New MCG chief to start city bus service, improve agencies’ coordination

New MCG commissioner V Umashankar has identified waste management, traffic and affordable housing as areas that need more attention.

Rolling out a city bus service and aligning the functioning of the city’s municipal corporation with the newly evolving Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) will be two key objectives of newly appointed Gurgaon municipal commissioner V Umashankar. He also identified waste management, traffic and affordable housing as areas that need more attention.

V Umashankar, the officer on special duty of the GMDA, has been given the additional charge of MCG commissioner.

Umashankar, an IAS officer of 1993 batch, took over the charge of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) on Tuesday. He is also the officer on special duty of the GMDA. His appointment as the MCG chief is significant as he would be in charge of the two key civic agencies that would build and take care of civic infrastructure and delivery of service.

His main priorities as the top civic official in Gurgaon is to build the administrative and financial capabilities of the corporation. “There is an urgent need to improve intra-agency coordination and clearly define the roles and responsibilities,” he said.

Umashanker also sees municipal corporation as more of a service provider across the city’s 115 sectors, and the GMDA would take care of planning and creating master services for the city. Giving an example, Umashankar said the GMDA would set up a common geographic information system (GIS) centre, which can be used by all agencies.

“The intelligent traffic system will be set up by the GMDA and it can be accessed by traffic police, the MCG and other agencies, who need real time information for planning and resource mobilisation,” he said.

The municipal commissioner said the city-wide bus service that was earlier planned by the MCG would be launched by the GMDA by the end of 2017. “The bus service is a priority as it would help in reducing traffic congestion -- a major issue the city is facing,” he said.

To manage the large amount of waste generated in the city, his plan is to decentralise the waste management system and create a number of smaller waste collection centres instead of banking on Bandhwari waste plant alone. “The city will see improvement as efforts of the GMDA and the MCG are synchronised and they work in tandem,” he said.