G Plus Volume 1 Issue 45

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2 Lead Story G PLUS AUG 09 - AUG 15, 2014 CAG FLOORS GMC IN AUDIT The Guwahati Municipal Corporation has come under fire following the audit report filed by the Comptroller and Auditor General Mrinmoyee Hazarika For the last one month, the local authorities have been seen toppling down illegal dwellings and sweeping up the drains and other channels of the city in order to make it free from encroachment. All these exercises to mitigate the flash flood situation of the city, which took 11 lives occurred at the end of June this year, could have been avoided if the authorities had sincerely carried out their duties and responsibilities from the very beginning. In its performance audit report on the working of the GMC for the fiscal year 2012-13, undertaken by the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General), it had mentioned that building bye laws were violated by NOC holders due to lack of supervision by GMC. “Rule 58 read with sub-rule (58.17) of the building bye-laws states that the structural design, constructional standard etc of all multi-storeyed building are required to be supervised during construction at three stages viz foundation, plinth/ground floor and upper floor. Scrutiny of records disclosed that the GMC had no system to supervise the under construction buildings as per rule. Taking advantage of the loopholes in the bye-laws and due to lack of supervision on part of the corporations, developers as well as individuals made gross deviations by contravening the approved building permission” the CAG report says. The report further mentions that an illustrative but not exhaustive position of penalties were imposed for violation of various provisions of the building bye-laws during the period of 2007-12. “A total number of 272 cases were penalised due to violation of various provisions of building bye-laws. Out of 272 cases, in 93 cases, penalty was imposed ranging from a minimum of `1.02 lakh to a maximum of `26.32 lac. This indicated that the lack of supervision had enabled the promoters and individuals to violate the master plan and zoning regulation of the GMC,” the CAG report also states. The office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, which is responsible for carrying out audits at different levels of the government also stated in its report that the GMC did not follow the procedures prescribed in the bye-laws in regard to processing and approving building permissions. “Audit observed that during the calendar year 2010, as many as 392 NOCs were issued wherein GMC cleared NOCs within 55 days in case of apartments or commercial establishments, while in residential houses, it took a minimum of 518 to maximum of 941 days. This indicated that authority had no mechanism to clear the cases in a first come first serve basis. Moreover, reasons for delay in issues of NOCs were not on record in Suspected mis-appropriated amount by GMC Year Date of collection Amount (in Rs) 1/4/2010 28,700 14/12/2010 32,812 2010-11 01/01/2011 021,440 18/01/2011 36,547 Total 1,19,499 Detailed cases of penalty imposed `1 lakh and above for violation of building bye-laws Year Total no of NOCs issued Total penalty cases % of violation Total penalised cases “ A total number of 272 cases were penalised due to violation of various provisions of building bye-laws. Out of 272 cases, in 93 cases, penalty was imposed ranging from a minimum of `1.02 lakh to a maximum of `26.32 lac. Total amount of penalty 2007-08 399 18 4.51 12 43,86,524 2008-09 480 77 16.04 41 2,31,43,164 2009-10 496 67 13.51 22 1,14,57,359 2010-11 589 58 9.85 14 65,38,936 2011-12 471 52 11.04 4 27,13,563 Total 2,435 272 11.17 93 4,82,39,546 SOME RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GMC • A structured system of planning - long, medium and short term and systematic reporting mechanism needs to be implemented to enable improvement in the deliverables of the Corporation and provide adequate feedback to all stakeholders. • Budget formulation should be realistic and completed within the time frame as stipulated in the GMC Act, 1971. No expenditure should be made before the approval of the Annual Budget. • Effective monitoring, supervision by the higher authorities should be ensured to stop pilferage of revenue. • Effective action needs to be taken to ensure dwelling houses to urban poor are completed as per schedule. • Action needs to be taken to bring all of GMC’s landed properties to GMC own possessions and made encroachment free. the test-checked cases,” CAG report says. During its audit, CAG also found anomalies in the handing of financial matters of GMC, which includes delay in making budget estimates, huge variations in expenditure made without budget provision, deficiencies in maintenance of cash books, misappropriation of municipal fund etc. The report mentions, “Analysis of the relevant files relating to budget estimate of the corporation revealed that GMC took the initiative for preparation of annual budget with a delay of five to fifteen months while the adoption of budget estimates was delayed by six to eleven months. Scrutiny of records also disclosed that the GMC authority spent a minimum of `59.59 crore to a maximum of `104.34 crore before the final approval of the budget during the period of 2007- 2012” Besides, it was also observed during the audit carried out by CAG that the corporation spent `7.97 crore under the major heads during 2007-08 and 2009-10 without budget provision which indicated absence of budgetary control over expenditure. Moreover, the report also mentioned that between June 2009 and March 2012, an amount of `10.21 crore was handed over by the six branches of the corporation to the three banks engaged by the corporation to collect day-to-day receipts directly from the different branches, for onward deposit into the representative bank accounts of GMC. The amounts so collected by the banks were not accounted for the municipal cash book. mrinmoyee.hazarika@g-plus.in
