Dahisar-Andheri metro set to be extended till Bandra

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) plans to extend Dahisar (East) to Andheri (East) metro right up to Bandra along the Western Express Highway. The airport runway will pose a challenge because of which it is unlikely to get a nod from the ministry of civil aviation for constructing an elevated line at Vile Parle-Santa Cruz section.

The earlier plans for an elevated Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd metro corridor had hit a hurdle on SV Road at Vile Parle and Santa Cruz as the airstrip of Juhu Aerodrome was right next to the line and infringing the air funnel. A similar situation has arisen for the planned extension on the Western Express Highway.

Air funnel or flight path is pre-defined and needs to be unrestricted even in its buffer space for safety reasons. There is also a restriction over height of buildings wherever there is an airstrip.

“A Detailed Project Report (DPR) on the extension is being prepared and various options will be looked into before anything is finalised,” said Sanjay Sethi, additional metropolitan commissioner of MMRDA. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is preparing a DPR for this planned extension as well as for making sure there is metro alignment.

Additionally, it is also being contemplated to route the Dahisar East-Andheri East-Bandra line via the Domestic Airport, but the plan is in its nascent stage at the moment.

According to another official if the plan is feasible it will have to be underground between Vile Parle and Santa Cruz. However, the majority of the route will remain elevated as it is cheaper as compared to an underground system.

However, the other challenge that will have to be brainstormed is overlapping or parallel route of this metro with underground 32-km long Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ metro line. Stations for this line would be at Bandra (income tax office), University of Mumbai in Kalina, Santa Cruz and domestic airport.

There are also plans of having a metro line between Dahisar-DN Nagar-Bandra-Mankhurd on the western side of this suburb.

The MMRDA has already given a nod to implement Dahisar East-Andheri East metro line and it will be sent to the state cabinet for further approval.

Vikhroli residents go to cops over stench from dumping ground:Hindustan Times

MUMBAI: Residents of housing colonies in Vikhroli (East), located near the Kanjurmarg dumping ground, filed complaints with the police on Tuesday night after a stench from the dump became unbearable.

Kannamwar Nagar and Tagore Nagar, localities along the Eastern Express Highway, situated a few hundred metres from the dump, are the worst affected. “We have to keep doors and windows constantly shut,” said Vishwajeet Dholam, resident of Kannamwar Nagar.

Another resident, Rahul Waghdare, said children had been complaining about the smell. “Breathing problems, infected eyes and nausea have become common complaints. We went to the police when we could not take it anymore.” Wagdhare said residents and police personnel visited the dumping ground to find out what was being done to control the stench. “An officer from the solid waste management department visited the site at 11pm and told us that nothing was done to control the smell,” said Waghdare.

According to a resident who did not want to be named, there are no records being maintained by the contractors employed at the dumping ground for the number of dumper trucks entering the ground. “As per Supreme Court guidelines, there should be segregation of solid and liquid waste, proper chemicals should be utilised to control the foul smell and a limited number of trucks should be allowed to enter the facility. All these rules are being violated by contractors,” he said.

Officers from Vikhroli police station confirmed that the problem had increased over the last 10 days. They said a complaint under section 268 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for public nuisance, had been registered. “I have written two letters asking the civic body to take precautionary measures and take appropriate action regarding the smell. It is a problem for all residing or working in the area,” said DM Desai, senior inspector, Vikhroli police station.

An official from the solid waste department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said various measures had been put in place to control the smell. “After the rain, due to decomposition of garbage, a lot of gases are released, causing the stench. The bioreactor installed at the dumping ground has an automatic flaring station mechanism to burn the gas, especially methane,” said the official.

The official said that BMC has sanctioned Rs1.80 crore for monitoring of various environmental parameters at the site. “We have also begun using additional measures such as spraying of enzyme-based products at Kanjurmarg to decrease the stench,” he said.

BMC to spend ` 7 cr to review GMLR:Hindustan Times

SECOND REVIEW Civic body floats tenders for a consultant to study, again, if proposed Goregaon-Mulund Link Rd is feasible

THE GMLR PROJECT IS STUCK AS THE PROPOSED ALIGNMENT PASSES A HIGH SECURITY ZONE. THERE ARE ISSUES OF LAND ACQUISITION TOO

MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is going to spend Rs7 crore on another consultant for a peer review of the proposed Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR).

The corporation has floated the tender. This will be in addition to the Rs2 crore already spent on a consultant for a feasibility report of the GMLR.

The Rs130 crore GMLR project is stuck because the proposed alignment passes through a high security zone. There are land acquisition issues as well.

Top civic officials, including municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta, are not satisfied with the alignment. Bridge department officials are considering including the existing Goregaon-Mulund Link Road that passes through Dindoshi, in the proposed alignment.

