Development Watch – January Week #1

Image Source – Indian Express

Flyovers in Delhi to get a Makeover

Delhi government’s PWD is inspecting flyovers constructed before 2000s, and in early 1990s. Repair works have commenced at Lajpat Nagar flyover, while that on Shahdara flyover is 40% complete. A

major hurdle to completion is getting timely permission from Delhi Traffic Police. Generally expansion joints are replaced in the flyovers, which have a life of 15-20 years. Changing expansion joints in one carriageway takes about 2-3 months’ time.

Uber AUTO has a Re-Launch!

Starting with Bangalore and Pune, Uber is re- launching its AUTO service in India, with an almost 2-years hiatus. Earlier Uber Auto was available in New Delhi, Coimbatore, Indore and Bhubaneshwar.

Ola, which also allows booking autorickshaw rides, had launched the offering in Bengaluru and Chennai in 2014. Ola Auto is currently operational across 73 cities with over 1.2 lakh autorickshaws associated with the company.

Uber will only on-board licensed, existing auto-drivers who have been screened and accredited by the authorities and every driver partner on AUTO will be required to submit valid government documents, reports The Hindu

Jaypee Group to Complete 24 Thousand Flats by 2020

Subject to orders of Supreme Court and National Company  Law Tribunal (NCLT), Jaypee Infratech intends to complete a total of 32,000 units at Wish Town, Noida. Crisis-hit Jaypee group needs Rs 8,000 crore to complete about 24,000 flats, of which Rs 6,000 crore would come from home buyers while another Rs 2,000-2,500 crore needs to be infused.

In 2007, Jaypee group started the development of 32,000 flats and plots in its township Wish Town at Noida, of which nearly 8,000 units have been delivered so far, as reported by Mint.

In another development, Lodha Group and TATA Housing have shown interest in buying Jaypee’s Yamuna Expressway, which has an extensive land bank. The Expressway sees heavy traffic at a toll of slightly more than Rs 2 a kilometre for a car.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Park to come up in China

A $2.1 billion (13.8 billion Yuan) AI park will be developed by Zhongguancum Group in the western part of Beijing, as reported by Xinhua News. China aims to be a world leader in AI by 2025, with a focus on big data, biometric identification and cloud computing. It is estimated to generate annual output of 50 billion Yuan (USD 7.6 billion), housing up to 400 enterprises.

All Trains to have 22 Coaches

Standardization of train coach numbers will allow all trains to run on all routes within the Indian Railways Network. Presently there are 12, 16, 18, 22 or 26 coaches based on demand on specific routes. However this makes it difficult to substitute trains in case of a delay. Post-maintenance after arriving at the station, any train can be sent into operation. For the first phase, over 300 groups of trains running on busy routes have been identified. Supporting infrastructure like filling and washing lines, and even lengths of platforms would be standardized. Revised time-table would be published in July 2018, reports The Hindustan Times.

9 Connaught Place restaurants to lose licence over Fire Safety

According to a report by the Times of India, less than 10% of eateries in Delhi have fire safety permit. The seat limit for securing the safety permit is 50; however, several restaurants set up additional seating later. In purview of the restaurants fires that killed over 14 people in Mumbai, and the latest one in Bangalore, NDMC (New Delhi Municipal Corporation) has issues show-cause notices to 9 restaurants in CP for violation.

Hyderabad joins Mumbai as 2nd Major City declared ODF

The measures taken by Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), such as construction of 98 public toilets, has given the Open Defecation Free (ODF) tag to the city. The Swachh Bharat Mission Directorate, Ministry of Urban Development, has recently declared 6 other Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in Telangana as ODF. These include Warangal, Miryalguda, Jangaon, Bellampally, Mencherial and Sadashivpet. A total of 36 urban local bodies have been declared as ODF in the state, while 37 await approval.

Apart from Mumbai, Hyderabad is the 2nd ODF City with a population of over 1 Crore population. The Centre issues Swachh certificates to the cities based on recommendations by a third party — Quality Council of India, which conducted an inspection last week. Other states which carry the ODF tag are Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Haryana.

Swachh Survekshan, World’s largest cleanliness survey

Surveyors will reach out to more than 200 urban local bodies on the first day and the entire exercise is expected to be completed by March. For the first time, the Swachh Survekshan survey will assess all the 4,041 towns in the country and cover a population of about 400 million people.

Several experts point that despite the changes, such as introduction of negative points for false information, much of the survey’s focus is still on infrastructure and not on outcomes.

RERA: More than 20,000 Projects Registered across India

The latest count of projects registered under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act reveals that more than 2,000 projects have been brought under Rera in UP. Of these, Gautam Budh Nagar and Noida accounting for more than 1,000.

Over 10,000 projects are registered in Maharashtra alone, while Karnataka, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh have also registered a sizeable chunk.