Delhi Capital

Work has already begun on the third phase of the Metro network and the Delhi government has started to finalize the corridors for Phase IV. According to some sources, the government is already considering the corridors suggested by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). A senior official said that “DMRC has identified eight corridors, based on a traffic study done by it. The government will further scrutinize these corridors and recommend options, if needed, before finalizing the alignment.”

The Phase IV network will cover more than 115km and will connect far-flung areas of the city to the existing network. Officials stated that the idea was to connect outer Delhi to the heart of the city in the fourth phase. “While Phase III will make the Metro network denser and bring NCR closer to Delhi; in the fourth phase, we are hoping to connect the corners of the city to the Metro network.”

According to source, a letter stating the corridor alignment and their length was sent to the transport department on November 2, 2011. Some of the corridors, like Lajpat Nagar-Madangir (7.33km) or Mukundpur-Yamuna Vihar-Dilshad Garden (17.54km) will also connect commercial hubs with areas having poor surface connectivity. However, most of the corridors being studied would connect the far corners of Delhi to the city centre. These include the Yamuna Bank-Loni Border (11.97km), Rithala-Bawana (12.50km), Kirti Nagar-Dwarka Sector 28 (18.17km), Azadpur-RK Ashram (8.90km) and Badarpur-Delhi Aerocity/NH8 corridor (20.79km).

There will also be a corridor connecting Janakpuri (west) to Mukundpur (18.74km), both of which are terminating stations for corridors in the third phase. DMRC will be asked to conduct a project report on the corridors describing the alignment of the corridors along with a ridership study by the Delhi government. According to officials, the final network for Phase IV will be decided only after another traffic study is determined and the network’s economic viability vetted. Yamuna Vihar to Shiv Vihar (3km), Dwarka to Najafgarh (5.5km) and Mundka to Tikri Border (6.31km) are the three corridors which are expected to be be included in Phase III.

Stating that a monorail link is financially not an unviable option, RITES, a transport and infrastructure consultancy has suggested the state government for a high speed Bus Road Transit (BRT) elevated corridor should be constructed instead. The report states that the BRT will provide an easier access to commuters choosing to travel to far-flung areas like Baprola which is ahead of the Dwarka Mor Metro station. If the Delhi government accepts this proposal, Delhi will be the first city in the country with an elevated BRT.

The Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) had commissioned Rail India Transit & Economic Services (RITES) consultancy to carry out a techno-economic feasibility study and prepare a detailed project report on a mass transit channel that could link the capital with a Knowledge Based Industrial (KBI) hub which is to be set-up at Baprola in west Delhi. The RITES report will now be put before the state government for approval. If the government clears the project, DSIIDC is targetting a completion deadline of 2015.

The final report which was submitted to DSIIDC, RITES states that introducing a sophisticated transit system for short length routes is very costly and hence monorail may not be ideal for the 4.5 kilometre long alignment between the Dwarka Modh metro station to the site of the KBI hub. Instead the report states “The bus/road based systems are ideally suited for the last mile connectivity as it is the least costly solution” In its report to DSIIDC, RITES states that having an at grade (on ground) BRT system between Dwarka Metro station and the KBI hub will not be suitable as people living on either sides of the corridor will try to cross the roads which will affect the level of service and bring down travel speed and the image of the system for users.

The report states “In view of these reasons it is recommended to provide a grade separated (elevated) closed bus rapid transit system for the corridor.” RITES suggested developing the BRT corridor in two phases, the first one covering the distance of 4.5km between Dwarka Metro station to the KBI Park at an estimated cost of Rs 335.62 crore. The next phase, would extend the corridor to Mundka connecting the metro station from the northwest of Delhi to the KBI hub and the estimated cost will be around Rs 403 crore. Both phases taken together would add nearly 12 km of elevated BRT to the city’s road transport network.

It will be spread over 63.97 acres, the KBI complex will make room for industries of the future and provide direct employment to over 1 lakh people and indirect employment to 1,70,000 people. A proposal for group housing over 4.9 acres was also submitted to make some room for providing space for housing within Delhi. The state government and DSIIDC has already cleared for the Baprola complex, developed on a “green building concept,” is likely to come up at a cost of over Rs 1,500 crore. It is proposed to be developed on a self financing mode.

Metro has definitely made commuting in Delhi much easier and cheaper but with so many commuters using metro; we cannot deny that metros can be very crowded especially during the peak hours. There is good news for everyone as the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has placed an order for 76 more coaches from Bombardier. With the new coaches, the existing trains with six coaches will be converted to eight coaches for trains running from HUDA City Center to Jahangirpuri corridor by this September. By January-February 2013, trains running on the Dwarka Sector 21-Noida/Vaishali line will have eight coaches trains.