HT had reported first about the change in GMLR’s existing alignment on June 19.

“With the current alignment, chances of the project going ahead are slim. The water treatment plant at Bhandup Complex, land acquisition and the lack of space to carry out work because of two lakes and several water pipelines are some of the hurdles,” said a senior civic official from the bridge department.

The earlier alignment was finalised by the additional municipal commissioner SVR Srinivas, after a consultant had made a feasibility report.

The consultant had suggested the construction of a 14-km elevated road to minimise tree cutting.

However, after Mehta took over as municipal commissioner, the GMLR project was handed over to the additional municipal commissioner Dr Sanjay Mukherjee, who oversees projects.

It was only much later, after civic officials began a site inspection, that these issues came to light. This is why top officials have decided to opt for peer review for the project.

Chief engineer, bridge department, SO Kori said, “A consultant for a peer review is appointed according to STAC (Statuary Technical Advisory Committee) recommendations. STAC has directed to cross check the feasibility report made by the consultants to eliminate any errors.”

BMC inaugurates Jogeshwari bridge, faces criticism for ‘half-done’ work:Hindustan Times

Some work still needs to be done on the bridge, and I have asked SVR Srinivas (additional municipal commissioner) to get this sorted. The Sena leader’s name has been given to this structure and everything named after him needs to be state-of-the-art. UDDHAV THACKERAY, Shiv Sena chief

MUMBAI: A bridge at Jogeshwari to reduce east-west commute t i me was i naugurated on Thursday.

Six years in the making, t he 1.5- km bridge t hat has been named after Shiv Sena leader, the late Bal Thackeray, was inaugurated by Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.

In his speech after the inauguration, Thackeray asked additional municipal commissioner, SVR Srinivas, to improve the bridge.

“Some work still needs to be done on the bridge, and I have asked Srinivas to get this sorted. The Sena leader’s name has been given to this structure and everything named after him needs to be state-of-the-art,” Uddhav said.

So far, only the first phase of the bridge, costing Rs198-crore, has been completed. It connects SV road and the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road, and furt her extensions are being planned, civic officials said.

The BMC plans to extend the overbridge on the west side of Jogeshwari, while one arm will be extended to go over SV Road, crossing Behram Baug.

The extension is expected to cut travel time from 20 minutes to 5 minutes.

The major hurdle in completion of the project was the encroachment on the east of Jogeshwari station.

Civic of f i cials, however, claimed that about 500 residential and 200 commercial settlements have been rehabilitated for the construction of this bridge.

“We are also planning the designs of further extension on the east side going above the eastern express highway and connecting JVLR,” said a civic official, requesting anonymity.

Opposition parties, however, slammed the BMC for inaugurating an incomplete bridge. “The BMC has inaugurated an incomplete bridge and the work is very shoddy. Why was there a need for them to inaugurate it in such haste,” said Devendra Amberkar, Opposition leader in the civic body.

COST FACTOR - MSRDC makes Rs 7.6cr from toll in 15 years:The Times of India

No Data On Collections Made By Pvt Firms

In the last 15 years, citizens have shelled out Rs 7,642 crore as toll for roads across the state.

In a first-ever disclosure on toll earnings, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has put up an exhaustive list of projects and toll collections since the policy was implemented in 1999.

The top grosser projects include the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and Satara-Kolhapur stretch of National Highway 4 that have collectively added Rs 1,122 crore to the MSRDC coffers till 2005-06. There is no data on toll collections for the last decade as the e-way maintenance was handed over to a private firm. Another big-ticket project is the Bandra-Worli sea link that has within six years of becoming operational earned MSRDC a neat Rs 425 crore. The project was constructed at a cost of around Rs 650 crore.

However, it is road overbridges and flyovers that have earned MSRDC a whopping revenue of Rs 3,169 crore until 2010-11, when the levy was stopped at these locations. There are 128 toll booths currently functional across the state.

While activists may see in these figures the perfect reason to stop toll collections, officials at MSRDC said an investment of Rs 8,000 crore has been made in creating road networks over the years. Analysts too advised against simplistic interpretation of the figures.

G K Deshpande, former PWD secretary and founder of MSRDC in 1996-97, said, “If the investor is expecting 20% of return over his investment, the toll would continue till that amount is achieved. It is wrong to state that if the project cost is recovered, toll should be abolished. Investors or MSRDC take loan from banks, pay interest, maintain the road and conduct repairs regularly .“

He said that the project cost gives only the figure when the road work was planned and the cost might escalate due to increase in cost of raw material.

But the calculation aside, there is much ambiguity in the statistics. Experts and activists have questioned the toll collection statistics considering that MSRDC has not disclosed the amount collected by private agencies. Importantly , the MSRDC has not stated how the toll collection amount was utilized and the infrastructure jointly created with the private firms, they said.

