CM Rio announces Rs 36 crore for ULBs

September 21, 2024 7 Views No Comment

New DMC office building inaugurated

Morung Express News
Dimapur | September 21

Nagaland Chief Minister on Friday announced that the state government has approved the release of Rs 36 crore for all the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). This amount is to be used in area or sectors where immediate attention is needed such as for repair and maintenance of road sector.

The CM revealed this during the inauguration of the new Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC) office located at the Integrated Business Hub and Innovation Centre (IBHIC), Dimapur on September 20. Besides the emergency endowment provided, he said proposals should be submitted by the elected councilors for when the 16th Finance Commission visit Nagaland.

“Your proposals should be reasonable and submitted to the state government,” he noted. Other priorities include the need to repair roads, conducting clean-ups, repainting etc before the festive season start.

For the DMC, a new 10.74 acre garbage dumpsite has been approved, Rio mentioned along with a 9.41 acre site for East Dimapur Town Council.

Delving on the water issue, he advised the DMC to build new water supply system to deter citizens from relying heavily on the use of private ring wells and boring wells, which is not sustainable. For all these to transpire, he advocated the necessity to draw-up a master-plan that takes into consideration sanitation, beautification of the town, streetlights. “For funding, the state government is with you but any municipal or town council is expected to generate their own source of income,” Rio reminded.

For this, the CM called for the need to build a robust system of creating revenue among the municipalities. Dimapur, he said, can lead by example through being self-reliant on their own revenue, taking note of its strategic location as a transit point between states and for other districts.

Besides this, he reminded the elected councilors that land encroachment on government property has been a long pending issue that required serious attention.

With Dimapur considered as the commercial hub and primary lifeline of the state, Rio viewed it necessary that certain shops and restaurants be kept open on Sunday, for convenience of tourists. Additionally, this arrangement would discourage even locals from going across the border into Assam for shopping, he said.

On the successful conduct of the ULB election after a gap of more than 20 years, Rio mentioned that it had been a giant task full of challenges. “When we finally conducted election we got appreciation from the Supreme Court, this is a collective effort from the public leader and the political will,” he said.

He went on to state that, “In Nagaland 37% of all the councilors are constituted by women. That is a message that we have to respect our women and they are equally as capable as men are.” This privilege of the councilors equally come with huge responsibilities, Rio noted.

Hukheto Yepthomi, Chairman of DMC in his speech, meanwhile, mentioned that the office has been functioning since August of this year.

Among its ongoing works, he reported the process of digitization of trade licenses, Swachhata Hi Seva campaign on cleanliness, community engagement, awareness etc. “We will also be initiating the process to create a drainage master-plan,” he said.

“This new office space has given us new impetus to transform and move ahead, this is perhaps the first step ahead in restoration of the DMC,” he stated.

Speeches were delivered by Dimapur I and II assembly representatives, Moatoshi Longkumer, Advisor for Labour, Employment & Skill Development, Excise, Tovihoto Ayemi, Advisor for Tribal Affairs, and Abu Metha, Chairman of Investment & Development Authority of Nagaland.