CHENNAI: Manali and Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar zones secured the first and second prizes, respectively in the Chief Minister’s awards for best performance within the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC). The awards were presented by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Saturday at Fort St George, following the Independence Day flag-hoisting ceremony.
According to GCC commissioner GS Sameeran, the rankings are awarded to each zone based on the marks scored across at least 10 thematic areas under the TN Urban Livability Framework, including finance, revenue, solid waste management, health, education, city planning, greenery, and infrastructure. “The assessment is divided into 60 sub-components, each of which is given due weightage. Based on the overall scores, Manali and Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar zones secured the top positions,” he said.
Speaking to TNIE, a corporation official said, “More greening was taken up last year, with more than a lakh trees planted across Manali zone to ensure better air quality. Also, with the zone often known as flood-prone, last year saw better storm water drain upgrades with no major inundations happening during monsoon.”
The Coimbatore corporation secured the first prize among corporations under the ‘Best performing local bodies’ category while Thanjavur Corporation won the second prize. Bodinayakanur Municipality in Theni secured the first prize among municipalities, followed by Arani municipality in Tiruvannamalai in second and Villupuram municipality in third place. Among town panchayats, Thiruvidaimarudur in Thanjavur secured the first prize, followed by Karungal in Kanniyakumari and Chettipalayam in Coimbatore in second and third places, respectively.
The awards on behalf of the respective departments were received by MAWS department secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi, director of MAWS department P Madhusudhan Reddy and director of Town Panchayats B Priyanka Pankajam.
GCC Mayor R Priya, in a separate event, hoisted the national flag and released the tricolour balloons into the sky from Ripon Building on Saturday. She presented letters of appreciation to the owners of three establishments which paid the highest property taxes to the civic body and three property owners who paid their taxes promptly without any delay. She also presented ‘Manimegalai Awards’ to the outstanding area federation and women SHGs at the district level.
Priya honoured 180 civic body officials, including the Regional Deputy Commissioners of Chennai — Swetha Suman, HR Koushik, and Aftab Rasool — for performing exceptionally well.
Meanwhile, Minister N Anand hoisted the national flag at Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board head office in Chintadripet on Saturday, while D Mohan, MTC MD, hoisted the flag at the department’s head office.
