Yancheng of Jiangsu province, one of the three major cities involved in the province's coastal development plan, views the ecological system as its most important strategic resource and insists that economic development should not come at the cost of the environment and ecology, said Zhao Peng, Party Secretary of Yancheng.

The Union Ministry of Surface Road Transport and Highways has declared two roads of Assam, linking neighbouring states Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, as National Highways.

The highways starting from Tinsukia on NH15, connecting Naharkatia and Hukanjuri of Assam and terminating at Khonsa on NH215 in Arunachal Pradesh has been declared as NH315(A) and the other highway starts from Srirampur on NH27, connecting Phulbari, Tura, Rongram, Ronjeng and terminating at Nongston on NH106 in Meghalaya has been declared as NH127(B), an official release said here on Thursday.

LUCKNOW: The Upper Ganga Canal Expressway, an ambitious projects of the Mayawati government, proposed during the fag end of the regime, has hit a roadblock. The Union ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) has sought a clarification from the state government on the project. And work on the project is yet to be started.

Delay in land acquisition is proving to be a stumbling block in expediting road projects as 16 schemes worth about Rs 15,000 crore are stalled due to it.
“Sixteen major highway projects in four states entailing about Rs 15,000 crore investment are stalled due to inordinate delays in land acquisition,” a road transport and highways ministry official told PTI.

No parking on arterial roads, but only at designated spots

Soon, parking vehicles on the arterial roads of the City’s central business district (CBD) may be a costly affair. By restricting the parking to designated locations and fixing fees for the same, the government proposes to decongest the major thoroughfares, thereby eliminating traffic bottlenecks. The Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) is preparing a parking action plan for the CBD in association with BBMP. To begin with, parking will be banned on the arterial roads of the City.

Union environment and forest ministry has objected to former Uttar Pradesh CM Mayawati’s ambitious 147.8 km-long Upper Ganga Canal Expressway project, saying it involves 760 hectare of forest area. The ministry has questioned the purpose of the Rs 8,000 crore project. The Upper Ganga Canal has NH 58 parallel to it more than a km away. Besides, a road also exists on its left parallel to the canal. But the Mayawati government emphasized the need for the expressway saying the “roads get crowded during the movement of kawariyas’’.

The World Bank has agreed to provide US$ 314 million (approximately 37 billion rupees) for Sri Lanka to develop education and urban development sectors in order to meet new challenges of the 21st century, the Ministry of Financial and Planning said.

The government has requested the World Bank for funds to expedite development programs which have already been formulated in the education and urban development sectors with foreign assistance.

MUMBAI: Western Railway (WR) has geared up for the monsoon by carrying out cleaning of culverts, desilting drains, increasing the level of tracks and identifying flood-prone spots. "We have indentified flood-prone areas. We will pay more attention to these sections near Marine Lines, Charni Road, Grant Road, Mumbai Central, Elphinstone Road, Dadar, Mahim, Andheri, Jogeshwari and Nalasopara-Virar," said WR chief public relations officer Sharat Chandrayan.

New Delhi: After missing several deadlines, the New Delhi Municipal Council’s multilevel parking lot at Baba Kharak Singh (BKS) Marg was opened to public on Tuesday evening. During the trial run, DLF— the private concessionaire responsible for the construction and operation of the parking lot — has decided to provide parking free of cost. The parking was made operational after NDMC gave the completion certificate on Monday.

Bihar has set out to match Mumbai with its own version of the Marine Drive. The 21.5km Ganga Path, coming up in Patna by June 2015, will be one of the country’s biggest public-private-partnership projects at an estimated cost of Rs 2,234.46 crore. The Bihar State Road Development Corporation will in November finalise one of six leading construction companies that it has shortlisted. The government has signed a deal with Transparency International to ensure transparency in the bidding process.