Roadmap to decongest city to be ready by Jan-end: UT adviser

At the helm of the UT administration as adviser to the administrator, Dharam Pal, 58, a 1988-batch officer has been steering key policies and their implementation. He outlines plans for the city, and discusses pressing issues such as traffic and parking issues, solid waste management and conversion of leasehold properties

At the helm of the UT administration as adviser to the administrator, Dharam Pal, 58, a 1988-batch officer has been steering key policies and their implementation. He outlines plans for the city, and discusses pressing issues such as traffic and parking issues, solid waste management and conversion of leasehold properties to freehold in an interview with Hillary Victor. Excerpts:

At the helm of the UT administration as adviser to the administrator, Dharam Pal, 58, a 1988-batch officer has been steering key policies and their implementation. (HT PHOTO)

1) RITES has once again proposed metro as the best mass rapid transport system (MRTS) for Chandigarh. What are the administration’s next steps to decongest traffic?

RITES (Rail India Technical and Economic Service Limited) has recommended a mix of options, including a mass rapid transport system and metro, to promote non-motorised vehicles, which will certainly ease the traffic. A report will be submitted to the UT administrator by December-end. After the administrator approves it, the final report will be sent to the central government. Once approved, the plans will be implemented in a phased manner, and a concrete roadmap for the same should be ready by January-end.

How do you plan to implement the ‘paid on-street parking’ pilot project in Sector 35-D in the face of opposition from residents? How will it help decongest the city?

The ‘paid on-street parking’ project will be discussed with Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) and the civic body is already working on implementing it. As per building bylaws, residents are required to park their vehicles within their houses. With people parking their vehicles on the street, there is a lot of traffic chaos. They should either park their vehicles inside or pay up.

The recently released United Nations Development Programme report cited garbage collection and disposal as the main challenges for city residents. What corrective steps have been taken on this front?

We have already cleared one of the dumping sites, and the second one with legacy waste will be cleared in a year. We are focussing on 100% collection, segregation and processing of waste. A plant has also been installed to process wet waste.

We plan to install another plant, equipped with the latest technology. It will produce biogas and have a radio-frequency identification (RFID)-based system to improve garbage collection. We have appointed the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research’s National Environment Engineering Research Institution (CSIR-NEERI), Nagpur, as a consultant for the integrated solid waste management processing facility project.

There have been several flip-flops in the conversion policy. Will conversion of leasehold properties to freehold be allowed in 2023?

The decision regrading conversion of leasehold properties to freehold will be taken by the Government of India. We have already held several meetings with officers concerned at the central level and are hoping for a positive outcome. As far as notices regarding building violations are concerned, we will not allow any violations in the city.

The Sector 17 rejuvenation plan is progressing at a slow pace. What can be done to expedite the work in progress and by when can the city expect its completion?

Directions have already been issued to expedite the project, and we are monitoring it on a regular basis. We are hoping that most of the work will be completed by March and the entire project will be completed by December 2023. In January, people will see a change in Sector 17.

The UT’s startup and land pooling policies are stuck in the pipeline. Why the delay and what is the time frame for their implementation?

Drafts for the sports policy and start-up policy are already ready. They will be implemented by February-end. Officers have been asked to examine land pooling models of different states and consider issues such as land constraints and vacant land, and come up with a proposal suitable for Chandigarh villages.