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 |
|
|
1
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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
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