BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) was given the Best Municipal Corporation award for overall performance here on Wednesday at a State-level function by the Housing and Urban Development Department.In the municipality category, Balasore received the award, while Patnagarh was adjudged the best among the notified area councils (NACs).It is for the third consecutive time that BMC was receiving the award. Mayor Anant Narayan Jena and Municipal Commissioner Vishal Dev received the award from Urban Development Minister Sarada Prasad Nayak and Chief Secretary BK Patnaik.The second and third positions went to Baripada and Talcher in the Municipality category and Gunupur and Udala in the NAC category respectively. All the ULBs were evaluated on the basis of their performance in implementation of reforms, benchmark setting, augmentation of resources and utilisation of funds.However, the ULBs may have more to look forward to from next year as the State Government is keen on incentive-based performance.URBAN DEVELOPMENT: Earlier, inaugurating the workshop on ‘Challenges and opportunities in urban development’, the Minister said a road map is being prepared for urban development in the State. With more and more people living in urban centres, the challenges have multi-fold.In view of the problems posed by growing number of slums, Nayak also said, the Government is in the process of releasing the Slum Redevelopment Policy.On the occasion, the Chief Secretary said, the ULBs have to focus on their core functions of sanitation, waste management and street-lighting. While outsourcing is the best option to achieve the desired goals, ward-wise outsourcing is not ideal. Patnaik advised that ULBs must select two or three agencies which can deliver the desired quality of services. He also called upon the urban bodies to stop relying on the Government and instead mobilise resources on their own. “They get their share from Entry Tax and Finance Commission but the ULBs must be independent. “One way is to mobilise more from tariffs for which, he said, the ULBs will have to improve their service delivery mechanism. Citizens will not, for sure, mind paying for services, he added.Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department, Saurabh Garg spoke about the newer challenges in urban planning and development. While a number of reforms have already been put in place, the Rajiv Awas Yojana will soon be introduced in two urban centres.
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