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The ground work ahead of soil testing for the much-awaited Joka-Esplanade Metro has started in the Maidan area. This is a milestone for the Metro corridor that has been saddled with several missed deadlines even as it was Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s pet project.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had flagged off the project in July 2011 and planned it when she was the railway minister in 2009-10. Finally, Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), the implementing agency of the 15km Joka-Esplanade Metro or Kolkata’s Line 3, has started the process of soil testing, after getting a go-ahead from the Army, custodian of the land in and around the Maidan area.

The Metro corridor is elevated from Joka to Mominpore. But a 5.6km stretch from Mominpore till Esplanade will be underground. Five stations — Mominpore, Kidderpore, Victoria Memorial, Park Street and Esplanade — will come up along this stretch. A soil testing survey by geotechnical engineers is mandatory before deploying Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) to build the underground section. The crucial test is supposed to check the soil condition and other parameters and depending on the results, the further course of work will be planned. The soil test will also study the erosion aspect and other characteristics before the TBMs can be pressed in to dig and burrow the twin tunnels as part of the Joka-Esplanade Metro link.

Usually, a series of boreholes, each of at least 15m diameter, is drilled after certain gaps. Normally, a boring rig with an auger (drilling device) drills a borehole and a tube is driven in to collect samples, which are tested for several parameters like density, strength and resistance.

But in the case of this Metro work, the locality is Maidan, so soil samples may not be collected from the boreholes to map the strata along the alignment. Instead, a superior technology will be used to detect remotely the topography and related specifications without affecting the Maidan grounds.

A senior RVNL official said, “We are trying to use a hi-tech method so that the testing can be conducted in various locations of the proposed route without inflicting any harm on the Maidan, which is an eco-sensitive zone.”

Areas on the Maidan have been barricaded for preliminary work ahead of the main soil testing exercise. RVNL is taking an extra care to get the job done following all green rules and guidelines relating to the Maidan. Over the past few months, the agency has been conducting meetings with the Army, so issues relating to the Metro project could be ironed out and the construction could be underway.
The Metro project approved in 2010 can so far be executed till Mominpore. Beyond Mominpore, the land belongs to Army,” said a railway official. Currently, the project is chasing a mid-2022 deadline to commission the 8.5km Joka-Taratala section.

The residential property registrations in greater Kolkata in the 11-month period of 2021 stood at 40,972 units, a 79% increase in residential properties being registered on a year on year basis, as the West Bengal government has decided to levy stamp duty at the reduced rate until the end of the year.  The 2% stamp duty rebate has worked wonders for Kolkata residential real estate sector in the second half of the year and provided momentum to the residential sales with more than half (51%) of these units registered between July 2021 and November 2021,said Knight Frank India, the leading real estate consultancy in the country.

“Kolkata’s real estate market continues to benefit from the stamp duty cut window extension. Though the pace of residential property registrations slowed in November 2021, the sharp y-o-y rise since July 2021, is encouraging for both developers and buyers going forward.  Due to record-low home loan rates, discounts and stamp duty reductions, registration of mid and luxury residential property transactions in Kolkata has continued to expand at a rapid pace. The original stamp duty reduction policy, intended to boost demand for residential real estate, was supposed to last until October 30. However, despite the encouraging cumulative numbers, the month of November 2021 registered a YoY degrowth of 62% when compared with November 2020. This is the first time in the past five months that property registrations have declined YoY.

“We are hopeful that the next three months will see more deals being sealed in Kolkata’s residential segment as prices remain stable and the interest rates continue to be low. This is an opportune time for buyers to execute transactions before there is any upward revision in prices by developers as stamp duty cut window has been extended till January 31, 2022.

In terms of unit sizes, apartments up to 500 sq ft, witnessed 81% y-o-y degrowth in November 2021, which is the highest across all size brackets. Unit sizes of 501-1,000 sq ft and 1,001 sq ft and above registered 41% and 25% YoY degrowth respectively.

Whilst there has been a decline in this size bracket too, it is interesting to note that bigger apartments remained the flavour of the month even when overall volumes are low. This is also indicative of the ongoing trend of end-users leaning towards bigger apartments as witnessed since the start of the pandemic as work and study requirements take priority in home ownership preferences.

Going forward, the extension of stamp duty cut to 31st January 2022 will help channelize incremental demand in the residential real estate sector. With developers citing high input costs and intent to review selling prices, end-users are likely to take homebuying decisions while the rebate lasts.

 

The greenfield sports themed township ‘Merlin RISE- The Sports  Republic‘ will house the state of the art Football academy of Ronaldinho – R10 FOOTBALL ACADEMY; the swimming academy of Michael Phelps– ‘Michael Phelps Swimming’; India’s state of the art “MMA Matrix Training Centre’ by Tiger Shroff  and  the cricket academy of Yuvraj Singh – The Yuvraj Singh Centre of Excellence (YSCE).

