Seven Udhampur PMGSY roads abandoned by contractors: Abdul Haq
Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Abdul Haq today informed the House that construction of seven road projects have been abandoned by the contractors in district Udhampur. He said these contractors have been barred from further tendering in PMGSY and also liquidated damages have been imposed upon these firms / contractors as per the terms of the agreement. Replying to a question by Dina Nath Bhagat, the Minister also gave details and status of roads taken up under PMGSY in Udhampur district. Ajaz Ahmed Khan in his supplementary demanded release of pending land compensation of road projects to the land owners in his constituency. The Minister said that in order to ensure regulation and enforcement of traffic, traffic police personnel have been deployed in Surankote market. Replying to a question by Ch. Mohammad Akram, the Minister said that, however, in order to overcome the traffic congestion, the Department would carry out a survey for construction of alternate road from Mirza Morh to By Pass Patha and prepare a detailed project report in this regard. Adam Thielen Authentic Jersey
NHAI to set aside Rs 58 crore for plan to reduce damage to Karnala Bird Sanctuary
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is setting aside about Rs 58 crore for a plan to mitigate the impact of a road project on the Karnala Bird Sanctuary (KBS). The government is widening a section of the Mumbai-Goa highway, 1.5 km of which passes through the sanctuary. The sanctuary has a moist, mixed deciduous forest and falls under the Thane wildlife division of West Mumbai Wildlife Circle. It also forms part of the Western Ghat bio-geographic zone. As per the recommendation of the Wildlife Institute of India, NHAI will build four passages or wildlife in the 1.5 km sanctuary stretch. It will also construct seven box culverts. Earlier, the state government had endorsed the proposal for widening the highway within the sanctuary, saying it could help reduce vehicular emissions by smoothening traffic flow. NHAI’s plan also includes other wildlife management measures like retaining wall, fencing, signages and watch towers, besides provision of water for wildlife. Case Keenum Authentic Jersey
Railways hopes to regain revenue lost to road transport
In an effort to bring cargo business back to the Indian Railways, the ministry launched a scheduled Cargo vehicle between Bengaluru and Delhi. The train, Cargo Express1UP was flagged off from the Whitefield Railway station in Bengaluru, early on Sunday morning, carrying polished granite slabs, plywood, rubber, scrap materials, poultry feed and so on. It is expected to finish the journey in 64 hours and reach Delhi on 21 June. The cargo train comes at a time when the Indian Railways is focussed on increasing its revenue. According to Sanjeev Agarwal, Divisional Railway Manager, SWR, “Till now passenger trains were the priority and goods trains were given time only when there were no passenger trains along the route. This changes things, because for the first time we have a scheduled Cargo train with a fixed delivery time,” he said. The entire train will earn the Railways a revenue of Rs 35 lakh per train, said MP Vijay Kumar, senior manager (C&O), Container Corporation of India Limited (CONCOR), the Navratna PSU under Ministry of Railways. Undefined timings of trains increased the logistical costs of transporting cargo, which forced businesses to look at other options, such as road transport. “The cargo train is an effort towards serving to the demands of traders. It will serve the requirements of express cargoes, FMCG industries and others who want in time delivery. It will also help reduce logistical costs. It is already getting a good response considering that the train is almost at par with a passenger trains. We hope that it will help us regain the business we lost to road transport,” he said. For the railways, Passenger trains are largely running at a loss and most of their profit comes from Goods trains, said Tallam Dwarkanath, President, FKCCI. “By road, transporting goods to Delhi takes at least five days, not to mention the various delays at check posts and so on. The train will drastically reduce the time taken, be largely hassle free. It is a win win from the trade perspective as well as from the railways perspective,” he said. The weekly container rail service will depart from Bangalore (Whitefield) every sunday at 2 am and is expected to reach Delhi (Okhla) on Tuesday at 6 pm. It has 8 containers. Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device. Kevin Huber Womens Jersey
Gayatri Project wins Rs 700 crore contract for Navi Mumbai Airport
