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Municipal Corporations

  • By April, MC to introduce token system in parking lots

    The Municipal Corporation is planning to introduce a token system in parking lots soon. It is likely to be implemented by April.

  • MCD goes green with herb parks

    The Municipal Corporation of Delhi continues with its efforts to increase green cover in the city, with the inauguration of a herbal park in Priyadarshini park, Bblock, and an ornamental park in Karaw

  • MCD panel to sanction third-floor plans soon

    MCD Standing Committee Chairman Vijender Gupta and Leader of the House Subhash Arya held a meeting with MCD officials at Town Hall on Sunday and decided that as soon as the civic body got a certified

  • KMC fixes water rate

    Come June 2008 and citizens will have to fork out a sum ranging between Rs 75 and 110 per month as water tax but under the name of water service charges or water levy.

  • MCD to hold TB awareness rally on March 24

    create awareness on tuberculosis (TB), the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, with support of various agencies, will organise a rally on World TB Day on March 24.

  • KMC starts Bird Flu checks

    The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) today initiated a survey in the various markets and poultry shops of the city to determine whether there are any cases of avian influenza.

  • BMC water supply pattern condemned

    CONGRESS Corporator Rajendra Prasad Choube on Tuesday pointed out that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is discriminating the water supply in different pattern parts of the city.

  • TMC debates who will oversee construction of dam at Shai river

    Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) approved the construction of a civic dam at Shai River in Murbad Taluka of the district.

  • State Pulse: Bihar: New face of Bihar

    I will stop the migration of Bihari labourers. In future, nobody will go to other states at least to fulfill the requirement of bread and butter: CM - report of Satish K Singh Now, every road of Bihar goes towards development. In every sector process of transformation is going on. Face of Bihar is changing rapidly. Citizens of Bihar are presently daring to think about daydream. You just look at some of the latest developments which are spreading its wings all over Bihar. The Nitish govt is going to provide over 24,000 dwellings to the urban poor in the ten towns of the state soon. The basic services for urban poor (BSUP) scheme under JNNURM envisages provision of 14,592 dwelling units with amenities, including light and clean environment for the urban poor. The units will be constructed in cooperation with the Centre, the state govt and Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC). Urban Development Minister Ashwini Kumar Chaubey on Feb 11 launched the first phase of the project at Mundichak in Bhagalpur. The project will be launched at Jagdeopath in Patna soon. Hudco will construct 12,596 units at an estimated cost of Rs 313 crore in Patna agglomeration area including Patna, Phulwarisharif, Danapur and Khagaul. Another 2000 housing units will be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 54 crore at Bodh Gaya. Raj Bhavan will soon adopt 1000 children of Musahar community in Bhojpur and Bhagalpur dist for imparting education to them in the nearest schools and colleges besides providing them food and clothes. These children will be educated under the supervision of the universities located in those areas localities while some NGOs would extend help in different forms. People of Bihar irrespective of age and profession would soon get an opportunity to express their innovative ideas and highlight researches at five day festival to be organized in Patna University. Aimed at developing a: Discovery Park: in the state, the creativity festival would be open to all-from school teachers, professionals of organized and unorganized sectors, farmers, technicians and scientists who want to bring to light their works and ideas in different fields. Cultural programme between Bihar and Mauritius has ended recently. PM of Mauritius Navin Ramgoolam had come to Bihar for this purpose. Basically he belongs to Bihar. Now, Navin is also ready to invest a lot of money for the development of industries in Bihar. A few days ago, NRIs meet was organised at Shri Krishna Memorial Hall, Patna. A number of NRIs want to invest in Bihar. Recently, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar said, I will stop the migration of Biharis labours. In future, nobody will go to other states at least to fulfill the requirement of bread and butter. The 40-year-old Lok Sabha member from Madhepura, Pappu Yadav symbolized money and brute muscle power got life term for Ajit Sarkar murder case. The special court awarded the same sentence to a former MLA from Govindganj in East Champaran district, Rajan Tiwari and history-sheeter Anil Yadav for the killing in Purnea. With the signing of an agreement between the NTPC and BSEB on Feb 14 for the Bihar Bijli Company, Nabinagar, the process for establishment of 1980 MW thermal power plant in Aurangabad district has begun. The bipartite agreement for the super project with an estimated cost of 9,000 crore was signed in the presence of CM Nitish Kumar and NTPC Chairman-Cum-MD T Sankarlingam and energy minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav. Announcement of opening of new Medical, Engineering, Agriculture and ITI colleges/institutes are signs of change in Bihar. Opening of new ordnance factory at Rajgir in Nalanda district, renovation of sugar mills in north Bihar and renovation of all closed industries are also indications of transformation taking place in Bihar. Perhaps due to this, the Bihar govt's thrust on reforms and good governance has been appreciated by the World Bank and ADB, which promised the CM to extend financial assistance in terms of loans and grants in the sectors of road construction, power, Panchayati Raj institutions and tourism. The state govt has sought assistance for construction of Panchayat Bhavans in all 8712 gram panchayats to strengthen the panchayati raj instiutions. The govt also asked for monetary support from the JVIC to build an expressway between Patna, Gaya and also develop tourist spots coming under the Buddhist circuit. In this connection Nitish has demanded enough funds from the Centre for the all-round development of Bihar. With a view to link 10,000 inaccessible villages with roads in the state by March 2009, the government has strengthened the Rural Development Department by transferring under it several circles and divisions from other depts. In fact Bihar has a vast reservoir of talent and there was need for their exposure. If this pace of reforms is carried in the near future too, undoubtedly Bihar will be richest state of the country once again.

