Navi Mumbai Cityscapes

[Suncity]

Originally Posted by ViMo

Are the navi mumbai stations clean and tidy? I know a couple of them under construction are of pretty modern design! Hopefully, they'll run newer trains on them! Anyways, the best for Navi Mumbai is not to follow it's bigger brother Mumbai!

The last time I saw them, they were clean. They had given out the maintenance to private companies and not to Indian Railways staff.

They are really swank compared to other railway stations and also the airport.

[kshatriya]

Originally Posted by Suncity

2001

Did you take any snaps of the skyline, city etc..? I'll be surprised if you didn't.

[kshatriya]

Originally Posted by ViMo

Are the navi mumbai stations clean and tidy? I know a couple of them under construction are of pretty modern design! Hopefully, they'll run newer trains on them! Anyways, the best for Navi Mumbai is not to follow it's bigger brother Mumbai!

They are clean and well maintained. Look in the other Navi Mumbai thread I've posted some pics Kharghar station. That should give you an idea of how all railway stations generally are....You can feel the difference when you come back to Mumbai! Yes hopefully they'll run newer trains, those old EMU's are the only sore point.

[centralized pandemonium]

Wow, nice pics. never thought NM would be so clean .NM's stations are also so clean. why don't they do the same with Mumbai's local stations. I hope NM doesen't get messed up like Mumbai. And to make it a "Shenzen", the govt authorities shouldn't allow slums to take root in the city. And they should really build a landmark for NM. like a "Gateway of Navi Mumbai". NM could become a "Showcase City" for India. Anyway, keep it coming.

[Suncity]

Originally Posted by kshatriya

Did you take any snaps of the skyline, city etc..? I'll be surprised if you didn't.

That's the tragedy. I thought I would experiment with a video camera instead. It came out bad (inexperience and shaking hands). The stills from the video are even worse. I have gotten better at it now although I hardly use it - its so cumbersome. I prefer the digital camera now. I hope to visit Mumbai in 2006 for a few days and maybe those Tardeo towers will be completed by then. Unfortunately I am not professional.

BTW why don't you get us some nice Mumbai pics.. You will be off from there in a few weeks I guess.

[kshatriya]

Originally Posted by Suncity

That's the tragedy. I thought I would experiment with a video camera instead. It came out bad (inexperience and shaking hands). The stills from the video are even worse. I have gotten better at it now although I hardly use it - its so cumbersome. I prefer the digital camera now. I hope to visit Mumbai in 2006 for a few days and maybe those Tardeo towers will be completed by then. Unfortunately I am not professional.

BTW why don't you get us some nice Mumbai pics.. You will be off from there in a few weeks I guess.

This is the worst time ever to take photos of Mumbai.....

[kshatriya]

Vashi station gears up for Thane-Turbhe line

By: Rajendra Aklekar
August 20, 2004


Vashi station is getting ready to welcome the much-awaited Thane-Turbhe line. Tubelights and new indicators have been installed on platform one which is currently not in use. The tracks have been welded and signal boxes have been activated.

All this has raised the hopes of commuters who go to Thane. They currently have to commute backwards to Kurla to catch a main line Central Railway train or take a bus ride on bumpy roads.

Even senior railway officials, who were in Navi Mumbai to inspect the progress of the work, say that the line will be ‘up and running’ soon.

“We are examining the final touches being given to the railway tracks. The Railways will complete the work in a month’s time, after which the line should be open for passenger traffic,” says a senior official from Central Railway.

The officials took a trial run along the Thane-Turbhe line and visited a number of stations along the line to check the facilities.

Images


Central Railway officials inspecting the line at Vashi station


The tracks being laid for the Thane-Turbhe line at Vashi station

Commuters say the line will be a boon

NG Prakash
Resident of Mumbra
“This service between Thane and Vashi will be a big boon. I would love to avoid the Thane-Belapur Road which is full of potholes and is time-consuming.”

Shankar Keshav Gaikar
Resident of 15, Antara CHS, Koparkhairane
“I have been hearing about this for a long time. But now the railway is actually working on it and things are falling in place. I am awaiting the opening.”

Sharath Kumar Bhal
Resident of Kopri Village, Vashi
“We have been hearing about this since a very long time. Let the train service actually begin. Then only will I comment.”

[Suncity]

This will be great!!!

