Naidu directs civic commissioners to meet urban challenges

Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today directed municipal commissioners of southern states to tackle urban problems like water and power supply, proper infrastructure, sewerage treatment among others through effective governance and resource management.
Addressing the consultative workshop of Municipal Commissioners from five southern states and Puducherry at Hyderabad, Naidu said it is a challenge to ensure cent per cent household water supply connections as against the present fifty per cent, a statement released here said.
The Minister said the task is to ensuring normative watersupply of 135 litres per capita per day as against the present 73 litres, cent per cent sewerage treatment as against the present 16 per cent, enhancing efficiency of solid waste collection from 23 per cent to 100 per cent, achieving 80 per cent segregation of waste at source as against the present 18 per cent, recycling of 80 per cent of waste as against the current 10 per cent, reliable power supply, improving physical and social infrastructure and urban governance and meeting the urban housing shortage.

Referring to the need for massive investments to convert
the rapid urbanisation into an opportunity, Naidu stressed on the need for effective recovery of costs of utilities like water and power in urban areas.
He said to begin with, at least operation and maintenance

costs needs to be recovered by putting in place necessary mechanism.
"One certain way of doing it is to set up Regulatory Bodies for deciding on the prices of urban utilities," Naidu said.
Elaborating on the pace of urbanisation in the country,
the minister suggested development authorities for each of the district headquarter towns for comprehensive long term planning for an area of 25 km radius.

He also stressed on the need for modification of building
bye-laws at the level of urban local bodies to meet the growing aspirations of urban population.