H S Anand, director (rolling stock) said that “The new set of 76 coaches is expected to be delivered by April-May 2012. From these, 37 eight-coach trains will be added to the Yellow line by September, when they will be introduced in revenue services.”

Delhi Metro has also placed an order with DMEL, the supplier of ROTEM trains which are running on the Dwarka Sector 21-Noida/Vaishali line and these coaches will be delivered by July 2012. With the arrival of new coaches, trains with four coaches will be converted to six coached and the rest will be put into service as eight-coach train sets and deployed on the Blue line by January-February 2013.

Anand, a Delhi Metro official said that “ Before being put into service, the coaches will be tested over three to four months. “The testing is done not only of the rolling stock but also the signaling, so that when commissioned, the trains run smoothly.”

On an average, some six-seven lakh passengers travel on the two lines and with the addition of new coaches will be able to accommodate more travelers and reducing the rush. At present, the number of coaches in the network is 1,022, of which 538 are Bombardiers.

Forget the 12-15 floors that came up in east and west Delhi in the early 90s, now Delhi is also set to get skyscrapers.

Today, there are many developers who are building 15 floors and plus residential towers in Delhi and the tallest project. ‘Raheja Phoenix’ till now is set at 51 storey which will be build by Raheja Developers.

The Capital Greens project under DLF has 29 floors which are being constructed in Moti Nagar, while the Kings and Queens Court project in Greater Kailash II will have eight floors. In civil Lines, Parsvnath Developers has planned to build over 10 floors for its La Tropicana project. Projects launched by private developers and those in the pipeline will generate about 4,000 units in the national Capital.

Raheja Developers project ‘Raheja Phoenix’ is part of a redevelopment project that is proposed to come up in Kathputli Colony near Patel Nagar. This will be a joint-venture with the Dubai-based Arabtec Construction, who has built the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the tallest tower in the world.

Navin Raheja, chairman and managing director, Raheja Developers Limited said  “We are planning 170 highend units in this project. Raheja Phoenix will be 190 metres tall and will exceed the tallest building in Delhi -the 112-metre Civic Centre. The project envisages the creation of 2,800 2BHK units for displaced slum dwellers in 14-storey structures.“ He also stated that “We are technically qualified for 23 such redevelopment projects in and around Delhi, mainly in Old Delhi, and if we qualify as the highest bidder, we will build over a lakh houses. We will naturally go vertical as there is no other option.

The search for land in Delhi is on for the Supertech Group, which is building the 300-metre, 80storeyed Supernova project and the 255-metre, 60-storeyed North Eye project in Noida.  R K Arora, CMD of the company said “We are considering several options in zones under MPD2021 in Delhi. We hope to launch tall buildings in the Capital, following the overwhelming response we received in Noida. Going forward, tall buildings are the only option available due to scarcity of land.

‘The challenges of going tall in India are the same as the challenges faced in all other countries,’ said GC Christofides, CEO, Arabtech Construction LLC. He also said ‘The easy challenges are utilising the correct systems to allow for the right quality and speed while at the same time handling efficiently the logistical problems specific to tall construction’.

News Source : Hindustan Times

As a rising economy, India has developed a curving for the better things in life and various luxuries. For Delhi, imported liquor seems to be one of the most common indulgence. The demand for imported alcoholic beverages has double since last year in Delhi. In 2011, more than 10.08 lakh bottles of imported beer was sold compared to the year before. Some 3.46 lakh bottles of wines were sold, when only some 1.94 lakh were sold the year before. The increase in demand for imported whiskey has also increased to 3.87 lakh when it was just 2.34 lakh bottles for the year before.

A senior excise department official stated that  “Buying and serving expensive liquor in parties has become a status symbol. The Delhiites’ buying capacity is increasing and they don’t shy away from spending big bucks on expensive imported liquor,“ There are some 32 shops in the city which sell imported liquor. Last year, the excise department collected a revenue of R1,240 crore. This figure has gone up to R1,540 crore this year.

There has been an increase of over 17 percent in the sale of imported liquor in Delhi and the revenue generated has also increased to over 24 percent as according to officials.  A excise department official said “We are expecting the sales to go up further because of the festive season. Generally, people consume more liquor to beat the cold.“

In Delhi there are some 423 government-run, 90 private and 16 mall-based liquor outlets in the city. Delhi government had also recently drafted a proposal to allow microbreweries in Delhi restaurants and pubs. The proposal has framed the rules and regulations which will act as eligibility criteria for such pubs, for instance, the minimum space required and the volume of beer which can be produced.

News Source : Hindustan Times

Delhi’s decision to host the Commonwealth proves even more fruitful for colleges and other organization. Now your college or organization can host a sporting event at the same venue where some 71 Commonwealth countries competed for the top position in various sports in 2010.

The state-of-the-art stadiums which costed thousands of crores of rupees to built for the 2010 commonwealth Games is not available for government schools, colleges and universities for a nominal price of R1,000 per day to host various sporting events. .

