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Now Call GHMC to Repair Your Pipe

Monday, 06 January 2014 10:37 administrator

The New Indian Express 06.01.2014

If you’ve discovered a minor leak in your plumbing or a small crack in your window pane, you are probably going to be harassed more than in a situation where some major repair work is required. With a shortage in manpower and simple repairs costing higher amounts, citizens in Hyderabad have been facing a tough time in getting household repairs done by handymen such as electricians, carpenters, plumbers, painters and masons completed with ease. However, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has come up with a solution to the predicament. They call it the ‘Nagaramitra Services’.

The concept is simple – train people to be electricians, carpenters, plumbers, painters, masons and so on, and also generate employment for the youth at the same time.

The new initiative has already been started in a few GHMC circles to train unemployed youth in these sectors. Applicants to the programme are being trained by the National Academy of Construction (NAC). As many as 90 to 100 people have been successfully trained by the NAC and all of them will be linked to a call centre of GHMC. If there are any technical problems, PGC Infotech private limited will provide technical and manual support for two years.

The initial leg of implementation includes the GHMC circles of Kapra, Uppal and L B Nagar. About 70 services providers have been identified in Kapra circle while 35 in Uppal circle. In LB Nagar, certification of service providers is being assessed.

Speaking to Express, the GHMC Commissioner Somesh Kumar said that the corporation is planning on extending the Nagaramitra Services to all circles in the city in a phased manner.

The GHMC will establish call centres at all these circles, besides providing the required infrastructure and maintaining the Self Help Groups (SHGs). The phone numbers of the trained electricians, carpenters, plumbers, painters and masons will be available at the call centre.

The Commissioner also said that there is a huge requirement of these basic handymen in the city and that the GHMC is keen to impart technical training to the unemployed youth for household repairs works.

For each work, rates will be fixed and the rate chart will be put up at the call centre so as to regulate the pricing and ensure that both workman and customer get a fair deal. GHMC will levy 10 per cent service charge in order to run and maintain the call centres, he added.

People who want to avail the said services can call the centres and provide details of the requirement. The call centre will pass on the information to the concerned technician for attending to the job.

With the project just taking off, it is estimated that it would take three months to launch the services in all circles to full capacity. In the next phase, Nagaramitra Services will be established in Serilingampally 11 and 12, Malkajgiri and Kukaptaplly.

Citizen customers can the Dial for help Nagaramitra Services (call centre) on 9885098855 while Vodafone customers can call for service on 57265.

Water Crisis Likely this Year

Saturday, 04 January 2014 07:52 administrator

The New Indian Express 04.01.2014

With summer fast approaching, Kochi is likely to witness severe water crisis this year too. Though the Kochi Corporation has plans to commission the Maradu Water Treatment Plant project this year, the civic body is not sure of completing the project before March.

The land acquisition on three villages in the Piravom area is yet to be completed. As per the `201-crore project implemented under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), water will be drawn from Pazhoorkkadavu at Muvattupuzha river and brought to the treatment plant at Maradu which will have a capacity to treat 100 million litres of water.

The recycled water from the plant is expected to solve the potable water crisis at Kochi and neighbouring municipalities, including Maradu. The water will be supplied mainly to the West Kochi region, which is reeling under acute water shortage, including Chellanam, Edakochi, Fort Kochi, Naval Base, Thevara and Port areas.

“The construction of the water treatment plant is almost completed. But pipe laying at the National Highway side and the acquisition of plots at three villages are yet to be completed. This is expected to delay the commissioning of the Plant further,” said a top Corporation official.

The projectlaunched in 2007, was on a standstill for nearly one-and-a-half year following the opposition raised by local bodies in Piravom against cutting the Nadakkavu-Koothattukulam Road for laying the pipes.

The issue was sorted out only in 2012. Another hurdle in front of the authorities is the clearance from National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for road cutting to lay the pipe lines for the project.

As per the norms of NHAI, the tarred road cannot be dug or cut. The Corporation will also have to seek an exemption from the Centre, for digging NH.

‘Govt Should Ban Use of Potable Water for Other Purposes’

Thursday, 02 January 2014 11:50 administrator

The New Indian Express 02.01.2014

The government should seriously consider banning the use of water that is supplied for domestic purposes for non-domestic purposes, said Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) Chairman M S Ravishankar.

At a programme organised to release the new year diaries and calendars by Bangalore Jalamandali Abhiyantharara Sangha here, Ravishankar said, “Water is becoming scarce along with the increase in the number of connections. It is sad to see people using potable water for non-domestic purposes. The BWSSB is unable to supply water to the 110 villages that were merged with the city to constitute greater Bangalore, due to scarcity.”

Ravishankar asked the BWSSB engineers to focus on increasing treating the sewage generated in the city to tertiary levels and supplying it for non-potable and industrial purposes.

“We should emulate Singapore and seriously consider promoting the use of tertiary treated water for non-potable purposes to avoid the foreseen water crisis,” Ravishankar added.

Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy stressed on the need to explore the alternative sources of drinking water to the city and said, “It would be difficult to get more water for the city from the Cauvery and the ground water in the city is depleting very fast.”

“Therefore, we have to explore alternative sources to augment water supply in the city and to meet the increasing demand.”

Reddy said the government is thinking of constituting a separate authority for developing the lakes in the city.

The authority would focus on rejuvenating the lakes and improving the inflow into the lakes.

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