‘Borough executives to virtually attend Talk to Mayor session’

Kolkata: In a bid to ensure speedy solutions to the complaints posed by the citizens concerning municipal services, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has now made it mandatory for executive engineers at the borough level to remain present, virtually, during the ‘Talk to Mayor’ session led by the Mayor Firhad Hakim once every week.

It was learnt that Hakim has now made it mandatory for the borough level executives to join the session every week. The decision is said to have been taken keeping in mind that during the session several problems relating to municipal services are received by the Mayor and many among them cannot be solved without the involvement of the borough level officials.

During the session, the Mayor receives complaints relating to water supply, drainage, mutation, road conditions, tax assessment, among many other municipal services that the KMC provides to the citizens. In such sessions, mainly the director general of all departments are present while the Mayor directs them to take note of a particular complaint and act on it with immediate effect. However, sources said that the Mayor is of the opinion that in several cases, especially ones concerning illegal constructions and dilapidated roads, borough executive engineers need to be available for clarification or for taking direct orders. Due to their absence, the instructions to them often get delayed or at times even fail to reach them, leading to a delay in the solving of the issues.

While remarking on a case that involved illegal construction, Hakim had said: “It is not possible for the officials at the KMC headquarters to keep track of what is happening in each of the 144 wards. It is the duty of the borough executives to keep track of it and inform the headquarters accordingly.”

The borough executives have been asked to join the session in a virtual mode. They will be expected to immediately act upon an order issued directly by the Mayor relating to any complaints that need to be addressed at the borough level.