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General Administration

GHMC to take control of city roads

Wednesday, 06 November 2013 07:34 administrator
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The Hindu            06.11.2013

GHMC to take control of city roads

Special Correspondent

Separate division to be carved out for the purpose

The GHMC will gain control of the city’s stretches from the Roads & Buildings (R&B) Department, thus putting the onus of road maintenance on itself.

The government would soon issue orders to this effect, GHMC Commissioner Somesh Kumar said on Tuesday, adding that a separate division would be carved out within the civic body for the purpose. At a review meeting, the Commissioner, along with GHMC Special Commissioner Navin Mittal, discussed the maintenance and prospects of taking up road repairs in a phased manner to achieve targets. He directed officials of various departments to come up with a holistic plan to develop a road length, addressing issues such as sanitation, debris removal, construction of table drains, camber correction, footpaths, patch works and greenery. They were also directed to prepare work proposals for holistic development of 40 kms of road in each circle in the next 10 days time. Mr. Somesh Kumar also said the GHMC was planning specific changes in road maintenance policy by calling tenders for lump sum contract of annual maintenance of roads after completion of defect liability period of the contractor.

Plea for crash team

The GHMC sought the help of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to set up a crash team to attend to emergency works such as sinking of roads, dug-up roads and patch works. Mr. Somesh Kumar requested NDMA Vice-Chairman M. Shashidhar Reddy for technical support to further strengthen the early warning system. GHMC is also planning to create an emergency room to ferret out information and details on weather conditions. Mr. Reddy asked Mr. Somesh Kumar to depute one Additional Commissioner to look after the disaster management services.

Once govt. orders are issued, the onus on maintenance will now rest with the GHMC and not the R&B Dept.

 

Civic grievances redressal camp

Wednesday, 06 November 2013 06:59 administrator
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The Hindu            06.11.2013

Civic grievances redressal camp

The Tiruchirapalli City Corporation will conduct a civic grievance redressal camp for residents of wards 1 to 3 on Wednesday.

Petitions relating to civic grievances in the three wards will be received at the camp to be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Devi Thirumana Mahal at Gandhi Road in Srirangam. Appropriate orders will be issued to the petitioners on November 13, Corporation Commissioner V.P.Thandapani said in a press release.

 

Corpn. plans to regulate expenditure on borewell maintenance

Monday, 04 November 2013 04:20 administrator
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The Hindu             04.11.2013

Corpn. plans to regulate expenditure on borewell maintenance

Coimbatore Corporation plans to ensure efficient functioning of borewells and avoid paying contractors for borewells that are in disuse.— File Photo: Siva Saravanan
Coimbatore Corporation plans to ensure efficient functioning of borewells and avoid paying contractors for borewells that are in disuse.— File Photo: Siva Saravanan

The Coimbatore Corporation will in the next few months initiate efforts to streamline the functioning of borewells in the city. According to sources, the move is aimed at optimising power consumption and thereby saving on the expenditure on power, and ensuring that the contractors did not overcharge the civic body for the borewell maintenance.

The sources said that the Corporation maintained nearly 2,000 borewells in the city, which it used for pumping water to public convenience facilities, parks, schools, shopping complexes, bus stands and urban health centres. The Corporation paid the power consumption charges to the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation, which worked out to around Rs. 50 lakh a month.

The Corporation maintained 264 public toilets, 160 parks and a little over 80 schools.

The Corporation also used the water to meet the needs of residents, who, otherwise, did not have access to non-potable water.

When the Corporation audited the power tariff it came to light that very many connections were categorised commercial. They ought to be under the category meant for local body. The civic body then initiated efforts to have the connections reclassified to save on energy, for the reclassification would mean that the civic body paid only Rs. 5.50 a unit.

On the maintenance front, the civic body was until recently paying Rs. 1,550 a borewell a month to the contractors. Since October 1, 2013 it had been paying Rs. 2,300 a borewell a month to the contractors. Though this revision had come after a decade or so, the Corporation was keen on ensuring that it paid the money only for those borewells that functioned at least for a minimum prescribed period in a month.

To ensure that the contractors operated the borewells, the civic body planned to automate the system to track their functioning. This would be done in the next couple of months.

The sources added that in optimising the functioning of borewells, the Corporation was not for closure of the borewells as they would meet the city’s emergency water needs during when the monsoons failed.

 
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