Infrastructure company Gayatri Projects said it has won Rs 700 crore project, a part of larger Navi Mumbai International Airport, from CIDCO. “Gayatri Projects has made inroads into the construction of airports by bagging a Rs 700 crore contract as part of the larger Navi Mumbai International Airport from City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CDICO),” the company said in a filing to the BSE. It said that winning the contract shows the company’s commitment to gain a foothold in relatively nascent, but fast growing EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) opportunity sets. “The construction and development of airports will prove to be a major source of business for infrastructure companies, given that the Indian aviation sector is likely to see investments of over USD 120 billion for the development of airport infrastructure and aviation navigation services over the next decade,” it said. The work order pertains to land development of Navi Mumbai International Airport. Gayatri is keen to participate in this effort to make India the third largest civil aviation market by 2020, which will involve the development of many greenfield airports as well as the improvement of existing ones, the company said. James Van Riemsdyk Womens Jersey
IWAI inks pact with IPGPL for Kaladan multimodal transit work
To bolster ties with Myanmar, the Inland Waterways Authority of India has entered into an agreement with India Ports Global Private for a Rs 476-crore project to facilitate connectivity and trade, the government today said. “A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between IWAI and IPGPL on June 1” for projects worth Rs 476 crore, the Ministry of Shipping said in a statement. The Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP) in Myanmar was conceptualised and is being administered by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) with a view to facilitating connectivity between the mainland and the North-East through maritime shipping, inland waterways and roads of Myanmar. The link between the north-eastern states of India and Myanmar will pave the way for enhanced trade and commerce across the border and enable cultural and social integration at the regional level, it said. MEA had appointed the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) as the Project Development Consultant (PDC) for implementation of the Port and Inland Water Transport (IWT) component of the Kaladan Project in 2009 and later, in April 2016, another agreement was signed. India Ports Global Private (IPGPL) has been established as a JV between the Kandla Port Trust and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust for the purpose of development of ports overseas. IPGPL was asked to partner with IWAI in the Kaladan project as a sub-PDC. This was suggested mainly to use and develop capabilities of IPGPL that has been created with an aim to complete implementation of the Kaladan project within the scheduled timeframe of April 2019 and ease pressure on IWAI, given announcement of 106 new National Waterways and execution of the ambitious Jal Marg Vikas project. Under the MoU, the work includes container handling facilities at Sittwe and Paletwa, operation and maintenance of the completed works and wreck removal, the government said, adding that IWAI shall remain as the overall PDC to MEA for implementation of port and IWT component of the Kaladan project.
Govt plans incentive to shift cargo transport from roads to waterways
The shipping ministry plans to offer companies an incentive of Rs.1 per tonne per km to transport goods, including foodgrain, automobiles, cement and other commodities, through inland waterways and coastal shipping. The proposal has been discussed with stakeholders in the transport industry and would soon be presented before the cabinet for its approval. “It is not a subsidy but an incentive being given to the industry for switching to cleaner transportation like inland waterways and coastal shipping from railways and roadways,” a shipping ministry official said on condition of anonymity. With the infrastructure available at present, the incentive offer would cost the shipping ministry Rs.100-150 crore per year during the initial years. At present, just 6% of freight transported in India is carried by coastal shipping and inland waterways; the comparative share in Germany and China is 11% and 24%, respectively. Road freight accounts for 54% and railways 33% of the cargo transported in the country, with the remaining 7% sent through pipelines. A shift from roads and railways to coastal shipping and inland waterways could lead to emission savings of about 3.5% in the freight transport sector, says a shipping ministry presentation. It also suggested a reduction in the cost of coastal shipping by changing the so-called cabotage law, under which only Indian-registered ships are allowed to ply on local routes for carrying cargo. The presentation said that the proposed incentive would also help to increase transportation of petroleum, oil and lubricants (POL), coal, steel and cement by coastal shipping from 6 to 12% in a span of a decade