Ludhiana, December 28
Unfazed by difficult conditions created by abolition of octroi which translated into a loss of monthly revenue of around Rs 10 crore, the Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation, Mr R.L. Kalsia, appears steadfast with respect to his commitment to making Ludhiana a better place to live in.
In an interview with Ludhiana Tribune today, he reiterated that main focus would continue to be on development and the agenda for the next year would comprise improvement in the quality of basic amenities, sanitation level and extension of coverage for water supply and sewerage.
He said with the dawn of New Year, the MC would launch a concerted sanitation drive which would aim at seeking cooperation of the city population to keep the city clean. Another 100 garbage containers would be added to the existing 240 containers,= placed at different places. Steps were on to commission the proposed projects for solid waste management and biomedical waste disposal. He said the MC would also take plantation of saplings in a big way.
Mr Kalsia further told that 10 more tubewells would be commissioned by the end of this financial year, taking the total number to 266. Similarly, the total length of water supply lines would go up to 1300 km and the number of water connections in approved colonies would reach 1.75 lakh from the present 1.35 lakh. In terms of coverage, around 85 per cent of the city population would get clean drinking water by the end of 2003. He said another 30,000 sewerage connections would be released.
According to Mr Kalsia, the civic body had spent a staggering Rs 24 crore out of an annual targeted amount of Rs 33 crore on augmentation of water supply. He sought to dispel the unfounded apprehensions on availability of funds for the proposed water supply and sewerage projects. “The Rs 105 crore loan from HUDCO is very much in place and the next instalment of Rs 6.95 crore is already in the pipeline to be released.”