The MSRDC, on its part, has claimed that it raised infrastructure such as flyovers, road over bridges and roads built at a cost of nearly Rs 8,000 crore since its formation in 1996 but admits it does not have the information about the use of toll collection amount.

“At this moment, figures of expenditures and maintenance cost are not available. The MSRDC assigns private companies for the road development work. There are several such companies and we do not have the data of their toll collection,“ said Radheshyam Mopalwar, MSRDC managing director.

Over the past few years, citi zens and political parties have been seeking transparency in toll collection across the state.

Kolhapur residents have vehe mently opposed toll collection at nine entry points in the city citing poor quality work.

The political angle to the toll collection figures is hard to miss. When the Congress-NCP government formed the government for the second successive time in 2009, it collected an upfront amount from road developer compa nies and appointed them for toll collection and mainte nance. The following fiscal of 2010-11 turned out to be the most `fruitful' for MSRDC, which earned Rs 2,503 crore at one go with the decision.

Road development experts said that the toll collection amount should not be simply compared with the project cost as developers would not come forward to execute the work unless there is a proper return on the investment.

Former PWD secretary Deshpande said that each private firm would have submitted their cash flow to the MSRDC or PWD to get the contract. A detailed study of the cash flow could shed light on how much investment was made and how long the toll would be levied.

Realising the anger against toll collection, the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance had promised to scrap toll collection during the 2014 assembly election campaign. The state government in November 2014 appointed a committee under PWD minister Eknath Shinde to study the contentious toll issue and suggest ways to scrap the levy .

So far, as per the committee's recommendations, the state has waived off toll from 12 roads and exempted small cars from toll at 53 locations from June 1. In June 2014, the government closed 44 toll collection centres.

Anti-toll activist Sanjay Shirodkar said they had been struggling for years to get the data on toll collection. “Successive governments and the MSRDC were not clear about toll collection. No private toll operator provided the MSRDC or the government with toll collection figures. The MSRDC has not provided any audited report of the projects“ he said.

Senior citizens get own space at Belapur:Hindustan Times

CBD BELAPUR: The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has given the ground floor of the multipurpose building constructed by it, in Belapur village, to the senior citizens association for a recreation centre.

The facility was inaugurated on Thursday by Belapur MLA Manda Mhatre. Present on the occasion was All India senior citizens federation president D N Chapke, corporators and several eminent citizens apart from the senior citizens of the area.

CB Ligade, secretary of the association gave details of the work done by the association and its plans for the future.

Mhatre said, “This facility will help the senior citizens get together and hold their meetings. I will also make efforts to provide medical and health facilities to them here at subsidized rates.”

She added, “I have decided to pay the rent of Rs10,000 for a year for the facility and also donate Rs1 lakh for setting up a library here of books, literary works etc. It will be of use for all residents.”

Cidco had earlier set up recreation centres at Kalamboli. The recreation centres were to be constructed in gardens in sectors—2,6,8, 10 in Kalamboli. According to norm, at a time, 10-15 senior citizens can sit in a recreation centres which will be thrown open to the public after monsoon. A recreation centre for senior citizens was also built at Meenatai Thackeray garden in sector 17, Vashi.

TMC to repair its 27 dilapidated school buildings in three years:Hindustan Times

None of them are dangerous but will deteriorate in a couple of years

Old civic schools in Thane will get a fresh new look. The civic body will be spending Rs39 crore to repair such schools older than 25-30 year in the next three years. A structural audit highlighted the need for repairs.

A meeting t o chalk out the repair plans for the school building was held on Wednesday.

HT had highlighted t he issue of thousands of students studying in dilapidated school buildings, which need repairs urgently.

The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has claimed that the four dangerous buildings have been demolished. None of the existing 27 buildings are dangerous but if not repaired will turn dangerous in a couple of years, according to officials.

Ratan Awsar mol, a city engineer, said, “According to the structural audit of 85 school buildings, 31 schools are older than 25 to 30 years. Out of these, four are dangerous and have been demolished. The remaining 27 can be repaired. We will undertake phase- wise repair of these schools in t he next t hree years.”

In 2015-16 and 2016-17, Rs12 crore each will be spent while Rs14 crore will be spent in 2017-18. “We will choose the schools in need of urgent repair this year. Rs1.5 crore will be spend on minor repairs while the remaining Rs38 crore will be spend on strengthening t he foundation, columns or reconstruction of school buildings,” said Awsarmol.

I n 2012, a portion of an Uthalsar civic school collapsed. No one was hurt in the incident but it raised the issue of repairing school buildings.