and result in potential savings of Rs.35,000-40,000 crore by optimizing export-import freight and domestic cargo. The government has envisioned increasing the share of waterways transportation from 6% to 10% by 2020. To reach this target, the shipping ministry will now take several steps like moving to larger barges and use of liquefied natural gas instead of diesel barges and dedicated berths, bunkering and storage capacities at relevant ports for commodities to be transported through coastal and inland waterways. The ministry would also suggest the imposition of green taxes on less environmentally friendly modes of transport such as roadways. Additional secretary of shipping Alok Srivastava declined to comment on the proposals which he said were still being finalized. “We did hold a workshop today with all stakeholders and they were quite clear that financial incentives need to be granted to the freight owners to provide a level-playing field for water transportation,” he said, without elaborating. According to the shipping ministry, transportation by waterways would cost 25 paisa per km, by rail and road it’s Rs.1.50 and Rs.2.50, respectively. In terms of fuel efficiency, too, waterways compare favourably: one horsepower can ferry four tonnes of cargo by waterways, while the equivalent is 150kg and 500kg by road and rail, respectively. Jamie Collins Womens Jersey
PM Narendra Modi sets infrastructure targets for ministries to speed up action
In an ambitious drive to step up infrastructure investment and speed up execution, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set targets for key ministries that have to be delivered by end of the financial year to effect visible change on ground. “Targets for infrastructure sectors have been approved by the Prime Minister and communicated to ministries. These will now be regularly monitored by NITI Aayog and reviewed by the Prime Minister himself on a quarterly basis,” a government official told ET. The high-level intervention comes after NITI Aayog made sectoral presentations to Modi last month, highlighting tardiness in many areas. Targets were communicated last week to infrastructure sector ministries of railways, roads, ports, civil aviation and others, with detailed timelines. The Prime Minister has identified 26 action points under 12 heads for roads and 36 action points for railways under about a dozen heads that need quick action by ministries to implement them in a time-bound manner. NITI Aayog presentations had flagged the progress in the last two areas —shortcomings and action points. Similar targets have been set for others as well, such as the number of villages that have to be electrified. Deadlines for these actions range from three months to up to three years for different key actions and there is clear indication that Modi does not want any slippage. Some big-ticket interventions include raising long-term funding for road projects, developing a contractor rating system that would incentivise early project completion, bringing about organisational reforms in Indian Railways, improvement in governance structure by setting up an independent regulator to correct tariff imbalance in railways. The ministry of road transport and highways has been asked to finalise highway network expansion and operations plan for next three years by September this year, while accelerating the rate of construction of roads in the North-East by six months to November 2016. Indian Railways has been asked to increase the total lines commissioned from 7-8 km per day to 10 km per day by FY2017 and 15 km per day by FY2019 besides increasing the average speed of freight and passenger trains by 5 km per year every year for next five years. The meeting has also tasked the ministries for roads and finance to expedite finalisation of PPP renegotiation framework and public contracts bill by September 2016. NITI Aayog has to steer progress and has — at a recent meeting with Modi — already identified nodal ministries/divisions that would be made accountable for all hits and misses. In absence of private investment, the government is now counting on public investment to drive growth and has a spending target of Rs 7 lakh crore Rs 3 lakh crore from budget and Rs 4 lakh crore from resources of public enterprises. It is keen that this amount is fully utilised. Chris McCullough Womens Jersey
Chennai-Delhi Cargo Express flagged off
