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Anju Chaudhary
Introduction
Closing years of the Twentieth Century was marked by two very significant and
interrelated developments that largely led paradigm shift in the approaches,
concepts and thinking about the institutions of local self-government in India.
The roles of cities became all the more important as they constitute the centres
of economic activities and “engines of economic growth”. It is now increasingly
realized across the globe that what happens to the national economies is now
largely contingent on what happens to the cities in terms of their institutional
and fiscal capacities in providing urban infrastructure support to production
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activities and improving the quality of life of its growing in habitants .
Several key issues of good urban governance stand out in the Indian context.
These are decentralization, integration of the poor and marginalized,
environmental sustainability, mobilisation of municipal finance, transparency
and civic engagement, better municipal management and capacity building.
Decentralization
Municipal finance
While the effort to help the city poor has to be multi-pronged, as an initial and
important step, city planners need to go beyond spatial concepts and look at the
socio-economic realities that propel the city‟s economy. Quite definitely, the
poor and the marginalized can no longer be dealt with on the fringes of cities
but need to be integrated into the entire planned process. Disregard to this
monumental issue has very dangerous portents for the sustainability of cities.
Water logging and other water related problems are probably the most evident
current challenges in Gorakhpur. Gorakhpur city is bowl shaped with low to
flat gradient and high groundwater tables. . The major river Rapti, a tributary
to the Ghaghra (and subsequently to Ganga), was flowing through the centre of
city in the historic past and has now shifted to western side causing land
erosion and hence formation of large low lying areas within the city.
Historically there were 103 water bodies that served as natural flood storage and
drainage to the city. With urbanisation, less than a third of these water bodies are
presently functional.
Water logging has been getting worse in recent years in Gorakhpur, partly due
to changes in rainfall, aggravated by the degradation of water bodies, unplanned
development and land encroachment. This has resulted in some areas of the city
now being waterlogged for almost 5-6 months in a year.
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dysentery have historically been a problem; recent years have seen a rise in
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diarrhoeal, hepatitis and fluorosis diseases and Japanese encephalitis .
Bottleneck in
sustainability
These are some of the problem that every local bodies is facing in India. The
working is largely affected when the BACKBONE of an effective system is
missing i.e FINANCE. Depending on house, water and sewer taxes, limited
grant-in-aids from the State and Central Government and rent income the
Corporation is always facing lack of fund especially at time of unpredicted
calamities such as flood, drought, epidemic and earthquakes etc. Ununiformity
in the regulatory acts of different State of India is another big drawback which
the Uttar Pradesh Nagar Nigams are facing. Some States have income from
octroi, schools, hospitals, fire services etc. but unfortunately all this is not under
the 12 UP ULBs. To meet the genuine need and bare necessity at local level, the
ULB is always holding a begging bowl in front of the State of Centre.
Community welfare, social justice economic prosperity of its people can be met
only by adding a burden and levying taxes to their own voters and by erosion of
their vote banks.
To maintain and improve the „Home rule‟ which consist of those who work
locally for the strengthening of the state government to be formed and
sustained. They are the creature who breathes in the life through their tax
collection for the state government to live in the political market place.
The Influx of people from rural areas to urban areas is leading to enormous
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pressure on the urban services. Emphasis has to be laid on the improvement in
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quality in urban living, efficiency of services, planned development and
alleviation of urban poverty, sustaining the financial status of the local bodies,
operational efficiency and enabling public private partnership. These are some
of the long term reforms which is lacking in our country. Urban development
needs to lay emphasis on -
Delivery of municipal services like water supply, sewerage and sanitation, street
lighting, transportation and housing must be strengthened with emphasis on
adoption of appropriate technology along with sustainable management of
urban environment. Needs of the urban poor must be given special attention
along with strengthening of service delivery to urban poor.
Water Supply
1. Water supply augmentation schemes and new schemes the cities should be
identified and developed with balanced consumer mix (industrial,
commercial and domestic) for improved financial viability of projects.
Sewerage
Sanitation
Housing:
1. Appropriate houses to vulnerable communities and housing designs for
waterlogged situations. This entails understanding and planning the
habitation patterns;
2. Effective master planning and proper enforcement
3. Awareness amongst citizens
4. Water harvesting
Energy/Electricity
Energy for living, production/livelihood and public purposes specially during
the monsoon and post monsoon periods, alternate energy;
Transport
Effective transport mechanisms mitigating climate change causes and reducing
pollution;
Ecosystems
Conservation of public land and water bodies.
1. Carrying out legal and procedural reforms for enhancement of property tax
and its effective collection.
2. comprehensive assessment of properties to enhance base of property tax
3. Stricter enforcement of tax.
4. Creation of property valuation cell to ensure uniform procedures for
valuation of properties across the State.
5. Communication with the public to address their concerns regarding property
tax assessment.
6. New areas to be explored for rent and fee collection
7. Computerization of database of properties and other income sources.
8. Pricing for services for urban bodies
Conclusion
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