FMC Commissioner shows way ahead for a growing city

In this edition of one-on-one, Abhishek Pandey, Editor, Urban Update interviewed Ghanshyam Meena, Municipal Commissioner of Firozabad Municipal Corporation. He talks about the various challenges of FMC and the innovative solutions that they are devising to overcome them

Welcome to the one-on-one edition of urban update. Firozabad Municipal Corporation is a fairly new municipal corporation established in 2014. So, a lot of new challenges and new evolutions are happening in this corporation. The city is growing and is expected to join the group of million-plus-cities by 2030. What are the urban challenges that you foresee for the city? And how do you see the corporation leveraging all these strengths to tackle these challenges?

There are several challenges for a newly built corporation like Firozabad. First of all, there is Swachh Survekshan Challenge. We are trying to improve the ranking of the city as quickly as possible. For instance, there used to be a huge garbage dump here till a year ago, of about 2,14,000 metric tons of garbage and today we have reduced it rapidly. And now, only 1 lakh metric ton of garbage remains. At the same time, we aim to bring garbage production down to zero by segregating and reprocessing it. Towards this aim, we have started door-to-door collection of waste since about 10 months. At the same time, we are working towards the material recovery facility so that we can segregate, reuse and recycle the waste and decompose biodegradable waste to make manure. But there are many challenges to achieve this aim of 100 per cent processing of waste. A major challenge is creating awareness amongst people. Eliciting participation is extremely important to make this a successful initiative. As you know, Firozabad is an industrial town with a huge glass market which gives rise to the challenge of pollution which we are trying to overcome. Our sewage treatment plant is already running and as of now we’re trying to completely process the waste water before it goes into river Ganga. We’re trying to improve amenities in our city on the lines of cities such as Bengaluru, and Chandigarh. We are working on city beautification as well. For instance, recently, we installed lights on both sides of a major bridge which was appreciated by the people. We also opened an eco-friendly restaurant at a place where there used to be garbage. So, we’re trying to target major garbage points and create common community centres for people to spend time with their families. We’re training our staff and safai karamcharis to provide better cleaning services to the people.

You spoke about two major issues of legacy waste and circular economy. A lot of cities in India have been following the principles of circular economy. How do you engage the employees of the corporation in these efforts and build their capacity?

For this, we work on two levels. We motivate our sanitation inspectors, zonal supervisors and all those who work on the ground. We take daily feedback of sanitary inspectors and promote those who perform well. We also take efforts to bring about qualitative change in the lives of workers by resolving their issues such as pension, and safety. Keeping their safety in mind, we are moving towards mechanization. Promoting those who work is important as is taking action against those who don’t. We provide training, one-to-one interaction, supervision via technology, etc.

The technical aspect of waste management has changed with time. How do you provide the technical know-how to the team?

We recently did an experiment. Last year, dengue had become a serious problem in Firozabad. So, this time we prepared for it since the beginning of the season by providing technical intervention to staff in the purview of Municipal corporation and ‘zila prashasan’ wherein a software was designed for supervisors through which we monitored each and every supervisor. This is how we found what are the focal points of infection and focused more on those areas. As a result, we did not get any cases of dengue this year. Now, we’ll implement it in the long term. Soon, we will launch a new software wherein any city dweller can upload pictures of garbage anywhere in the city which will directly go to the supervisor who, in turn, will have to redress the issue. We are continually training our employees to get them acquainted with new technologies.

In India, municipal corporations struggle from a perpetual lack of funds, except for a few corporations like those of Mumbai and Bangalore. According to a report by RBI, the own revenue of municipal corporations in India was less than 1 per cent of the GDP, while in developing countries it is 7 to 9 per cent. What are the innovative methods you use to provide FMC with a sustainable financial model?

As you know, tax collection is an important source of funds for municipal corporations. In order for a financial model to be sustainable, the tax collection by corporations has to be good. We are trying to diversify tax collection at the moment. For instance, we are charging for parking which was earlier free in many places. We are also charging for advertising in certain places in the city, and also imposing taxes on many industrial units which weren’t being taxed earlier. A GIS survey was completed in a time-bound manner as ordered by the state government. It is a matter of joy for us that the number of taxable households has increased from approximately 35,000 earlier to 1.4 lakh households. This massively increases our tax base. We’re holding regular meetings to change the taxes on nagar nigam shops which haven’t been changed for years. We’re also trying to involve people in this process and make them aware of the benefits of taxation.
You know Chanakya, the author of Arthashastra, has said about taxes that when the water of the ocean turns into vapor, it rains in different parts of a region thereby increasing the productivity of the land. The more tax we collect, the more benefits citizens receive. So, we’re trying to achieve a dual goal through this exercise – increasing the tax base and creating awareness among the masses.

Talking about inclusivity in service delivery, it is usually seen that people from lower income backgrounds do not get access to superior quality of services. What is the Firozabad Municipal Corporation doing for inclusive or equitable service delivery to all people?

I’d like to share a few points with you regarding this. In 2014, around 14 gram sabhas were assimilated under the Nagar Nigam. These areas are not as advanced as the older parts of the city where a lot of development has already taken place. In the new areas that have now been added, we’re trying to bring in new schemes to bring them up to speed with the rest of the city. We’re also trying to remove slums also, by making roads, houses, canals, etc. to improve people’s quality of life. Most of the DUDA (District Urban Development Agency) funds are being utilized in these tasks. We’re also trying to honestly implement state and central government schemes for the benefit of the poor such as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Firozabad is a developing city; many new things are being introduced here. It was an industrial city earlier as well. As the population increases demands and expectations of people from the corporation is also increasing. Along with it, people from all over the country are coming to Firozabad for tourism. What will the city have for them and if you want Firozabad to be in the tourist map of western Uttar Pradesh then what is being done for that?

