New GMDA chief with many posts says focus will be on Gurugram

GURUGRAM: The new Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) chief Vivek Joshi, who joined office on Tuesday, said he will invest most of his time to the city, even though he has five other portfolios to handle.

Talking to TOI, Joshi said GMDA will be his main assignment. He dismissed concerns over slackening pace of work at GMDA due to change of guard, saying, “The department runs as per policies, which remain the same. Hence, all projects will continue like they should.”

This is his second stint in Gurugram. He has earlier served as the administrator at Haryana Institute of Public Administration some years back. Joshi is also the designated CEO for Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Authority, and is responsible for the development of five proposed cities along the Kundli-Manesar Expressway, which is chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s pet project.

Soon after taking charge, Joshi held a meeting with senior GMDA officials, who briefed him on the various ongoing projects and their current status. Outgoing GMDA chief V Umashankar briefed Joshi on important projects lined up in the coming days.

Some major developments are expected at GMDA over the next two months. While the DPR on the metro project, connecting Huda City Centre with Old Gurugram, is expected by this month-end, the mobility plan being prepared by an IIT-Roorkee team is expected to be ready by November-end.

“The appointed agency is running two months behind schedule, but we’re hopeful they will be ready with the mobility plan by November-end,” said Umashankar.

He added that public consultations for the liveability index are also in their last phase, the resident advisory council is awaiting a nod from the chief minister’s office, while the tender for remodelling Huda City Centre metro station is ready and likely to be floated in the next couple of days.

Talking about the process of setting up GMDA, Umashankar said it was easier to introduce new mechanisms and digital initiatives because they started with a clean slate.

It would have been difficult to do the same in a department that already existed, he added. “There are four things I wanted to establish within GMDA — a good organisational structure, a legal structure, people set-up and a good work culture — and we’ve achieved that to a large extent,” he said.

Another area where the outgoing GMDA chief put special focus is maintaining transparency in intra-departmental processes.

He said today, GMDA has robust processes, which is why some central and state agencies are in touch with the authority for consultation on their own projects.