Spread over a sprawling area in Rajarhat, the project is poised to develop 10,000 flats with an approximate population density of 35000 at Rajarhat Chowmatha on the six lane express highway connecting New town. The proposed township is 20.9 km  from the central  business district of Kolkata and 7.5 km from Bengal Silicon Valley. The R10 football academy and The Yuvraj Singh Centre of Excellence (YSCE) will be operational within the next 5 months. The Michael Phelps Swimming and MMA Matrix Training Centre will be active in the next one year. The Sports Township of Merlin is equipped with  a football all weather ground , where 2 matches of 5 a side and also 7 A side and 9 a side can be played at one time along with world class training to be imparted by  R10 Academy of Ronaldinho. The sports city will have Indoor nets/pitches to practice during bad weather and 2 outdoor pitches on the field with all the updated equipment and technologies to be imparted by YSCE. In Swimming  Merlin Sports township  will house a swimming pool at the rooftop of the Sports Club where  training will be provided  Under the training and programme of the G.O.A.T swimmer of the world “ Michael Fred Phelps”. The sports city will have a state of the art gymnasium with the updated equipment, proper training and diet guidance along with provision of MMA MATRIX (Mixed Martial Arts) and other facilities where one can accomplish to be the best athlete. The academies will hire international supervisors and coaches who  will  nurture the talent pool , train them and take  them to  the next level to possibly represent the state or district or nation. We will try our best to provide assistance to needy yet talented youngsters,” he adds. The first phase of the mammoth township project will witness the development of  2529  flats. Out of these, 968 apartments will be sold through lottery now. The second phase of the project will witness the launch of a multispecialty hospital, a  school  of international repute. A retail block with hypermarkets from organized retail giants  and offices with co-working space will also be there as part of the township. The township will also include facilities for other sports activities like Basketball, Badminton, squash, Table Tennis.

For booking rise.liyaans.com

The Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority (K-RERA) has made it mandatory for builders to disclose water sources for the buildings at the time of registration. The bold move was made in the interest of property buyers, and if builders fail to comply, there will be no approvals.

Builders need to register residential projects with K-RERA with all the the documents related to the project, which must be submitted online. After examining all these documents, a K- RERA registration number will be issued to them – known as a K-RERA approval.

For real estate developers, when applying, it is mandatory to obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) or the village panchayats concerned. Earlier, they would submit only an affidavit, but failed to provide a water connection. So, residents who purchased such properties ended up facing drinking water issues. Due to this, RERA has decided to give approvals only after the NOC from water boards and village panchayats.

There are high-rise apartments that have been built around BBMP limits. A BWSSB official says multi-storied buildings which come under BWSSB were given permission only after examining the availability of water. Buildings in 110 villages were informed they would get water supply only after 2023. Currently, the city is witnessing a vertical growth with hundreds of apartments being constructed in 110 villages.

K-RERA has instructed that when BWSSB or village panchayats cannot supply water, it is the responsibility of the builders to supply water through tankers or they must build overhead tanks. Most of the apartment complexes are facing water shortages and the residents’ associations are buying water from tankers. With no water source, many are drilling borewells which are fast depleting the water table. As a result, most of the borewells are dried up. Due to pollution, the water from lakes is not fit for drinking.

Currently, around 1.3 crore people living in the city are dependent on the Cauvery river for their daily drinking water needs. Around 19 TMC of water is supplied from Cauvery to the city for drinking purposes. Currently, 1,440 MLD of water is supplied to the city for drinking purposes and yet the city is facing a drinking water shortage of 650 MLD.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) on Friday invited bids for the construction of ‘Package 4’ of Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) project on a design and build basis.
The 21.8-km six-lane sea link road, MTHL will connect Sewri in Mumbai and Chirle in Navi Mumbai. Work on the project is expected to be completed in October 2023. Officials said that so far, 35 per cent to 40 per cent of civil works have been completed.

The MMRDA had obtained an Official Development Assistance loan from Japan International Cooperation to fund MTHL.

It has already awarded contracts for the three civil packages of the project covering a distance of 21.8 km.

While Package 1 consists pertains to construction of 10.38-km long bridge across the Mumbai Bay, including Sewri interchange, Package 2 comprises construction of 7.807-km long bridge across the Mumbai Bay, including Shivaji Nagar interchange.
Package 3 consists of construction of 3.613-km long viaduct, including interchanges at state highway 54 and national highway 4B near Chirle in Navi Mumbai.
“The MMRDA is now inviting sealed bids from eligible bidders for the construction of Package 4. The tender is basically for design, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of intelligent transport system, toll management, electrical works, highway and bridge streetlighting, construction of toll plazas and administrative buildings, including the command control centre,” said an official.