Latest news with #RajeshKhullar
Time of India
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
CM's chief officer camps in city to fix its civic mess
Gurgaon: Criticism mounting over civic failures, Haryana's chief principal secretary to the CM Rajesh Khullar has been in Gurgaon for the past six days to draw up a plan to address issues plaguing the city, among them the months-long sanitation crisis and waterlogging. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Sources told TOI Khullar, who has in the past served as MCG commissioner, has been holding marathon meetings, granting sanctions and extensions needed to streamline basic services. Khullar on Monday summoned around 120 officers from multiple departments, including MCG, GMDA, HSVP, DHBVN and the district administration. The meeting lasted nearly five hours, sources said. "This level of monitoring from the chief principal secretary has created urgency. Clear directions have been issued to all departments to address the civic challenges. If there are hindrances, then the govt will step in to remove the roadblocks. Be it manpower or financial resources, the govt intends to extend full cooperation," a senior officer who attended the meeting said. According to officials, the action plan to address the city's most pressing issues was finalised on Monday. The chief principal secretary told officials that if successful, Gurgaon would serve as a "model of governance" that can be replicated across the state. The plan includes efforts to clean up the city, carry out road repairs, ensure trees around power lines are trimmed, and illegal practices such as open waste burning are stopped entirely. City residents said they were cautiously optimistic about lasting change. "There is hope for betterment, but the govt must ensure this doesn't remain a one-time exercise. Everyone knows who is dumping construction waste on the Faridabad-Gurgaon road. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now What action will be taken to prevent waterlogging? The city needs a permanent fix for garbage disposal — be it construction, solid or wet waste," said Deepak Jolly, a Palm Springs resident. Jolly said MCG and GMDA must be empowered to make decisions at the local level rather than relying on intervention from Chandigarh. KL Sharma, general secretary of Sector 21 RWA, argued that solutions exist but engagement was lacking. "Status quoist approaches will only preserve the decay," Sharma said. He also advocated for shared accountability, and active citizen involvement. "Without public participation, Swachh Gurgaon will remain only a slogan," he added. Gurgaon in 2024 put up its worst show in central govt's Swachh Survekshan rankings, finishing 140th out of 446 Indian cities, the lowest it fell to since the exercise began in 2016. Last year, Haryana govt declared what it called a solid waste exigency. Under the Solid Waste Environment Exigency Programme (SWEEP), teams of MCG, district administration and GMDA officials were formed to monitor cleanliness drives across the city. But little has changed on the ground since then. Across several parts of the city — including Sectors 9A, 10, 37D, 46, and arterial stretches like Southern Peripheral Road — mounds of garbage have been lying swarming with flies. More recently, a crunch in manpower further slowed down waste collection and management. Last month, MCG allowed councillors and contractors to directly arrange vehicles for door-to-door garbage collection within their wards – a stopgap measure to plug the gap in sanitation services. The city's public infrastructure has been laid bare after every heavy spell of monsoon rain over the past few months. Khullar, sources said, has ordered authorities to register FIRs against concerned officials if any electrocution accidents are reported during monsoon. At least five people, including an autorickshaw driver and a graphic designer, died of electrocution or drowning as the city was struck with heavy showers on the night of July 9.
Time of India
11 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
IITians develop digital platform to address Gurgaon civic issues
Gurgaon: Unhappy with broken roads and poor civic amenities in the city, a group of young IITians, who have made Gurgaon their home, developed a digital system to report civic issues like broken roads and stray cattle menace to. Users can open the website the group has developed ( and upload pictures of the issue they would like to report along with location tags. The system does not require citizens to reveal their identity or details in order to report issues. After the photos are uploaded, AI agents map and route each complaint to the department concerned. An admin dashboard for district officials provides colour-coded priority tracking (high, medium, low), helping them address issues faster. You Can Also Check: Gurgaon AQI | Weather in Gurgaon | Bank Holidays in Gurgaon | Public Holidays in Gurgaon | Gold Rates Today in Gurgaon | Silver Rates Today in Gurgaon Moreover, the Haryana govt, which is facing criticism over poor public redress system, has said the tech should be integrated with the govt's system and a provision should be made to monitor complaints from Chandigarh. The announcement was made at a meeting between the group behind the platform and Rajesh Khullar, chief principal secretary to the chief minister of Haryana in the city on Monday. Pravin Kaushal, an IIT alumnus, said the idea behind the system is to give back to the city which has now become his home. "Many IITians are working in Gurgaon's tech and startup ecosystem and they want to contribute to the betterment of the city," he said, adding that they want to develop transformative collaboration between govt, startups, and civic leaders. Pointing out that RaastaFix is a citizen-driven platform, he said issues can be reported on it in 30 seconds. Each report is geo-tagged, time-stamped, and instantly shared with GMDA, MCG, NHAI, PWD, RWAs, MLAs, and councillors — ensuring faster action, he added. Vinay Krishna Gupta, founder and CEO of Antino, the product development company which took a lead in the project, said as a Gurgaon resident, he did not know which department to approach to report issues like potholes, sewage, or garbage collection. "RaastaFix makes it simple — I can just upload a photo, and the system automatically routes the complaint to the right authority. I don't even have to share my name or number, and I know my complaint is being tracked. It gives people like me a voice and ensures the govt can respond faster," said Gupta. Saurabh Mishra, a resident of Sector 50, said the multiple agencies working in Gurgaon make it confusing for the residents to find out which roads come under which agency. "A common platform for raising the civic issues will be a great help; I hope the authorities will pay attention to the reports and fix the issues raised on the platform," said Mishra. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