G PLUS AUG 09 - AUG 15, 2014 3 G-View NO-ENTRY ZONES OR MONEY MAKERS? rahul chanda The No-Entry zones of the city are also turning to be good money-spinners, albeit illegal. There are many roads and lanes in the city where particular vehicles are not permitted during some hours of the day, but still the roads become congested and chaotic. Recently, in view of increasing traffic congestion on public roads and as per the order of the Gauhati High Court dated 04/06/2014 in PIL No. 35/2014 for taking effective remedial measures to remove traffic hazards in different roads of Guwahati, the Governor of Assam constituted a committee with the involvement of various government departments and civic bodies. The committee is expected to make suggestions and recommendations for improving the regulatory framework, road design and enforcement to ensure effectiveness of the traffic management plan for the city. This proves that the situation of traffic is so pathetic that the Gauhati High Court and the state Governor had to interfere, but will this help? The idea of no entry zones are to ease the road congestion of certain areas but, it is seen that people violate the rules and cops keep fining them. The business Usually, it is the home guard personnel who guard the roads where there is a no entry sign and they make sure that the slow moving vehicles do not enter these roads during the specified timings. According to a notification sent to all the concerned officers by the city traffic SP, the movement of all slow moving vehicles, rickshaws, thelas, pony carts and handcarts are restricted from 8 am to 9 pm on the following roads:- There is always a home guard personnel deployed there, who makes sure that slow moving vehicles are not allowed into the road. Interestingly, any vehicle travelling towards Athgaon might get confused seeing the sign as it is not clear that it is off limits for slow moving vehicles only. The four-wheelers can enter the road and are not stopped by the guards whilst the cycle rickshaws and auto carriers are mostly halted by the guards and are allowed to pass after being fined. The fines taken are without any receipt and because Athgaon is full of business establishments and wholesale markets, the vehicles have to take the road anyway. As per observers in the area, this way, the guards stand to make money out of the fines collected and the traffic congestion is also never eased. Similar problems are seen in the “ I have to take the goods to many shops in Fancy Bazaar and this is a shortcut from the AT Road from where we get the goods. I pay `20 in fine saving `100 on petrol. So I enter the market crossing gate number 3 which is a no entry zone” Fancy Bazaar market where the slow moving vehicles are not allowed to enter crossing Gate number 3, but they pay the fines and get in. Rajib Sarkar, an auto-carrier driver said, “I have to take the goods to many shops in Fancy Bazaar and this is a shortcut from the AT Road from where we get the goods. I pay `20 in fine saving `100 on petrol. So I enter the market crossing gate number 3 which is a no entry zone.” He further added that he never receives any kind of challan or receipt of the fine paid by him. Danu Chetia, a home guard personnel deployed near the Marwari Hospital at Athgaon said that they cannot take fines as they do not have the receipt book. Only when the Assam Police officials are there then they charge fines. But the rickshaw pullers informed that the guard there does take fines. The amount can be anything from Rs 5 to Rs 50. It can be mentioned here that taking fines without providing any receipt do not generate any revenue for the government. All the fines collected goes into the pockets of the guards and some might also land up in the pockets of a few senior officials if they are aware of the racket. Trucks The city also faces traffic congestion majorly because of the trucks. The six wheeler trucks are allowed to enter the city limits after only 11pm up to 6.30 am only. The trucks having challans for places like Fancy Bazaar, Bharalumukh, Athgaon are allowed to enter via the Jalukbari Rotary, trucks having challans to Fatasil Ambari area are allowed to enter through Lokhara and Garchuk Road and the trucks having challans to Dispur and Bhangagarh area can enter through the Tripura road in Six miles. While going out, the trucks can follow the same route. During the no entry period for six wheelers, the restriction is imposed at the following points:- Jalukbari Sixmile Lakhara Garchuk Narengi BG Yard and FCI depot approach towards Geetanagar, Noonmati DG Road MG Road GNB Road RGB Road GS Road RP Road B. Barooah Road KLB Road National Highway 37 (from Khanapara to VIP Road) Now, no entry zones can be implemented in some roads and lanes, if required by the local police station to manage the traffic. There are many roads like the Athgaon Road, Fancy Bazaar and other roads connecting to the AT Road, which are no entry zones. While entering the Athgaon Road from the Marwari Hospital side, the road looks like a no entry zone with a board put up at the entry. However, for six wheelers plying from BG Yard and FCI Depot moving outside the city via the Express Highway, Sixmile and Tripura road and vice versa, the no entry timing is 7.30am to 10.30am and 1.30pm to 3.30pm shall only be applicable as all the goods exported to the entire northeast region gets loaded at BG Yard. These trucks are also checked at entry points fined, with and without receipts. There are no restrictions on the movement of four wheelers and mini trucks for all 24 hours, however restrictions are there on some roads in the peak hours from 7.30am to 10.30am and 1.30pm to 3.30pm. Because of the court’s concern, the Governor might have constituted a committee, which will deliberate on better traffic management, but before anything, the authorities should try and concentrate on how to solve the grass root level graft which goes unreported. It neither helps the general public nor the government. rahul.chanda@g-plus.in
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Page 5 and 6: G PLUS AUG 09 - AUG 15, 2014 5 City
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Page 9 and 10: G PLUS AUG 09 - AUG 15, 2014 9 Poli
Page 11 and 12: GMC collects `23 lakh online proper
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Page 17 and 18: Cigarette butts to power gadgets A
Page 19 and 20: ‘Hero Pleasure-5th Miss India Nor
Page 21 and 22: itu gupta gritu21@yahoo.com There i
Page 23 and 24: COLOR PHOTO LAB G Plus will keep on

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