing risk of assault.

A lorry owners’ association here claimed that around 400 locally registered lorry operators had been carrying essential goods, including water, vegetables and salt to 11 villages around the toll plaza. These heavy vehicles would have to go through this toll plaza at frequent intervals. So, the agency should exempt these local operators from paying the toll, they sought.

They also agreed to pay the toll once the plaza was shifted to Vagaikulam.

Subsequently, a few persons, including MDMK district secretary S. Joel from Tuticorin, filed writ petitions against toll collection and demanded the shifting of the toll plaza to a new location beyond Vagaikulam Airport.

The toll collection once again came to a halt since the case was pending. Based on the NHAI’s submission that the toll plaza would be shifted to Vagaikulam, Justices V. Ramasubramanian and V.M. Velumani of Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on April 7, 2014 disposed of the writ petitions filed by five persons.

The court directed the NHAI to shift the toll plaza within four months, Mr. Thangavel said.

Source:The Hindu

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Road, Tolling

NGOs draw up safety measures

July 29, 2014

Vishakapatnam:

Keeping in view the recent accident of a train ramming a school bus at an unmanned level-crossing near Masaipet in Medak district, city-based NGOs have focused on the safety levels of the transport system in the district.

In order to avoid occurrence of such accidents in the region, representatives of Bala Vikas Foundation (BVF) and Praja Spandana have drawn up 10 points to be presented to the district administration, Transport and Education departments.

Checking the condition of school buses, verifying the licence, conducting periodical health check-up for drivers, considering parents’ views, examining the condition of buses and carrying surprise checks were some of the safety measures covered in the draft.

Expressing their concern over road safety, Narava Prakasa Rao and P. Venkateswara Rao of BVF along with C.S. Rao of Praja Spandana said: “The idea is to exercise caution and ensure safety for schoolchildren. The school management should work in line with the departments and make every effort to provide a secure environment for students.”

They said that they would approach MPs and MLAs to firm up the safety measures for schoolchildren in all aspects.

Source:The Hindu

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Safety

Two revenue models proposed for bypass from Kazhakuttam to Karode

July 29, 2014

The Hindu

Thiruvananthapuram:

Annuity mode or tolling has been mooted to attract bidders to develop the 43.62-km stretch of the National Highway 66 (NH 66) bypass from Kazhakuttam to Karode into a four-lane carriageway.

The suggestions had been made as at least five companies had shown ‘lack of interest’ to the request for proposal (RFP) floated by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to develop the 26-km stretch from Kazhakuttam to Mukkola initially.

Opposition to toll collection in the State, its non-feasibility, and delay in handing over land for the 17.62-km stretch of the road up to Karode on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border had been cited as the main reasons for the withdrawal of the companies.

An official of a company who participated in the RFP told The Hindu that the provisions to provide a link from the NH 66 to the proposed Kazhakuttam-Karode bypass had also affected the take off of the project, dragging on for over four decades now.

‘Financial closure’ was perceived difficult as toll volume would be low. Not many multi-axle vehicles moved through the stretch, qualified bidders had informed the NHAI.

Mostly, small cars would take the road and only 30 to 40 per cent of the road capacity would be used once it became a four-lane carriageway, he said.

The Public-Private Partnership Appraisal Committee had given the nod to take up the first 26 km on a public-private partnership (PPP) mode, for Rs.577.95 crore. The total project cost would be Rs.1,170 crore.

The bidders had also sought a revision of the design in view of the 16 road crossings proposed. At Venpalavattom, Chakka, Enchakkal, and Thiruvallom, vehicular underpasses had been mooted.

They had also told the NHAI that banks would give ‘financial closure’ to annuity mode as banks strictly followed RBI lending guidelines.

Land had been acquired for a four-lane stretch and to the extent of 45 metres on the Kazhakuttam-Chakka-Eenchakkal-Kovalam stretch. Fixing the fair value for the land in the Chenkal and Karode Blocks had been the major hurdle in completing land acquisition, sources said.

Source:The Hindu

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Highway, NHAI, Tolling

Develop Madurai as ‘smart’ city: MP

July 29, 2014

Madurai city, known as ‘Temple City,’ deserves to be modernised and developed into a ‘smart’ city. The Centre, which is planning to develop 100 cities into ‘smart’ cities, should include Madurai in this project, according to Madurai MP R. Gopalakrishnan.

