Bhubaneswar: Twenty-one elected representatives and functionaries from Kozhikkode and Palakkad urban local bodies (ULBs) in Kerala are on a three-day visit to Odisha from Tuesday.
They are on an ‘exposure visit’ to learn about the sewage and seepage management, solid waste management, drinking water supply, city beautification and heritage management in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri which are widely acclaimed in the country for their good urban practices.
The Centre for Environment and Development, a national training entity empanelled of the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, is organising this exposure visit programme from February 28 to March 2 as part of the individual capacity-building programme under AMRUT 2.0.
The elected representatives are change agents of the urban local bodies (ULBs) and the most trusted persons in the urban community to infuse messages related to various urban sector initiatives, schemes and programmes. The officials and other functionaries of the ULBs also need to be endowed with the latest knowledge, expertise and skill sets in urban governance and management, citizen service delivery and project implementation.
The visiting members had an interactive session on Tuesday afternoon with Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Mayor Sulochana Das. Speaking of the occasion, Das focused on the journey of urban transformation that is happening in Odisha under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. “The ULBs are the service delivery and action points for implementing plans and strategies to overcome challenges of urbanization,” Das said, adding, “However, there is a pressing need to empower the ULBs with cutting edge skills, domain knowledge and expertise as well as getting the elected representatives acquainted with doable good practices being adopted in Odisha.”
Addressing the visitors, Sangramjit Nayak, Director of Municipal Administration, also addressed the interactive session.
Prior to the interactive session, the visitors were taken to the STPs, sewage treatment plant, wealth centres (MCC, MRF) and Smart Janapath.
