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MCCI Special Session with Shri Binod Kumar, IAS, Municipal Commissioner, KMC
Friday, 23 June 2023
Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce & Industry on Friday, June 23, 2023, organized a Special Session with Shri Binod Kumar, IAS, Municipal Commissioner, Kolkata Municipal Corporation on ‘KMC’s Vision & Strategy: E-Governance, Ease of Doing Business and Solid Waste Management’ on Friday, 23 June 2023 at 11.30 A.M at the Conference Hall of the Chamber.
Shri Namit Bajoria, President, MCCI complimented the humongous task undertaken by the Commissioner, in spearheading efficient, effective, and equitable citizen-responsive services. The Chamber has suggested setting up a Help-Desk with support from KMC to address issues faced by the industry.
While speaking on building permits, Shri Binod Kumar, IAS, Municipal Commissioner, Kolkata Municipal Corporation said that the target was to reduce the time taken for sanctioning the building plans to 38 days. KMC introduced the Common Application Form to sanction building applications 2 years ago. KMC recently launched night parking which can be done digitally. KMC has spent 4 crores on the power department to set up solar units in the KMC buildings.
To make the city environmentally sustainable, KMC will be planting 1 crore saplings in the KMC areas and also along the Hooghly River to Dakshineswar and Dhapa areas. Regarding the need for more parking zones, he appealed to the industry to come forward and partner with the initiative. KMC is working on Transferable Development Rights with the Urban Development Department.
The Municipal Commissioner had requested the members to avail the use of KMC Chatbot services to reach out to KMC officials with their issues and concerns.
He urged the industry to come up with specific suggestions in the area of solid waste management and work with KMC. He further mentioned that KMC will come up with a Centralized Compost Plant for the Treatment of Waste at Dhapa (PPP Model) with a capacity of 500 MT per day and a Plastic processing plant with a capacity of 2 TPD on 10000 Sq.ft lands at Dhapa shortly. Another project is the Bio-mining of Legacy Waste at Dhapa with an estimated quantity of legacy waste: of 40 lakhs MT which is expected to be completed by May 2024.
While speaking on KMC’s online services, he mentioned that ‘Talk to the Mayor’ is one of the unique initiatives taken by KMC. He said that the action taken report is monitored by the Mayor personally. “It is a wonderful tool in the hands of citizens to be able to give feedback” – said the Mayor.
Shri Munish Jhajharia, Chairman, of the Council on Infrastructure & Real Estate, MCCI pointed out a few important issues such as the validity of sanction plans for real estate projects, and the absence of SEZs in West Bengal. He suggested considering the validity of the plan to be increased to 6 years from the current 5 years. He enquired about the opportunity for private players in Solid waste management. Hospital waste, and plastic recycling all are big areas of management and business as well. He opined that the private sector in coordination with the KMC could do a lot in making the useful transition of this waste.
The Session ended with a hearty Vote of Thanks proposed by Shri Amit Sarda, Member, Council on Infrastructure & Real Estate, MCCI.
