In poll year, metro nod is GMDA’s primary mission

GURUGRAM: GMDA spent the better half of the past year and a half setting up its organisational structure, culture and processes, in the face of criticism from many quarters. Officials say it has been successful in setting up a work culture not plagued by bureaucracy.
“The difference in work culture comes from the fact that a lot of people have been pulled in from the private sector. There’s special emphasis on transparency, and almost everything has to be documented online,” said a government official, requesting anonymity.

With processes and the organisational structure in place, GMDA has several important projects to finish in 2019. The most important objective is to get the detailed project report (DPR) of the metro link to the old city approved. The DPR, which was earlier expected in October-end, is not yet ready. Sources said a part of the metro link — between the railway station and Sector 23 — is yet to be confirmed by the chief minister’s office.

Another important project is to get the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) functional. ICCC, which, along with the city bus service, was launched by the CM in September this year, will be the nodal point of availability of all online data and information related to smart-city applications. It will also aggregate data from multiple fields and provide an interface for real-time alerts and notifications. “It will serve as a one-stop centre for grievance redress in future,” said M D Sinha, additional CEO, GMDA.

There is also a plan to lay two sets of optical fibre networks with higher bandwidth than available now — one to connect all government officers, the other to be made available for the private sector.

On the environment front, the authority has to implement several measures to check pollution, increase green cover and ensure no untreated waste water is released into Najagfgarh drain that eventually empties into the Yamuna in Delhi.

In terms of water supply and utilisation of recycled water, the authority is in the process of setting up a supply network in new sectors between 57 and 115. The project is expected to be completed by summer 2019. A dedicated network for recycled water, to increase its utilisation, is also on cards. “We want to increase usage of recycled water in the city. Hence, we’re increasing capacity of the sewage treatment plants and also laying down a network for distribution of recycled water,” said a senior GMDA official.

With assembly elections scheduled later in 2019, the GMDA is likely to play a more proactive role in taking up infrastructure projects in the New Year.