Transport nagar planned in Ahmedabad

In what would be a first of its initiative in Gujarat, the Bhavnagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) is reviewing a proposal of building a unique 'Transport Nagar' on the outskirts of the city.

The corporation is also close to signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a private organisation for providing 30 million litres of water per day (MLD).

Officials from the Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board (GIDB) along with BMC recently made a presentation on the feasibility of the project and have received positive feedback from various private players in the state to collaborate with the government for the same. Land for the project has already been earmarked at a site owned by the Bhavnagar Area Development Authority (BADA).

However, the corporation is looking at three to four other sites on the outskirts of the city. The transport nagar is also being supported by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other commerce associations in the state. The project is likely to commence after one year.

"Alang is situated around 55 km from Bhavnagar and the continuous vehicular traffic has led us to contemplate the creation of a transport nagar, which will function on a build to operate basis," said S J Haider, municipal commissioner, BMC.

In its private-public-partnership for water management, the current supply of 60 MLD by the corporation would be divided equally with 30 MLD each to be provided by the corporation and the private organisation.

The project is set to commence shortly and will cover Bhavnagar in two phases.

It would be supported by the GIDB and Gujarat Urban Development Company (Gudco) and is estimated to take two years to be fully implemented.

After the success of the city's first private-public partnership in 1996 with urban transport, BMC is planning an overhaul of its current fleet of buses.

A new fleet of CNG buses will slowly start replacing the buses running at present in phases starting from the end of this year and will take further two years to be completely implemented.

Also in the pipeline is a gems and jewellery park in the city on 67,000 square mtres of land, which is likely to be commissioned this year and will encourage traditional gems and jewellery traders who had left Bhavnagar for Surat to come back and set shop.

Last year saw a slew of initiatives being undertaken by BMC, which saw the addition of a 15-MLD water treatment park as well as a Lok Darbar for House Tax, which is a single window clearance drive aimed at recovering outstanding house tax and other dues.

The initiative brought in a sum of Rs 8 crore and is prompting the corporation to conduct more of such Lok Darbars in 2007. For better roadways, a ring road on the lines of the Sardar Patel Ring Road in Ahmedabad is also being planned in the coming months.