Re–starting Cities : some suggestions to India’s Major Municipal Corporations

April  16,  2020

Dear Municipal Commissioner

Namaste !

In the next 18 days (at most another week)  it is likely that the lockdown imposed,  because of the COVID19,  will be lifted and life will have to be nursed back to normalcy.

Our large cities are going to face a huge logistical challenge when this lockdown comes - perhaps bigger than the challenges faced in imposing and maintaining this lockdown !

Bearing in mind that there will be an unbearably high level of demand for municipal services to get back to  pre-lockdown levels,  and the fact that monsoon is soon expected,  just 6 to 8 weeks away,  I have formulated a list of possible steps you can take now itself to prepare yourself for the demands that will be  placed on you and your staff,  post  May 3, 2002.

The same is enumerated below.  I hope you will find the suggestions helpful in this task.

You have all been doing a very difficult and heroic task since March 25, 2020  and I wish you all a high level of energy, personal safety and good health in the even more monumental task that lies ahead.

hemendra k. varma

A Concerned Citizen

Re–starting Cities : some suggestions to India’s Major Municipal Corporations

Sl No	Proposed  Action  Plan	Remarks	Reasons / Benefits
1	Immediately launch a drainage cleaning drive, particularly in the water-logging prone areas,  to avoid flooding during the monsoons which is just  8 weeks away.	In view of the lockdown & short time available now,  forego the quotation/ tender process and simply award the work to 2 or 3 contractors on last year’s rates.  Pass a special resolution or ordnance for this purpose.	With the lockdown in force,  this work can be carried out speedily without any disturbance from traffic & people on the road. At this time,  it will also give employment (and, hence, money) to hundreds and thousands of daily wage-earners,  which is the need of the hour.
2	Immediately  implement a 15 % cut in water supply for April,  15 % in May and 20 % in June to be reviewed and re-adjusted at the end of June depending on Monsoon performance.	This will give a saving of approx. 2 days water in April and 4.5 and 6 days in June giving a buffer of approx. 12 days water supply should monsoon play truant.	We are already suffering from the CORONA Virus ; imagine how much more difficult life will become if people have to face a water shortage, should Monsoons get delayed this year ? Hence this cut is suggested as an ADVANCE  measure of abundant caution. Please avoid temptation to become popular by NOT making a water cut – remember people will eventually hail you for your caution even though,  temporarily,  they may criticize you.
3	Utilize these 18 days (or more)  to work on a war footing to tend to all known and visible pot-holes to avoid the inevitable car accidents and vehicle damage that takes place during monsoons	It will be much easier to do it now owing to completely “traffic-free”  road availability. However, the key is to start the work immediately for which, once again Municipalities will have to  forego the quotation/ tender process and simply award the work to 2 or 3 contractors on last year’s rates.  Pass a special resolution or ordnance for this purpose.	This will not only make driving easier but also save lives as so many accidents, particularly of 2 and 3-wheelers happen when they speed over “unseen potholes” during monsoons. Also there will never be such an ideal situation to carry out these works because of the free roads these days.

4	Use this time to clean –up, disinfect and sanitise all place of tourist interest in the city,  particularly through soap–wash of all statues and monuments, which always tend to get ignored.	the key is to start the work immediately for which, once again Municipalities will have to  forego the quotation/ tender process and simply award the work to 2 or 3 contractors on last year’s rates.  Pass a special resolution or ordnance for this purpose.	When we emerge form this COVDI19 Lockdown,people will not only be able to heave a sigh of relief bt get a much cleaner and aesthetically beautiful city which will work like an antidote for uplifting the grim mood that people are living in, these days.
5	Institute a rule, that all Street Hawkers  selling  Food / Snacks  must use ONLY  Stainless Steel Containers or Cooking Vessels except for TAWA. A generous time of 12 months to implement this directive can be given to all such hawkers.	Stainless steel vessels and utensils are much easier to clean ; as  a result a reasonable scrub-wash removes all old food which otherwise tends to cling to other kinds of containers and is a home for bacteria, worms and eventual disease.	With the much heightened  awareness about the importance of personal hygiene and food cleanliness because of the CORONA Virus,  people will be much more open to implementation of this measure today than ever before. Of course this will raise their cost of operation and,  hence, their prices but this is a necessary COST that we have to bear to save future generations from  diseases caused by poor hygiene. In the long run, business will only increase as people get confidence about their cleanliness ; they will also get increasing patronage from foreign tourists who otherwise do NOT eat at such Street outlets.
6	Street Hawkers and all Sweet (Mithai)  Shop Staff must wear Head Covering and gloves ; to be implemented within 3 months of such declaration.	Regular inspection by Municipal Staff with on-the-spot fines to be levied for violation plus “Violation-photograph” and sticker put mentioning Violation 1, 2, 3 etc.  On 4th violation shop to be shut for 1 week	Will drastically improve Hygiene and significantly bring down infection / stomach ailments caused by eating street food. Will upgrade the city’s food outlets to international standards.