The first time-tabled train from Chennai (ICD Tondiarpet) to Delhi (DCT Okhla) was flagged off today from Tondiarpet. The service will benefit trade with scheduled transit time at no additional cost being incurred. The trains will leave on every Saturday at 7 pm from Tondiarpet to reach Okhla at 8 am on Tuesdays covering the distance in 61 hours. In the return direction, trains from Okhla will leave on every Saturday at 1 am to reach Tondiarpet at 3 pm on Mondays covering the distance in 62 hours, the release said. The service will help loading of perishable cargo like vegetables, fruits and pharmaceuticals in specially designed ventilated containers and for parcel traffic, says a press release from Southern Railway. In fulfilment of his Budget commitment, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on June 15 flagged off the first time-tabled container train (called Cargo Express) of Container Corporation of India (Concor) from Delhi to Bengaluru and from Delhi to Chennai. This initiative was done in coordination with Concor to streamline freight traffic and attract parcel traffic being moved by road to rail, the release said. Michael Johnson Authentic Jersey
Bhopal smart city corporators give thumbs down to e-tendering
Cutting across party lines, Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) corporators are opposing e-tendering, a move that could save the civic body crores and go a long way in making tender process transparent. On Thursday, BJP-led BMC corporators, who pride themselves on the smart city tag, met BMC commissioner Chhavi Bhardwaj challenging the order which makes mandatory e-tendering of all projects above Rs 1 lakh. The BMC commissioner’s directive has plugged loopholes in tendering system itself. Any tender will have to be sanctioned by city engineer and zone officer wherein breaking a project into various parts to avoid e-tendering would not be possible. Each corporator gets a fund of Rs 18 lakh per year. “E-tendering ensures competitive rate as compared to manual schedule of rate (SoR) format. The system is efficient and transparent and will benefit civic body,” said Bhardwaj. Sources said the new format for tendering was approved by BJP mayor Alok Sharma. However, BJP corporator Keval Mishra said, “The mayor has not approved the move. Some 35 corporators have opposed change in tendering norms. It is an arbitrary decision.” Mishra claimed SoR method works best for development. “In many cases through e-tendering the quote is so low that contractor does not complete his task. It hinders development,” Mishra and delegation to BMC officials. In her reply, Bhardwaj asked BMC officials to blacklist contractors that back off from projects. Mishra claimed that some 35% of projects through e-tendering have not been completed to date, an allegation refuted by BMC officials. Kevin Connauton Jersey
PM Narendra Modi to launch work on Smart City projects on June 25: Venkaiah Naidu
Prime Minister Narendra Modi would inaugurate work on Smart City projects from Pune on June 25, Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said today. The works would start simultaneously in 20 cities across the country, Naidu said, adding that development of some cities as ‘smart cities’ would motivate others also to work for progress. “It is like a light house. If there is a light house, everybody would look at that. If some smart cities are developed, there will be competition among others also, municipalities will increase their revenue and things will improve,” he said here. The Smart City mission, one of the flagship programmes of the NDA government, was announced on June 25 last year. He said Modi is leading the country on the path of progress with innovative thinking and out of the box ideas and cited examples like supplying neem-coated urea and massive construction of highways. The Union minister stressed that “reform, perform and transform” is the motto of the NDA government and Modi. “We can proudly say that it is Narendra Modi who is the reformer, performer and transformer of the country,” he said. Referring to Congress’ dig at him for praising the Prime Minister, Naidu, who has in the past described Modi as “God’s gift to India” and “messiah of the poor”, wondered why it could not be done for good work and asked if only “one family”, after whom roads, airports and even canals are named in the country, should be praised all the time. Naidu was speaking at a reception organised on his visit to the Telangana BJP headquarters in the city after his election to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan. BJP has emerged as the true pan-India party with its footprint seen all over the country, he said, adding Modi would “bring more revolutionary changes in the country in the coming days”. “We do not have full majority (in Rajya Sabha). Otherwise, the vehicle would have moved with even greater speed. The Rajya Sabha obstacle is likely to lessen in the coming days. Congress party is weakening,” the Parliamentary Affairs minister said. BJP is the only party to nominate two minority leaders (Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and MJ Akbar) in the election to fill 57 vacancies in Rajya Sabha, he said. “No political party has given even single seat to minorities out of the 57 Rajya Sabha vacancies,” he said. Stating that Modi is the biggest communicator for BJP, he asked partymen to strengthen the party in Telangana. Travis Wood Womens Jersey