Every household and commercial unit will have to pay a fixed charge every month whether or not they choose to give garbage to the collector

This was my first ever opportunity to witness a live discussion in the General House meeting of the Municipal Corporation Chandigarh (MCC). Monday’s meeting was a special one convened to share with the House the outcome of three study tours conducted by the councillors and senior officials of the best practices of the municipal corporations of Pune, Mumbai and Vishakhapatnam. I must say I came out impressed. Unlike the general public perception that such tours are mere junkets in which the member of the delegations just enjoy themselves at the expense of tax-payers’ money, the detailed presentations made by officials were worth applauding.

PHOTOS BY: LIFE IN CHANDIGARH

Even opposition Congress councillor in the near all BJP House, Mr. Devinder Singh Babla was highly appreciative of the best practices of these corporations gathered during the study tours. “I have been part of and privy to several such study tours ever since the inception of the municipal corporation in 1996, but I have no hesitation in admitting that these were more to do with availing five-star hospitality. But this time the officials and councillors appear to have done a thorough job in  the interests of the municipal corporation.” His appreciation, expectedly, received a round of applause.

The councillors cutting across party lines were all eyes and ears as the presentations unfolded. Former Mayor Mr. Arun Sood, who was part of the study tour to Pune, was most indulgent with his observations and suggestions, as councillors were seen intervening to put across their positive views during the course of the presentations.

Listing out the several takeaways from the study tours, which the MCC is now readying to replicate in Chandigarh, Commissioner of the corporation, Mr. B Purushartha said under the next stage of   nationwide Swachh Bharat campaign beginning from June 5 the entire municipal limits will be covered by an awareness drive on house to house collection of garbage. It is proposed to make house to house garbage collection mandatory for all residents, and charges for various categories of domestic and commercial units are expected to be finalised in the next House meeting. The awareness campaign will continue till October, he added.

He said every household and commercial unit will be required to collect its dry and wet waste in two separate containers of blue and green colour. The garbage collectors on their part will also take the segregated waste in separate containers. A separate vermi composting plant is also being planned at the dumping ground site for this purpose, he added.

The commissioner said software was being developed for the estate office for the purpose of single window clearance for building plans which can be submitted online for the convenience of residents. The same will be replicated by the municipal corporation for villages falling in its jurisdiction, he said, adding that all NOCs will automatically be taken care of in the single window system and applicants need not run around to get these NOCs.

Admitting that as of now not a single of the 30 odd services offered by the corporation were fully available online, he said as a first step 8 modules had been identified in which most essential services, including booking of community centres, etc, will be made available online. Work on this is being taken up in right earnest, he said.

Mr Purushartha while pointing out that all the sewer and water pipelines in the city had become worn out and urgently needed replacement, said Chandigarh needed funds to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore during the next two years to be able to provide top class facilities to the residents. Some of these projects can be executed by the company created under the Smart City project, but it will also seek tough reforms in return to generate more revenues, he said.

Giving the example of corporations like Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai and Vishakhapatnam which had huge budgets at their command, he cautioned the House against complacency in taking hard decisions to raise more resources. Several councillors demanded that Punjab Governor and UT Chandigarh Administrator V.P. Singh Badnore be approached to ensure that the municipal corporation received its rightful share in all taxes under the Municipal Act.

Mr Sood wanted the quality of services and interface of the corporation officials with the public to come up to the expectation of the people, only then additional burden of taxation on them will be justified. He also sought a step by step approach to raising resources, so that the additional burden on the people was bearable.