Satish Upadhyay, former Delhi BJP Chairman, is the Deputy Speaker of the New Delhi City Council (NDMC). He was also the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC). Upadhyay served as the chairman of SDMC’s education committee from 2012 to 2014. He had also served as deputy chairman of Delhi BJP unit from 2010 to 2012 and unit secretary from 2009-2010. While in college, Upadhyay joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and contested the DUSU elections as an ABVP candidate. He was vice-president of DUSU in 1982-1983. He was secretary of ABVP (Delhi) from 1984 to 1986. In an interview with Nikhil Vyas, Upadhyay talks about the green energy project, beautification works and redevelopment of Prachin Hanuman Mandir at Connaught Place in the capital National Headquarters and the NDMC Integrated Command and Control Center at Palika Kendra. Excerpts:
Can you tell us about the Green Energy project?
A: NDMC’s mission is to become the first urban local body to completely transition to green energy by 2025. NDMC is a power DISCOM and aims to become a complete consumer of green energy. The Board approved the purchase of 142 MW of hydroelectric power from Teesta-III for the medium term, i.e. for three years, and which can be extended for up to two years through M/s PTC India Ltd @ Rs 5.03/kWh (including transport charges and losses) at the delivery point which is an NDMC zone.
Can you elaborate on the mechanical road sweeping in Hanuman Mandir?
A: To enhance the beautification of the New Delhi area and provide facilities for the thousands of visitors and devotees of the Prachin Hanuman Mandir, Connaught Place, NDMC will soon commence the second phase of 100% mechanical sweeping at the Hanuman Mandir Vatika complex. Once the beautification and redevelopment works of Hanuman Mandir Vatika are completed, the housekeeping works, i.e. 100% mechanical sweeping with modern machines, will begin. The NDMC has also approved mechanical sweeping for the Connaught Place area. Sweeping work will be carried out twice – at night after the stores close from 11 p.m. and during the day.
Can you elaborate on the NDMC integrated command and control center at Palika Kendra?
A: NDMC has set up this Integrated Command and Control Center (ICCC) to manage multiple services from a single location on a common platform as part of the Smart City mission. More than 21 NDMC services such as solid waste management, street lighting, parking, sewage treatment plant, etc. have been integrated on this platform. This was set up in Palika Kendra. The first phase of building physical infrastructure and integrating 21 NDMC services has been completed, which includes smart street lights, GPS, smart environmental sensor, smart parking, public Wi-Fi, l Online Building Plan Approval, NDMC Mobile App, Solid Waste Management (SWM), Birth and Death Certificate, Event Management, VMS (Variable Messaging Sign), Smart Electric Meter, Utility Billing electricity, e-hospital, sewage treatment plant, property tax, Estate -I, central workshop, health permit, CCTV and smart bike. In the second phase, the ERP application development work will be completed. So far, the Estate-I module, property tax and central workshop management have been developed. Data migration and validation of property tax data is underway. Estate-II and Asset Management software are under development. Other services will be integrated into ICCC as these services are implemented in NDMC like Electric SCADA, Water SCADA, etc.
Can you tell us about the wastewater treatment plants (STP)?
A: Our mission is “Total Green”. Currently, NDMC uses 50% of the wastewater, but our goal is 100% and planning is underway for more sewage treatment plants to be installed in NDMC as part of “Mission Green”. Currently, we have STPs in Nehru Park, Singapore Park, BRICS Rose Garden, Gole Market and Lodhi Garden.
Can you tell us about the planting program for the monsoon season?
A: The Forestry Department of GNCTD (Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi) has given the NDMC the planting target of 2,847 trees and 5,000,000 shrubs. The Horticulture Department will plant the saplings in accordance with the objective and will also try to plant the maximum ground cover below the NDMC zone.
Can you tell us about the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (AB-PMJY) diet?
A: On May 25, the Board gave its approval in principle for the implementation of Ayushman Bharat Pradhanmantri Center Jan Arogya Yojna (AB-PMJY) flagship program in the NDMC area for residents. The insurance scheme aims to provide annual medical coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family for secondary and tertiary hospitalizations. Currently, the floating population of the NDMC area according to the 2011 census is around 2.5 lakh. On this population, the data of the beneficiaries of this scheme would be extracted from DM, New Delhi district and the scheme would be implemented for them. There are people in the NDMC area who live in the JJ cluster, Valimiki Basti and below the poverty line. These groups of people are barely earning a living and soon we need to implement Ayushman Bharat Yojna for them.
Can you tell us about other initiatives undertaken by NDMC?
A: NDMC organizes “Suvidha Camp” on the second Saturday of every month at NDMC Convention Centre, Jai Singh Road and on the fourth Saturday of every month at RWA centers for early redress of public grievances. Apart from organizing Suvidha camps, NDMC has also launched a “Jan Suvidha Portal” as a contactless grievance mechanism for residents and users of NDMC services. The link to the Jan Suvidha Portal is available on the NDMC website (https://www.ndmc.gov.in/complaints.aspx). The Jan Suvidha Portal can be used to file complaints, track the status of complaints and give feedback on the grievance redress mechanism.
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