Gurugram: Traffic and transport top new deputy commissioner’s agenda

Newly appointed deputy commissioner of Gurugram Nishant Kumar Yadav assumed charge on Thursday and held a series of meetings with officials from various departments on the first day of office.

Yadav, who later held an interaction with media, said traffic congestion, providing better transport facilities to the public, creating an accountable grievance redressal system will be the key areas he will be focussing on during his tenure.

Another key area that Yadav said he will be focussing on is the streamlining of the revenue department to prevent illegal colonization and stop registrations in violation of rules.

“We have received directions from the state government to take action against revenue department officials, who register land deals in violation of Section 7-A of the Haryana Urban Development Act. In the coming week, the process of issuing chargesheets and other action will commence,” said Yadav adding that the entire objective of is to have planned development and illegal registries defeat the entire purpose.

On February 7, the Haryana government recommended action against revenue officials across the state for illegal registries.

Yadav (31), who joined the civil services in 2013, said that prior to becoming an IAS officer, he lived and worked in Gurugram for over a year and during that period, he observed several civic issues which needed improvement. “Some of the issues have been resolved but many parts of the city still do not have access to proper public transport and traffic congestion is still an issue. Many things have improved but there is a lot of scope to do better,” he said.

Talking about the issue of waterlogging, Yadav said having multiple agencies in the city is a handicap. He said he will ensure all efforts towards prevention of waterlogging are streamlined and all the agencies are on the same page. “All areas which are prone to water logging will be identified before monsoon and preventive action will be taken. The issue has become a permanent embarrassment, but this will be tackled on priority,” he said.

Another initiative being planned by Yadav is to set up a command-and-control centre for grievance redressal, where people can call at any time to seek resolution of complaints and help from the district administration. “I set up a similar system in Karnal, which helped in resolving complaints as call logs were maintained. A similar system can be set up in Gurugram,” he said. Prior to his posting in Gurugram, Yadav was the deputy commissioner of Karnal.

The new deputy commissioner also assured the residents that sports infrastructure will be improved across the city and new facilities be set up so that people can take up sports for leisure and as well as think of making a career out of it. “The stadia need upgradation and better equipment; all these will be made available,” he said.

On the issue of admission of students from weaker sections in private schools under section 134 A (of??), the DC said that a report has been submitted by the additional deputy commissioner on this matter and he will go through it. “The rules regarding the admissions will be implemented and no one can disregard the law,” he said.