Soon, pay toll on Inner Ring Road
September 9, 2014
Rs. 600-crore EMRIP stretch to be completed by November
In a few months’ time, motorists may have to pay toll to use the northern segment of Inner Ring Road, beyond Madhavaram.
A toll plaza is to come up on the road as part of the Ennore-Manali Road Improvement Project (EMRIP). The rates will be fixed after approval from the State government, said an official of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
EMRIP involves widening of four roads — Tiruvottiyur-Ponneri-Panchetti Road, Manali Oil Refinery Road, Ennore Expressway and Inner Ring Road — leading to Chennai Port and Ennore Port, and is expected to be completed by November.
The foundation stone for the Rs. 600-crore project was laid in January 2011 and it was initially expected to be completed by January 2013.
However, even now, three stretches on the road are yet to be finished.
“We are yet to get land in Cherian Nagar and Nalla Thanneer Odai Kuppam on Ennore Expressway, and another 600 metres inside Kasimedu fishing harbour. Around 1.1 km of road is yet to be laid. By November, the project will be completed, but for these stretches that have to be handed over by the State government and Port Trust,” said the official.
S.R. Raja, secretary, Trailer Owner’s Association, Tamil Nadu, said, even if the road works are completed, unless additional gates are available at Chennai Port, for entry and exit of import and export trailers, the roads will remain congested.
“There is enough space inside the port for parking of vehicles. But, hundreds of trailers are parked on the roads, every day, causing inconvenience to other motorists,” he said.
Source:The Hindu
Traffic control tower set up
August 28, 2014
Sophisticated electronic gadgets to be used
The district police set up a traffic control tower with all sophisticated electronic gadgets at Anna statue junction here on Wednesday not only to regulate traffic but also for effective surveillance.
Inaugurating the tower, Superintendent of Police T. Jayachandran said the tower had been installed at an estimated cost of Rs.4.5 lakh. The tower had a public address system and a speed dome camera that would cover four streets.
The police manning the tower would regulate traffic on Sub-Collector Office Road, Tiruchi Road and Chatram Street and a link road. The electronic equipment attached with the camera had the capacity to store data for one month, he added.
AC control tower
An air-conditioned traffic control tower would be set up at Periyar statue junction connecting AMC Road, Salai Road, Main Road, Tiruvallur Road and AMC Road. Fifteen CCTV cameras and five speed dome cameras would be fitted at this junction.
The total cost of the project was Rs.10 lakh and installation work was in progress. This work was being executed with the help of a Madurai-based advertising company. It would be opened shortly, the SP added.
The traffic police had set up a control room and installed surveillance cameras at Tiruchi Road-Palani Road junction last month.
Move for making helmet mandatory
July 31, 2014
Praveer Ranjan wants police-people interface
Expressing concern over the spate of road accidents in the Union Territory, the new police chief and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Praveer Ranjan on Wednesday said he would recommend to the Government to implement compulsory wearing of helmets by two-wheeler riders.
“Wearing of helmets is absolutely non-existent in Puducherry,” said Mr. Ranjan while addressing presspersons here to list out his policing priorities.
Statistics showed that in so many road accidents, people died only because they were not wearing helmets. “I will propose to the government to implement the helmet rule in the city at the earliest,” he said.
Describing road traffic issues as one of main interfaces with police for the public, Mr Ranjan advocated improving traffic regulation. “Right now, I myself feel very dissatisfied with the way traffic is managed in the city. There is scope for improvement.”
He also underscored the need for creating awareness among the public about lane driving and speed regulations.
Noting that the law and order situation in the city had improved over the past year or so, he said steps would be taken to make it even better.
The police chief expressed his wish to improve the police-people interface to minimise complaints against the law enforcers.
“People should look upon the police as a friendly and easily accessible unit. There should not be any complaint of rude or impolite behaviour on the part of police,” he said.
“I will take stringent on any misconduct on the police side,” he added.
Holding his proposed strengthening of community policing among fishermen as a matter close to his heart, he said he wished to augment community policing at all levels.
Expressing hope for early approval from the Union government for the proposed safe city project, Mr. Ranjan said the project would cover the entire city.
On the ongoing initiative to computerise and network all police stations under the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network (CCTN) programme, the IGP said that so far 90 per cent of records were digitised and soon the entire country could be linked up on the network.
Mr. Ranjan said 100 more women would be recruited soon in the existing 400 vacancies. On technology exposure and skill training, he said he wanted to send batches of policemen to other centres to undergo training in latest technologies.
Source:The Hindu
Committee set up to improve 1,700 km roads in TN
September 12, 2013
An empowered committee has been formed to ensure better coordination between various departments for implementing a project to improve 1,700 km of roads across Tamil Nadu in a time-bound manner.
The Union Department of Economic Affairs had proposed the Tamil Nadu Road Sector Project-II for accessing the $300-million assistance from the World Bank. The committee will be headed by the State Minister of Highways and Minor Ports as chairman.
