Need to provide civic amenities to citizens: Thakur

Shimla, Aug 24 (UNI) Himachal Pradesh Irrigation and Public Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur today called upon the City Mangers, Executive Officers, Municipal Engineers from Urban Local Bodies to cooprate with the state government in providing systematic development and civic amenities to the pubilc.

Presiding over a three-day-long workshop on City Managers, Solid Waste Management and Sanitation here, Mr Thakur stressed the need for improvement in quality of life of the common man and to provide potable drinking water supply, sewerage systems and all basic facilities to them.

Mr Thakur said the supply of safe drinking being the basic necessity had always remained priority of the state government and added that all the census villages had already been provided this facility and now left-out habitations were being covered in a specified time frame.

He said work on Rs 66 crore Giri Water Supply Scheme for Shimla Town and Rs 55 crore Solan Water Supply Scheme was in progress which would be dedicated to the people of the districts this year.

In order to see that all cities are clean, livable and to provide urban facilities on sustainable basis, city development plan, city sanitation plan, city de-congestion plan, city TPT plan were being prepared for all ULB's keeping in view their short term and long term requirements, he said.

He said professional organisations like City Managers Association are of much importance and added that the government recently sent a team of seven members to study the CMA in Bhopal in situ and see as to how formation of such an organisation can help Himachal's urban Managers in terms not only of capacity building but also in providing financial and professional expertise to ULBs and to supplement the efforts of the Government.

He hoped the CMA in the state would be formed to provide similar technical support by developing projects, securing funding following plans for reforms and establishing linkages between asset creation and management so that the urban services became self-sustaining over time.

UNI