Delhi gets its tallest building

Source:ET :22 Apr 2010, 1447 hrs IST,PTI
  

NEW DELHI: A great city like Delhi must have a good civic administration and all stakeholders should join hands to make it world-class, Home Minister P Chidamabaram said today as he unveiled the tallest building of the capital housing the new MCD headquarters.

The 28-storeyed 112-metre Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Civic Centre, built at a cost of Rs 650 crore, was inaugurated at a function here attended by former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, among others.

"A great capital city like Delhi must have a very good civic administration. This civic centre has been long overdue and we are truly proud of this magnificent building that will be a landmark in many many years to come," Chidambaram said.

"All those associated with MCD, Delhi government and the Centre will have to work together to make Delhi a world-class city and I appeal to the civic administration to give touch of quality in every aspect of the city like roads, schools, hospitals. We should never compromise on quality," he said.

When the infrastructure will be world-class, citizens will take pride in it and ensure its maintenance themselves, said Chidamabaram, who also took a round of the 'green building' constructed in an area of 12 acres.

Expressing happiness over naming of the building after Jan Sangh founder Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Advani described him as a great leader and a martyr to the cause of the country. "I am very happy that MCD has decided to name it after him and the Delhi and Central governments also gave their approval," he said.

Complimenting the MCD for its "good work", Swaraj hoped that the new state-of-the-art building would provide all kinds of facilities to the citizens in a better environment.

Dikshit said it is an occasion to congratulate the citizens of Delhi. She said it is significant that the Civic Centre, with a number of energy conservation and environmental protection measures, was being unveiled on Earth Day.

The building, which will cater to 20,000 footfalls a day, will bring under one roof the deliberative wing and different offices of the civic body, which looks after 96 per cent of areas of Delhi. The existing MCD headquarters in Town Hall is expected to be turned into a heritage hotel or a museum.

The new headquarters of MCD has been constructed in an area of 1.16 lakh square metres with a concept of 'green building', which is designed for optimum utilisation of natural resources like air, water and sunlight. However, its construction had been hit by delays with the MCD missing several deadlines for shifting its offices.

Diamond city to have digital map, pilot project finalised

Source:Melvyn Thomas, TNN, Apr 20, 2010, 10.23pm IST

SURAT: The city of diamonds and textile is soon going to join other metropolitan cities in having a digital map. The Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) has finalised a pilot project for digital map using the Geographic Information System (GIS) for Rander zone in order to keep a tab on the illegal construction and encroachments.

Official sources said the SMC's standing committee has approved the GIS mapping of Rander zone at the cost of Rs 11 lakh. The work has been given to Gandhinagar-based Bhaskaracharya Institute of Space Application Geo-Informatics (BISAG).

The project will start with the identification of landmarks and then a geographical survey to cover various aspects including property and land details, drainage system, and roads. The digitised map would assist the civic planners to keep a tab on the illegal construction and encroachments.

Sources said the pilot project would be launched for Rander zone. Soon the entire city and each of the seven municipal zones would be covered.

"It would be a multi-utility digital map based on the vital data of a particular area like roads, trees, slum settlements, canals and houses. It will have information on households in each of the census blocks," said Mukesh Dalal, chairman, SMC's standing committee.

The main objective of digital mapping is to divide the section into Enumeration Area (EA) containing on an average 130 to 150 households, developing a database of geographic boundaries in digitised form with real coordinates, to reduce under coverage and over counts in census operation, to ensure the optimum use of database for digital maps which will helpful in conducting future census and sample surveys and to facilitate in dissemination of census and survey results in a thematic form.

Ex-CJI's sons pay Rs 89.75cr to buy Delhi house

Source:TNN, Apr 22, 2010, 04.12am IST

Tags:Delhi|Y K Sabharwal
NEW DELHI: Chetan Sabharwal and Nitin Sabharwal, the two sons of former chief justice of India Y K Sabharwal, have bought half of one of the most premium residential properties, 7 Sikandra Road, in the heart of Lutyens' Delhi. The other half of the property has been bought by the promoter and MD of real estate company BPTP, Kabul Chawla. The total deal is worth Rs 117 crore.

On Tuesday, the Sabharwal brothers and Chawla together paid Rs 89.75 crore as part payment for the property.
"Kabul Chawla has purchased 50% of this residential property in his personal capacity. This is not a joint property,"said a spokesperson in Kabul Chawla's office. It means that the Sabharwal brothers will have to pay separately Rs 58.5 crore to complete the deal.

The name of Chetan Sabharwal and Nitin Sabharwal had cropped up earlier for running their businesses from the then CJI’s official residence. Also, the government had while responding to an RTI application in April 2009 revealed that the CBI was investigating allotment of a piece of land in Noida to Sabharwal's daughter-in-law. The income-tax department is also investigating a South Delhi land deal by the Sabharwal brothers.

The part payment of Rs 89.75 crore for the 7 Sikandra Road bungalow deal has been made by the Sabharwal brothers and Chawla with the approval of a single-judge bench of Delhi high court. In fact, Triveni Infrastructure had bought the 2.70-acre property for Rs 117 crore in 2008 in a court supervised auction. Triveni paid Rs 29.25 crore — 25% of the total amount — upfront. But, it could not pay the rest — Rs 89.75 crore — on the due date.

Instead of paying the rest of the amount, Triveni Infrastructure filed a suit in the court praying that another company, Angle Infrabuild Private Ltd, be allowed to pay the balance with a penalty of Rs 5 crore. But as some of the original co-owners opposed the request, the court did not accept the offer. Meanwhile, the Sabharwal brothers approached the court saying they would pay the balance amount of Rs 89.75 crore of the original deal.

Following the payment made by them, the court ordered execution of the sale deed in the name of the Sabharwal brothers and their associate.

