Solapur civic body's 20 November meeting to take up 27 items, from water tankers to a theatre

The general body meeting of the Solapur Municipal Corporation will be held on Friday, 20 November, with Mayor Vinayak Kondyal presiding. The agenda has 27 items in all, including key proposals on the city's water supply, the stray dog problem, construction of a theatre, housing for sanitation workers, development of schools and civic amenities. The items will be discussed and decisions taken.

The proposal drawing the most attention is the purchase of 15 water tankers, for which a provision of Rs 2.335 crore is proposed. Ten tankers of 5,000 litres capacity and five of 10,000 litres will be bought. The proposal is considered important for meeting the city's water needs and for delivering water by tanker in emergencies.

Given the growing stray dog problem, the house will also consider an additional provision of Rs 7.20 crore for sterilising the animals. The proposal has been given particular importance from the standpoint of the nuisance caused by dogs, public safety and public health.

The water supply scheme also figures on the agenda. A proposal has been made to acquire private land to build a new water treatment plant and improve the water distribution system. The expected cost is about Rs 10 crore. Land acquisition has been described as necessary for the project in view of the growing population and the city's future water needs.

A major decision is also expected for the cultural sector. The agenda includes approval for work costing more than Rs 22.46 crore to build a theatre in Sundaram Nagar. The theatre is expected to give the city's cultural, social and drama activities a new venue.

The dilapidated sanitation workers' colony in Budhwar Peth will also come up. The item is to send a proposal for government approval to replace the old colony with new buildings and give eligible sanitation workers free flats. It is considered important for resolving the housing question of sanitation workers, which has been pending for several years.

To make women economically self-reliant, a proposal has been made to provide vocational training based on MS-CIT and artificial intelligence (AI), with a provision of Rs 1.3965 crore. The aim is to give women opportunities for employment and self-employment through computer training.

Under the Hindu Hridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Nagari Lokkalyan Abhiyan, the corporation proposes to spend more than Rs 2.5 crore on development work in seven of its Marathi schools, with emphasis on basic facilities and the learning environment.

A provision of Rs 89,98,741 is proposed for development work in backward class localities. It includes a community hall in Dhotrikar Vasti, a road in Thobde Vasti and improvement of the area around the Hanuman idol at Tuljapur Naka.

Development works worth Rs 65,63,404 are proposed under the Suvarna Jayanti Nagarotthan Abhiyan. Lighting will be provided in the Sahara Nagar and Kajal Nagar areas, and new electric poles and LED fittings will be installed in various wards.

The meeting will also take up road development in various wards, LED street lights, community halls, improvement of garden premises, works under minority and backward class welfare schemes, and items on rent agreements for shops in the corporation's mini shopping centres. It remains to be seen how many of the proposals are approved and when the actual work begins.