'City needs lake development authority'
Thursday, 21 November 2013 06:35
administrator
The New Indian Express 21.11.2013
'City needs lake development authority'
District-in-charge Minister R Ramalinga Reddy inspecting Byrasandra lake
area which will be rejuvenated by BDA at a cost of `3.65 crore.
Chickpet MLA R V Devaraj, Congress councillors Udayshankar and Manjunath
Reddy were present | Nagaraja Gadekal
District Minister R Ramalinga Reddy said there is a need for a
separate Bangalore Lake Development Authority (BLDA) to look after the
city’s lakes. The Minister was speaking after laying the foundation for
rejuvenation works of Byrasandra Lake in Jayanagar on Wednesday. BDA
is rejuvenating Byrasandra lake for Rs 3.65 crore. Reddy said though
there is a Lake Development Authority (LDA) in the state, the city needs
an exclusive authority to take care of its lakes. “Lakes are developed
by various agencies including the BDA, BBMP and Forest Department, but
they are not maintained. Therefore, there is a need for a separate
agency to monitor the overall development and maintenance of the city’s
lakes,” he added. “I shall speak to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to release more grants for developing the city’s lakes,” Ramalinga Reddy said. Reddy said Byrasandra lake was one of the oldest lakes in Bangalore. “We
had fenced the lake area. Some private agency had encroached the land
and issued khatas. Not just this, they even took loans from a bank by
mortgaging the lake’s land. Later, the resident welfare associations in
Jayanagar filed a Public-Interest Litigation (PIL) at the High Court, and after five years, it was declared as government land.” “The
lake which was earlier under the jurisdiction of the Forest Department
and BBMP has now been handed over to the BDA for maintenance. The lake
will be rejuvenated in the next few months,” the minister said.
Pune Municipal Corporation to buy fuel from six petrol pumps
Wednesday, 20 November 2013 11:09
administrator
The Times of India 20.11.2013 Pune Municipal Corporation to buy fuel from six petrol pumps
PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will be able to save at least Rs 22 lakh per month on its fuel bills as the standing committee on Tuesday allowed procurement of diesel from any six petrol pumps in the city.
"The civic administration has to identify six pumps. This move will help save at least Rs 11 per litre," said Vishal Tambe, chairman of the civic standing committee.
As per vehicle depot officials, the PMC owns 800 diesel-run vehicles that require about 2 lakh litre diesel per month. The vehicles include cars, trucks and other transport vehicles. The rate for bulk diesel is Rs 71 per litre, while at the petrol pumps it is available for Rs 60 per litre.
On January 17, the Union government decided that bulk consumers like state transport corporations, railways and defence will have to pay for diesel at a price higher than market price.
A couple of months after the announcement, the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) started purchasing fuel from petrol pumps. The PMPML, which requires 72,000 litre diesel every day, has managed to save Rs 7 lakh per day.
Sajag Nagarik Manch, a citizens group, said in October that the PMC was losing nearly Rs 22 lakh per month because of its indecision on shifting to petrol pumps.
When asked why the vehicle department took time to take a call on such an urgent matter, Kishor Pol, the head of PMC's vehicle department, said that they did not get response to tenders. "The tenders for getting fuel at cheaper price were issued twice, but suppliers did not come forward in adequate numbers. So we had not option but to wait," he said.
As per the Union government statistics, there are around 20,000 bulk diesel customers across the country. If the government gives subsidized diesel to all of them, oil companies would lose around Rs 400 crore every day.
Frugal plan
- Number of PMC vehicles 800
- Diesel required per month 2 lakh litre approx
- Current price Rs 71 per litre approx.
