Chennai: The Greater Chennai corporation’s budget plan is unilaterally decided upon by the Mayor, councillors and bureaucrats occupying the seat of power at Ripon Buildings, with city residents, who are the actual stakeholders, having little or no say at all.
With local body unlikely to amend its ways anytime soon, DC asked Chennaiites from different walks of life on the one thing that they would like to see get funds allocated in the budget.
C.R. Aditya, a resident of RA Puram, said that the corporation would do good to invest in developing IT-enabled services. “Everything associated with the Corporation should be brought online. They should invest in developing apps to connect netizens in Chennai,” he said.
“Right now, there are a few services like paying taxes and downloading birth certificates. But there is no transparency at all in other processes. For instance, I would like to know which contractor is laying road in my area, his contact details and exactly how much he is being paid for it,” he added.
Playback singer Chinmayi Sripada wanted the corporation to spend on disaster management. The singer recalled that she too was at the receiving end of the floods in December 2015 and added that the local body must learn its lessons and improve its strategy for the next time.
A few residents called on the civic body to increase spending on infrastructure.
“Extended areas don’t have stormwater drains. It has been five years since the AIADMK council took charge but extended areas of the city have not benefitted much,” said Vijayan, a resident of Alandur.
Advocate Sudha Ramalingam wanted every street to have a footpath.
“Pedestrians must be provide safe walking features and cyclists must be provided dedicated cycle tracks,” she noted.
K. Chandrasekharan, a sexagenarian resident of Besant Nagar, said that the corporation should announce that it will ban the use of plastic in the city. “A lot of plastic waste is being generated and we are destroying the environment. Only an outright ban and strict enforcement of penalties will dissuade people from using it,” he said.
