Civic chief rode bicycle to inspect myriad devp works, Kham River

Aurangabad, July 31:

The municipal commissioner of Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), A K Pandey, has today paid a surprise visit to different parts of the city on a bicycle. He inspected ongoing development works in the city, and lastly visited the Kham River Rejuvenation Project, in the morning.

Pandey during interaction with civic authorities instructed them to plant 50,000 saplings of different varieties, under Phase II works of the project, on the banks of Kham River. The Department of Social Forestry and an NGO Village Social Transformation Foundation (VSTF) will help in implementing the plantation programme.

It so happened that the AMC administrator and civic chief left his official residence on the bicycle today at 8 am. He pedalled to different parts of the city, inspected the basic amenities provided by the AMC and ongoing development works and then reached the river site. Uncaring the drizzle, he interacted with the civic employees and personnel working on the river project, near Lokhandi Pool, and applauded their tireless efforts. Devman Pandey, his son, accompanied him.

He also reviewed the ongoing works on the river site and plans to start the second phase works with the ACB chief executive officer (CEO) Vikrant More, district mining officer Atul Daud, head of Solid Waste Management Nandkishore Bhombe, executive engineers Devidas Pandit, K M Phalak, B D Phad, social forestry's officer Gaikwad, ASCDCL's Aditya Tiwari, AMC's senior sanitary inspector Asadullah Khan and Vishal Kharat.

Under Majhi Vasundhara Abhiyan, the AMC in association with Aurangabad Smart City Development Corporation Limited (ASCDCL), EcoSattva, Aurangabad Cantonment Board, Varroc, various NGOs and nature-lovers had taken a vow to give new lease of life to Kham River - the pride of the city. The works got started on January 25, 2021. The work aims at desilting the river, beautification of the site, upscaling of ecology through the cultivation of green cover and developing of the environment-rich plateau.

Pandey also had a long discussion on the detailed project report (DPR) of Phase II works to be undertaken at the river site. Later on, the civic chief returned back home on the same bicycle. It may be noted that Aurangabad has recently topped in cycle4change - the competition held under Smart City Mission. The civic chief appealed to the citizens to use bicycles as it would help them stay fit, save the environment and curb the growing pollution. To propagate the message after winning the above competition, the civic chief was on his bicycle ride today, it is learnt.