- After shifting to petrol pumpsRs 60 per litre approx
- Total saving About Rs 22 lakh per month
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Civic body to name road after Bal Thackeray
Saturday, 16 November 2013 10:29
administrator
The Times of India 16.11.2013
Civic body to name road after Bal Thackeray AURANGABAD:
The Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is all set to pass a
resolution on naming the Kranti Chowk - Railway Station Road after the
late Shiv Sena supremo's Bal Thackeray at its general body meeting on November 19. Shushil Khedkar, the Shiv Sena group leader in AMC
on Friday said Thackeray had always loved and admired the city and
therefore, there is a demand to name the city's first concrete road
after him. However, about 12 to 14 months back, the general body had
decided to name the road as Dr Bhapkar Marg in honour of the then
municipal commissioner Purushottam Bhapkar. During his tenure,
Bhapkar had aggressively implemented road widening works in the city and
gained popularity. He was instrumental in clearing illegal
encroachments on several roads besides acquiring legal lands coming in
the way of roads. Due to his contribution, the general body had
unanimously passed the resolution and office-bearers had started calling
the road - Dr Bhapkar Marg. However, on Friday the previous
resolution was cancelled. "According to the rules, any resolution stands
nullified if it is not implemented within three months. We do not have
to initiate the cancellation process," Khedkar said. It is a
part of the activities planned to mark the first death anniversary of
the leader on November 17. "Besides, naming the road, the civic body
will unveil a portrait of Balasaheb in the central hall and carry out
beautification at Amarpreet Hotel Chowk on Jalna Road," Khedkar said.
Majority of the corporators including those in opposition party had
also extended their support, added Khedkar. "Soon after approving the
proposal in AMC, we will send it to the state government for its green
signal," he said. Meanwhile, Gajnan Barwal, NDA leader in AMC
said there was no attempt to downplay Bhapkar's contribution in the
development of the city. "People of Aurangabad would always remember his
contribution in improving various civic amenities," he said.
The civic body is building the 2.5-km Kranti Chowk to Railway Station
Road under two different heads. A major portion of it is being built
under special funding through Thirteenth Finance Commission
while the rest AMC is spending money under deferred payment system. The
work started since February 2013 but the project has been delayed due
to several hurdles.
Last Updated on Saturday, 16 November 2013 10:31
Can BBMP be rebuilt?
Saturday, 16 November 2013 08:59
administrator
Deccan Herald 16.11.2013 Can BBMP be rebuilt?
Time seems to be ripe for a course correction in the Palike, beset with corruption and an unnerving lack of direction.
Six
years back, when the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) chose to
spread its administrative tentacles far beyond the city’s modest
boundaries, a fresh hope rose in the horizon. In one dramatic stroke,
the city had quadrupled in size, promising higher tax revenues,
professional planning and a firmer grip on the administration.
Six
years later, the progress report is a study in unbridled corruption,
blatant financial mismanagement, poor project executions and an
unnerving lack of direction. Scams surfaced with alarming regularity,
each one rivaling the previous one in its scale and audacity.
Devoid of any semblance of expertise in project
planning and implementation, the Palike fumbled ingloriously year after
year. Result: The city today lies in a shambles, its citizens trapped in
a maze of poorly designed, poorly consulted flyovers and roads, their
trust in the severely cash-strapped corporation’s capabilities at an
all-time low.
Ironical it may sound, but reformists seek a
turning back of the clock to get the BBMP back on track. And that would
mean trimming the Palike’s size to more manageable limits. Seasoned
urban planners are unanimous in their assertion that the corporation’s
woes started with its 2007 expansion.
“The resources required to
manage such a vast area have come down although the revenue generation
potential increased,” explains former chief secretary and Centre for
Sustainable Development chairman, A Ravindra.
Beyond property
tax and advertisement revenue, the Palike could not expand the base.
“The resource base of BBMP or any other municipal body is very narrow.”
But
whatever the resources, the Palike has been guilty of gross financial
mismanagement. As urban expert, V Ravichandar recalls, “We had a
fund-based accounting system that allowed for all expenses and revenue
items to be tracked at the lowest level of occurrence (eg. changing a
light bulb in 4th block, Jayanagar or ad earnings from a hoarding in the
same block) but this was allowed to lapse; there were quarterly reports
to citizen groups that have been discontinued. So opaqueness wins,
transparency loses.” Budgets, he notes, are another work of fiction.
“Fool folks with promises of crores of spend while the reality was
crores spent in salaries and servicing debt burdens.”
Downsizing Palike
Bifurcating
or even trifurcating the Palike is now high on the reformists’ agenda.
Urban experts are convinced that the merger of 100 wards of the
erstwhile Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) with seven City Municipal
Councils (CMCs), one Town Municipal Council (TMC) and 111 villages to
create the larger BBMP was a mistake. The smaller municipal bodies could
have remained as separate entities, of course with a robust
professional intervention to ensure quality administration.
