Vibrant Gujarat Campaign

Received an e-mail from Narendra Modi as part of the Vibrant Gujarat Campaign.

Consultants queue up for CST Makeover

The process of redeveloping the iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) moved a step forward as the railway ministry accepted final bids from seven consultants to prepare a feasibility report for the public-private-partnership (PPP) project.The historic station, used by almost 8 lakh people everyday, is spread over 63 acres. With 20 acres of vacant land available on the eastern side along the P D’Mello Road, the railways want to come up with a modern station complex integrated with the original heritage structure of CST. There are plans to develop the surplus land at Carnac Bunder, with the possibility of exploiting the free airspace, to optimise revenue needed to redevelop CST.P K Agarwal, executive director at the railway ministry, confirmed that railways had received seven bids from consultants to study the technical and financial viability of redeveloping CST into a worldclass station.“We will finalise the consultant as soon as possible. The consultant would have 26 weeks to prepare the report,’’ said Agarwal. Sources said the ministry would choose the consultant based on the experience of team members, reputation of the firm and methodology suggested to prepare the report. The selected consultant would have to depute a chief architect who, in turn, would head the team of experts in station layout, construction, transport planning, local governance and environment.Railway officials said the report would have to answer several problems like queues at booking counters, no segregation of in-bound and outbound passengers in both suburban and outstation sections, lack of circulation space and waiting rooms, inadequate arrangement for waste disposal, hygiene and drainage.“The report would have to come up with a masterplan that can ensure smooth flow of trains, passengers, freight and parcel. The redeveloped station needs to accommodate simple concerns like parking and modern amenities,’’ said a Central Railway official.

Mahindra snaps up Kinetic

Mahindra and Mahindra, famous for its utility vehicles and tractors, has fuelled up for the two-wheeler market. Confirming speculation about its planned foray into the two-wheeler space, the diversified business house announced its new plans as it bought the business assets of the struggling Pune-based Kinetic Motor (KMCL). Analysts, however, refused to buy the company’s bullishness and said it would be tough going for Mahindra in the fiercely competitive two-wheeler business.Mahindra, which reported a 16.6% drop in its Q1 net profits, said it would own 80% of a firm that would buy the assets of KMCL for Rs 110 crore while Kinetic would hold the rest. “The acquisition of business assets of KMCL will make us a fullrange player with a presence in almost every segment of the automobile industry,’’ said Anand Mahindra, vice-chairman and MD of Mahindra.