According to the ‘Come and Play Scheme’, colleges, schools, universities and even corporate who want to use these world-class stadiums will be available.

Ajay Maken, the Union sports minister said  “After opening up of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) stadia to students and people at large earlier this year, we are now opening them for schools, colleges, universities and corporates for sports activities.“ The stadia will also be available to registered societies, clubs and sports associations.

Coaches for different sports has been deployed to different venues as according to their field, so sports fans can have access to the SAI stadiums in Delhi.

The Union sports minister, Ajay Maken also stated that “The initial response of the Come and Play scheme has been really good. Around 13,000 sports enthusiasts are availing this scheme and we think this world-class sports infrastructure should be accessible to whosoever needs it.“

Various colleges, schools and organization can start booking for Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, SPM Swimming Pool Complex, Major Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium and Indira Gandhi Stadium on a per day basis. Though high fees would be charged to private colleges, sporting clubs, registered societies and corporate, along with extra charges for ACs, sports light, water and electricity but these stadiums would be free for government educational institutes.

Maken said ‘“There will be wear and tear even if the stadia are not utilised. This way, at least amateurs will be able to use the equipment.’ The weight-lifting auditorium at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium will be the only venue that will be opened for non-sporting activities. Its tariffs and other conditions are yet to be decided.

News Source : Hindustan Times

Famous for its extreme weather, Delhi weather can be very ruthless. This winter, the cold has claimed many lives and most victims are the homeless. 118 unidentified bodies have been found this month, according to Delhi police figures and 60% of the death is because of the cold.

According to the report, around three persons lost their live everyday because of the cold. A certain area in North Delhi with a huge number of homeless has lost 31 person to the cold while Central Delhi has lost 17 so far. Though government has set up night shelter, hunders of people die of cold.

In simple figures, this means that around three persons have died due to the cold in the city every day so far in December. The maximum number -31 -is from North Delhi district, an area that has the highest number of homeless people. The figure for central Delhi is 17.

Paramjeet Kaur and Ashray Adhikar Abhiyan who works for the homeless in a NGO said that “The government sets up shelters every year, but no one is doing anything about the occupancy,“

A proposal to the urban development department has already been send by the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation to build a transit home for labourers and construction workers in Kanjhawala. Kaur said,“No homeless person will ever move to Kanjhawala. Location is very important when it comes to getting the homeless to sleep inside a shelter. This plan will simply not work.”

News Source : Hindustan Times

If there be paradise on earth, this is it vaunted Diwan-i-Khas in its prime and when King George V arrived for his Durbar 100 years ago the State Procession that followed his entry hurried the king away from the hall, out of Delhi Gate and into the city. George V had time merely to mark the fort’s sparse grandeur and discrete pavilions, and wonder why it had been called the noblest palace in the world for so long. What he probably didn’t know was that most of the ‘Exalted Palace’ travellers raved about for two centuries had been swept away. The sparkling canal that divided the very road he took out of the fort, Houses of the salatin (royal descendants) had made way for the new lawns to his right. Razed palaces, arcades and cloisters had left behind the long, empty brackets of space to his left were all gone.

What George V witnessed was more like a poem with most of its lines missing. With most of its glory missing, it’s very difficult to visualize Red Fort in its prime but thankfully a new book offers a glimpse into the palace of the last Mughal and the surrounding city that Zauq and Ghalib loved and lived in. JP Losty’s Delhi 360º (Roli Books) reveals the Red Fort and Shahjahanabad of the Mughal dynasty’s dying years through artist Mazhar Ali Khan’s panorama, “A Picture of the Imperial City of Shahjahanabad Drawn from the Lahore Gate of the Exalted Fort”. Acquired by the British Library at a country auction in 1981, the painting is signed November 25, 1846 , and is an important historical record.

During the Mutiny of 1857, the British had cleared a large swathe of the city that lay within firing range (450 yards) of the fort walls. Most of the palaces and buildings within the fort were also demolished in the name of security. So, Khan’s panorama captured the fort and the city in their swan song, and in massive detail. Measuring 66.5cm high and 490.8cm wide, the panorama is the equivalent of a 455-megapixel shot when printed at 300 dots-per-inch photo quality. The only way to produce such a photo-real historical record in the 1840s was by faithfully recording every line of street, roof and pillar with brush and paint.

From Khan’s observation deck under one of Lahore Gate’s chhatris (cupolas), Khan swept his gaze first north (towards the ticket counters) and then clockwise, till he had traced a unique 360º view. The roughly 5-metre water colour panorama was painted on five sheets and pasted together as a scroll longer than an average apartment bedroom.

