Andhra Pradesh - Guntur   

From Europe to Guntur... for ecology

Staff Reporter

Italian municipality, Bologna, to fund Rs.80 lakhs for environment management

FEELS GOOD: The European team members having a look at the stuffed toys manufactured by self-help groups sponsored by the Guntur Municipal Corporation on Tuesday.

GUNTUR: A four-member European team on Tuesday began its four-day visit to Guntur city to understand the functioning of Guntur Municipal Corporation, assess its commitment towards development of the city as part of `eco Budget' project.

The Italian municipality, Bologna, will fund Rs.80 lakhs to improve the living conditions through better environment management and make eco-budgeting part of the municipal functioning through this three-year programme.

The team members went round the city to see the efforts being made by the GMC in maintaining good sanitation, sat through a presentation by the former Mayor, Chukka Yesuratnam, and the Municipal Commissioner, D. Rama Rao, to understand the political and administrative set up in the GMC.

Local initiatives

The team leader, Andrea Burzacchini, said it was trying to understand who would be made responsible for ecological budgeting so that there was improvement in the environment. "It is not an impossible task to implement environmental projects in Asia against the popular thought," he said and added that small local initiatives like proper solid waste disposal, sewage treatment and providing safe drinking water would take the cities closer to the goal.

Just like accounts auditing, eco auditing also should become a regular practice, he suggested. The team members, Pamela Lama, Chritina Garzillo, Manigehmorshedi along with the team leaders went round the municipal office, watched various activities and assessed the extent of greenery in the city.

Exchange programmes

The team would go through all the projects of the GMC, assess the functioning and come to a conclusion on the project it should finance in the first phase of the three-year initiative.

The project envisages exchange programmes between the municipalities of the two cities so that both understand each other's experience and implement the best practice to improve the environment.

The Commissioner said that 2,193 sanitation workers and 900 other municipal employees were discharging the responsibilities of the GMC.

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