College evolves strategy to improve traffic management

College evolves strategy to improve traffic management
Times News Network, 19 August 2009, 10:17pm IST

DHARWAD: The SDM College of Engineering and Technology's (SDMCET) civil engineering department has evolved three-phased strategies to improve the traffic management in the twin cities of Hubli-Dharwad.

The study conducted by the M.Tech students of SDMCET under the World Bank aided Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP) in association with NITK-Suratkal has revealed that the number of vehicles in the twin cities has gone up by 150 fold in the last 50 years while the roads have just seen an eight-fold development.

Making a presentation of the survey findings, NITK professors Ravi Mulangi and Ravishankar said widening of roads, construction of footpaths, fly overs, ring roads, encouraging use of public transportation, providing space for bus bays and parking lots, shifting of city bus terminus and strict enforcement of traffic rules were the solutions to ease traffic congestion. Ravi Mulangi made an elaborate presentation of various junctions in the twin cities where traffic snarls are a regular feature.

During the interaction that followed among the senior officers of various departments, elected representatives and other stake holders agreed that there was need for proper coordination among all the agencies.

Police commissioner Raghavendra Auradkar said the police though the main enforcing agency had financial constraint to put the entire traffic system in order. He pointed out that enforcement would be possible only when other agencies like NWKRTC, Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation and RTO discharged their part of duty in enforcement effectively.

Stating that the police while trying to educate the people on traffic rules would be tough on offenders and punishment would educate the offenders.

He appealed to the elected representatives to prevail upon the government to spare some funds out of the Rs 100 crore specially sanctioned to the twin cities for installing gadgets related to traffic management.

HDMC commissioner P S Vastrad said there was no problem of coordination among different agencies and assured that HDMC would support the measures taken by the police in ensuring effective traffic system.

DC Darpan Jain said a comprehensive plan for traffic and transportation was being prepared for the twin cities. He observed that of late due consideration for traffic management is being given while discussing development plans.

Project coordinator Mahesh Patil, ACP (Traffic) Sanjiv Patil, MLA Veerabhadrappa Halaharvi, HDUDA chairman Datta Dorle, NWKRTC chairman Mallikarjun Sawkar, officials from RTO, NWKRTC and KUIDFC spoke on the occasion.

Financial reforms improve water supply in twin cities

Financial reforms improve water supply in twin cities
M L Kapur, TNN 18 August 2009, 10:22pm IST

HUBLI: When Karnataka Urban Water Supply & Drainage Board (KUWSDB) was handed over maintenance and operation of water supply in Hubli-Dharwad municipal limits during the drought in 2003, the residents used to get drinking water once in 10-14 days. Six years down the line, they get it once in 4-5 days.

During the same period, while KUWS&DBs expenditure has increased from Rs 10.88 crore to Rs 17.13 crore, its revenue has shot up from Rs 3.61 crore to Rs 17.81 crore, thus generating surplus funds for expanding water supply network to uncovered areas like the newly developed extensions.

In 2003, none of the 69,000 consumers had metered connection. Today, 65% of over one lakh connections have metered supply. Those who chose to pay their water bills then had to wait for over one hour in the queue to make payment. Now, they can do it in less than 30 minutes at the neighbourhood cash centre.

Earlier, consumers had to get prior approval of the authorities before making part payment of outstanding bills. Now, part payment is allowed without prior approval. Consumers have been issued bar coded I-cards, which allows them to make payment without even producing the bills.

These are some of the IT-enabled citizen-friendly initiatives introduced by the Water Board which have enabled it to bring about metamorphic improvement in water supply scenario in the twin cities. These financial reforms have helped it bag the National Urban Water Award-2009, given by the central ministry of urban development.

KUWS&DB executive engineer K P Jayaram, who has been at the helms in the twin cities all through this trying period, gave a presentation before the awards ceremony in New Delhi, for possible replication by other urban local bodies across the country. Union urban development minister Jaipal Reddy also witnessed the presentation.

Jayaram told 'TOI' that there are plans to introduce self-billing, whereby consumers will record meter reading, visit the nearest computerized collection centre, pay the bill after the system automatically calculated the amount, and walk away. Online bill payment facility is also in the offing. It will do away with human errors/ malpractices and improve revenue collection.

Karnataka govt plans 300-km steel corridor

Karnataka govt plans 300-km steel corridor

T E Narasimhan / Chennai August 10, 2009, 0:02 IST

The Karnataka government is planning to develop a 300-km ‘steel corridor’, and the state expects this project to attract investments worth Rs 20,000 crore from steel majors. The corridor, which is expected to create 200,000 direct and indirect jobs, is planned around the iron ore-rich Bellary-Hospet area in eastern Karnataka.

Speaking to Business Standard on the sidelines of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)’s Suminfra 2009 meet, V Madhu, principal secretary (infrastructure development), said the state wanted to move from just exporting ore to value-added production of steel.

