Assam CM discusses state govt initiatives for urban development

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday held a meeting to achieve the state government’s goal of ensuring ease of living for the residents of Guwahati, and several key decisions were taken.

The meeting was held with the officials of the Housing & Urban Affairs Department, GMDA and GMC, to discuss various urban development initiatives including building construction bye-laws, transport and a mobility plan for Guwahati city, waste disposal plan and Brahmaputra Riverfront Development project.

After going through the presentations on the initiatives, the Chief Minister directed the Housing & Urban Affairs Department to adopt common building bye-laws for the entire state under ‘Mukhyamantri Sahaj Griha Nirman Achoni’.

Dr Sarma asked the authorities to introduce web portal-based permission for building construction. The system will be run centrally, however, revenue will be accrued by the local urban bodies, he said.

The Chief Minister directed to mandatorily conduct 10% sample verification against the permissions issued for building construction to eliminate all sorts of malpractice while issuing building permits.

The Chief Minister also discussed the ways and means to check overlapping roles impacting optimum resource utilisation and accountability as well as the mechanism of a multi-modal and integrated transport system for the city.

Discussions were also held on having a Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority for the city along with a comprehensive mobility plan and improvement of city bus service.

This is to align with the state government’s visions to introduce a multi-modal transport system benefitting the citizens. 

On the waste disposal issue, he asked the GMC to develop more garbage dumping stations to maintain hygiene and cleanliness in the city apart from adopting advanced methods of waste disposal. 

During the course of the meeting, discussions were also held on the implementation of the Brahmaputra Riverfront Development project. Housing & Urban Affairs Minister Ashok Singhal, GMDA chairman Narayan Deka, Principal Secretary to CM Samir Kumar Sinha and several senior officials were present.

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