The Hindu    25.08.2012

Corporation council nod for Five-Year Plan draft report

The draft report for the implementation of the 12{+t}{+h}Five Year Plan and the annual plan for the year 2012-13 has been accepted by the City Corporation Council.

This was done at a meeting of the council held on Friday. The draft, prepared by the 15 standing committees, will now be put to a detailed discussion at a development seminar to be held here on Saturday.

One of the major thrust areas in the plan is the promotion of small scale industries. The lack of industrial estates in the Corporation area has been identified as a major drawback.

So, mini industrial parks will be set up either under the complete control of the Corporation or in partnership with private entities.

Out of the Rs.6.75 crore allotted for the five years, Rs.1.15 crore will be used in the coming year. The focus will be to develop a ‘green industrial belt’ with minimal impact on the environment.

E-governance

The next five years will see the expansion of the Corporation’s e-governance initiatives. An amount of Rs.2.5 crore has been earmarked for the five years, of which Rs.62 lakh will be used in the next year.

A Geographical Information System, which will enable real-time monitoring of developmental activities, is a major project as part of this. All the geographical information about the Corporation has already been collected in a database.

The possibility of mobile governance will be explored. More services will be made available online.

In the area of health and hygiene, the improvement of the city’s waste segregation and waste processing programmes is the area of focus.

There is a shortage of five medical officers, which will be filled.

The spread of eradicated diseases through migrant workers will be monitored and proper treatment will be given. An amount of Rs.7.7 crore has been planned for the coming year.

The delay in the implementation of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)’s water supply project has made it necessary to explore the possibilities of small scale projects in the meantime.

But in the long run, the JICA is expected to meet the city’s water requirement that will touch 143.3 mld in 2021. The current supply is 57 mld after leakages and other losses.

For SCs

A comprehensive development plan for scheduled castes will be prepared this year.The existing scheduled caste colonies will be improved with better walkways, improved sanitation and the setting up of more health centres and schools in the areas.

The Corporation hopes to provide water connection to all households in the colonies by the end of this plan period.

It has been found in the previous years that in many projects targeted at the scheduled castes, enough beneficiaries did not come forward to claim the benefits.

This will be rectified with proper targeting.

The anganwadis that are plagued by lack of proper buildings will be provided funds to improve the condition of existing buildings and0 also to relocate to new buildings.

But the giant leap in land prices and building rents is seen as a cause of concern.The implementation of these projects will be done by taking into account the backwardness in the three wards that were merged to the Corporation in 2011.