Mining and steel majors including NMDC, Tata Steel, JSW and Brahmani have evinced interest in the project. The idea is that each steel manufacturer could erect a manufacturing unit of at least two million tonne, he said.

Work on a 120-kilometre rail link between Hubli and Ankola and identification of 500 square kilometre of land for the industrial park is already on. Tenders for development of the park will be floated in two months, he added.

Madhu said the government also wanted a nuclear power unit in the corridor. “We met the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, and gave our recommendation to set up a nuclear plant at Tadri. ” The government is also promoting a port at Tadri on the west coast,” he said.

IT firm in Aryabhatta Park to take off in Aug

IT firm in Aryabhatta Park to take off in Aug
TNN 8 July 2009, 10:21pm IST

HUBLI: The IT dreams of the twin-cities may be a reality soon. The first ever IT company to occupy space in the Aryabhatta Tech Park is set to take
off in one month's time. Thanks to the infrastructure development taking place in the park and in the city.

A software development and BPO firm N S Infotech Pvt Ltd took up construction work on the 40,000-sqft area it had been allotted. Company promoter Santosh Huralikoppi said here on Monday that the firm will start functioning from the second week of August.

The Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation, that is in charge of infrastructure development in the 26-acre park, has completed building a one-kilometre-long road inside the park and begun work on other facilities.

Assembly Speaker Jagadeesh Shettar who inspected the area on Monday, said facilities like fixing boundary line and constructing compound walls, landscaping and other amenities will be provided soon. He said, the IT department officials had promised more funds for these works.

The state government is trying to get SEZ status for the IT park. For this, we need to have a large tract of contagious land. We need to shift the KSRP building that is situated inside the park area. "I will take up the matter with the state law minister Suresh Kumar," he said.

The Karnataka State Law University authorities are using portions of the KSRP building and they will be asked to move out too. Shettar hoped that more IT and ITES companies will start functioning from here. "I am sure these companies will start work once all infrastructure is ready. However, the state government will take back the land if the companies don't start work in two years," he said.

Sub-standard road

Meanwhile, a person to whom land was allotted, complained to the Speaker that the road built in the park is of sub-standard quality. He also said that the road had no proper alignment. Shettar directed the HDMC officials to go in for a third-party inspection into the work and order a resurvey of the road alignment.

Reacting to some IT firms complaining about delay in getting permissions, Shettar directed the HDMC commissioner K R Ramakrishna to speed up the process of issuing permissions.

Karnataka launches rural BPO job project

Karnataka launches rural BPO job project

BS Reporter / Chennai/ Mysore August 08, 2009, 0:23 IST

Karnataka government launched today its ambitious project of providing a lakh jobs for youth by setting up BPO centres in rural areas across the state.

The first in the series of the rural BPO centres was inaugurated at Baburayana Koppal in Srirangapatna taluk, about 15 kms off Mysore.

Continuing their commanding position, IT and BPO sectors have provided jobs for over five lakh people in the state and Bangalore alone has employed over two lakh in IT and ITeS sectors. To promote jobs for locals and rural youth with minimum computer knowledge at taluk and hobli levels, the government has proposed BPO-based service centres in rural centres having less than a lakh population by offering incentives for those who come forward to set up such centres.

It provides a one-time financial assistance for capital investment up to Rs 20 lakh for a 100-seat or more BPO centre and Rs 10,000 for training an employee. On a regular basis, it will offer Rs 500 for an employee to have internet connectivity and meet premises rental on a monthly basis.

The government has set up an experts committee to identify entrepreneurs willing to set up the rural BPO centres. It proposes to create a lakh jobs over a five-year period in these rural centres. IT and BT minister Katta Subraanya Naidu who launched the project announced that the government would come out with a new information technology policy by month-end.

It will cover expansion of the IT sector in Tier II and III cities in the state and give priority to open rural BPO centres. Similarly, a hardware policy would be announced. Hardware was in great demand and covered only two per cent, while China had taken a long leap, he said saying that this sector needed to be taken forward with greater priority. Naidu also said the state government would come out with a policy on semi-conductors. The IT parks in Gulbarga, Belgaum and Shimoga were in addition to those in Mysore, Hubli and Mangalore and would be opened by September-end.

The State’s IT exports had touched Rs 71,000 crore this year from Rs 55,000 crore last year. Karnataka’s share in IT exports exceeded 50 per cent of the total IT exports of the country, the minister said. The government had plans to set up nearly 150 new industrial units in the next four years with over a lakh crore rupees investment and job opportunities for nearly 10 lakh, he added.

Second IT boom on cards

Second IT boom on cards

DH News Service - Subrahmanyan Viswanath,

Karnataka, which has been in the forefront of setting a model for other states in the new economy sectors, is all set to usher in a second IT revolution.

Bangalore: The move follows the State’s bid to give shape to an Information Technology Investment Regions (ITIRs) policy mooted by the Union Ministry of Information Technology & Communications.

