<p>Interim compliance report by the Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board in Original Application No 81-2022 (Central Zone Bench) in the matter of Bhoma Ram Mali Vs State of Rajasthan & Others.</p>
A state government survey says over 76 pc people had to grease the palms of municipal bodies to get basic amenities CHANDIGARH, February 21: It's not a finding the Punjab Government would like to flaunt. A survey sponsored by it has found out that 76.5 per cent of people pay bribes to officials in the various municipal bodies of the state to get their work done. The finding was an outcome of a study conducted by the Institute for Development and Communication (IDC) for the Department of Planning, Punjab Government. The study discovered that 76.5 per cent of the respondents had paid bribe on one occasion and most of them (82.3 per cent) had paid it to one person only. Interestingly, 94.1 per cent of the repondents admitted that the persons concerned had asked for money for redressal of their problems regarding basic amenities such as water, sewerage, streetlights and roads. Besides paying bribes, 37.1 per cent of the people also felt the need to approach an influential person to get their complaints redressed. Interestingly, almost half of the respondents were not in favour of paying bribes for any work at the MC level but were forced to do so. The only exception were people at Jalandhar and Nakodar where 80 per cent and 100 per cent of the respondents, respectively, did not mind greasing palms to get their work done at the municipal corporation. However, in many cases, bribe did not prove to be the ideal solution. Nearly 44.1 per cent of the respondents complained about harassment even after paying the bribe. Only 23.5 per cent felt that their work was done immediately after they paid the bribe, said the study. A large number (37.4 per cent) of respondents felt that middle-level officials were most corrupt, and only 8.1 per cent pointed a finger at the councillors. A majority of the complaints (45.2 per cent) were related to poor water supply followed by faulty streetlights, potholed roads (11.3 per cent) and choked sewerage (8.1 per cent). In Hoshiarpur, poor or polluted water supply accounted for half the complaints, while building construction made up for one-fourth of the grouses. In Moga and Amritsar, blockage of sewerage and poor water supply were the major grouses. In a damning indictment of the municipal bodies, the survey showed that 74.9 per cent of the people were dissatisfied with their grievance redressal system. The Jalandhar municipal body fared most poorly with only 2 per cent of the respondents saying that the civic body was prompt in dealing with grievances. The reasons for corruption, according to the study, ranged from poor work culture, faulty management, lack of proper planning, absence of transparency, to ad hoc allocation of resources. The people surveyed suggested transparency and involvement of the locals in grassroots initiatives would improve the delivery system. Principal Secretary, Local Bodies, DS Bains, however, blamed the old urban infrastructure for the corrupt system. "Urban infrastructure is nearing a collapse in the state for want of investment in the last decade and half. Some unscrupulous elements take advantage of people who want better services. The answer lies in massive investment to upgrade the urban services which we are doing this year.' Show 'em the money Of the 76.5 pc people who bribed Punjab civic body officials to get their work done:
Dumper trucks with BMC logo on them bound for the Mulund dumping ground dumped solid waste in the mangroves itself Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's dumpers carrying solid waste from Mumbai are allegedly dumping it in the mangrove forests at Kolshet in Thane. The dumpers, according to Shiv Sena corporator Pandurang Patil, bearing BMC labels dump solid waste into the mangrove cover at the edge of Thane creek. Patil discovered this when he was passing through the area on Wednesday on some official work. Patil sent a letter of complaint to civic commissioner Nandkumar Jantre demanding that the BMC dumpers bringing in solid waste into the city from Ghodbunder Road en route to Mulund dumping ground near Anand Nagar check naka be kept under a watch. Those dumpers that are found disposing off their waste on the mangrove cover on the way, according to the letter, should be impounded and fined for the act. Venkatesh Bhat, the Deputy Municipal Commissioner (DMC) TMC Headquarters informed that it was the primary duty of the district collectorate to check the slaughter of mangroves. He added that civic commissioner Nandkumar Jantre held meetings with the collector and officials of the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) few days back and highlighted the problem. Bhat assured that the civic officials would keep an eye on such dumpers and fine those who are found illegally dumping solid waste into the area. He also informed that several civic dumpers were confiscated in Thane in the past and the TMC would not hesitate to seize BMC dumpers carrying out the illegal act of dumping garbage into the wetlands in future. The TMC, however, came under pressure from the standing committee as well. Rajan Kine, chairman of the civic Standing Committe has taken a serious note of the incident and directed the corporation to ban the passage of BMC dumpers from the city of Thane altogether earlier, these dumpers refused to pay entry taxes for using the TMC roads.
The MCD seems to have woken up to a major problem faced by women in the Capital
BANKURA: The district town woke up to a different scene today as it witnessed state school education minister, Mr Partha De, knocking door-to-door to help extend a scientific mode of garbage collection. The minister distributed pots to be used for segregation of solid waste at source at his own constituency today. The Bankura municipality, as part of the Centre's Integrated Small & Medium Township Development Programme finally started working on solid waste management. The venture was flagged off by Mr De. The pilot project was launched in Pratapbagan locality in Ward 11. "The locals should wake up with the most scientific mode of solid waste disposal. The biodegradable and non-degradable garbage should be segregated at source. This is the most modern concept accepted globally,' Mr De said. The Bankura municipality has initially launched the project in Ward 11. The self help groups are being engaged to help collection and transportation of the waste from door-to-door. The waste articles are to be transported to the trenching ground in Kesra locality in the outskirts of the town.
Madhya Pradesh has become the first state in the country to constitute committees up to Panchayat level in the sphere of bio-diversity.
The Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) has started supplying drinking water to five of its 14 added wards, with a promise of covering the remaining ones by the end of this year.
The municipal administration directorate commissioner and senior IAS officer, Mr Sunil Sharma, said that state government had allocated Rs 350 crore for taking up sanitation works in all mun-icipaliti