Telecom Snapshot

Remembering Mumbai's 26th July Deluge

Three long years after the July 26, 2005 deluge, the dreadful memories of “Black Tuesday” return to haunt the mind as soon as a few heavy showers hit the city.The rain pounded the city ruthlessly that day inundating it with 944 mm of rainfall and killing over 450 people. As a result, government agencies have started issuing prompt alerts, warning people not to venture out of their house unless it is extremely necessary.The agencies promptly alert the citizens but they have failed to display the same promptness in acting on the promises made by them. Immediately after the deluge, the State government, which had always been casual about the problems of water-logging in the city and towards complaints about choked drains got into action mode. It formed committees and special cells to tackle similar eventualities in future. It undertook a special project to clean the infamous Mithi river, which had caused flooding on a very large scale.There has been a percentage development in the cleaning up of Mithi, the main culprit, but the other commitments and promises made by the state are still untouched.
Mithi work just half way The work on Mithi too was delayed inordinately. Till now, around 80 per cent of the desilting work has been completed. Former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, who had filed a petition in the Bombay High Court against the lackadaisical attitude of the government about the cleaning up of Mithi and introducing measures to prevent recurrence of the delugelike disaster, had alleged that contractors were adopting corrupt practices. “Desilting and other work should have been completed by now. But it has not been done. Sustained followup and the fear of the high court have given a momentum to the Mithi work. Even then, after three years, it has only reached the half-way mark.
In the current year, MMRDA removed 16.4 lakh cubic metres of silt, 12.5 lakh cubic metres to various dumping grounds,” said Somaiya.The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has, however, completed a major part of the work of removal and transportation of silt in its section of the Mithi. But the differences between the BMC and the MMRDA over the cleaning of the river have delayed much of the work. The BMC claims that almost eight lakh cubic metres of silt have been removed and transported in three years. “As a precautionary measure, the BMC is constructing retaining walls on both sides of the Mithi river. The work is expected to be completed next year,” a BMC official said.
The Central Water and Power Research Station (CW PRS), Pune, and the Centre for Environmental Science Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai had formulated recommendations and important guidelines in connection with the Mithi River Development Project. They had recommended that all the bridges/ crossings maintain the width of the river, either by reconstruction or repositioning of the ducts and/or removal of debris from the riverbed. They also said the bridge on S.V. Road near Mahim Bay be widened.
Though the measures have been initiated by the BMC, the vital work of widening and reconstruction of the Mithi riverbed is yet to start. It is vital that the work is given a push so that it gathers momentum. Widening of Mithi has been done along a 19-km stretch.The work on the remaining 2 km remains to be completed. If it is further delayed and if the city experiences heavy rain, there could be another deluge,” said Somaiya. “The State concentrated only on the Mithi, the main trouble maker. But what about other rivers that had contributed to the deluge? The desilting and other work on Dahisar, Poisar, Oshiwara, Waldhuni and Ulhas has not started. The State had been assuring immediate steps. It had made many announcements but done nothing in the past 36 months,” Somaiya alleged.
The Centre had sanctioned grants for a BRIMSTOWAD project. But no work has begun. The Centre had released Rs400 crore for this year for the Rs1,200-crore Brihanmumbai Storm Water Drainage project. An outlay of Rs100 crore has been proposed for 2008-09.
The action plan was ready last year and the tendering process has been completed but the actual work is still to start.
Men missing After the dreaded deluge, more that 135 persons went missing. Subsequently 82 bodies were recovered from various areas. However, as many as 28 persons are still missing and 20 bodies left unclaimed with Mumbai police.
Air India Colony at Kalina is flooded every monsoon. But July 26/7 was a horrifying experience for the residents. The Air-India and Indian Airlines employees’ colonies were submerged in 12-foot deep water.The colony went without food, water and electricity for four days.
“The colony was submerged because three of the four drainage outlets near it were choked. The BMC immediately took up the work of cleaning the drainage lines. However, only one has been cleaned in three years,” said T.K. Deb, secretary of Air India Colony.“We tried to increase the plinth level of our homes.Around 200 flats on the ground floor were vacated. The residents there were shifted to other flats in the colony. But to add to their problem, the MIAL too increased the level of its runway. So the next time it rains continuously, we fear we will have to face another 26/7,” Deb said.
After the deluge, the BMC had decided to implement the recommendations of the Chitale Committee, which had suggested the following Preparation of contour maps, which would include a complete picture of Mumbai’s drainage and sewerage systems vis-à-vis the city’s physical contours. The work of preparing the maps was entrusted to the National Remote Sensing Agency, Hyderabad. After three years, the BMC is now trying to revive the twice-rejected plan.
Installation of rain gauges at 26 places in wards after discuaaion with consultants.One rain gauge was installed by the BMC at Malabar Hill as a pilot project to measure rainfall and water levels. To measure rainfall, the BMC had decided to spend Rs1 billion on pre-monsoon work. It was to comprise six search and rescue (SAR) teams armed with inflatable rubber speed boats and 12 kayaks for Karla, Santa Cruz, Bandra, Borivali, Marol, Dharavi and Byculla fire stations.
Installation of a hi-tech Doppler radar to better predict rain, removal of encroachments on drains, cross-drainage connectivity, creation of social awareness and participation of residents of low-lying areas, beside cleaning of drains and the Mithi river. The measures are yet to be fully implemented.
Desilting work, improving the storm water drainage system and renovating the old system.
Constructing pumping stations and installing pumps to drain out water.Shefali Deshmukh, a resident of Parel, said. “Postdeluge, it is clear that redevelopment of Mumbai city needs a planned sectoral method, not haphazard, as has happened so far. Remaking of Mumbai federation is taking the joint venture route for faster and better planned growth, while releasing enough funds for much-needed upgradation of infrastructure,” said convener of the RoMF, Lalit Gandhi, who is the CMD of Lok Housing and Constructions Limited.
CLOUDBURST FACTS Rainfall Santa Cruz (in mm)

By 11.30am 0.9

By 2.30pm 19.3

By 5.30pm 400.1

By 8.30pm 667.7

By 11.30pm 768.8

By 2.30am 885.0

By 5.30am 896.0

By 8.30am 944.2

DEATH TOLL till Aug 12, 2005 Mumbai 454 dead 20 injured Navi Mumbai 66 dead 22 injured 14 missing Thane 226 dead 19 injured 15 missing .

The N Deal Debate

Sulabh adopts Kalawati

A leading non-government organisation (NGO), Sulabh International, has decided to give Rs 3 lakh in August this year to Kalawati Bandurkar, the Maharashtra-based widow with nine children whose grim plight was narrated by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in the Parliament.
The NGO, which has done some major work in the area of sanitation, has decided to adopt Kalawati.She will get Rs 25,000 per month for the next 20 years from the Patna-headquartered voluntary organisation. “Rs 300,000 is what amounts to a year’s payment to Kalawati, and we have decided to give this money to her in August.We will get an account opened in her name in the nearest branch of a nationalised bank,” Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh International said.He said his organisation would put Rs 3.3 million in her account some time next year as a fixed deposit, which will give her Rs 25,000 per month as interest for the next 19 years.
Kalawati’s family has been in dire straits after her farmer-husband committed suicide three years ago in his village in Yavatmal district of Maharashtra.
Rahul Gandhi referred to two poor families of Shashi Kala and Kalawati in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra in his speech during the trust vote in the Lok Sabha on July 22.Stating that there was no electricity in the duo’s houses, Gandhi sought to link the power situation in the country, especially in rural areas, with poverty alleviation and the need for nuclear energy.Kalawati, with seven daughters and two sons, was left with a nine-acre plot of farmland, which she used for cultivating cotton and soybean, according to Gandhi.As Vidarbha region has been in the grip of prolonged drought, Kalawati, like many others, did not find the output from her land enough to take care of her family.