BMC cuts red tape to battle malaria

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to cut down on procedural delays and give more powers to ward officers and the deputy municipal commissioners to control the spread of malaria.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to cut down on procedural delays and give more powers to ward officers and the deputy municipal commissioners to control the spread of malaria.

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Municipal Commissioner Swadheen Kshatriya has allowed deputy municipal commissioners to spend Rs 40 lakh and the ward officer to spend Rs 25 lakh for miscellaneous health-related purposes without seeking a nod from the additional municipal commissioner in charge of health.

BMC officials said in meetings DMCs and ward officers would ask for permissions for small things such as repairing fogging machines or purchasing chemicals. Getting the signatures of the additional municipal commissioner’s signatures would take at least one more day. “They have now been given the powers to use this money at their own discretion,” said a BMC officer requesting anonymity.

Vehicle-mounted fogging machines that were lying unused for want of permissions from regional transport offices were put to use on Thursday. “Fogging in three wards was done today,” said the officer.

Meanwhile, the distribution of health cards to construction workers continued as the BMC planned to cover all the sites in a week.