‘BMC must explore e-governance’

He’s young, soft-spoken and approachable. It’s the first thing one notices about Aseem Gupta, the new additional municipal commissioner, who has taken charge in the city. In an exclusive interview with DNA, Gupta talks about his new role, his key concerns and his priorities for Mumbai.

How has the journey been from municipal commissioner of Nagpur to additional municipal commissioner of Mumbai?
I have been municipal commissioner in Sangli, Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, Aurangabad and Nagpur. The journey has been satisfying as well as enriching. Each city is different.

Do you see any significant differences in the cities?
There is a big difference in size, which reflects in every aspect, in almost everything in terms of what the corporation does. I believe there is also a conspicuous difference in social and economic activities of the cities.

Yours is the most coveted post, with an interesting portfolio, right from the clean-up campaign to storm water drains, public gardens and open spaces. Are you geared up to meet this challenge?
BMC does so many things, and almost everything is important from the point of view of a citizen, as all its activities touch people’s lives. It’s always a challenge to meet people’s expectations, but with all systems set in a developed institution like BMC, meeting these challenges should be easier.

Former additional municipal commissioner RA Rajeev had started various ambitious projects like clean-up marshals, etc, for the city. Would you take his dream projects further?
Continuity is the hallmark of our service. Projects are sometimes designed and innovated by individuals, but must be ingrained in the system to deliver the goods. This requires continuity beyond the tenure of one officer.

Rajeev always encouraged western ideas for Mumbai. How about you? 
Ideas have to be right. We should be willing to adapt to newer ideas (which sometimes go under the name of western ideas) whenever necessary. Countries that have developed before us have accepted certain city concepts after testing a few alternatives. So, there is lot to learn and adopt from these cities. However, the ultimate objective is not to implement the idea for the sake of it but to achieve what the idea is set to achieve, and circumstances prevailing today in our society and city have to be taken into account. This may require some modification either in the idea itself or in the implementation strategy. Let me try to do what is right.

The heritage panel has asked that the Byculla zoo makeover plan be reworked. They feared that the green cover would be endangered. Can we expect the new zoo plan to be sensitive to the environment?
The zoo has to be as close to the natural environment of the animals as possible. I do not think the corporation would have tried to do anything that
even remotely endangers the green cover.

What are the foremost issues you will take up, once you take charge?
Let me study the subjects allotted to me. Every subject is so comprehensive in the corporation that to decide on issues, I need to take a bird’s eye view of them. But, my experience is that e-governance can bring in real efficiency in service delivery and also transparency in working styles. It can cut costs and internal time wastage. So I would like to take it further.