Will this be the Year of MCG?

  • Abhishek Behl / FG
  • India
  • Jan 02, 2015

MCG Gurgaon, which till now has been a laggard in building infrastructure as well as providing maintenance services to the City, is trying to shake off its inertia. The new Commissioner, Vikas Gupta (IAS), says that this year will see the transformation of MCG into a civic powerhouse. The reasons for its failure in the past have been many, but most important has been the lack of political will and support from Chandigarh. The change in government, and the arrival of a new Commissioner, has finally given some hope to the City’s residents. Vikas Gupta says that the responsibility of the civic agency is to ensure ‘planned development’, and the provision of civic services to the residents of the city (by also maintaining civic facilities and amenities). The MCG Chief says that one of his key priorities is to ensure the safety of citizens, especially during the nights; and for this, MCG would initially instal streetlights all across its area within the next 6 months. "This is not only important for the safety of citizens, but also for business during the evening and late hours," says the Commissioner. He has sought the support of the Councillors on this. Further, to make Gurgaon more beautiful, and to ensure that various patches of land in colonies are utilised properly, MCG plans to turn these into small and big parks. "We will develop these parks, and then the RWAs can maintain them in a proper manner," he says. The most prominent work to be undertaken by MCG this year will be the building of three underpasses - at IFFCO Chowk, Signature Towers and Rajiv Chowk (to help end the perpetual traffic jams at these intersections). "NHAI and Haryana government have agreed to partly finance the project, and MCG plans to take a soft loan from the NCR Planning Board for these projects,"says Gupta. An amount of Rs 786 crores is likely to be spent on these underpasses. 

The MCG Commissioner laments that despite being a mega-city, Gurgaon does not have a plan for garbage disposal and sanitation. To rectify this anomaly, MCG has now asked the Councillors to identify places where the garbage can be disposed safely. "Further, there is no public convenience anywhere – even in a place like Rajiv Chowk, where thousands of people throng everyday. There is no bus queue shelter either. We are going to change this," he asserts. When asked about his plans regarding the Bandhwari Waste Treatment Plant, Gupta says that a joint meeting with Faridabad Corporation has been held and a consultant has been appointed to study the feasibility of running the existing (damaged) plant. "We are also taking a calorific analysis of the garbage coming to Bandhwari," he says, and hopes that a solution would be found to this problem in the next quarter. To tackle the problem of ‘missing’ sanitation staff, the MCG Commissioner says that mobile biometric attendance machines will be introduced from February 1. "These machines will give us real time data and information about the number of employees on the job," he says. When told about the non-payment of salaries to the sanitation staff by MCG contractors, the Commissioner says that these issues will be permanently resolved once the new system starts working.  To ensure that residents of Gurgaon no longer face problems while getting their building plans sanctioned, the MCG Chief has constituted a House Committee, which will be headed by Deputy Mayor Yashpal Batra. Gupta said that recommendations made by this Committee would be sent to the government for approval. The MCG Commissioner agreed that citizens might be facing problems because of inconsistent policies, and this committee will help resolve the grey areas. A major policy decision, which is expected to be announced soon, is an increase in FAR from 1.5 to 2 in Haryana. "This would greatly help the people as they can build more, to cater to their requirements of expanding families," says the Commissioner. MCG also plans to set up four Citizen Facilitation Centres in each zone of Gurgaon, so that people can avail facilities such as registration of births, deaths and marriages, along with several other services. "We want to ensure that these services are made time bound, and people who come to the MCG Office do not have to make repeated trips," he asserts. MCG is also planning (within a week) to set up a Queue Management Service and a Help Desk at its Office. MCG plans to build a centralised office this year, to bring all its departments under one roof. 

MCG is also planning to develop a model transport system for the City. "Within the next six months we will have a transport solution for the City wherein quality options would be made available to every section of the population. We want less cars on the roads," he says. A first for Gurgaon would be a plan to ensure 24x7 supply of water. To achieve this, a ward or sector will be selected as a pilot case. To help the residents get their Aaadhar cards, the MCG Chief has held discussions with the DC, and it is likely that the number of Aaadhar machines would be increased soon. "We will try and set up a machine in each ward, so that people can get their cards easily," says Gupta. For the residents of private colonies, who are facing problems because of poor maintenance by builders, Gupta says that a list of colonies that would be taken over by MCG is being prepared. A meeting in this regard has been held with the Principal Secretary in Chandigarh, and action would be initiated soon to resolve this problem. He adds that MCG in the coming year will work with all the other agencies, including HUDA, to ensure that Gurgaon becomes a city where people can live a good quality life in a safe environment.

'On behalf of MCG I wish a very Happy New Year to all the residents of Gurgaon. 
My priorities for 2015 are: road repair, signage, sewerage, sanitation, street lighting, and provision of 24-hours drinking water (for which a pilot project will first be undertaken). Dustbins will be provided across the City, so that people do not throw garbage on the road or in open spaces.I also promise that the functioning of the municipal corporation will be efficient and transparent'.

 

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