[Suncity]

Originally Posted by kshatriya

This is the worst time ever to take photos of Mumbai.....

I know, with all those rains, clouds and mess...

Okay, when you visit your folks during vacations..

[kshatriya]

Originally Posted by Suncity

This will be great!!!

Yeah, about time too.....

[Hindustani]

Palm Beach Expressway, Mumbai-Navi Mumbai.




A city and its builder

A CORRESPONDENT

Navi Mumbai, the alternative city created on the mainland to decongest Mumbai, has begun to attract businesses and families, and its builder, CIDCO, has recorded remarkable growth.



THE most ambitious plan to decongest Mumbai was the one to create Navi Mumbai (New Mumbai), an alternative urban settlement on the mainland that would remain accessible to the island city. Conceived in the 1970s, Navi Mumbai was seen as the answer to many of Mumbai's problems. This was to be a city that would contain all that Mumbai offered but would be clean, orderly, efficient and well-planned. The plan was to motivate businesses in Mumbai, which were finding it increasingly difficult to expand, to move to this 21st century city. The expectation was that Mumbai, which was bursting at its seams, would get decongested and concentrate on redeveloping itself. Unfortunately, the incentives to move just did not add up enough for the businesses to relocate. Mumbai has a charm like no other city.





The Palm Beach expressway developed by CIDCO in Navi Mumbai.

For many years after it was created, Navi Mumbai wore a somewhat desolate look. The huge chrome and stone suburban railway stations, which were designed to cater to the well-heeled corporate crowd, were barely used. And the broad roads and high-tech buildings started looking a little run down. But with the construction of residential complexes, Navi Mumbai has now come alive and has begun to draw a significant amount of interest from the very people that once shunned it.

The City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Limited (CIDCO) is singularly responsible for Navi Mumbai's success. CIDCO was formed with the aim of creating a counter-magnet to Mumbai. And that is exactly what it is in the process of accomplishing. To begin with, the Government of Maharashtra acquired 344 square kilometres of land on the mainland across Thane Creek and handed it over to CIDCO to create 14 nodes. Indicative of CIDCO's success in the venture is the fact that from a body with an initial subscribed capital of Rs.3.95 crores it has grown to one with a staggering Rs.600 crores-plus annual turnover. Its total investment in city building projects today is to the tune of Rs.7,972 crores.





Vinay Mohan Lal, Chairman of CIDCO.

Owing to CIDCO's meticulous planning, Navi Mumbai today has 1.3 million people who opted to relocate to its pleasant environs. Sixty-seven per cent of these families live in ownership houses and 74 per cent reside in CIDCO houses. Of the working population, 63 per cent is employed within the city, with 60 per cent engaged in office-oriented jobs. Seventy-five per cent of the residents are "fully satisfied with the various social facilities, especially the educational facilities," says CIDCO Chairman Vinay Mohan Lal.

Quality housing at affordable prices has been CIDCO's main aim and this has become its key selling point. Housing in Navi Mumbai is available for people of every income group, including the affluent non-resident Indians (NRIs). One of the main reasons why houses in Navi Mumbai became popular is that CIDCO provided land at concessional prices for educational establishments. "Good schools and colleges are sought after, and many Mumbai families have found that the new township has met their demands in more ways than one,'' Vinay Mohan Lal told Frontline. "Moreover, the roads never get flooded and the environment is clean. People have realised the merits of this area.''

With regard to civic amenities such as water and power supply and waste disposal, the planners have taken care to provide independent facilities for each node. For instance, aerated lagoon-type sewerage treatment plants have been developed for each node and the effluent discharge conforms to the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board standards. Reliable and adequate power supply has been provided to the city, keeping in mind future needs. Similarly, water supply systems have been developed with prudence. Potable water is supplied in abundance; distribution networks with storage tanks have been established in each node.

For those who still have to commute to Mumbai, CIDCO has kept its commitment of setting up a mass rapid transit system covering 200 km, spread over six rail corridors and 30 stations. The corridors connect Navi Mumbai with Mumbai and Thane. The Mankhurd-Panvel rail corridor has been commissioned. This would be one of the biggest rail projects post-Independence, says Mohan Lal. The initiative to promote water transport between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai was aborted owing to some internal problems. The idea was to operate hovercraft services between the Gateway of India and Belapur, which would cater to south Mumbai businesses. Efforts are on to resume the services.