7	Hawkers must only serve in disposable plates – Leaves, Mud/Clay, paper or Recyclable Plastic ; to be implemented within 3 months of such declaration.	Regular inspection by Municipal Staff with on-the-spot fines to be levied for violation plus “Violation-photograph” and sticker put mentioning Violation 1, 2, 3 etc.  On 4th violation shop to be shut for 1 week	Today, re-usable plates are washed in the same dirty water kept in a large bowl or bucket and used for re-serving to the next customer – it is a horribly unhealthy and unhygienic system This measure will help to avoid the above and will upgrade the city’s food outlets to international standards.
8	Hawkers must keep only Filtered water Jars with them which will be checked every 3rd day plus 1 random check every week to ensure that is it indeed filtered. This should  be implemented within 3 months of such declaration.	This is not difficult to implement but certainly involves a cost which the hawker and/or the customer has to bear for his own health safety. Municipality has to ensure that “it is really filtered water that is being used” by making regular and frequent sample checks with heavy on-the-spot fines for violations. The supply of this filtered water can be arranged from IRCTC which sells at a much cheaper rate than private bottlers and a special rate for hawkers can be worked out with IRCTC which will be getting a huge volume of business.	Water-borne disease are the single largest cause of all stomach ailments and this move will,  therefore,  greatly eliminate the same which will lead to tremendous savings in medical cist, though the same will accrue to different segments of society and not to the hawker. However, in view of Proposal No 5, above,  eliminating the use of re-usable plates,  the “water-requirement”  of the vendor itself will do down substantially and hence the cost increase for them may not be huge.

9	Municipality must provide adequate numbers of large waste segregation Bins (Food waste, Paper & Plastic, All other categories)  in all Food Court and Food Vending Areas.	The bins being used today by different vendors are extremely filthy, of varying sizes and in varying states of collapse ! Municipality should provide a standard, colour coded bins and incur the capital cost for the same.	One of the major reasons for garbage on the streets and footpaths in our city is the woeful lack of garbage bins at reasonable distance.  Each Metro must aim for ONE set of 3 Garbage Bins (Floor, Paper/Plastic & Others) at every 100 Metre length of Road  and Multiple sets at Food Courts / Food vending areas / Parks etc.,  depending on volume of people-traffic in that area. Provision of the garbage bags will give authorities the moral right to enforce “No littering  Fines”  as to day people rightly protest – “where should I throw the garbage if not on the street ?”
10	Cleaning (Physical sweeping, wet wiping and white-wash) and thorough disinfection of Municipal Schools. This can also be mandated for all Private Schools who should be asked to self-certify that they have done this and, then random checks carried out on at least 30 % of such schools.	This is highly important in view of the COVID19 outbreak and will give parents a sense of confidence in sending their children to Municipal Schools	Will ensure a minimum level of cleanliness and hygiene in the schools which can become the new benchmark that schools need to adhere to and maintain.
11	Thorough cleaning of Municipal School Toilets and replacement of broke damaged accessories where necessary	Use COvid19 donation funds for this as it is essential to fight COVID19 when children come back for school.  Ask Corporates who are  manufacturing Toilet Accessories to donate their products as part of their support to fighting COVID19.	This is one of the major reasons why parents DO NOT send their children to Municipal Schools, especially those with girl-child ; having  clean and hygienic toilet facilities will significantly reduce this barrier

12	Clearing of all Routine and Standard Requests for various permissions	This will save you a huge crowd of citizens coming to your offices whenever they open asking “what happened to my request ?”	This will be welcomed by citizens and many of these can be done digitally, by e-mail etc. for which a limited number of staff can be called in for work immediately.
13	Issuance of Reminders of Non – payment of Municipal Taxes by Housing Societies and Individuals	Will put the onus on the citizen/society to make their payments and give them time to organize for the same.	Many of these can be done digitally, by e-mail etc. for which a limited number of staff can be called in for work immediately.
14	Clearance of papers on desk	Do it NOT by writing a Note and forwarding it to the next Officer but do it in Joint meetings every day, where all departments are present and clarifications given there and then and appropriate decision taken jointly.	This new way of working will develop a healthy sense of camaraderie and team-work and, over a period of time,  can become the norm which will greatly speed-up  paper-work disposal.

We will be happy to provide you any clarification or any assistance you may need for fleshing out the details of the above proposals.

