Corporators of Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) are likely to go on a pan-India study tour to study the implementation of various civic programmes in municipal corporations across major cities and tourist destinations. The study tour is likely to be held from July 29 to August 7..
Execution of development projects, Swachh Bharat programmes, Smart City initiatives, implementation of source segregation, and recycling of water being undertaken by various municipal corporations are likely to be studied.
According to sources from the GVMC, the corporators will visit Delhi, Indore, Chandigarh, Agra, Shimla and Manali. Travel, lodging and boarding charges would be borne by the GVMC.
Letters are being sent to corporators seeking their acknowledgement of the study tour. A final decision is yet to be taken in this regard.
‘Misuse of money’
BJP Parliamentary Constituency president M. Ravindra condemned the proposed tour stating that the city had secured third rank in the Swachh Survekshan rankings in 2017 while it bagged the ninth rank last year.
“Except Indore, what is the need to visit other cities which do not have a better rank in Swachh Survekshan surveys? What is the need to visit Shimla whose rank is 102 in the survey? This is not a study tour, but a vacation,” Mr. Ravindra alleged.
Corporators from the Left and Opposition parties also found fault with the proposed study tour. They said that such tours are a misuse of public money.
Ward 22 corporator P.V.L.N. Murthy questioned the need for the study tour. “The corporation has failed to sanction a sum of only ₹6 lakh to my ward for undertaking road repair works for the past one-and-a-half years. But now they have money to spend on this study tour. Where is the need for such tours when there is a financial crunch?” he asked.
Ward 78 Corporator of the CPI(M), B. Ganga Rao, who also opposed the decision, said that the corporation is putting additional burden on its citizens by imposing taxes on various services but is now ready to spend over ₹1 crore of taxpayer money on the study tour.
