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Urban Planning

Owners can’t alter layouts: HC

Friday, 31 July 2009 07:07 administrator
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Deccan Chronicle - Hyderabad 31.07.2009

Owners can’t alter layouts: HC

July 31st, 2009
By Our Correspondent

HyderabadJuly 30: The Andhra Pradesh High Court has held that once a piece of land was earmarked as open space in an approved layout, the land owner cannot subsequently divide the open land into plots.

Justice R. Subhash Reddy of the High Court gave the above ruling while dealing with a petition filed by Vijaya Sree Nagar Welfare Association at Vanasthali-puram in the city.

The judge directed the commissioner of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to protect the nine open spaces in Vijaya Sree Nagar (Judges Colony) in Masoorabad. The judge also directed the GHMC commissioner to develop these lands as per the approved layout.

On an earlier occasion the judge had directed the GHMC to submit a status report on open spaces. Based on the direction the assistant city planner visited the layout and submitted a report stating that out of nine open spaces, four have been surrounded by compound walls and the remaining were still open.

According to the report no constructions were built on any of the open spaces except on one where a government school building was constructed long ago.

The petitioner association told the court that these spaces were earmarked for common purposes like developing a park, school, community hall, playground, primary health centre, temple or library. The petitioner complained that the developers of the layout converted these open spaces into 17 plots and took steps to alienate the others.

The court observed that the owners have no right to meddle with open spaces in an approved layout belonging to the GHMC and it has to develop the open spaces for common use.

 

PCMC says no to constructions within floodline

Friday, 31 July 2009 06:53 administrator
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The Times of India - Pune 31.07.2009

PCMC says no to constructions within floodline

TNN 31 July 2009, 01:37am IST
PUNE: The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has decided not to allow new constructions in areas within the blue floodline of rivers flowing through the municipal limits. Speaking to TOI, municipal commissioner Ashish Sharma said the municipal corporation would not give permission for constructing new buildings in such areas.

Three rivers flow through the municipal limits. The river Indrayani flows along the northern boundary of the municipal limits through Moshi, Dudulgaon and Charholi villages.

The Pavana river flows through the middle of Pimpri-Chinchwad township, enters the municipal limits at Ravet and flows for around 12 km to merge with the Mula river near Dapodi. Ravet, Punawale, Chinchwadgaon, Thergaon, Kalewadi, Kasarwadi, Pimpale Gurav, Sangvi and Dapodi are located along its banks. When Pavana is flooded, it affects a large population of the twin township.

The Mula river flows along the southern boundary of the municipal limits through Wakad, Sangvi and Dapodi, which also affect the population during flooding. Parts of Sanjay Gandhi Nagar and Bhatnagar slum in Pimpri is flooded when water is discharged from Pavana dam. Slums and the crematorium in Dapodi are also affected when the Mula river is in spate.

In 2005, massive flooding had occurred along the banks of Pavana and Mula rivers. Buildings in Keshavnagar area of Chinchwad and housing societies in Sangvi had been flooded. "These are old constructions built before marking of the floodline. Henceforth, we will not allow new constructions along the river banks within the floodline," Sharma stated.

An official in the building permission department said that two floodlines marked in blue and red have been demarcated along the rivers. Construction is allowed in areas between the red and blue floodline. The plinth of the construction has to be above the red floodline.

Sharma added that the department has sent a letter to the irrigation department to seek guidelines about the type of constructions that can be allowed in the areas within the floodlines. Moreover, the district collector has sent a directive that a no objection certificate of the irrigation department is necessary for any construction in the areas along the river banks.
 

Corporation to terminate contract of Speck Systems?

Friday, 31 July 2009 04:12 administrator
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The Hindu 31.07.2009

Corporation to terminate contract of Speck Systems?

G.V.R. Subba Rao

Inordinate delay in GIS mapping project the trigger

 

Decision likely to be taken in a couple of days

The project was initially scheduled for completion by 2010

VIJAYAWADA: The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) is contemplating “terminating” the contract awarded to Hyderabad-based Speck Systems a year ago for preparing a Geographical Information System (GIS) map of the city, in view of enormous delay in execution of the project.

Official sources say that the corporation is not satisfied with the progress of the project in line with the targets set for its completion. Barring capturing of a few satellite images, the project has not made much progress.

The Corporation is likely to a take a decision on terminating the contract in a couple of days. The officials are considering various possibilities, such as calling for tenders once again or switching over to the SAP module.

The VMC, in January this year, thought of levying a fine of about Rs. 1 lakh on the Speck Systems for the tardy progress made in the project. The officials asked the agency to submit a revised schedule of the project.

The Speck Systems was asked to submit the pilot study report by February 18 this year. However, there was a lull thereafter. The project was initially scheduled for completion by 2010. Later, the Corporation has decided to complete the GIS mapping project before the commencement of the next decennial census in 2011.

The Corporation planned to spend nearly Rs. 1.4 crore for the proposed mapping, which is popularly known as GIS project. It asked the Speck Systems to provide colour images taken with a resolution of 0.6 metre by the QuickBird satellite.

Scientific system

The project is intended to evolve a scientific door numbering system by using the GIS mapping. The agency was asked to provide a unique and scientific door number to every property in the city.

The agency was also expected to provide door number plates to every property owner, so that people could identify houses easily.

As against the estimated 2 lakh properties in the city, 1.54 lakh properties have been assessed for the purpose of levying property tax. The Corporation had agreed to pay Rs.70 for every property that is given a door number by the Speck Systems. The VMC will also give integrated Property Tax Identification (PTID) numbers to all ratepayers and householders in the city.

These numbers will have all features covering property tax assessment, door numbers and GIS mapping. The PTID numbers would be a comprehensive exercise and is expected to bring uniformity in door numbers.

Last Updated on Friday, 31 July 2009 04:18
 
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