Trivandrum Projects/Cityscapes II

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[sudheeshnairs]

Finance Dept nod for land acquisition for Techno City

Saturday November 5 2005 11:24 IST

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The chances of the state getting a world-class knowledge township have brightened with the Finance Department finally clearing the proposal for the acquisition of 500 acres of land near the Technopark here for setting up a Rs 1500-crore Techno City.

The Techno City project envisages the development of 500 acres of land near Pallippuram near Technopark into a self-sufficient township catering to the needs of techies working in IT-related companies in the Techno City.

The major reason for the Finance Department’s opposition to the land acquisition for the project was that the average value of land fixed by Technopark in its proposal was unrealistic and may invite legal problems and financial liability to the government.

The average value of land for a cent was fixed at Rs 15,000 in the proposal. Sources said that unlike the controversial Smart City project, the Techno City project is being conceived as a public-private participation venture.

A global tender will be floated soon to selected potential investors who will help the Technopark to make the Techno City project a reality.

WHAT THE TECHNO CITY MEANS

** A self-sufficient township where techies can fulfill their professional and individual needs such as the following.

** IT and IT-enabled companies.

** Housing facilities.

** Shopping malls.

** Recreation centres.

** Educational institutions.

** Banking facilities.

** Entertainment facilities.

** Hotels and restaurants.

[Ajaypp]

Thank you one and all for your support!!! And such great news to kick off this thread. Hope we have lots more such encouraging things to report in Thread V. Stay tuned!!!

[sumesh]

VKV, the technopark with rainbow in the horizon was unambiguously vibrant...The next picture with sun setting behind the high rise of Techno park with golden-yellow luminance was a treat for the eye!! Really astonished to see all those magnificent snaps....keep posting....Happy to see that we are on the fifth thread....

[Ajaypp]

The Hindu, Nov 6 - 2005

V.J. Jayakumar, CEO of Technopark, said a Technocity is being planned in Thiruvananthapuram. It is envisaged to be developed in an area of 500 acres with private partnership. To be located about 5 km from the present Technopark, the Technocity will have IT park, biotech park, hospitals, schools and residential complexes. Centre for Nanotechnology may also be part of the project. He said that a memorandum of understanding has been signed for setting up a National Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Enterprise at the Technopark. There were also plans to set up IT parks in Thrissur, Kottayam and other district at a later stage, he said.

[Ajaypp]

The Hindu, Nov 7 - 2005

Come, ride the surf in Kovalam soon S. Anil Radhakrishnan

Kovalam: Kerala Tourism has come up with a Rs.4.05-crore project to set up a pilot multi-purpose submerged artificial surf reef with the capacity to change the nature of waves on the Eve's Beach and to make the beach resort the country's premier surfing destination.

Tan-seekers arriving from all over the world, who have now to be content with swimming, can look forward to water sports such as surfing, wave riding, scuba diving, snorkelling, boating and water skiing once the surf reef is set up. Tourism officials feel that they can tap the huge potential for recreational tourism with surfing and wave riding that are now a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide.

Protecting the beach -

The project has been envisaged with a view to developing tourism and attracting tourists to Kovalam throughout the year. The beach is in existence only for six months of the year and for the remaining six-month monsoon period the beach undergoes severe erosion. Once the multipurpose artificial surf reef is commissioned, Kovalam will be the first centre for surfing and other wave-riding sports in the country.

Besides, the reef will enable stabilisation of the beach and generation of a wider beach. The wave activity at the beach resort can be controlled for the benefit and safety of the swimmers during the monsoon.

Fishing activities, particularly those using the traditional methods, can be extended for the benefit of fishermen and tourists. Seawalls constructed for coastal protection do not achieve the objectives. Normal breakwaters though can fulfil some of the objectives, but they are unsafe and un-aesthetic, especially in tourist destinations such as Kovalam.

The reef -

The 500-metre-long reef, to be made out of giant non-woven geotextile bags filled with sand, will remain submerged with its crest remaining just below the low-tide level. To be placed 200 metres away from the Eve's beach on the seabed at a depth of 3-7 metres, it will block all waves having a height of more than one metre leaving only small waves to wash ashore.

When the reef is constructed, a fairly tranquil basin will be created for the fishing boats. It will function as a small harbour area and the fishermen can take their boats out through the surf zone. The reef will provide excellent foundation for ecosystem with a diversity of flora and fauna and thereby attract more fishes to the locality. Further, multi-purpose reefs bring 10 to 80 times their full construction cost back to the community.

The Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment will fund the model studies and design estimated to cost Rs.20 lakhs. Kerala Tourism, the Centre for Earth Science Studies and the Department of Harbour Engineering will be the implementing agencies for the project.

It has been pointed out that such reefs can be constructed in other tourist locations such as South Eve's beach, Kovalam bay, Panathura and Varkala. The reef can also protect the other severely eroding coasts and can help in the formation of the beaches.

The offshore technology has been found successful in Australia, Indonesia, the U.S., the U.K. and New Zealand. The technology is best suited in sandy beaches where the tidal range is less than three metres. The Kerala coast has a tidal range of around one metre.

[sudheeshnairs]

The sky is a little touched up in this image...

It covers a wider angle, with NILA, Park Centre, Chandragiri, Mrithupanya etc.