(Hemendra K. Varma)      

16  April  2020

RE-STARTING OPERATIONS – A CHECK - LIST

Now that the lifting of the lock down, in phases, is on the horizon, we have

compiled a  List of Points to be taken care of while re-starting Operations.

We are happy to share the same with you for your use.  We hope you will 

find it helpful.

As you will see, it is built around the following Pillars

1) Workplace  Safety

2) Workplace Hygiene

3) Operations and Quality Integrity

4) Planning for the above

While the thrust is on Factory Operations,  a number of points apply to office areas, too, and additional points can be taken up, as applicable in the office environment.

We wish you a smooth and safe resumption of your operations.

hemendra k. varma

April 9, 2020

mumbai 

Sl No	Proposed Action	Remarks
1	Open all doors, windows, shutters and gates and let fresh air blow for at least 10 to 15 minutes ( to avoid fire, due accumulation of flammable gases, stench, etc.)
2	Do NOT put on lights or switch ON any electrical equipment till you have done above exercise as a stray spark may cause a fire if there is any accumulation of flammable gas.
3	Clear all gangways and passageways so that in case of any accident or untoward occurrence, people can safely run out
4	Check that all warning Sirens at your establishment are working.
5	Check all EARTHING  before starting machinery to avoid any electrical mishap.
6	Drain out your water tank so that you do not inadvertently drink or use the water that is lying stagnant for past 3 or 4 weeks.
7	Check every
	a)   Light
	b)  Water tap
	c)   PC
	d)  Flush
	e)  Kitchen/Canteen Gas Stove
	f)   Alarm Bell
	g)   Water Flow availability in Fire Hydrant
8	If you have material storage and scrap storage in Open yards and in fields, check thoroughly for rodents, lizards and  even snakes which due to inactivity for over 3 weeks would have found these places a safe haven.
9	Clean out all slippery areas.
10	Thoroughly clean  toilets ;  disinfect and,  where necessary,  change Toilet Pots,  Basins, Mugs  if they are inordinately dirty (which,  sadly,  is the norm in Indian industries)
11	Thoroughly clean  Canteen especially all utensils, water-coolers (esp. the storage water – tank), water-filters (replace Water Filter Candle if last replacement was more than 6 months back), drains, inside and outside the canteen. Disinfect all canteen areas – cooking, serving, eating and  ALL  Drains.
12	Plan out replacement of  utensils and meal-serving  Thaalis/Plates/bowls/glasses  with those made of Stainless Steel (which are easy to wash, particularly in hot water) ; if cost is high,  do it in phases,  but do you must.
13	Thoroughly clean  your Security Guards’ Cabin, Reception and Visitor’s area and properly disinfect them.
14	Thoroughly clean  Medical Block / Patient Examination Room and Patient Waiting Area and properly disinfect them.
15	Repair damaged Floors, to avoid accidents during re-start when everyone’s attention will be on restarting at the earliest and SAFETY aspects will tend to take a back seat.
16	Grease / Lubricate  every machinery before running putting it – Do not run all machines at once – build up electrical load gradually to avoid fuse blow-out.
17	Give a thorough air-wash to all electronic instruments / equipment and then wipe-clean the same before switching them on or starting their use.
18	Carry out a COT (Crane Operations Testing)  for all EOT Cranes and lubricate/grease all moving parts before starting their use. Similarly check  if Load test is due on any Hook or Chain and carry out the same, now,  if it is due within  2 months’ time.
19	Empty out and thoroughly clean all reaction vessels, pots, tanks that require such cleaning before re-use after such a long work stoppage.	Mostly applicable for Process Industries
20	Flush out and ensure uninterrupted flow in material input and output pipelines.	As above
21	Check all material storage tanks for material quality and integrity as this long storage might have spoilt some of these materials.	As above
22	Check that all valves are opening and closing easily and smoothly as some may have got jammed to long non-use.	As above
23	Check generator functioning.
24	Grease/Lubricate all Windows, Doors, Shutters.
25	Segregate out all rejected/defective material from good material so that your first despatches do not, inadvertently carry any defectives.
26	Clean all drains, thoroughly, as monsoon as fast approaching and having in-house flooding will only be a disaster.
27	Spray water over your roof to check /pin-point leaking areas and repair same before monsoon.
28	Discard all shelf life Items that are no longer useable like Paint that might have gelled, Rubber parts (belts, O rings etc.)and gaskets that might have hardened, medicines in First Aid Box etc. so that once you start work you are no longer held up because stock of these items, drawn from Stores, is NOT useable.
29	Sell of all scrap currently in the factory, before starting operations, so that you have a clean and much safer area to work in.
30	Remove cob webs.
31	Get your company vehicles thoroughly cleaned, disinfected and serviced. Change the Engine Oil and coolant.
32	One of your first acts should be to make payments for all Individual Bills, currently pending with you, that are below Rs. 25,000/-. Only this can energize your small suppliers/vendors and make it possible for them to resume their supplies to you. Don’t worry or delay because all documentation is not proper or inspection memos are not available. Make the payment immediately and then based on final documentation, adjust payment, if required, from future bills. However, this initial infusion of cash to your smaller suppliers at this stage is vital to get them started.
33	Do not call ALL your staff/workmen on first day of operations. Perhaps the first 4 days after opening should be devoted to only the above tasks and only staff/workmen required for the above operations should be called. Thereafter, you can start your operations calling in the rest of the employees in 2 or 3 phases depending on your operating strength and operating needs.	If all staff are called on Day 1 it will present a huge logistical problem in terms of drinking water, tea, toilet availability, clean sitting place etc.
34	Detailed Planning for all the above (who and  who all  will  do what, in what sequence etc. can be DONE now by remote working through teleconferencing, video conferencing and e-mail ; this is how the current Lockdown time can be utilized productively.