The rest of the amount — Rs 29.25 crore — which was paid by Triveni Infrastructure in 2008 will also be paid by the new set of buyers.

Want forest land flat regularised ? SLP will help

Source:TNN, Apr 22, 2010, 03.42am IST

MUMBAI: Residents of Kandivli, Borivli and Thane—whose flats are in buildings situated on forest land—can now get their houses regularised by intervening in the Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the Hillside Residents Welfare Association (Hirwa) in the Supreme Court.

It was on Hirwa’s petition that the apex court recently directed the residents of Mulund and Nahur to pay the Net Present Value (NPV) as “penalty’’ to the forest department and get their flats regularised. The 4.5 lakh affected residents have already paid the NPV in the past two months, and the state government will be submitting the list to the ministry of environment & forests (MoEF) for a final clearance.

Hirwa’s petitioner Prakash Padikkal told TOI: “It is just a matter of time before the MoEF gives us clearance. But what is important is the fact that we have got relief for several flat owners staying on forest land in Mulund and Nahur.’’ He stated that the SC judgment would not be applicable to those who stayed in other areas like Thane, Kandivli and Borivli unless these residents come together as a group and intervene in the SLP.

“We are willing to help all residents of Mumbai and Thane who are affected by the forest land case,’’ he said. “After they intervene in our petition, we can also provide them with legal guidance.’’ He said that it would be “wise’’ for other residents to pay the NPV at this juncture. “Since the forest department is in the process of sending a list to the MOEF, they should hurry up and initiate the process for getting their flats regularised,’’ he said.

Co-petitioner Anmol Bhushan from the People’s Power of Nation (PPN) said that since the apex court has ordered residents to pay the NPV, half the battle is won. “The MoEF will now decide whether the land should continue as private forest or be dereserved,’’ he stated.

A resident from Swapna Nagari Society said, “Why are we made to pay penalty for no fault of ours? The government had goofed up and allowed constructions for so many years, and now innocent flat owners have to pay a price.’’

Padikkal said there was no option, but to accept the court verdict. “Some residents complained to me about the NPV payment. But if we challenge the court order, it will take years for another decision. Since we have a favourable verdict, we should pay the penalty and hope for the flats to get regularised at the earliest,’’ he said.

Rebirth of the Adyar creek

   

Source;Julie Mariappan & Devparna Acharya, TNN, Apr 22, 2010, 04.35am IST


CHENNAI: Pied kingfishers, yellow wagtails, egrets, white bellied sea eagles, chestnut-winged cuckoos, black-winged stilts...

A waterbody, once a dumping site laden with tonnes of debris and gallons of sewage, has begun attracting migratory birds, thanks to the state's ambitious restoration of the ecologically sensitive Adyar creek. The Adyar Poonga Trust (rechristened as Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust (CRRT) recently) is racing against time to complete the first phase of restoration of the 58-acre stretch, one of Chennai's most eco-sensitive spots, before November this year.

"It was a filthy place, with debris strewn around. Cattle was being reared by neighbouring slum dwellers and anti-socials made merry in the area that was full of thickets. Initial assessment of the creek area was, in fact, done from the nearby high-rise structures because no one could enter the poonga (creek)," says an official associated with the project.

CRRT had to excavate 150,000 tonnes of construction debris and garbage from the site to create a water body embellished with earthern pathways, wooden bridges, signage and bamboo pavilions. About 91,280 plants of various species are being planted inside at locations such as the entrance plaza, swale area near Town Planning Scheme Road, on the rear side of Ambedkar Manimandapam and along Santhome entrance plaza. About 37,600 reeds are being planted along the water margins.

"Adyar poonga is a fulcrum for environmental education," says K Phanindra Reddy, member secretary, Chennai Rivers Restoration Project. As part of the educational reach programme, eco-clubs are being set up in neighbouring schools and colleges by the Trust. "Adyar creek will eventually become a model for restoration of water bodies, including Cooum and Adyar," Reddy claimed.

As part of the restoration, the CRRT also plans to have a green centre in the erstwhile fisheries building near Ramakrishna Mutt Road. "An audio visual room, environmental education centre, library to document creek activities, laboratory to check water quality, a souvenir shop, coffee corner, all form part of the centre," Reddy said. Restoration work will soon extend into the estuary spreading over an area of 300 acres.

Initially spearheaded by Chennai Corporation and supported by Tamil Nadu Road Development Company Ltd, this project was conceived primarily as an effort to restore the fragile eco-system of the Adyar estuary and creek and raise awareness among the public about the environment.

The estuary has been a topic of furious discussion among ecologists and environmentalists for a long time now. Adyar river, one of the three major waterways in Chennai apart from Cooum and Buckingham Canal, is where migratory birds flock the most. According to Madras Naturalists Society secretary K V Sudhakar, "the area where the river and the sea meet is a major feeding ground for birds as it is rich in many organisms. A few years ago, our society recorded the presence of over 200 different species of birds in the creek," he added.

But the restoration project is seen by critics as excessive development work around a natural ecosystem which needs to be left alone. "Restoration of the creek would mean bringing the creek back to its natural condition. I would like to call this a transformation project where an existing natural ecosystem is being engineered into a tourist spot," said Nityanand Jayaraman, a freelance journalist and an environmentalist. According to Nityanand, the marshlands of Adyar creek is being turned into an artificial freshwater ecosystem in the process.

On the other hand, Sudhakar, says the project is a step in the right direction. "All the trees being planted are native, and the people who have undertaken the work know what they are doing," he said. Referring to the massive real estate development that Chennai is witnessing, he said the ongoing measures would evoke interest in saving the creek. "With this project, you are bringing in the public, who will see what they are losing and take an interest in saving it . Awareness is very important."