Just ahead of the polls, Municipal Corporation Gurgaon seems to be getting its act together. The urban local body has its plans ready to improve public transport facilities, decongest roads and provide 24×7 water supply to the residents. In a candid chat with NDTV’s Oineetom Ojah, Municipal Commissioner of Gurgaon, Vikas Gupta shared his strategy to make Gurgaon more clean and livable. The Corporation has set aside Rs 750 crore for developmental and infra projects.

Q. Commuting in Gurgaon is a nightmare. Traffic congestion and poor public transport facilities has been a major problem. How do you plan to address this problem?

A. I agree with what you are saying. Though metro rail is there, Gurgaon lacks good public transport and lots need to be done. So we are working on a city bus service. An SPV is being formed to run the city bus service in Gurgaon. More than 500 buses will be on Gurgaon streets soon. Moreover, the auto rickshaw market is very unorganised in Gurgaon. Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon has entered into an agreement with an NGO and in next one month we will have an app based auto services similar to the cab services. This will organise the auto rickshaw market and the rates will get standardised. What I feel is thus will be a good service for the citizens. We are coming up with a mobile app where the citizens can access all services of mcg and we will launch it next week.

Q. Gurgaon’s ground water tables are depleting and certain parts of the city do not have access to 24×7 water supply. How soon can residents heave a sigh of relief?

A. Gurgaonn has good water supply but its intermittent as we find in other cities. So we have started working on providing 24×7 water supply to the residents. We have picked up Sector 15 and Chakkarpur near DLF Phase-I, and surrounding areas as pilot projects for 24 hours water supply. I am confident that in next one year we will have 24 hours water supply across Gurgaon areas.

Q. One downpour and Gurgaon drains get clogged and roads are under knee-deep water. What are your plans?

A. There is problem of storm water drainage in Gurgaon. During the recent rains we noticed that water was stagnating for a long time. Although Gurgaon has a storm water drainage network, what we realised is that maintenance has been very poor. So we have identified the places of water stagnation as well the duration and the solution. So we have prepared an action plan and have started work. I am confident that by next year we will not have the same problems.

Q. Garbage dumps by roadsides and poor waste management is visible in almost all areas of Gurgaon.

A. We have adequate capacity for sewage treatment as well as proper sewage network. Although the new colonies lack these network and we are laying the lines in these areas which have been added to the municipal areas recently. The other problem is Gurgaon is partially covered under the door to door waste collection system. We are extending this to cover the whole city and by January 2016 this will be done. The waste will then be transported to the centralised landfill site at Bhandwari. By next month we will invite bids for solid waste treatment facilities to be set up to address waste treatment problem.

Oineetom Ojha, Special Correspondent- Real Estate