[sudheeshnairs]

Now it houses Kerala Institute of Travel & Tourism Studies (KITTS)

[Ajaypp]

Awesome pix, Sudheesh! The one of TP is especially stunning. Keep posting!

[Ajaypp]

The historic Residency building looks imposing doesn't it?

Originally Posted by sudheeshnairs

Now it houses Kerala Institute of Travel & Tourism Studies (KITTS)

[Ajaypp]

Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd (VISL) - the GoK formed SPV to implement the Vizhinjam project - has completed internal evaluation of the Technical Bids made by the two competing consortia - Gammon India Ltd and China Harbour Engineering Company. The bids will now be cleared by the original technical consultants - L&T Ramboll -and then the evaluation of the Financial bids will commence. It's expected that the final results will be out by end of this year.

Gammon India is one of the leading construction firms in India and the top player in the ports, marine infra and heavy foundations sector. China Harbour Engineering Co. is a leading international player in port construction and operation, having built hundreds of berths, including the world-class ports at Shanghai and Hongkong.

With the announcement by leading shipping lines like CP and Maersk that they will soon deploy 4,500 TEU ships to service the Indian market, Vizhinjam has gained even more urgency. It will be the only port capable of handling these and bigger ships, without any dredging. With a natural draft of 18m, Vizhinjam can handle even 8000 TEU vessels (still under construction) with ease while other Indian ports will be left high and dry, even with costly dredging!

[Ajaypp]

In this frame, we can clearly see the demarcation between two levels of the seabed off Vizhinjam. The darker blue in the foreground is deeper water. At Vizhinjam, the water just a few hundred metres offshore is 18 m deep. Compare this to the draft of current Indian ports like Mumbai, Vizag, Chennai, Kolkata, Kandla or Cochin, which struggle to maintain 12 m even with extensive dredging. One kilometer off the coast at Vizhinjam, the bottom drops off to a whopping 23 m, as we can see in the image. This is deep enough to accomodate the biggest ships afloat! Also, the area experiences minimal littoral (sediment) drift, and hence does not require maintenance dredging. Amazing how dumb our netas and babus are to focus their attention elsewhere...fortunately things are finally changing!

[sudheeshnairs]

[Ajaypp]

This looks like Taj Green Cove, a 6 star beach resort and one of 3 Taj Hotels in Trivandrum. Other than its own private beach and lagoon, this luxury property also has floating cottages (the circular structures visible on the water?) and a floating restaurant.

[sudheeshnairs]

[chandrurajan]

View From Residency Tower

[rajkrish]

Hi Sudheesh,
This looks impressive. It is coming up in Vellayambalam. rite?. And there is some news. Skyline builders is planning to construct an IT park along the by-pass.Heard that they have acquired 8 acres of land near the General Motors showroom and will be constructing 2 buildings. Will try to get more details and possibly perspective of the proposed buildings

Meanwhile has any one got an idea about the Shopper's Stop outlet, Aakkulam International convention centre, L&T's IT Park.
regards,
Rajesh

Originally Posted by sudheeshnairs

[ramkumar]

Originally Posted by sudheeshnairs

The sky is a little touched up in this image...

It covers a wider angle, with NILA, Park Centre, Chandragiri, Mrithupanya etc.

Sudheesh ....... that's an amazing picture of Technopark..... NO wonder its has become the Greenest and one of the largest IT parks in India....!!!



Sudheesh,
Can you help me out to identify this building?

[sudheeshnairs]

Ram, it is 'Horizon Park', by SI Properties..

It is a 15 floor apartment, at Althara road, Vellayambalam.

You can also see its twin block under construction by the side...

Originally Posted by ramkumar

Sudheesh,
Can you help me out to identify this building?

[sudheeshnairs]

Hi Rajkrish, No that building is coming up in Jawahar Nagar, in the midst of Skyline, SI and B Canti apartments..

Yes, you heard it right...Skyline is coming up with a mega project along the NH Bypass, it is not an IT structure alone, will be of mixed use, residential, commercial and IT. This would be the biggest residential project ever undertaken in Kerala, with some 10 lakh sft of homes in about 600+ apartment units.... There would be some 6-8 towers....The plot has a highway frontage of more than 300 metres and extends from the compound wall of the MGM Central School and right up to the next junction where the 'Infosys' campus is coming..

The project is in the preliminary design stages only, and hope I would be able to post in SSC soon....

The land acquisition of 100 acres will be complete by Jan 2006 only, so L&T's project would be finalised after that...

Regarding Shopper stop, I am not much informed about the status. Infact Mr. Ashwin Babbar, Manager-Business Development of that group had come down here for scouting about 15 acres of land and I had met a couple of people from his team, some months ago..Anyway Rahejas, the group behind the Shoppers stop are bidding for the Convention Centre as well as the Technopark Phase III

Sudheesh.

Originally Posted by rajkrish

Hi Sudheesh,
This looks impressive. It is coming up in Vellayambalam. rite?. And there is some news. Skyline builders is planning to construct an IT park along the by-pass.Heard that they have acquired 8 acres of land near the General Motors showroom and will be constructing 2 buildings. Will try to get more details and possibly perspective of the proposed buildings

Meanwhile has any one got an idea about the Shopper's Stop outlet, Aakkulam International convention centre, L&T's IT Park.
regards,
Rajesh