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Road Development

In road-laying mode, civic body pushes safety out on the wayside

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The Times of India     18.03.2016 

In road-laying mode, civic body pushes safety out on the wayside

Chenni: Laying a smooth road, the city corporation seems to think, is enough. Most of the interior roads it has laid, or is in the process of laying, ahead of the election do not have the speed-breakers to sensure that they are safe.

The new roads, say experts, encourage motorists, particularly two-wheeler riders, to zip across at high speeds, putting other road-users at risk.

Arun Ramasamy should know. The 41-year-old was recently proceeding serenly on a glass-smooth road to Madipakkam, to visit a friend, when a biker smashed into his two-wheeler at an intersection.

"There was a blind turn ahead and the biker, without slowing down, rode straight into me," said Ramasamy, now confined home with a ligament tear and fractures on the right leg.

Earlier, many interior roads, including in Ram Nagar where Ramasamy was hit, had stony sirfaces that ensured vehicles did not move fast. "Now every intersection is a possible accident- zone," Ramasamy said.

Urban planners say simply black-topping roads is not enough. Corporation engineers need to be educated on the nuances of road engineering. Interior roads require several 'traffic calming' measures. "Some speed-breakers need to be introduced to slow down traffic," said former professor of urban engineering at Anna University K P Subramanian.

"Roads should have wider footpaths that, with speed-breakers, will ensure that motorists do not speed or are discouraged from doing so," Subramanian said.

"Corporation engineers need to move away from the school of thought that a road belongs only to motorists. Roads should be shared among pedestrians and cyclists as well," he added.

 

BBMP to outsource work on documenting road history

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The Hindu          26.12.2014 

BBMP to outsource work on documenting road history

Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is now set to outsource the job of updating data about road history.

For three years now, BBMP has been trying to prepare ‘road history’ a document that will bring in accountability and transparency. However, it is yet to make any real headway in completing the job, which is based on geographical information system (GIS).

BBMP Commissioner M. Lakshminarayana conceded that there is a delay in completing road history, which could become a mother document, based on which all works could be sanctioned. Though roads have been mapped, the details such as when a particular road was last asphalted, number of electricity poles, telephone lines, OFCs, manholes etc are yet to be updated.

“This job will be outsourced,” said Mr. Lakshminarayana.

He said that earlier, BBMP’s engineers had to physically verify and then update road history, which was time-consuming. “Now, there will be a format based on which road history will have to be updated,” he said and added that the civic body had already linked payment of bills to road history. “Henceforth, all work-related bills will be generated online and will be cleared only after the details about the road are updated. This will eliminate duplication of work and double billing.”

Kadu Malleswara councillor Manjunath Raju said road history is 95 per cent complete for the seven wards in Malleswaram Assembly constituency. “We have taken it further and mapped manholes of BWSSB as well.”

He said the GIS-based system could be used by other civic agencies, including Bescom, to map their utilities. “This will prevent misuse of public funds,” he added.

‘Henceforth, all work-related bills will be generated online and will be cleared only after the details about the road are updated’

 

MCC steps in to repair Valmiki Road

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The Hindu        22.12.2014 

MCC steps in to repair Valmiki Road

Road’s condition worsened after it was dug up to lay UGD pipes

Valmiki Road, an arterial road that connects the busy Hunsur and KRS roads here, has turned from bad to worse after it was dug up for laying underground drainage (UGD) pipes.

Motorists loath to take this road, due to the risks involved in driving on pothole-filled road. The road’s condition worsened after it was dug up to lay pipes for diverting sewage flow from areas like Paduvarahalli into Kukkarahalli Lake.

The Mysore City Corporation (MCC) and the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) have joint responsibility of repairing the road. As the MCC had laid the UGD pipes and apparently left it patchy without leveling for asphalting, the MUDA, which has taken the task of widening the road, had adopted a “wait and watch” approach.

MCC Commissioner C.G. Betsurmath on Sunday inspected the road with a team of officials and instructed them to complete the work on leveling the remaining portion of the road immediately.

He also asked them to immediately clear the footpath of the unused concrete structures left on the path, to pave way for road widening.

The Commissioner asked engineers from the environmental wing of the MCC to clear the garbage dumped on the roadside and issue a warning to nearby residents o dispose waste properly.

Valmiki Road, an arterial road that connects the busy Hunsur and KRS roads here, has turned from bad to worse after it was dug up for laying underground drainage (UGD) pipes.

Motorists loath to take this road, due to the risks involved in driving on pothole-filled road. The road’s condition worsened after it was dug up to lay pipes for diverting sewage flow from areas like Paduvarahalli into Kukkarahalli Lake.

The Mysore City Corporation (MCC) and the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) have joint responsibility of repairing the road. As the MCC had laid the UGD pipes and apparently left it patchy without leveling for asphalting, the MUDA, which has taken the task of widening the road, had adopted a “wait and watch” approach.

MCC Commissioner C.G. Betsurmath on Sunday inspected the road with a team of officials and instructed them to complete the work on leveling the remaining portion of the road immediately.

He also asked them to immediately clear the footpath of the unused concrete structures left on the path, to pave way for road widening.

The Commissioner asked engineers from the environmental wing of the MCC to clear the garbage dumped on the roadside and issue a warning to nearby residents to dispose waste properly.

MUDA, which has taken up the task of road widening, was waiting for leveling for asphalting to be done

 


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