In a release issued here recently, he said Madurai city, which had a mix of urban and rural areas, was considered as the gateway to the southern districts.

The city should be provided with modern infrastructure like metro rail, helicopter tourism facility, increased rail services with modern coaches among others.

To decongest roads, the Outer Ring Road work should be expedited on a war footing, he noted.

At a time when agriculture had been affected due to poor monsoon, there had been unemployment and large-scale migration of farm workers to Madurai.

The Union government had earmarked Rs.7,060 crore for developing 100 ‘smart’ cities in the current budget.

If Madurai was included in the list, the unemployed workers could benefit from job opportunities that might be created in the future, he suggested.

Welcoming the allocation of Rs.100 crore towards transforming select employment offices into career centres, he urged the Centre to include Madurai employment office in the project on a pilot basis.

“Amma Unavagam” scheme implemented in Tamil Nadu was a success, and the Centre should take it across the country as it would benefit a large number of people.

When contacted, Mr. Gopalakrishnan said he had given his submission in writing in the current session of Parliament under Rule 377 of the Lok Sabha.

Source:The Hindu

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Government (Govt), Smart City, Transport

We have never seen Delhi like this!

July 28, 2014

Aanchal.Tuli and Saloni.Bhatia

The third Raahgiri Day this Sunday morning was full of smiling Delhiites who indulged in physical activities and then in breakfast in CP’s eateries, in what is fast becoming a Sunday ritual

The third Raahgiri Day in Delhi saw an equal number of first timers and loyal Raahgirs walking, cycling and dancing on the roads of inner circle in Connaught Place. The initiative is organised every Sunday by the Delhi Police and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) along with Embarq India, and is supported by The Times of India. Regulars also brought their friends and family , swelling the numbers of people in sporty gear and adding to the festive feel.The morning began on a patriotic note with a performance by the CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) Pipe and Brass Band. Cyclists and skaters took over the roads in style and the professionals impressed the amateurs and the cheering crowds.

People from all over the city, and even bordering areas like Faridabad, came in large numbers and were seen enjoying the variety of activities being organised. Abhay and Vikas, who had come for the first time with their families from Pitam Pura and Lajpat Nagar respectively , were seen playing the childhood game of `Chain Chain’ in the CP parking lots. Abhay told us, “There is so much positivity in the air, it’s all so relaxing. Chalte hue agar kisi ko dhakka lage bhi toh kisi ko koi tension nahi hai, smile kar ke log aage badh jaate hain. In the 10-15 years that we’ve lived here, we have never seen Delhi like this.“

The high point of the day was a performance by popu lar stand-up co median Papa CJ and his guest p e r f o r m e r, Malaysian comic biggie Harith Iskander. Jokes on Delhiites’ driving skills, our Bollywood obsession and other desi pride qualities made both of them instant crowd favourites. The fans in the crowd had their starry moments and got selfies clicked with both the artistes.

Meenakshi Lekhi, MP from the New Delhi constituency , was there for her third Raahgiri, and this time, got her new bicycle along and cycled till Amar Jawan Jyoti. “It was nice to cycle for a longer distance. We went up till Amar Jawan Jyoti, saluted the martyrs and cycled back. I have got a new bike and from next week, you will get to see more improvisations in the bike. In fact, I plan to cycle in various colonies in the mornings and make cycling a regular part of my routine,“ she said, adding, “The response to Raahgiri has been really good. We want to take Raahgiri to other marketplaces and create more spaces for pedestrians. I would like to tell people that they should not litter around, and should throw water bottles in the dustbins designated for the purpose.“

Muktesh Chander, special commissioner of police (Traffic), said, “Let’s make Delhi roads more pedestri an and cycle-friendly . Let pedestrians com mand respect from those travelling in ve hicles. These are the events where pedes trians and cyclists can reclaim their space.“ The cop also showed off his creative side when he played Tum Hi Ho on his flute. Anil Shukla, joint commissioner of police (Traffic), who had come with his daughter Radhi ka, was also all praise for the event.

Towards the end of the event, after it got extended by an hour and went on till 10am, people were seen planning their breakfast destinations.