The Hindu 29.03.2010
Corporation pursues goal of better delivery in face of heavy odds
Aloysius Xavier Lopez
| The recent computerisation drive is cited as one of the best citizen-friendly measures |
— Photo: R. Ragu. 
BRIDGING THE GAP: Residents taking a look at the Perambur flyover on Saturday.
CHENNAI: With the inauguration of the Perambur flyover, the seventh major facility in over three years to ensure smoother flow of traffic, the pursuit of better delivery of services by the Chennai Corporation continues despite challenges.
Even as a number of residents draw attention to noteworthy works of the civic body ranging from the Marina beach beautification to bridges and roads, most of them stress the need for smoother flow of traffic and to further develop the strength of the civic body in its online initiatives taken in the past three years.
“The Corporation has constructed many bridges in the past few years and has contributed to reduction of traffic congestion to an extent. Road widening in many places has helped residents. Yet traffic continues to be a major problem,” said S.Vasudevan, a resident of R.A.Puram.
The recent computerisation drive of the civic body has been one of the best citizen-friendly measures, he added.
“Beautification of Marina beach and more parks by the corporation has given great enthusiasm to our children,” said R.B.Saravanan, a resident of Nungambakkam.
Kolathur resident K.Suresh Kumar: “The initiatives such as online building approval of the corporation and IVRS for payment of property tax have created enormous enthusiasm. But more awareness has to be created.”
According to an official, a total of Rs.1.1 lakh has been collected as tax in the past few weeks using the IVRS.
This has simplified the procedure for payment of taxes to the civic body, said the official.
Over 2 lakh birth and death certificates have been downloaded by residents using the services of the online initiative of the corporation. Similarly, the 300 handheld devices for tax collection have been procured recently for simplifying the collection of taxes and facilitating automation, the official added. More provision for downloading the property tax receipt has been done during the period.
However, Mayor M.Subramanian said the initiatives of the Chennai Corporation towards empowerment of persons with disabilities, women and the weaker sections in the past few years were some of the significant efforts in over three years.
The civic body received the National Award for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, 2009, for its work in the creation of barrier-free environment for persons with disabilities from President Prathiba Patil.
Beautifying the city with more parks, the initiation of the work on a massive storm water drain project at a cost of Rs.1,448 crore and retaining the glory of historically significant structures such as Victoria Public Hall, yoga in parks and increasing the number of beneficiaries for maternity assistance in Corporation Hospitals give us a sense of satisfaction, he said.
Over 1,600 children with disabilities study in the civic body's schools.
The Corporation also has tie-ups with NGOs to provide resource persons to teach children with moderate to severe disabilities.
He said that all newly constructed buildings of the civic body had ramps to provide barrier-free access.
