Although the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has not been able to take any policy decisions in the last one year, the municipal administration has concentrated on completing pending works and carrying out administrative reforms, said Pune municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar who also serves as administrator in the civic body. In an interview to the Hindustan Times, Kumar shared his views on various aspects of civic functioning as he completed one year as an administrator.
With the State Election Commission (SEC) having had to appoint administrators in various municipal corporations including Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, and these civic bodies having had to run under the respective administrators for the past one year, citizens were expecting qualitative change in the functioning of these civic bodies along with good, citizen-centric decisions. Regarding changes on the ground in the PMC, Kumar said that they gave preference to completing/expediting unfinished works.
“We have given priority to completing the pending work. We have also started work on two projects that were approved by elected members. The work on the riverfront development and river rejuvenation project with the help of the JICA has picked up momentum on ground,” Kumar said.
Asked about roads getting damaged frequently and inconveniencing citizens even as several projects are underway in the city, Kumar said, “Due to the 24x7 water scheme, many roads were dug up. After many decades, the municipal corporation has changed the water lines, which will positively impact people. Naturally in the process, the condition of many roads became bad and there was a lot of criticism from citizens and the media. But we have restored 128 roads and brought them back to good condition.”
Having been appointed as PMC commissioner in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic and later made administrator in March 2022, Kumar said the big challenge before him was to bring back development centre and front of the PMC agenda and address the citizens’ grievances.
{{/usCountry}}Having been appointed as PMC commissioner in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic and later made administrator in March 2022, Kumar said the big challenge before him was to bring back development centre and front of the PMC agenda and address the citizens’ grievances.
{{/usCountry}}“Covid brought a great challenge before the administration. On one side, the city and the entire world was emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic while on the other, the term of corporators who serve as mediators between the civic body and citizens also expired. Usually when elected members are there, they represent the citizens and follow-up on issues concerning the people. They even take policy decisions in the interest of citizens. With no public representatives, we have had to accept that there is a gap between us and the citizens and we have not been able to take policy decisions,” Kumar said.
On getting the opportunity to push big projects and bring reforms in the PMC’s functioning, Kumar said, “We got an opportunity to push long pending works and carry out administrative reforms. We pushed the 24x7 project which was challenging for us as water lines had to be laid in almost all parts of Pune. We have given priority to online and things have become easy for citizens. Without visiting the municipal corporation, citizens can get various facilities on their mobile phones.”
About citizens alleging wastage of funds, Kumar said that the PMC has started using software to monitor the money spent (break-up included) to bring in transparency.
Referring to the recently concluded G20 Summit, Kumar said that it helped change the look of the city and added that the PMC also held the Dhara conference to discuss various issues related to rivers and water.
“There are many challenges in the PMC. The area under the PMC is among the largest and addressing the citizens’ aspirations’ itself is a challenge. As the area is vast, the expenditure on infrastructure would be more. The PMC would need to spend Rs3,000 crores only on salaries. Electricity bills are increasing and per annum, the civic body has to pay Rs350 crores,” Kumar said.
“The PMC is getting Rs2,400 crores as a GST component from the state government. We asked to increase it by considering the merger of new villages in the municipal limit,” he said.