More than its age, the panorama is important for what it shows. The fort is fully built up. It is no longer true to Shahjahan’s aesthetic, but a living, thriving space nonetheless. Outside, the city is more orderly built and leafy than what you see today. Trees ring it from the north all the way to Fatehpuri Masjid on the west. There are trees even on Chandni Chowk’s median. Of traffic there is little, and squalor none, but the last may be the artist’s disinclination to sully his canvas. It nothing less of a wonder. From the painting at first glance, nothing but the fort’s august gates is recognizable. There is so much between them that no living person has seen. The very intricate decorations of Chhatta Bazaar’s walls. They are now lost under layers of white paint. Immediately to the right is a spread of houses for the salatin. Towards the Naqqarkhana has a large, enclosed court with three-arched gateways to the north and the south. In fact, gates, arcades and cloisters regularly frame, link and also curtain the fort’s different quarters. Another surprise is the white Diwani-Aam beyond Naqqarkhana. The hall’s pearly plaster finish was stripped off early in the last century, exposing its red sandstone.

The painting also shows Shahjahanabad in relation to the older relics. Monuments such as Kotla Firoz Shah, Humayun’s Tomb, Purana Qila, and the farthest, Qutab Minar, are duly marked out. Studying Khan’s panorama will leave you a little wistful, for the lost splendours of Red Fort, the city’s easy pace, its leafy environs, the Yamuna’s wide expanse — and the horizon. Once upon a time, earth and sky met all around Delhi.

News Source : Times of India

Mohinder Singh, chairman, Noida authority said, SURVEY Authority points out need for mass transport system, curbing growth of personal vehicles ( Rapid commuting between Delhi and Noida has been possible because of the construction of roads and bridges. ) A railway link for Noida has been proposed, which will connect the city to Tughlaqabad in south Delhi at one end and to Dadri at the other end.

According to a study conducted by the Noida authority, around 80% of the city traffic falls along the Noida-Delhi corridors. During the morning hours higher volumes enter the city, while evening hours traffic leaving the city increases. As per this study shows increase in the number of workers commuting from neighbouring areas to workplaces in Noida.

As per the study incorporated in the latest master plan (2031) says personal vehicles (i.e. cars and two-wheelers) have a significant role (40 to 50%) in the traffic volume. The study shows integrated inter-city public transport system is required to reduce the burden of personal vehicles in Noida, Delhi and other neighboring urban areas.

Mohinder Singh, chairman, Noida authority also said that Emerging travel characteristics of the city suggest transitional changes. Initially conceived as a self-contained township, the city has transformed itself into an extended suburb of Delhi. “Rapid commuting between Delhi and Noida has been possible because of the construction of roads and bridges,“

According to the master plan, there is a need to contain the growth of personal vehicles. There are about 60,000 cars registered at the Noida regional transport office alone and some 850 cars are registered every month here.

Noida has no railway station with Hazrat Nizamuddin as the nearest station which is some 25 kilometers away from Noida. Besides the Metro, which does not also cover most part of the area, road becomes the only linkage with the area. “A railway link for Noida has been proposed, which will connect the city to Tughlaqabad in south Delhi at one end and to Dadri at the other end,“ said Singh.The plan says major corridors are full to capacity. There is an increase in per capita trip rates and trip lengths. “We’re working on a dedicated transport system for Noida. We’re building elevated roads and underpasses across the city.

News Source : Hindustan Times

Narela and Najafgarh may be the site where Delhi will witness skyscrapers in the near future. For those staying in a gated colony with three storey can build more floors on the plot. The Master Plan of Delhi 2021 seeks to incentivize the redevelopment of existing plotted colonies in order to make more room to accommodate more people. Though only two floors were allowed to houses on smaller plots but, now, one can build up to four floors measuring around 15 metres.

AK Jain, former commissioner (planning), DDA said “Through a combined application, such group of plots can be converted into a group housing society. The owners can then build a residential complex with 12 floors and a height of maximum 36 metres. “One can build a taller residential building by pooling in land with your neighbors. Owners in contiguous plots can form a cluster of land that should not have an area of less than 3,000 sq metres. With a larger plot available, the Floor Area Ratio would be relaxed by an extra 50 per cent.

Anyone who is interested in a group housing scheme can submit their proposal to the engineering wing of the MCD, which will then forward it to the MCD House for approval. Once the House approves it, construction will be allowed. An MCD official said “Most people are not aware of the existence of such a clause in which plots can be joined and 12-storey houses can be built for residential purpose much like residential societies.

“By joining smaller plots and turning the land into one big plot, the residents can build recreational facilities such as children’s play area, but so far, no one has showed any initiative,“ was said by Subhash Arya, Leader of House in MCD. He also said that if the MCD receive such proposal, they would surely consider it and in fact, MCD would encourage more people to come forward with similar proposals. TOMORROW With large availability of housing in Delhi when it goes vertical, will realty prices in Gurgaon and Noida get affected.

News Source : Hindustan Times