GMDA investigates other cities’ authorities to implement changes in Gurugram

In order to improve civic amenities in the city, officials from Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) are visiting major cities like Pune, Bengaluru and Hyderabad and examining the functioning of their metropolitan bodies. Based on these findings, changes will be made after getting the approval of the state government.

The officials plan to move on to Hyderabad next. A senior GMDA official said that in many cities, they have found that last-mile services like issuing building permits are handled by the metropolitan authorities, while the authorities also have the power to levy taxes. All these different aspects are being studied and those that prove useful will be proposed for implementation in Gurugram, the official said.

“Over the past few months, GMDA CEO A Srinivas and other senior officials have visited and observed the working of the metropolitan authorities in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Pune. The team will soon visit Hyderabad and based on the inspection, a plan will be prepared for changes that can be brought in the functioning of GMDA,” a senior GMDA official said.

A GMDA official said that in Bengaluru, they noticed that the water board is an autonomous body, similar to Delhi, and functions without any interference from the municipal corporation. In Ahmedabad, the team noticed that the local metropolitan body issues licenses to developers and real estate companies to develop residential and commercial properties.

Officials familiar with the matter said the GMDA is taking this action after Chief Minister (CM) Nayab Singh Saini issued an order that the functioning of metropolitan bodies in four or five major cities should be examined before taking a decision on transferring the last mile of water supply and sewerage network from MCG to GMDA.

Currently, GMDA acts as the wholesale water supplier for the city, while MCG manages water supply to residential estates and developed sectors by HSVP and private developers.

In many areas of the city, water supply remains inadequate despite ample water availability due to poor distribution network. Similarly, in most sectors, the main sewerage network is handled by GMDA and the internal network is managed by MCG, which often leads to problems as both agencies are rarely on the same page.