According to Mohan Lal, the city's progress is based on economic centres. In the heart of the city, a central business district has been developed on 575 hectares. "It is 20 times larger than Nariman Point, the central business district area in south Mumbai," the Chairman said. There are already several economic and government administrative activities concentrated in the area. The Reserve Bank of India, nationalised banks, the Konkan Bhavan, the Cotton Corporation of India and the Konkan Railway have offices there.

The "New Millennium City'' in Navi Mumbai is becoming popular. It forms a major part of the "Knowledge Corridor'' that spans Mumbai and Pune. One of the first projects of CIDCO after it created Navi Mumbai was to build the International Infotech Park at Vashi and the International Technology Park at Belapur. Both are well-equipped Information Technology centres. "The jewel of Navi Mumbai's IT sector is Reliance Infocom's Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City at Koparkhairane,'' says Mohan Lal. The IT companies in Navi Mumbai include Wipro Ltd, CMC, Tata Consultancy Services, Aptech, Track Mail, ICICI Infotech and PCS.






After creating a modern-day city, CIDCO is now moving on to other ventures. The Navi Mumbai Special Economic Zone (NMSEZ) and a new international airport are two of its latest projects. NMSEZ, says Mohan Lal, is a deemed foreign territory for the purposes of trade operations, duties and tariffs. "It reflects the latest and perhaps the finest thinking so far on India's export policy and may even present the future of industrial development strategy." The Government of India (GoI) gave its approval in May 2000 for setting up a Special Export Zone (SEZ) in Navi Mumbai and asked the Government of Maharashtra (GoM) to fulfil the criteria laid down in the EXIM policy. The GoM prepared a detailed policy directive regarding the various incentives applicable to SEZs set up in Maharashtra. Incidentally, Maharashtra is the first State to announce such a policy. The GoI granted formal approval to the project in 2002. The GoM then appointed CIDCO as the nodal agency for implementing the NMSEZ project.

A task force was created within CIDCO to implement the SEZ project, in January 2001. The total project area is approximately 4,377 ha. Of this, 1,850 ha is in the Regional Park Zone and is meant for low-intensity development such as housing, golf courses and entertainment facilities. The remaining area of approximately 2,527 ha is meant for industrial activity. About 95 per cent of this land is already in CIDCO's possession.

While Mumbai's Sahar airport is able to handle most of the international air traffic, building a second international airport in Navi Mumbai has become necessary to ease the pressure. CIDCO has reserved land for the project at a strategic location, easily accessible by all modes of transport. After it gets the clearance from the Union Cabinet, CIDCO will undertake work on the airport project. "We aim to complete both the SEZ and the airport by 2007," Mohan Lal says.

Over the past three decades CIDCO, has expanded its horizons beyond Navi Mumbai. It has taken up similar tasks elsewhere in Maharashtra, at New Aurangabad, New Nanded, New Nashik, Waluj Mahanagar, Meghboot-New Nagpir Oras and Vasai-Virar. Having become a premier infrastructure development agency, it has also undertaken consultancy in infrastructure development and planning in Kerala, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh

[kshatriya]

Palm Beach Expressway....

The expressway looks so good. It is like being in a first world country. Keep it up Navi Mumbai. I hope this becomes city acquires a skyline like that of NYC.

[Suncity]

more information about a project I had posted earlier. This is really interesting.

How do you plan an entire housing complex so that each an every home gets an unimpeded view of the sea?



Palm Beach Residency, being constructed by Vijay Associates (Wadhwa Developers) on the 12.5-km-long Palm Beach Road at Navi Mumbai, has been designed to be one of the widest residential project in the country, running a length of almost 360 metres and a peripheral face of over 2,745 metres.

This has ensured that all apartments have a sea view, with natural light and fresh westerly breeze.

The 792 two- and three-bedroom apartments have been planned in a smooth interceded arc designed to canalise wind flow.

The building has a host of automation systems that monitor key functions like water level, besides giving residents Electronic Access Control a Digital Home Server Display that will photograph visitors.

External lighting is controlled by a sensor that requires no human intervention.

[Suncity]

NeelSidhi Towers (2 towers - 17 storeys)
Plot No. - 195, Sector-12, Vashi,
Navi Mumbai.



For a larger pic http://www.neelsidhi.com/images/bldg...dhi_towers.jpg

Completed

Balaji Garden
Sector - 11, Koperkhairane,
Navi Mumbai.



