Devasish Sarma, who took over as the GMC commissioner this year in the middle of a pandemic, the staff crisis and a decrease in income, talks to the watershed mukut about the challenges he faced and how to improve citizenship services.
P.
Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) has not been able to meet the expectations of the community because it fails to appear in the main areas such as maintaining clean sewers, supplying clean drinking water and removing garbage from the city.
Your comment Devasish Sarma: I agree.
GMC has not been able to meet the expectations of the people.
We do anything possible with labor and limited infrastructure.
At the same time, people also have certain responsibilities.
They must work with us.
Without their support, we cannot keep the city clean.
We try to make people understand that they should not throw garbage on the road or to the water channel.
We try to tell them to separate waste at home, which GMC will be collected.
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This city produces around 550 tons of garbage every day.
How does GMC manage waste? Devasish Sarma: We need integrated waste management policies to handle waste.
About 70 NGOs are currently moving in collecting and disposing of waste in East Boragaon, on the outskirts of the city.
We still do not have a waste management plant.
But we will get one month in a plot of 67 Bghas in East Boragaon, on the outskirts of the city.
With this plant installation, we will be able to treat many waste.
We are planning incinerators for waste that cannot be treated.
Changes will be seen in the city in the next few years to concerning the management of waste.
Three companies have qualified for factory installation.
From them, one will be given a project.
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Bio-methanization factory was established in chatribari last year and the others near Borsola Beel.
What is the status of this plant? Devasish Sarma: plants are currently inactive.
During the national locking in the first wave of Pandemic Covid-19 years ago, the generation of waste dropped to most.
Plants are temporarily closed due to inadequate compost.
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Civic Employee Work Culture has created a negative impression in the minds of the people.
What do you think? Devasish Sarma: We try to change it.
What we should need is enough labor because of the current strength we cannot cover the entire city.
Q.
What steps are taken by GMC to reduce artificial flood problems? Sarma Devasish: Most wetlands have been interrupted.
People have built buildings on the banks of the river.
GMC can drive them away.
We have outlined many people in the past and can do more evic drives.
But if this problem goes to court, it will take years to complete.
We must stop giving permission for construction in the body of the water.
The need for hours is to expand the existing river channels and revive wetlands.
This is also the suggested experts.
We have spent around the annual RS 130 Crore to clean and eliminate five river channels and 575 waterways.
Spending a very large amount has no meaning.
That’s why I changed the system after I took over.
Now there are no private organizations engaged in cleaning waterways.
We clean water channels with minimum funds.
This is how we saved a lot of funds.
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What is the amount of income collected by GMC and how do you buy it? Devasish Sarma: GMC gets government funds.
Civic’s body needs to take maximum work to spend income.
The tragic part is that people do not pay income, where GMC faces the acute financial crisis.
The GMC traditionally has a big loss in gathering income.
It used to get revenues of Rs 14 Crore before the pandemic and now the figure has come down to the 10 crore.
This number paid employee salaries!