In the meeting, I said that I'd received complaints that there is no BSNL landline in parts of New Town in Action Area II: they wanted BSNL landline connections for broadband connection. CGM BSNL commented that since population wasn't large enough, capital costs were proving prohibitive because revenue streams would not justify investments. Other cable operators said that they were facing competition from satellite TVs and requested some tariff concessions.
I learnt that along Major Arterial Road (MAR), the upfront fee payable was Rs 5 lakh per km. For other roads (& certain categories) the fee was Rs. 4 lakh per km.
I requested NTTIDCO to consider a revision onwards for some time.
Recently, NTTIDCO has informed me that for three years, there would be a 25% reduction in upfront fees. Thus instead of Rs 5 Lakh, now Rs 3.75 lakh is payable as upfront fee along MAR. For others, it would be reduced from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 3 lakh per km.
* * *
Here is a clipping from today's Bartaman:
This is really a very positive step for developing the telecom infrastructure. If we need to go for the Singapore model, rather than the Gurgaon model, as you had described earlier in a post, we need to give these incentives to the people who undergo the capital investment.
ReplyDeleteAlso kudos for getting the idea of cable duct implemented.
Can we do similar thing for underground electricity connection instead of overhead cables?
Went around New Town during Durga Pujo time
frame.. Some observations:
1. Did not see much of new road construction in last 5-6 months. Last time, when I had come in early June, extension of MAR in AA 3 up to Bhojerhaat Lauhati road was already done.
I was expecting some progress in the proposed road parallel to MAR from DLF 2 towards Akanksha but that road is only progressing towards the finance hub by taking a left run. The straight road is yet to be made.
2. Landscaping and beautification is totally
missing in AA3 after Unitech SEZ.
3. There is a very narrow stretch in MAR in AA3 after Unitech Sez. The road widens again to 6 lane after this narrow stretch. Cant we remove this bottleneck soon?
4. PWD is yet to start widening of Bhojerhaat road. The road is still in pretty bad shape.
5. AA1 is really looking nice particularly after getting those tribal statutes installed.
31st Oct deadline is nearing.
ReplyDeleteWe hope to get a series of updates after that day. :-)
Best of luck Sir.
Land issues have constrained roads in some cases
ReplyDeleteOk... I was of the notion that PWD is owning the land around the broken road for repairing as well as expanding and HIDCO is owning the land for making the road parallel to MAR from AA3 to AA2.
DeleteOnly in case of the stretch in AA3, I was guessing a land acquisition issue as a village is there.
Another feedback I have. The number of hawkers seemed to be much more in front of Unitech SEZ as well as DLF 2 in between my visits.
ReplyDeleteIf we cannot evict the existing hawkers, at least can we keep a tab on their number and see to it that we do not allow any new shabby stall coming up.
All your noble plans of making it a futuristic smart city will go for a toss if we have large number of encroachments with shabby structures in front of every IT park.
Yes, I happened to ask one of the hawker infront of Unitech SEZ Gate-2 (the gate just before the flyover to DLF Ericsson and Ecospace). He said he was the first one to come and start hawking and he is from Allahabad (wow). Now he is quite proud with his growing business and has invited some of his brethrens from distant allahabad to come up with new shops, and now u can see the picture there. I am not saying all of them who has come now are from allahabad, but they are growing, and growing at an amazing pace, much more than the IT industry. This needs to be stopped anyhow at some point of time, if the existing can't be removed ever. Else all dreams will remain dream. And the Bird's eye/sky view of Kolkata will always be covered with tarpaulins.
DeleteJust an observation - I have been working in the Unitech building since April 2012, and i have seen the number of shops grow in no time. Every month, 2-3 shops get added on the side walks of gate no 2 of Unitech SEZ and in front of Gate no. 1 its a marketplace, no less than 50 shops small and big. I am sure, they are never going to vacate this place.
ReplyDeleteWe ourselves are responsible for this mess. Do not patronise hawkers. Do not buy from them. Quite sure that you would be having cafeteria facilities at Unitech, please make the best use of them. Propagate the message.
DeleteI completely agree with Suman and Debdeep. As long as poverty is there with such a large percentage of population still dependent on agriculture on small fragmented land holdings, influx to cities will continue.
DeleteIf Govt has a policy of encouraging new hawker settlements, then I think administration should declare that ( eg, we will allow 500 new hawkers in the IT zone of AA3) and build a vertical structure for them at free of cost. But lets give them some ICard , collect some small taxes from them etc .
Lets regulate the entire activity instead of allowing free land and footpath grab. Can we be sure that some of them are not future terrorists or maoists? God forbid, Tomorrow if there is a blast in the IT zone, do we have any way to track them?
The hawker sprawl in front of Unitech Maingate is huge. If HIDCO is the owner of that land, administration should build a structure rather than creating an eyesore.
To "4 a better future", controlling the mnass is necessary. Thats we have such high penalty and regulation system in developed world. Building awareness is not the only solution.
Rightly so, Today we had a client visit from Mumbai....(not even from other countries). She commented that hawkers are there in Mumbai office as well but not in these numbers and more importantly the place in Mumbai hasn't become this dirty and filthy looking. What we could say? We just kept our mouth shut because we had to. GOD! sometimes I just think, is it wrong to love my city? But am too paralysed to do any positive impact. I think of myself that what can happen to me if we try to do something for betterment. Why don't I have the guts like Netaji or Vivekananda to bring about a change, a positive change. Sometimes I really feel so helpless.
DeleteThere is nothing to be disheartened Debdeep. We are normal human beings, love our city, love our state, try to generate as much positive vibes, opinions, suggestions that we can. Everybody cannot be a mass leader.
DeleteWe as salaried class pay our taxes honestly and we expect that administration will give us some very basic amenities after 65 years of independence. ( at least clean unbroken road, pure drinking water supply and underground sewerage to say the least). But alas ....that also seems to be a mirage.
Tomorrow, finance hub will come up and we will find another set of 300 hawkers in front of it giving it a filthy hook. We will allow them to grab open land and footpath, but we will not try to regulate them and put them inside a building.
The main problem is not lack of funds or revenue.... equally important is the problem of lack of law enforcement and genuine willingness of the administration.
Sir,
ReplyDeleteJust for the record. I have moved into Sankalpa-4 complex last year. BSNL is yet to provide their landline services in the complex.
Regards Jayanta
Hi Jayanta,
DeleteIf I am not utterly wrong, Sankalpa is on MAR in AA1. If BSNL is providing connection to Unitech and DLF , then it should not be a problem for them to provide connectivity in Sankalpa which is far before that.
If BSNL is ignoring large office spaces like Unitech , DLF, Ecospace telling that there is no return on investment, then I think GOD only can save that PSU.
Telecom industry is being developed a lot. I have recently hired one such service from parallel infrastructure who have provided a great telecom service.
ReplyDeleteInfrastructure Management Services At Parallel Infrastructure
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