While the above is being done,  it is very important,  parallely,  to work on a series of communication messages to be conveyed to

      Employees (each and every employee,  from the top to the lowest level,) 

      Vendors

      Customers

to inform and update them about the reality of the company.

Inform Employees about

a)   your company’s  current position - (both operationally & financially and the foreseen prospects in the next 6 months)

b)   current cash position 

c)   current order book 

d)   current state of Plant & Equipment and the time and money it will take to get back to full, normal working at the  pre – Corona Lockdown level 

e)   losses already incurred because of the lock down 

f)    what is expected from the employees in terms of work commitment, extra hours working

g)   difficulties that will persist for a few months like non – availability of canteen food, non – availability of transport facilities, etc. 

h)   employee facilities withdrawal / salary cut  that may have to be temporarily taken to be able to put the company back on sound financial footing

i)    in tandem with para (h), above,  what support, if any,  the company will extend on crucial matters like some immediate requirements of employees  e.g. payment of Annual School Fees,  any cash requirements for domestic emergencies some employees may be passing through etc.

Of course,  in most of the organised sector,  organisations have been instructed NOT to deduct wages for the lockdown period, nor sack any employees.   In all probability, organisations are most likely to have followed these instructions.  If so,  then cash availability may not be an immediate problem for organised sector employees,  though it will certainly be an issue for large parts of the MSME sector.

The above communication can, perhaps,  be fashioned and delivered about 10 days after physical re-opening by when you have had a chance to make a reasonably accurate assessment of the state you find your company in.

It would be ideal if this communication is made by the CEO / President / MD  to all employees in 2 or 3 batches.  This is a very critical communication that must not leave any scope for misunderstanding or distortion and this can only be ensured if the same person makes the communication to all groups. 

Also,  and this is very important,  if the communication to Junior employees and workmen is made by someone other than the CEO,  they will feel devalued and it is of vital importance that nothing should be done which demoralises or demotivates any employee particularly the front-line employees on whose shoulders, really,  the entire organisation is dependent for its day to day running.

The above communication if transparently  drawn up (without hiding facts or soft-pedalling difficulties) and sincerely delivered,  it will go a long way in securing the confidence and faith of all the employees as the re-opening is but, just an event ; recovery is a long journey which apart from financial and material support will call for tremendous persistence, determination and belief in one’s ability to re-build ourselves and, eventually, excel and surpass what we had achieved in the past.

For this,  Top Management must ensure,  and leave no stone unturned,  to carry all the employees with them with constant and continuing communication about where the organisations is,  what is being done to restore normalcy and how it is succeeding (or failing) in this effort and what, therefore,  needs to be done to get back on track and improve the existing situation.

Coming now to the question of communicating with the Company’s Vendors and Customers,  the following is recommended :

Inform Vendors about

a)   your current position - (both operationally & financially and the foreseen prospects in the next 6 months)

b)   current cash position & current order book 

c)   hence, what is the kind of order level that the vendors can expect and the time it will take to get back to full, normal working at the  pre – Corona Lockdown level

d)   what is the support that you will try to give to the vendors

e)   what is the support you expect from the vendors

f)    what is the safety code adherence you want the vendors to abide by

Inform Customers about

a)   your current position - (both operationally & financially and the foreseen prospects in the next 6 months)

b)   current cash position & current order book

c)   current state of Plant & Equipment and the time and money it will take to get back to full, normal working at the  pre – Corona Lockdown level 

d)   what kind of support you want from your Customers – clearing of Old Bills,  advance for new orders, transportation / delivery support  etc.