Civic chief takes Prajavani by storm

Somesh Kumar inspected the toilets in the main office, as a foul smell emanating near the ‘Face-to-Face’ hall. On inspecting, it was found that the smell originated from the CPRO’s office. He then questioned Pawan Kumar Naidu, PRO, GHMC and Kasturi Bai Tella, CPRO as to how they were able to work in such disgusting conditions. Somesh then ordered the officials to take stock of the sanitary conditions and work on them on a war-footing basi

The weekly Prajavani meeting in the GHMC main office, was attended by Somesh Kumar, Commissioner, GHMC on Monday. In the course of the meeting, the commissioner touched upon various issues put forth by the general public and media. This particular meeting saw 28 complaints being registered with the officials of which 21 were new, while the other seven were pending from the previous editions of Prajavani.

For the last one month, the commissioner has been on a spree to sort out and appease all the grievances that were put forth by the GHMC employees. Responding to a query in this regard, the commissioner said, “If internal problems are solved, only then can we deliver a better output to the people of the city.”

Somesh said, the GHMC would address the ESI and EPF concerns of all the employees (outsourced and permanent) on November 26, where they would also conduct a training programme at Shilpakala Vedika. The employees would be taught how to use various equipments like gloves, masks and other accessories for their personal hygiene. This is the first time that a programme is being conducted for employees, on such a large-scale. In the meeting, the workers pointed out that they could not avail medical facilities in hospitals. The commissioner responded that they would be setting-up ‘May-I-Help-You’ desks, where the employees could enroll themselves for treatment. Somesh added, “The sanitary conditions in GHMC offices are abysmal, especially women’s toilets. These need to be rectified, as they pose a potential health hazard.”

The roads in the city have always been a persistent pain-in-the-back, responding to this Somesh Kumar said that they have identified 488 locations where the roads were bad and they will be spending close to Rs 17 crore for the repair works. And as for those roads which are in need of constant attention the commissioner said that 178 locations have been identified and they will be carpeting the roads and making it a full-fledged Cement-Concrete (CC) road with a budget of Rs 12.5 crore. The smaller patch works and pot hole filling work will be taken care of the corporation itself not an outsourced contract. They have developed a comprehensive action plan on the subject to bring the roads to perfect shape. “ Not only the roads we also want to keep in mind the footpaths, dividers, lighting and bus shelters. We want to bring them to a uniform stage,” said Somesh Kumar. During the meeting there was a question raised about road digging by HMR, HMWS&SB and other departments. The commissioner replied saying. “ We have given them permission to use the roads but it is a one-time permission they will not be allowed to mutilate the roads again. We have already communicated this message to them formally.”

Garbage burning and waste management, has become a regular problem in many areas in the city, with respect to the subject Somesh said, “ We have an OSRT system in place and we are trying to strengthen it as far as possible. Also we want to curb the menace of burning garbage in public. We are going to come up with online and mobile applications where people can report such problems directly to us. We will have area-wise teams of people who can identify the miscreants who indulge in such activities.”