Balaji Aangan
Plot No. I-1, Sector - 3, Kharghar,
Opp. Kharghar Railway Station,
Navi Mumbai.

[kshatriya]

Originally Posted by Suncity

more information about a project I had posted earlier. This is really interesting.

How do you plan an entire housing complex so that each an every home gets an unimpeded view of the sea?



Palm Beach Residency, being constructed by Vijay Associates (Wadhwa Developers) on the 12.5-km-long Palm Beach Road at Navi Mumbai, has been designed to be one of the widest residential project in the country, running a length of almost 360 metres and a peripheral face of over 2,745 metres.

This has ensured that all apartments have a sea view, with natural light and fresh westerly breeze.

The 792 two- and three-bedroom apartments have been planned in a smooth interceded arc designed to canalise wind flow.

The building has a host of automation systems that monitor key functions like water level, besides giving residents Electronic Access Control a Digital Home Server Display that will photograph visitors.

External lighting is controlled by a sensor that requires no human intervention.

Another report

India's longest building in Navi Mumbai
By: Gigil Verghese
December 4, 2004
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Work began three months ago in Navi Mumbai on what will be — at 360 metres — India's longest residential building.

The Palm Beach Residency will be as long as an 18-coach train (most outstation trains) and stand 23 floors high on Palm Beach Road, Navi Mumbai.

Currently, India’s longest building, according to the Limca Book of ecords, is the 180-metre Lake Castle of the Hiranandani Group, designed by Hafeez Contractor.

The building will have nine interlinked wings and contain 792 two and three-bedroom flats. The developer, Sanjay Chhabria of Vijay Associates (Wadhwa) Developers, said, “We did not want to make or break any record. We just wanted to ensure that each buyer got an unrestricted view of the sea.”

Another reason developers prefer (space permitting, of course) long buildings over skyscrapers is that they can avoid the mandatory space that they would need to leave between adjoining towers.

“This way, they can make full use of the FSI (floor space index) available,” said architect Mukesh Mehta.

The project began three months ago and is expected to be completed in 30 months. The rate will be about Rs 2,500 per sq ft.

Lambi race ka ghoda

360
The length, in metres, of the Palm Beach Residency

23
The number of floors it will have

792
The number of flats it will contain

80
The cost of construction, in crores of rupees

2.5
The time, in years, to completion (building began 3 months ago)

2,500
Likely rate per square foot


Now personally I like these towers, but I wish they were taller really, like they could've made another two SD towers in palm beach. But this will look good anywayz....

[drwho]

this will sure look nice..will change the navi-mumbai skyline

i guess it is photo-session in 2006 then

[ViMo]

Man, you can sure get a lot of value for your buck in the indian construction industry! 800 apartments @ 80 crores only, with a lot of interesting and intelligent features. It's like 15 million USD, and for this money you can't even construct 80 apartments in Sweden.

Even the elite SD project is not projected to cost more than 2 billion rupees. That's not even more than 45 million USD, and yet we'll be getting India's tallest twins with that sort of money. I am confounded that apart from labor, what else is cheap in the indian construction industry? Surely, it cannot be the real estate, because cities like Mumbai and Delhi are the costliest, even by International standards! And on top of that, you have companies using costly imported floorings, tilings and toileteries. And now, you also have projects with multilayer parking, rainwater harvesting, intelligent building features and what not....

[MachuPichu]

I currently have an office in Andheri, Mumbai with plenty of financial analysts working for me. Check us out at www.aranca.com, a financial research outsourcing firm.

Do you guys think that it'd be better for me to move my delivery center to Navi Mumbai? Looks like its got plenty of potential. How is the IT connectivity infrastructure and ambience for office spaces, esp. for financial researchers who would like to work in noise-free, good quality air, short-commute, intellectually-stimulating environment?

Thanks.

[Suncity]

Originally Posted by MachuPichu

Do you guys think that it'd be better for me to move my delivery center to Navi Mumbai? Looks like its got plenty of potential. How is the IT connectivity infrastructure and ambience for office spaces, esp. for financial researchers who would like to work in noise-free, good quality air, short-commute, intellectually-stimulating environment? Thanks.

That's a decision you will have to make. Navi Mumbai is a nice place to stay and work.

White House, Plot No - 10, Sector -19A,
Nerul, Navi Mumbai