With the sanitation issue still fresh in mind, Delhiites expect Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to address their civic issues.
The party after receiving an overwhelming mandate in the civic elections after defeating anti-incumbency will have to resolve various problems related to the civic bodies, mainly sanitation.
Restoring functioning of the civic bodies by providing long pending essential civic amenities to residents will be a priority for the newly-elected leadership. A number of issues which Delhi is suffering from, come under the ambit of the civic bodies, but measures are yet to be taken on the ground to get rid of these problems. Every year thousands of people become victims of preventable diseases like Dengue and Chikungunya.
The unhygienic surrounding contributed by piles of garbage lying all around, choked drains, water logging in monsoon, problem of unsystematic garbage lifting, parking problems, pathetic conditions of hospitals, menace of stray dogs and monkey, drop out ratios in schools run by the MCDs and repeated strikes by sanitation workers are need to be addressed with coordinated and well managed efforts. Besides installing CCTV cameras and lED lights in colony streets, parks and other areas under MCD is also will be priority.
The inability to improve health infrastructure is also a matter of concern as all the hospitals run by Corporation lack the basic amenities. North Municipal Corporation runs six big hospitals. Hindu Rao Hospital is the biggest among them still it struggles with drug shortages, infrastructure, staff shortfall and outdated equipment. The other five hospitals too face drug shortage, poor utilisation of infrastructure and non-availability of staff.
A senior official of the Corporation said that the civic body required well managed planning with intention to bring things back on track.
“We have failed to keep menace are under check because the habit of passing the buck is prevalent among the various authorities responsible for taking action. Obviously, in the war of dengue and the Corporation, the winner is Aedes mosquito as it has been defeating us by claiming thousands of lives every year,” he said.
After securing a staggering 180 seats, Manoj Tiwari, an actor-turned-politician and Delhi BJP unit chief said that the party will clean Delhi within two months and the BJP leader believes that after it no one will find any garbage on the roads. But some of the senior leaders in the Congress refuted the claim and alleged BJP councillors of siphoning off funds meant for municipal employees in the Capital.
“The party is playing dirty politics with Delhi. The city could have been cleaned before as the party is in power for ten years. They have never been interested in cleaning the city,” said a senior the Congress leader.
The condition on primary education is also need to be restored by taking measures to prevent dropout. According to estimates more than 50,000 students quit from primary MCD schools in the last three years. Many of Corporation’s school even lacked even the basic facilities like proper seating arrangements, water availability and clean toilets.
Refurbishing financially ailing Corporation by managing revenue from existing sources including reforming property taxes will also be very crucial to carry out operations without financial constraints. The Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken recently pointed out not even a single school has initiated measures to stop the alarmingly dropout ratio.
Political analyst is also predicting that a politically emboldened party would soon roll out the much-delayed reforms to revamp tax structure of the Corporation.
A former influential leader of the BJP in North Corporation admitted that many of the projects including regular routine works like sweeping, garbage collection and maintenance of essential civic amenities including hospitals were affected because scarcity of fund. “Increasing revenue is very important to keep on all the projects,” he said.
According to an estimate Rs 300 crore is being collected as toll tax instead of total potential stand for Rs 1,922 crore. Also only 10 per cent of the total capacity of parking spaces is being converted to generate revenue while there is an annual shortfall of at least Rs 1,000 crore when it comes to outdoor advertisements.
The revenue sources of the civic body are yet to be tapped to the optimal level. A senior official of the Corporation said that “revenue leakage” at different levels is the main source of financial starvation.
Although, the North Corporation has also registered an impressive growth of Rs 242 crore by collecting Rs 613 crore in 2016-17 from Rs 371 crore in 2015-16 and needed such efforts further to boost property tax revenue, with an interactive portal on property tax system which would allow residents to query or apply for details regarding property tax.