HDMC establishes teams for monsoon preparedness

HUBBALLI: Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) has established dedicated teams comprising officials from various departments to address potential flooding during rainfall.
Based on previous experiences, HDMC officials developed an action plan before the onset of rains and instructed all officials to commence works in areas prone to water accumulation. Each zone was assigned teams comprising personnel from engineering, health and emergency response departments. These teams will be available round the clock during the monsoon. The teams commenced their operations, with zonal assistant commissioners leading their respective zonal teams, he said.
The zonal officials have drafted proposals for urgent works required, along with assessments for cleaning stormwater drains and extracting silt from primary drainage systems throughout the twin cities.
Mayor Ramanna Badiger said a recent meeting with officials focused on advance preparations for rainfall, rather than responding during the downpour.
HDMC commissioner Rudresh Ghali said sufficient funds are available for emergency works and assured that payments for urgent works would be processed promptly without any delays.
Mayor's phone-in programme
Mayor Ramanna Badiger attended 25 telephone calls and addressed 39 complaints from residents of Hubballi and Dharwad during his fourth phone-in programme on Wednesday. The citizens raised concerns including on road conditions, roadside waste disposal, underground drainage problems and park maintenance. Following the programme, the mayor instructed officials to swiftly resolve public grievances, warning that he would not accept any negligence from the administrative staff.
HDMC commissioner Rudresh Ghali, superintending engineer R Vijay Kumar and others were present in the programme.