Tasked
with managing the city’s critical civic infrastructure, the Palike
cannot afford to remain disconnected from other related agencies.
Para-statal city bodies such as the Bangalore Electricity Company
Limited (BESCOM), Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), the
city traffic police have a multitude of urban management functions.
Strangely,
BBMP is the only agency answerable to the public through its elected
representatives, even if many roles are outside its purview.
It
is estimated that the Palike handles only about 40 per cent of the
city’s annual expenditure on civic services and infrastructure. Besides,
the BBMP’s share of the total personnel engaged in civic works is not
even 15 per cent.
One solution, as Ravindra suggests, could be
bringing all the basic services such as water and power supply under one
umbrella. For instance, the task of supplying drinking water and
managing the drainage and sewage could be the Palike’s, while BWSSB
could focus on the larger Cauvery network. BBMP cannot be looked at in
isolation. However, until such an umbrella setup takes shape to boost
greater accountability, an immediate answer could be a far better
inter-agency coordination mechanism.
But there is a
counter-argument. Specific agencies are specialised in a particular
utility, having evolved after years of funding and infrastructure
creation. Specialised people can do the work better. This contention
demands that the agencies continue with their functions, although their
efficiencies could be vastly improved. As things stand, the functions
are hardly differentiated in a scientific manner. BBMP, for instance,
has to build the stormwater drains, while underground drainage is
BWSSB’s work!
Tackling corruption
For Bangaloreans reeling
under an inefficient civic administration, the litany of scams is a
constant reminder of the reeking corruption. Is there a way out? There
can be, if the elected representatives are given real responsibility.
“Today, they are not held responsible. The corporators only ask
questions. We have to go through the process of getting better people to
stand for elections. If you really create a good city government with
adequate powers and autonomy, things will evolve,” observes Ravindra.
So,
the thrust is on a strong city governance structure. This, as many
urban planners and governance experts emphasise, calls for a directly
elected mayor. The term could be four or five years. But the mayor
should be a strong political executive with enough powers.
He /
she could have his / her own team in the lines of the State Cabinet.
Each team member could be in-charge of a particular civic department.
Together with improved resource mobilisation, professional inputs and
better planning, the city’s administration could get a hyper-boost.
Yet,
this much talked-about proposal has remained in the drawing room. Wary
of losing their powers over such a large revenue-generating city as
Bangalore, the political heads are apparently going slow. “The State
government has to take its hands off BBMP. The chief minister cannot be
expected to ensure that there are no potholes. He has larger State
issues to be concerned about. The current practice where the Palike has
to run to the Urban Development Department or the City in-charge
minister for every small thing, has to change,” feels an urban
architect, who has worked closely with the Palike.
Powerful Mayor
In
several international cities, the Mayor has become powerful enough to
eventually stand for presidential elections. In New York City, for
instance, the Mayor was at the centre of spearheading the relief
operations post 9/11. “Sadly, here they don’t want the mayor to become
politically powerful. The BBMP mayor is just a titular head with no real
powers, and a short term of one year. This should change,” notes
another urban planner.
This proposal for a strong city governing
body finds an echo even in a letter sent last week to Chief Minister
Siddaramaiah by the Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC). Among
10 points suggested for the city’s development, the panel has sought a
dedicated secretariat exclusively for Bangalore. This should be
different from UDD. The rationale: The challenges of the city should not
be seen as an elitist endeavour but as a pillar of inclusive growth and
an economic imperative to augment the state’s finances, as explained by
TV Mohandas Pai of B.PAC.
Either through a directly elected
mayor or a dedicated secretariat or department, Bangalore cries for a
more streamlined approach to governance, feels Ravichandar.
There
is a need to look beyond UDD, which has a minimal role now. As things
stand, the Chief Minister is reported to have forwarded the secretariat
proposal to city incharge and transport minister, Ramalinga Reddy for
followup action.
Once the governance setup is ready, the city
will require a big infusion of funds since it is the State’s growth
engine. Independent estimates show that all the civic agencies in the
city put together spend only about Rs. 10,000 crore per annum. A big
chunk of the funds is spent on daily expenditures and not asset
creation.
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