Urban News

  • Increase font size
  • Default font size
  • Decrease font size
Urban Planning

GHMC takes up work on Chaderghat bridge

Print PDF

The Hindu - Andhra Pradesh 10.08.2009

GHMC takes up work on Chaderghat bridge

Staff Reporter

Hyderabad: The long-pending works pertaining to expansion of a part of Chaderghat bridge have been finally taken up by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.

The expansion works are being taken up towards the Koti side of the bridge where the triangular shaped extension will serve as a free left turn for motorists intending to go towards Jaambagh, Moazamjahi Market and Nampally.

“The project is being taken up at a cost of Rs. 65 lakh and is slated to be completed in October, ensuring some relief to motorists,” said P. Panduranga Rao, Engineer-in-chief, GHMC.

The extended part of the bridge will branch out 25 metres parallel to the bridge and the bund and will join the Chaderghat-Putli Bowli main road, allowing motorists to take the left turn easily, he said.

With huge volumes of traffic crossing over the Musi river and moving towards Koti and Nampally, the expansion of the bridge will bring the much needed respite for motorists coming from areas such as Dilsukhnagar, L.B. Nagar, Chanchalguda and Malakpet to name a few.

Last Updated on Monday, 10 August 2009 05:38
 

GIS to be used in polls: Health Minister

Print PDF

The New Indian Express - Hyderabad 01.08.2009

GIS to be used in polls: Health Minister



Minister for Health and Family Planning Danam Nagender launches a brochure of the GEMSIGNOU community college on Friday. Also seen is IGNOU professor,
HYDERABAD: The government is quite adept at using the latest technology for political ends. Health Minister Danam Nagender, never one to miss the chance to harness an opportunity for political gain, was quick to spot the potential of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for partisan purposes. “We will use GIS in the forthcoming municipal elections,” he declared at the launch of a community college specialising in GIS at a city hotel.

The Minister added that GIS would also be used for constituency mapping and development work. Although he didn’t specify exactly how the government planned to use the new tool for municipal elections he did say, “This field has good applications and the youth will find jobs after training in GIS. Five to 10,000 people will be needed to operate GIS applications in the coming years”.

He was speaking at the occasion of the launch of the GEMS-IGNOU community college. Community colleges are an alternative system of education where the needs of the community are taken into consideration before framing the curriculum. For instance, a community college in Allapuzha in Kerala specialises in coir weaving.

Geographical Information Systems create databases of knowledge in fields as diverse as agriculture, soil sciences and field surveys which can be used in planning and decision-making.

The GeoMap Society, a Hyderabadbased organisation that specialises in GIS has teamed up with the Indira Gandhi National Open University to offer courses in GIS at two centres: one in Somajiguda and the other in Giraipalli village in Medak. Latha Pillai, Pro Vice- Chancellor of IGNOU, who was present at the launch said, “We want to combine the your expertise with our academic excellence and offer rural youth training so that they can join the mainstream right away”.

Though community colleges are a well recognised form of education abroad they have just been launched in India. IGNOU identified 100 such organisations across India and tied up with them. The tie-up provides these private institutes academic support in the form of certification, examination support, grading etc. The community college scheme was launched on July 4 in New Delhi.

According to Major Shiva Kiran, Principal of the GEMS-IGNOU community college, GIS is a computer-based tool that creates a multi disciplinary database.

“It can be used in diverse fields like agriculture, geology, mapping and more to store information that can be used by the government when it wants to,” he said.

Last Updated on Saturday, 01 August 2009 11:00
 

Need for disaster management plan

Print PDF

The Hindu - Kerala 01.08.2009

Need for disaster management plan

STED Project is preparing a plan for Kozhikode. BIJU GOVIND says this has attained importance after the July flooding in the district.

The flooding and other calamities that befell Kozhikode during the heavy rain in July call for a disaster management plan for the district.

Although the Centre had enacted the Disaster Management Act in 2005 and asked the State governments to set up disaster management units, only a few have done so.

The Kerala government entrusted preparation of disaster management plans to the district administrations in January 2009. People believe that casualties and damage to property can be minimised with such a plan.

After having experienced flooding year after year, the district administration is now in the process of formulating a district disaster management plan.

The Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development (STED) Project has been entrusted with the task.

It has drafted a proposal by making a geo-demographical profile detailing housing patterns, roads, means of transport, hospitals and government and private services available in the district.

In consultation with various departments, including that of geology, the project officials will record the hazards the district had witnessed.

They will do an analysis of the worst cases and find the areas vulnerable to natural calamities.

Such steps will help the district administration take preventive measures, says Mohanan Manalil, project director.

There will be a non-structural disaster mitigation plan focussing on preparedness methodology, awareness campaign, disaster recovery inventory and enforcing existing codes and laws. The structural mitigation measures include retrofitting and earthquake-resistant constructions, he says.

The management plan will concentrate on short- and long-term responses. The short-term plan centres on rescue operations, relief operations and rehabilitation, while the long-term plan emphasises action plans for the departments of Police, Fire and Rescue Services, Revenue, Irrigation, Education, Health Service, Food and Civil Supplies, Transport and Public Works, the Kerala State Electricity Board, the Red Cross, the National Cadet Corps and the Scouts.

Last Updated on Saturday, 01 August 2009 06:02
 


Page 322 of 328