The State government through its nodal agency—Karnataka Electronics Corporation (Keonics)—has identified five corridors for setting up the proposed ITIRs.

The ITIR policy is aimed at promoting investment in IT, ITeS and electronic hardware manufacturing (EHM) sectors. The corridors identified for ITIRs are Hubli-Dharwad-Belgaum, Bangalore-BIAL-Devanahalli, Mangalore-Surathkal-Udupi, Shimoga - Bhadravathi and Bangalore - Tumkur regions.

However, how far the new move would lure investors into ITIRs is debatable given that some of the IT parks in State’s Tier-II cities have elicited only muted response.

Official sources told Deccan Herald that each ITIR is expected to be in a 40-sq km area covering 10,000 acres in each region. The ITIRs would boast of excellent infrastructure so that prospective investors can reap the benefits of networking and greater efficiency through common infrastructure and support services. Such a complex would also help boost exports and generate employment.

Sources said Keonics had invited expression of interest (EoI) from consultants to prepare a techno-economic pre-feasibility report (TER), in the first phase, for the Hubli-Dharwar-Belgaum ITIR. Of the three consultants—PriceWaterhouse Coopers Pvt Ltd (PWC), IL&FS and Mott MacDonald—shortlisted for giving technical presentation, PWC and Mott MacDonald were chosen. The two would undertake necessary survey and submit a techno-feasibility report (TFR) which will go into the identification of government and private land available for acquisition, water availability and power. Since undertaking the TFR, to be submitted in 60 days, would cost over Rs 30 lakh to Rs 3 crore, the proposal has been set for financial clearance. The government is keen to take up an ITIR in the Bangalore-BIAL-Devanahalli region as well simultaneously, EoI has been invited from consultants for TFR.

The ITIRs would also host processing facilities where IT, ITeS and EHMs would be located and non-processing areas, which will include residential, commercial and other social and institutional infrastructure. The minimum processing area for ITIR will be about 40 per cent of the total designated area. The ITIRs may include SEZs, industrial parks, free trade and warehousing zones and export-oriented units. To be developed on public-private partnership, the centres will ensure external physical infrastructure linkages—roads, airports, and rail. Each ITIR will have large IT/ITeS/EHM units. While ITIRs will be built and managed by a developers, other facilities would be provided by the Centre and State government.

Mayor, commissioner should get proactive

Mayor, Commissioner should get proactive

Times News Network - 2 August 2009, 09:11pm IST

Hubli-Dharwad figuring in the JNNURM list makes a happy tiding for the residents. Since project implementation is the responsibility of urban local
bodies the HDMC must complete the requisite formalities scrupulously to be eligible for the proposed Rs 600 crore Central funding. Apart from preparing project reports for various works the HDMC would do well to fulfill the basic reform agenda as required since the Central grant under the mission is not a free lunch. While the HDMC needs to change its good old mindset, the mayor and the acting commissioner should get more proactive in ensuring people-friendly civic governance now.
To improve accountability and transparency in administration the defunct citizen committees must be revived. Besides being financially strong the corporation must adopt modern accrual based double entry accounting system, introduce e-governance using IT applications like GIS and MIS for various services, reform property tax system with GIS application so that collection efficiency reaches at least 85% as needed under JnNURM mission mode scheme of urban renewal.
Funds received from the Centre and the state must be put to better and balanced use and avoid chances of resource leakage, misuse, misapplication and corruption etc. Priority be given to such projects as redevelopment of inner and old city areas, water supply, sewerage and solid waste management, construction and improvement of drains/storm water drains, urban transport including roads, highways, parking lots/spaces on a PPP basis, development of heritage sites, eradication of slums etc as envisaged under JnNURM.

Venkatesh N Muttur, Mayuri Estate, Hubli.


Hurdles in way of Ring Road proposal

The much required Ring Road proposal to decongest the traffic which has increased at unimagined proportions has another twist to it now. The concept conceded in 2001 has atleast five amendments to road alignment, even increasing the length of the road from the initial 9.5 km and not to mention the escalated costs into folds. The concurrence of the latest approved map which involves acquiring 202 acres of land at the fixed rate at Rs 1.5 lakh to 3 lakh per acre is debatable. This is because the land prices around Hubli have gone up substantially in recent times and the villagers may not agree to part with their land for less money further delaying the process. Under these circumstances it is difficult to imagine that how far the proposal will take shape.

Mohinder Singh Sublok, Arvind Nagar, Hubli

Fix time limit for truck movement

The monsoon has exposed the substandard quality of roads in Hubli. Potholes have come up on several roads in New Cotton Market area that were laid a few months back. Roads in this area were constructed after a gap of not less than a decade providing the much needed relief to the residents and shopkeepers here. One major reason for the roads here turning worse is movement of heavy trucks. The authorities should restrict the movement of monstrous trucks by allowing them into the city only during a fixed period of time.

Viswanath, New Cotton Market, Hubli