Coimbatore corporation seeks additional manpower from govt to expedite city work

Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) will send a proposal to CMA seeking permission to appoint 176 personnel including Assistant Engineers (AEs) and the City Engineer (CE) as development and maintenance works are hindered due to the lack of manpower.

Despite being the second-largest and highest revenue-generating corporations in the State, next to Chennai, the CCMC is bogged down by fund and staff shortages. According to sources, there are only 41 Assistant Engineers, two Executive Engineers and no City Engineer for the 100 wards in the five zones of the CCMC. Of them, around 30 AEs do not have the desired experience. After the number of wards was increased from 60 to 100 in 2011, CCMC  has witnessing a lot more problems.

Several councillors raised the issue of manpower shortage during the council meetings and urged the CCMC to address it as soon as possible. North Zone Chairperson V Kathirvelu said, " We don't have enough Assistant Engineers (AE) because of which works are getting delayed. We need two AEs for the general and water supply departments and  two AEs for monitoring the works carried out in the wards."
East Zone Chairperson Lakumi Ilanjelvi Karthik said, "As the existing officer is busy with various meetings, we need additional ATPOs (Assistant Town Planning Officers) for each of the five zones in the CCMC."  

All the officials have been working hard due to staff shortage. The corporation must consider appointing one Assistant Engineer for two wards in the city to manage the workload, she added. Speaking to TNIE, CCMC Deputy Commissioner Dr M Sharmila said the civic body has planned to send a proposal to the CMA (Commissionerate of Municipal Administration) demanding 176 additional manpower. "We will write a letter to the CMA requesting to allot 176 personnel for various postings to meet the manpower shortage. The subject will be taken in the council meeting this month and after the council passes a resolution, we will send it to the CMA," she added.

The 176 personnel include 18 AE (Assistant Engineers) for general & water supply works, five surveyors (one for each zone), 10 technical assistants (two for each zone), one AEE (Assistant Executive Engineer) for maintenance and control of public parks, one AEE for Solid Waste Management and one AEE for water supply, sources said.