Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has completed another year and is set to celebrate Local Self Government Day on Wednesday. As inaugurations and foundation laying ceremonies go on, the civic body has received mixed reactions about its progress in major areas such as sanitation, beautification drives and so on. The Telegraph presents a report card.

Sanitation

While the urban local body has decided to introduce a mechanised vehicle of Rs 50 lakh for street sweeping from tomorrow, the overall sanitation situation has not improved in the city.

The proposed solid waste treatment plant near Bhuasuni remains a non-starter. The mobile-based sanitation tracking system was to start in other all wards after a pilot run in ward No. 52, but it is yet to start.

The much-hyped Clean Bhubaneswar Campaign through a “Parimal Rath” rolled in just two wards. The promise for dustbins is yet to be fulfilled.

Beautification drives

Beautification drives were at their climax in 2009 and projects were taken up last year, but the projects lacked maintenance. While neglect is seen to be at its peak in front of the Kalingakanan project near Kalinga Stadium where maintenance appears sadly lacking, the addition of more projects to the list has raised eyebrows.

BMC officials say they have learned from their mistakes and will include long-term maintenance clauses with the present companies, but walls in many parts of the city need repainting.

Development and planning

The BMC planning wing is yet to start work. The issue of no objection certificates (NOCs) from the urban local body for buildings is not getting enough attention and the BMC is losing crores. The BMC Council has passed a resolution that when a builder applies for NOC, he has to provide two per cent of the project cost for peripheral development in the ward where the building is being built.

Natural drainage channels

As the coordinator, BMC seems to have forgotten its role in the management of the 10 natural drainage channels. While the July 20 flooding in Acharya Vihar area has exposed the mismanagement, the encroachment ill remains.

Slum management

As a first step towards a slum free city, BMC officials were able to shift 36 families of Maa Narayani Slum in Unit-VIII on January 10. As part of the slum-free city initiative, Bhubaneswar Development Authority built 80 houses in Chandrasekharpur for the BMC. Eighty houses were ready by January 4. More would be added later.

Street lighting

BMC had listed several street-lighting projects last year and even planned light emitting diodes (LE), which will be launched tomorrow.

The street lighting system has improved a lot during the year. The Governor’s House Square to AG Square road stretch epitomises this. Vivekananda Marg near ward No. 52 also got a good lighting system this year.

Cleaning of drains

The cleaning of small drains (secondary and tertiary) was successful this year. Almost all the major drains were cleaned. A detailed master plan for the secondary and tertiary drains is under development by a Singapore-based consultant.

Revival of water bodies

The revival programme of Bindusagar lake with a laterite wall and pedestrian path was undertaken with help from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. Water bodies such as Santh Tulasi Sarobar, Badei tank, Chua Pokhari and many others were included in the revival plan.

Use of IT

The success of IT in disbursing the pension through biometric cards, implementation of e-despatch system, and gradual transformation of all the official work through training at the BMC office through the e-municipality application is perhaps one of the major achievements of the urban local body.

The corporation is also going to have a simple one-stop e-based solution provider cell near its entrance for which construction started four months ago.