The work of carrying out structural audit of c iv i c school was given to a private organisation in 2012.

The private agency submitted its report in January 2015.

A detailed presentation on the report was tabled before the additional commissioner in the last week of June by the Public Works Department.

The four dangerous schools were situated i n Uthalsar, Kausa, Naupada and Yeoor.

The students have all been rehabilitated in either containers, resorts (Yeoor School) or nearby TMC buildings. These buildings have been demolished till the ground floor.

Builders association appeals government to resolve issues blocking infrastructure, housing

MUMBAI: The Builders Association of India has appealed the government to initiate corrective measures to resolve issues that are blocking housing and infrastructure development. 

"While Builders Association of India appreciates that the Government has rightly allocated more than Rs 65 lakh crores for the physical development of housing infrastructure in the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-2017), it should now help the industry by removing obstacles that are stalling these plans," said Mahesh M. Mudda, General Secretary of the association. 

The association has highlighted issues such as scarcity of sand, non-utilisation of collected labour welfare cess amount, lapse of land acquisition ordinance, relaxation of banks' lending norms and reduction of interest rate, which need immediate attention. 

The Builders' Association of India ( BAI) established in 1941, is the body of builders and contractors with over 15,000 direct members. 

Realtor Kalpataru gets restraining order against FMCG company for trademark infringement

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has granted realty developer KalpataruBSE -3.03 % Properties' (Kalpataru) request for a preliminary injunction restraining Kolkata-based fast moving consumer goods company "Kalpataru Group" for infringing Kalpataru's trademark and trade-name, the developer said in a release. 

The court has granted an ad-interim injunction restraining the Kolkata based company, directly and/or indirectly, using in any manner the impugned mark Kalpataru or any other word identical with or deceptively similar to the registered trade mark of Kalpataru. 

Kalpataru had approached the Bombay High Court, against the Kolkata-based company and four others after it learnt in November 2014 about them using an identical mark "Kalpataru" as their trade name, trading style and corporate name in relation to the services of distribution of FMCG products. 

Kalpataru also found a website hosted by the Kolkata based company with the impugned mark www.kalpatarugroup.com, the release added. This domain name appears to have been registered by a partner of the Kolkata company. The developer also highlighted that, the name Kalpataru is used by the Kolkata-based company along with the device of a tree. 

In its submission to the court, the Kalpataru stated that it conceived and adopted the trade mark Kalpataru as far back as in 1969 when it began using the mark in relation to its various business activities. On 9th June 1975, the Kalpataru was incorporated, although under a different name ( Kalpataru Consultants Private Limited). This name was changed more than once in the years that followed till ultimately the Kalpataru took on its present name. Through all these corporate name changes, howeve .. 

In the plaint, the Kalpataru has set out the fact that it has obtained trade mark registrations in various classes under the Trade Marks Act, 1999. This mark is also used by the Kalpataru as part of its internet presence and on its websites. The mark has been used continuously, openly and without interruption for several decades. 

The matter has now been listed for final hearing in the week of September 28. 

MPCB acts on complaints, shuts down one cement plant at Dahisar:Hindustan Times

MUMBAI: After repeated complaints from residents of Dahisar (East) regarding the pollution that emanates from two ready-mix-concrete (RMC) plants, the state pollution control board shut down one plant last week and began ambient air pollution monitoring around the other plant on Tuesday.

Officials from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) told HT that one plant had been functioning without a permit for the past six months. “After our officials visited the site and requisite documents were not submitted by the plant owners, we issued a closure notice in the first week of September,” said Dilip Khedkar, regional officer, MPCB.

Khedkar said officers from the state pollution control board also began testing pollutants such as respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM) and suspended particulate matter (SPM) through ambient air quality monitoring devices around the periphery of the other plant. “We will receive the results in the next 10 days. If a pollution problem is found, we will issue a show-cause notice to the plant,” said Khedkar.

An official from the private firm that owns the RMC plant where the pollution monitoring is taking place said, “We have been using several measures at our plant that control dust emission such as metallic roads all over the premises, metallic sheets to cover the mixing section and dust filters at the bottom of silos.”

HT had reported on August 29 that more than 150 residents of Dahisar (East) and Malad-Marwe Road staged a silent protest outside the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board’s (MPCB) office at Sion against the RMC plants.

Residents of HS Khan Compound, SN Dube Road, Ravalpada told HT they were relieved at least one of the plants had shut down. “We are happy the number of diseases will reduce,” said Chanderkant Nihal, resident of the area and secretary, Sainagar Rahivasi Welfare Society. NGO Watchdog foundation had written to the MPCB in August. “The swift action by the MPCB is appreciated,” said Godfrey Pimenta, trustee, Watchdog foundation.