When tourists come from outside they have expectations and we are working to ensure that the main product of the city is visible to them. We are trying to build a Glass Emporium where we can showcase many of the glass products Firozabad is famous for. So that any tourist or customer who comes from outside can see all the products on one platform. So for that in our proposed zonal office it is being asked to keep a separate space, so that some of the glass work of the city can be displayed there. This will ensure that any tourist who comes here will be able to reach our products whereby increasing the popularity of our glass work. At the same time, we are trying to beautify the surroundings of the monuments and improve them for the sake of providing better facilities to the tourists along with developing food points. So we are working in a theme based or mission mode manner so that we can better facilitate tourists who come from outside.

Now let us go a little beyond Firozabad and talk about climate change. Climate change is being talked about everywhere, whether it is Egypt during COP27 or in Paris in 2015 where a lot of commitments are made. Many people say that climate change and sustainable goals cannot be achieved until local government is engaged. At the local level, what can a city like Firozabad contribute to it, keeping in mind that we have to save the local environment, we have to save local ecosystem and we have to ensure that it sets an example so small developing towns in the nearby areas can also implement them. So what is the concern of Firozabad regarding climate change and what solutions the city is looking to implement?
I would like to tell you that under the Clean Air Survey done in 2022, in Bhubaneswar, Firozabad got the 2nd award in city three to 10 lakh population category. The Municipal Corporation got an award of about 50 lakhs and an additional fund of 17.50 crores was also provided to us. As you know we got this award at an all India level and for this we introduced many innovations here. So we tried to clean dust from our roads by applying extra manpower and machines. Along with this, we have also improved the vegetation cover around us. In many of the pockets, where plantation was not done, we have completed that too, to increase the green cover. We have made efforts for improvement of air quality by ensuring that industrial units follow their parameters. And in all places where fire is used like in furnaces and the brick industry, we also regulated them. If you see air quality ranking of Firozabad on daily basis, you could see the air quality is very good here. We have worked a lot on fulfillment of requirement of a person of clean air. Along with this, we have water treatment plant and sewage treatment plant and we are working to ensure that we only discharge 100 per cent treated water in Yamuna river, We conduct regular laboratory inspection for this and we are strictly following whatever water quality standards are prescribed by the government, so that we can control water pollution. Apart from this we are also working on other practices like plastic ban and we regularly plan and take action on this. We are in the process of wiping out the plastic.

As you were talking about climate change you said that there is lot of work being done in the city and vegetation is in focus. You have also performed well in Vaayu Survekshan. So I wanted to know at the local level what are the expectations of residents of city from you when they come to meet you? What type of changes do they want in the city?

As I told you we can classify the city in two parts, One is the old town, in which people expect good roads, good drainage system and water availability which we have fulfilled. If we talk about new areas which have been added in 2014, as it is in building process people have different type of requirements there. Their demands are like roads should be made, water system should be improved; we are working on these. Our plan for New Firozabad also focuses on this area as they recently became part of the city and we have bifurcated the funds accordingly to fulfill urgent requirements. People also demand that there should be parks in their area where they could go in the evening or morning and children can get the opportunity to play outside for which we have also developed 16 parks with open gyms.
We have also started a new initiative in which we have taken 7 schools to make them smart schools. In order to ensure that poor children who study in our schools get good education we have made a DPR of approximately 14 crores. Their requirement of stadiums, open auditorium and smart classes are being fulfilled by us within a month.

I have a question – as there are a number of missions running, – state government has its own missions and central government has its own. We have seen that after 2014 urban sector has been at the forefront. Earlier it was said that India is a reluctant urbaniser but now it is slowly and gradually changing. Which missions of government of India and state government are running in the city and what is their impact on lives of the people?

Recently, our Honorable Chief Minister has implemented state smart city scheme in Firozabad, as a result of that smart roads are being built here and people’s expectations are high too. Smart road will have better lightning facilities, better seating facilities, there will be beautification points, better drainage to prevent water logging during heavy rains, roads will be wide like most cities. Before the implementation of this Smart Road programme, we conducted survey to check all lines including water pipelines, gas line etc. For this, we are making ducts, to eliminate the need for frequent road cutting. Many agencies are involved in this scheme and all are working in tandem to build best Smart Roads.
After that we are working on implementation of ITMS (Intelligent Transport Management System) Project under which all the traffic facilities and road lights are being improved. Along with this, cameras installed at the major intersections in the city are showing positive results. There used to be a law and order situation earlier but this system has helped a lot in controllingit. We also found many children who had gone missing using ITMS facility – developed as part of the State Smart City scheme.
Now we are working to develop such an interactive platform so that people can record their complaints with an interactive button after which it will be recorded in our ITMS system so that our agencies like police or fire service can address the problem easily through data.

How much budget has been allotted to State Smart City Mission?

The budget allotted to us in the last financial year was around Rs 80 crores, under which we undertook two projects. One was ITMS and the second was Smart Roads. Now we have got more funds so we are making Zonal Office so that people can submit their problems there and they can also pay tax easily via zonal office.

My last question would be – since you are Commissioner in Firozabad and you have worked here so what do you think is the strength of this city and how do you want to see Firozabad in next 10, 15 or 20 years?

If you analyse the city you can find many strength points. First of all there is a basic requirement inside any city that there should be good roads, and the city should be developed in a structured manner which you will see in Firozabad. Our city is like a running city and industrial units are located outside the city. All these things are strong points here and they need to be channelised further. Now the new town is being developed; here we are taking these strong points and planning accordingly; for example, where will the stadium be, where will be the place for the children to play, and where will be the homes. Under the master plan, we are also coordinating with our developmental authority, to check the haphazard development and in the coming time, excellent results
will come.