The committee, while having the Minister as chairman, will have Chief Secretary, Principal Secretaries to Finance and Highways and Minor Ports Departments besides Project Director of the Tamil Nadu Road Sector Project as members.
The action plan for the project, approved by the government, involves financial strategy such as tolling of high-density traffic corridors, levy of cess on motor fuel and /or motor vehicle tax and ring fencing into State road fund.
Source-http://www.infranews.in
Chennai’s Kathipara Flyover to be completed by Mar 30
February 16, 2008
The construction of the Kathipara Flyover in Chennai finally seems to be heading somewhere. Kathipara Junction is one of the busiest points of the city. It could be called the Gateway of Chennai. Almost all the traffic that comes from the airport has to pass through this point. So, in that sense it is the most important part of the city.
There was a flyover which was proposed in 2004 to bring down the congestion of traffic. The completion date was 2007. But it is still not complete and is delayed by almost one year. It is learnt from the National Highway Authority of India that within two months, the flyover will be in place and the traffic would be diverted from the airport to this flyover.
There are controversies surrounding the junction. The Tamil Nadu Road Development Corporation was initially given the responsibility of this project. But because of the delay they were pulled out from it. The project also got stuck because of land acquisition problems. Some of the lands were supposed to be acquired from Defence, which they were not ready to vacate.
It is learnt from sources that they have still not vacated the land. That is why NHAI has to go for a complete change in the plan. But officials are saying that March 30 is the deadline and hopefully they will be completing it by then.
Source: moneycontrol.com
Work on ECR project resumes
December 2, 2007
It was suspended due to heavy rain
Project expected to be completed by March 2009 Estimated cost: Rs.2,160 crore
PUDUKOTTAI: Work on the World Bank-funded East Coast Road (ECR) project, which remained suspended for about a month following sharp showers in the coastal parts of the district, resumed recently.
Being a coastal belt with estuaries, rivulets and the Vellar, the major river of the district, the work involves construction of culverts and minor bridges at several places in the 36-km-long stretch. Work on construction of a minor bridge or culvert has been undertaken every couple of km between Kattumavadi and Kottaipattinam, about 70 km from here.
Authorities of the Tamil Nadu Road Sector Project (TNSRP), which is executing the Rs.2,160-crore project of laying the 742-km road from Arcot to Tuticorin, suspended the work as a vast stretch of newly laid and levelled earth on the ECR stretch turned slushy at places such as Kottaipattinam, Kattumavadi and Manamelkudi. The overflowing water from the culverts brought all work to a grinding halt.
The project, which started in February 2004, is expected to be completed by March 2009. Of the total outlay of Rs.2,160 crore, a sum of Rs.1,148 crore will be utilised to upgrade the ECR, TNSRP sources told The Hindu. The upgrading work includes strengthening of the earth and ensuring technical stability of the area to suit the huge volume of heavy vehicles. With the receding of rain water, work resumed last week, the sources said.
The project is being executed through meticulous planning, covering a stretch of 387 km between Arcot and Tiruvarur and 355 km between Nagapattinam and Tuticorin.
Source: hindu.com
Reliance Energy Ltd(REL) to hive off infrastructure projects
November 12, 2007
NEW DELHI: In a bid to separate the power and infrastructure projects, Reliance Energy Ltd. (REL) has now decided to transfer all its infrastructure projects to a separate wholly-owned subsidiary.
The REL board had already given its approval to the proposal.
The move comes hot on the heels of REL deciding to hive off its power generation business as a separate company — Reliance Power Limited (RPL).
RPL has filed a draft red herring prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for an initial public cffering (IPO) of around Rs. 12,000 crore.
The decision to hive off infrastructure portfolio to a new subsidiary comes in view of the increasing portfolio of the company on this account in recent months.
REL is developing highways for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) under the build-own-transfer (BOT) scheme.
It is involved in five National Highway projects in Tamil Nadu, covering a length of 400 km at a cost of Rs. 3,100 crore. In addition, it is pursuing road projects, including the proposed Rs. 5,000 crore Western Freeway sea-link project connecting Worli and Nariman Point in Mumbai and the Rs. 6,000-crore Jaipur Ring Road project.
On the real estate side, the REL-led consortium had emerged as a winner for developing a business city in Hyderabad with an estimated investment of Rs. 6,500 crore. The city will be built in 77 acres, which will include a 100-storey trade tower. It has also bagged the metro rail project in Mumbai that involved the development and operation of a fully-elevated metro rail.
The total cost of the project is around Rs. 2,500 crore. It has also bid for line 2 of the Mumbai metro elevated track between Mankhurd and Charkop with an estimated investment of Rs. 6,500 crore. The company is also bidding for the Rs. 6,000 crore Mumbai trans-harbour link.
Source : The Hindu