  • Water for all

    PIPED drinking water of good quality may be a dream for many of India's citizens but not for those in Guntur. Here 85 per cent of the people get treated water in abundance at their doorsteps. It is probably one of the few cities in the country that has multiple sources of water that could be tapped in emergencies. Though the city is deficient in groundwater, its residents do not feel the pinch thanks to the Guntur Municipal Corporation (GMC), which supplies water from sources situated in the north-eastern part of the city. "A major quantum of raw water, however, comes from the Krishna through canals [especially the Guntur Channel] and the Sangam Jagarlamudi filtration plant,' says Municipal Commissioner Siddhartha Jain. Equitable, round-the-clock distribution of quality water is the ultimate goal of the GMC. In order to make the city water-surplus by 2036, the GMC plans to reduce consumption of power needed to lift water from the source and deliver it at the customer's doorstep, augment new sources of raw water, carry out complete lining of the Guntur Channel and reduce wastage by taking a zonal approach to distribution. The project, visualised by GKW Consultants under the Central government's Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT), will cost the GMC Rs.200 crore. More than half the city's population gets free drinking water. Despite this, the GMC is able to meet its operation and maintenance (O&M) costs. For 90,000 property tax assessments, there are only 50,000 individual tap connections; 5,750 of these have been given to the poor at Rs.1,200 a connection and the remaining are public taps. A second filtration plant with a capacity of 45 million litres a day, which was set up recently at Thakellapadu on the city's outskirts, has helped the corporation filter water effectively from the Guntur Channel; this acts as a standby for the existing plant. A second water pipeline that would carry an additional 10 million gallons a day (MGD) of raw water from the Guntur Channel is to be set up soon. Rationalising water charges and metering water consumption are the long-term plans of the corporation to meet future O&M costs. Currently it collects Rs.4 crore annually as water cess from the 50,000 customers, including 1,700 commercial and bulk water users, who get metered supply. The steps taken by Mayor Kanna Nagaraju to have the Sangam Jagarlamudi plant and storage tanks cleaned and modernised has enabled the GMC stabilise its inflow and save crores of rupees. Checking leakages and improving services are not possible without the involvement of the stakeholders. The Municipal Commissioner proposes to hold regular meetings of customers under each local reservoir where minor, day-to-day problems could be sorted out. Water audit at each reservoir has improved the accountability of the engineering staff and the public. Under the audit, the GMC measures the outflow of water every hour and the total real consumption/receipt in the area it serves at the citizen's point. A modern gas equipment has been installed at reservoirs to improve water chlorination and ensure the right quantum of chlorine when it reaches the consumer.

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