New options for processing degradable and plastic waste are being considered for Kochi.

The civic administrators of Kochi, who are touring Pune and Delhi for familiarising themselves with the innovative techniques of management of municipal solid waste, have extended invitations to two groups to demonstrate their methods in the city. A company operating a plant capable of producing fuel from plastic and another one which owns the technology for converting biodegradable waste into manure in 10 days have been invited to Kochi.

After a study by the Institute of Urban Transport revealed that the Kolkata tram is a cheaper, environment-friendly mode of transport, the Ministry of Urban Development has asked metropolitan cities to consider re-introducing trams. The ministry suggested that trams could be introduced along Bus Rapid Transit corridors.

The damaged internal roads and waterlogging inside the solid waste treatment plant are hampering the clearing of accumulated waste and fertiliser at Brahmapuram Municipal Solid Waste Treatment plant of the Kochi Corporation.

Water from the nearby water body is reaching the floor of the plant and soaking the waste. A temporary bund has been constructed for preventing water incursion. When it rains, the rain water too spreads dampness on the waste, making the processing nearly impossible, said the officials of the agency which took up the assignment to run the plant.

After repeated squabbles with the civic administration over desilting of the Mithi river, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has now sent an ultimatum to the BMC that it will be doing the desilting work this year for the last time.

Both agencies have been at loggerheads for the past seven years over the desilting of a six-km stretch of the Mithi river, resulting in a delay in desilting and waterlogging in areas around that patch.

New Delhi: Continuing uncertainty over the fate of numerous parking projects has become a cause of concern for not only vehicle users but also the city’s planners. While there are plans to raise parking fees in the city, only one of the 41 multi-level parking projects conceived by the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi has been made operational so far, and work on 24 is yet to start.

AHMEDABAD: Between January and April last year, there were close to 550 malaria cases in the city. This year during the same period there are more than 1,600 malaria cases - a number that is alarming considering the fact that these cases have surfaced way ahead before the onset of monsoons. The state health department and the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation ( AMC) have now sought help from the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP), Delhi and National Institute of Malaria Research in Nadiad to tackle the problem.

Six automated parking facilities based on public-private partnerships planned in various parts of South Delhi are yet to see the light of day. Work has not started on the facilities in Greater Kailash-1, Lajpat Nagar, Defence Colony, South Extension – I and II, Kamla Nagar and Rani Bagh despite tenders for some of these facilities being called as early as 2007.

MUMBAI: To get residents to take up rainwater harvesting, BMC officials will begin visiting housing societies and urge them to implement the project in their colonies. The civic body also plans to put up hoardings, advertisements and start awareness campaigns regarding the system. Besides, it has also introduced property tax rebates and water tax rebates for those building that have implemented rainwater harvesting.

LUCKNOW: Faced with a host of complaints pertaining to drainage and sewerage works executed under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), the Lucknow Municipal Corporation on Monday decided to get the works examined by a technical agency. Municipal commissioner NP Singh said that if possible the works will be examined under the technical guidance of experts from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K).

The plan to convert vast swathes of no development zone (NDZ) in the coastal regions of Gorai, Manori and Uttan into a Tourism Development Zone has come in for severe criticism from activists, who have suggested that the belt be opened up for creation of affordable housing instead.

The Urban Design Research Institute (UDRI) has written to the Chief Minister, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) commissioner and the principal secretary of the state urban development department about the ‘flawed’ policy that is currently under consideration.