The functioning of the civic body would be streamlined in such a way that the residents derived maximum benefits, new Corporation Commissioner V. Sivakrishnamurthy has said.
During an informal chat with reporters after assuming office on Friday, Mr. Sivakrishnamurthy said sanitary operations, drinking water supply, creation of more facilities in Corporation schools, issuing of birth and death certificates etc., would be streamlined.
The projects being implemented under Smart Cities Mission programme would be completed within the targeted deadline, he said.
Past record
When he was serving as Sub-Collector of Cheranmahadevi, Collector V. Vishnu assigned him the task of surveying excessive stone mining in 19 quarries in Radhapuram taluk, mostly around Irukkanthurai near Koodankulam in August last. Since mining operations within five km from the nuclear reactors of Koodankulam has been banned, the inspection team was also asked to check the distance between the quarries and the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project site.
The officials led by Mr. Sivakrishnamurthy employed Differential Global Positioning System during the survey to ascertain if the mining had been done only in the permitted areas and in permitted quantity. They corroborated their findings of the survey using the traditional survey also.
As the survey brought to light excessive and illegal mining in one of the stone quarries, Mr. Vishnu slapped a fine of ₹20 crore and issued notice to the quarry licensee asking him to appear before the Collector to explain as to why he had mined beyond the permissible limit. When he did not turn up, he cancelled the licence.
Since Mr. Sivakrishnamurthy, a 2018-batch Indian Administrative Service officer, has returned to Tirunelveli district again as Corporation Commissioner, he is expected to resolve issues regarding fixing of property tax, vacant land tax, giving approval for building plans, etc.