Time of India
14 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Contract mafia behind broken roads & sanitation woes, claim councillors in Gurgaon
Gurgaon: Shoddy sanitation, broken roads and a city left to rot — these are the results of a contract mafia having taken root in the city, the city councillors have alleged. The councillors, at a meeting with chief principal secretary to the CM Rajesh Khullar on Monday, said contractors deliberately underquote projects to win bids, grease palms once the deal is sealed and then slash manpower and material costs to claw back their losses. Khullar held two sessions — one with the city councillors and the other with the top officials of the govt agencies — at Haryana Institute of Public Administration. You Can Also Check: Gurgaon AQI | Weather in Gurgaon | Bank Holidays in Gurgaon | Public Holidays in Gurgaon | Gold Rates Today in Gurgaon | Silver Rates Today in Gurgaon The councillors later said Khullar assured them the issues — pertaining to sanitation, stray cattle, roads, etc. — will be addressed by Sept 15. In the first session, Khullar interacted with the councillors of MCG, along with mayor Raj Rani Malhotra, and heard the main issues of their respective wards. He assured them chief minister Nayab Singh Saini is committed to resolving Gurgaon's problems and that positive results will be visible very soon. He emphasised the need for councillors' cooperation. The councillors alleged that contractors offer project rates below the official estimate and once the deal is secured, they pay out commissions to the MCG officials at multiple levels. To recover these costs, contractors reportedly cut corners. Councillors said the city continues to bear the brunt of this practice and pointed to deteriorating services in sanitation, road maintenance, desilting of drains and other projects. Ward 11 councillor Kuldeep Yadav said, "The contractors underbid the civic projects to secure contracts from MCG, only to later compromise on quality and manpower. For projects where they have to deploy 10 workers, they deploy only five just to save money. For example, if the project is estimated to cost Rs 100, the contractor will secure the project by offering to complete it for only Rs 70." "Then, the contractor will also spend 10-15% in commission to the officials at different levels. Such contractors, who underbid to secure contracts, should be blacklisted," he added. Ward number 25 councillor Anup Singh said, "At the special budget meeting of the House held in April, the councillors submitted a list of some of these contractors, who secure contracts below the project value and execute shoddy work. In my ward, for example, a drain desilting work was secured by the contractor at a cost of Rs 16 lakh, while the original estimation of the project was Rs 26 lakh. Consequently, he delivered poor service in desilting that drain. " Singh added, "After securing these projects by underbidding, they execute some work, click photos and submit it for proof. However, in reality, they compromise on the quality of the project." Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
News18
2 days ago
- Politics
- News18
Haryana govt deploys top bureaucrat to rein in Gurugram break down
Gurugram, Aug 17 (PTI) A top state government official has been camping in Gurugram to take stock of the civic issues afflicting the district, ordering officials to clear roads of encroachment and stray cattle, and identifying points vulnerable to waterlogging. The action comes against a backdrop of several instances of severe waterlogging, deaths by electrocution, and complaints about overspilling garbage and roaming cattle. For the past five days, Rajesh Khullar, Chief Principal Secretary to the Haryana Chief Minister, has been holding meetings with local organisations, listening to the residents' complaints, according to an official statement. Khuller has so far had meetings with the officials of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), Municipal Corporations of Gurugram and Manesar, Haryana Shaheri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP), and the police. Waterlogging during rains, garbage disposal, stray cattle on roads, solid waste management, and improvement of road infrastructure topped the agenda in these meetings. According to the statement, Khuller urged officials to move beyond routine functioning and take responsibility for visible change. 'You officers should be harbingers of change. The residents should feel the change after you have been posted here," he told the officers posted in Gurugram. On Sunday, Khullar inspected Rajiv Chowk, Farukhnagar-Basai Road, and Dhankaut Road in Gurugram. During his visit, he directed the clearing of the roads of encroachments. Earlier, at a meeting at the PWD Rest House in Gurugram, the GMDA authorities said that a comprehensive drainage plan has been prepared for Gurugram city. Based on last year's experience, the civic bodies have identified 12 locations where waterlogging was observed. Narsinghpur, Khandsa Chowk, Rajeev Chowk, Sector 9, 9A, 10, Umang Bhardwaj Chowk, Tau Devi Lal Stadium, Sector 38, Jwala Mill Road, Sector-28, Chakkarpur, Luxman Vihar, Sector 22-23, Sheetla Mata Road & Krishna Chowk, and Ambience Mall were identified as vulnerable to waterlogging. Water run-off from the Aravali footing was also identified as a cause of the collection of water. According to the statement, the work on Sheetla Mata Devi Medical College & Hospital at Kherki Majra is in progress, and is likely to be handed over to the Health department by the end of the year. The Rs 550-crore project will have an academic block, an undergraduate boys' hostel, a teaching Block, a hospital, a nursing hostel, and a trauma centre. PTI COR VN VN view comments First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
