While outgoing municipal commissioner Subodh Kumar was brought into the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in January last year to clean up the financial mess the civic body had landed itself in,newly appointed commissioner Sitaram Kunte has chosen to keep a low profile and is not too vocal about his plans for the city yet. The 51-year-old IAS officer,however,said he is keen on getting various policies proposed by Kumar passed at various levels within the BMC and the state government. Kunte,who has had an earlier stint as served the BMC as additional municipal commissioner,feels that much has changed in the countrys richest civic body. There are a lot of changes within the political landscape of BMC along with various new infrastructure projects that have been initiated, Kunte told Newsline in an interview. Indicating that while mega projects such as Metro and Mono rail are good for the city,these have led to increasing ground level problems for the civic body. The increasing role played between various agencies has given rise to a number of problems at the ground level, he said. While his predecessor Kumar attempted to cut down sops for builders by revising the Development Control Rules (DCR) and implementation of those already begun,Kunte said carrying forward those policies will be among his priorities. Mr Kumar tried to bring in more transparency and give a level playing field,lacking the most in BMC. I want to ensure that the revised DCR policy is rolled out smoothly. Apart from these,I want to get other proposals such as markets policy,TDR policy and cluster redevelopment passed and implemented, said Kunte. Apart from immediately focusing on BMCs monsoon preparedness plan,the other aspects Kunte will address include infrastructure and,to a large extent,inclusive growth. During his stint with MHADA in the past,Kunte had been known for his work on housing for the urban poor. The concern today is that inclusive development we talk of is not percolating to the third tier. This inclusive growth has to be made more visible. For example,there should be a proper inclusion of disabled and poor people in the mainstream. There are laws such as providing optimum infrastructure including ramps in government buildings etc. I plan to check whether BMC buildings and infrastructure are disabled friendly, said Kunte. Kunte,a 1985-batch IAS officer,had earlier been Principal Secretary (Housing) and MHADA vice-president. With an academic background in economics,law and management,Kunte will serve his second term in BMC after serving as Additional Municipal Commissioner from 2001 to 2004.
