Port Blair, Sept 04: Councillors and officials of the Port Blair Municipal Council had the opportunity to exchange ideas, tools, successes and challenges with their counterparts from Chandigarh on 3rd September 2014. At an interactive session held at Peerless Resort, Corbyn’s Cove, the 25-member delegation of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, currently on a study tour to these islands, apprised members of the PBMC about civic ways and schemes implemented in Chandigarh and affirmed to put into practice some best practices adopted by the Municipal Council here.
Addressing the gathering, the Mayor, Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, Shri Harphool Chander Kalyan, expressed gratitude to PBMC for the warm hospitality accorded to the delegation on arrival at Port Blair. “Spread in an area of 114 sq.kms with a population of about 10 lakh, Chandigarh, a beautiful and planned city, implements some of the best sanitation practices in the country. The sewerage system at Chandigarh is one of the best in the country and was adjudged best in sanitation under the National Rating and Award Scheme for Sanitation for Indian Cities by the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India. We have beautiful parks, Malls, Community Hall etc and we invite the members of PBMC to visit Chandigarh,” said Mr Kalyan. He also praised the sanitation efforts of PBMC and illumination in the city. “I am impressed with the cleanliness and beauty of Port Blair.”
Welcoming the delegation, the Chairperson, Port Blair Municipal Council, Shri K Ganeshan informed about the functioning of the Council. The PBMC with a pool of over 4000 workers is responsible to keep the 18 wards of the city spick and span. With assets like Community Halls, Shops, Auditorium and other means like Octroi, property tax, conservancy charges, water charges etc, the PBMC generates revenue to the tune of about Rs 115 crores per annum against an expenditure of about Rs 105.29 crores per year. The Council maintains 20 Parks in various parts of the city, 15 Shopping Complexes, 14 Community halls, 1282 Shops, 3 Lodging Houses, one Dharamshala, 7000 Street Lights (Tube), 3232 Sodium Vapour Street Lights and 14 High Mast Lights in the city. Besides, grant-in-aid to the tune of Rs 24.46 crores received from the UT Administration is utilized in sectors like Water supply, Roads and bridges, Urban development and implementation of other government schemes viz. JNNURM, UIDSSMT RAY etc. Rs 16.13 crore was utilized in various sectors in the 2013-14 fiscal against grant-in-aid of Rs 24.46 crores released from the administration, he stated. Shri Ganeshan also informed the delegation about new projects like Solid Waste Management system, segregated disposal of garbage etc to be implemented by the PBMC in near future.
The Assistant Architect, PBMC, Shri Jayakumar, through a Power Point Presentation, explained about the organizational setup of Port Blair Municipal Council, its functioning and charter of duties.
The Senior Vice Chairman, Shri IP Singh, Junior Vice Chairperson, Smt P Bharathi, Secretary, Shri SP Singh and other Councilors and officials of the Council were present on the occasion.
The 25-member delegation from Chandigarh Municipal Corporation comprises of Mayor, Shri Harphool Chander Kalyan, Senior Deputy Mayor, Shri Heera Negi, Deputy Mayor, Shri Davesh Moudgil, Joint Commissioner, Shri Rajiv Gupta, 17 Councilors and 5 officials of the Corporation.
