Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
The Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation (CSMC) municipal commissioner, G Sreekanth, has instructed a Pune-based private agency to draft a proposal for constructing ‘Utility Ducts’ on a build-operate and transfer (BoT) basis.
The city was developed and maintained clean and beautiful during the G20 delegation visit. However, the removal of paver blocks, and the digging of roads for small development works, became frequent. To prevent this damage in future, the construction of a multi-layered utility duct on the side of each road is the permanent solution for it. Hence the civic chief told the agency to prepare the proposal and also instructed his civic subordinates to constitute a committee at the office level.
It may be noted that the service duct will help in spreading or laying the underground network of cables, gas pipelines and internet cables. In addition, there is no need to damage the road or remove paver blocks while undertaking development works.
It so happened that the officials of the Pune-based agency Watmov Engineering Private Limited gave a presentation to the civic chief at the Smart City Office in the morning. He then told them to implement it in the city on a BoT basis and submit a fresh proposal. Meanwhile, municipal officers have been told to form a committee to check the rules, business module, royalty and design of the ducts.
The officials from MSEDCL and BSNL offices and private cable operators or internet service providers will be invited in the next meeting. The civic chief said, “Every year, MSEDCL cuts branches of trees falling on the power cables. Private cable operators and internet service-providing agencies also illegally lay their cables. All these practices would be a thing of the past after the construction of ducts.