Residents of Navi Mumbai have voiced their dissatisfaction at the lengthy delays in opening numerous public amenities and infrastructure projects, even though the city has completed them. They argue that the public does not know why the NMMC has failed to put these finished public facilities into service.
Public complaints prompted the civic head to conduct an investigation, which found that although most of the projects were finished, they had lain dormant for months. This results from the authorities’ apathetic attitude, as they blame the delays on the Lok Sabha and the ensuing state assembly elections. The model code of conduct for these elections forbade large-scale public project inauguration events.
To assess ongoing initiatives and ready-but-unused facilities, NMMC commissioner Kailash Shinde recently held a departmental review meeting. He emphasised the need to use commissioned public structures appropriately and called for the prompt activation of unfinished municipal facilities, especially because of the impending state polls and civic body elections.
According to Shinde, the property department has been instructed to compile a thorough inventory of all municipal buildings that are not in use. Sameer Tupe, a concerned citizen, noted that many public projects are still underutilised and that the civic body is not concerned about the money spent.
In addition to the years-long vacancy of the Vashi Fire Department’s commercial area, the multi-story bus terminal at Vashi depot has not yet been finished. “Once the ready facilities are operationalised, revenue generation will start, particularly through property tax collection,” said Manohar Shroff, a resident of Vashi. According to reports, Shinde has ordered that all civic services be made available online and connected with the “Aaple Sarkar” platform run by the Maharashtra government.
Source: The Times of India
