Written By Vasanthkumar Mysoremath - 26 April, 2009

Projects governance Transparency Mysore Citizen Reports Participation

Success Story of a street committee - C.I.V.I.L with G.I.S

What is C.I.V.I.L? C.I.V.I.L = C ITIZENS I NITIATIVE for V OTERS I NNOVATIVE L IST. What is G.I.S?   = G eographical I nformation S ystem

Why C I V I L? We keep complaining about all kinds of deficiencies in services like -

• our names are missing in the voters list
• my vote does not count
• politicians have proved they are opportunists
• irregular supply of water
• bad quality drinking water,
• bad power supply,
• bad street lights
• bad roads,
• bad footpaths,
• bad traffic & parking,
• bad garbage disposal,
• clogged drains,
• air is polluted
• adulteration of food, petrol, edible oil and other daily needs
• corruption …. The list is long.

No doubt we pay taxes and it is our constitutional right to claim good services from concerned authorities.   At the same time, Constitution of India has also laid down certain duties and responsibilities to be discharged by the citizens.

Be honest and answer ….

• Are we discharging our duties and responsibilities?
• Have we filled up the relevant forms and followed them up to ensure our names registered/ updated in the voters list as and when EC gives a call?
• Are we segregating garbage,
• Have we ever said no to corruption ?

Answer is a big NO

So, let us all become a little CIVILised and help the authorities solve our problems with necessary G I S of our streets. 

WHY CIVIL with GIS?

ADVANTAGE - CITIZEN

CIVIL with GIS is a movement to spur all citizens into proactive civic movement of participatory democracy for a better society.  Our 6 decades of experience has made us feel that Government alone cannot do anything and everything with all their constraints and drawbacks. Therefore, when we, as citizens, do not take active part in telling them what we want because it is our money, then we will be giving them the liberty to do what they want and serve us with what they have cooked by using our money. Later we start complaining that there is no salt, it is not tasty, and this is not the menu we wanted. Why are we failing in our duty in deciding what the menu should be and how it should be cooked and served to our satisfaction since it is our money that will be used by them to buy all ingredients, cook properly and serve?

CIVIL initiative will also help and enable citizens to have community based social activities like how we can have a ready made disaster management system at grassroots level till professional services reach us, first aid training, neighborhood watch groups for protecting our property and family, fire fighting exercises, gas leakage handling, civil defense methods, HAM training, organizing group activities for education and entertainment of family members and children etc.

ADVANTAGE - SERVICE PROVIDERS -

CIVIL with GIS will help authorities to develop a near perfect data for building up records, budgeting, assessment and collection of property taxes, planning infrastructure works based on citizens needs, improving green base, optimum utilisation of public property for creating assets and increasing revenue earnings, stop encroachments, develop parks, maintenance of footpaths, water supply management, power supply and street light management, reduces burden on civic authorities for collecting such data.   

HOW CIVIL with GIS IMPLEMENTED?

TARGET STREET: II Cross, Umar Khayyam Road, Tilak Nagar, Mysore-570021 (Search this address in www.googleearth.com with Institution for the Deaf and Dumb -School on Sayyaji Rao Road, Mysore as the target – this street is next to that well known institution)

DATA COLLECTION:

A BLANK FORMAT WAS SUPPLIED TO ALL RESIDENTS FOR COLLECTION OF BASIC DATA viz:

- Details of family members in the house, names, age, blood group, anybody disabled (these details can be extended to cover other statistical data about vaccination, polio, education, health care, etc also) 

- whether they had voters ID card or not, if Yes, give EPIC number, if not, give them details and educate them as to how to go about it

- whether own house or rented,  house number, address, satisfied with water/power supply or not with a little blank space to write what according to their perception, needs to be done for making their street a model street, whether they had any demands and grievances for redressal, if yes, what are they and whether they have any suggestion to solve the problem, etc.

CITIZENS RESPONSE:

FORMATION OF STREET COMMITTEE

Citizens were glad that this novel idea is being executed as a Pilot Project in their street; promptly returned the forms duly filled and many had even signed. Some residents voluntarily came and discussed certain points before inclusion and included power supply discussed and each house was given a form to fill up and return to the Convenor By becoming more responsible to the society we are living in. This was the beginning of formation of a Street Committee that has become vibrant and lady residents of the street meet every day evening to discuss various issues so that they can convey to their family members the need for improvements, if any.

DATA ANALYSIS:

The forms were perused, compiled into a statistical format and demands and grievances were listed with probable suggestive solutions.

G I S - GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM – FUTURISTIC AMBIENCE:

A digital camera was used to capture the topography of the street, conditions of the streets, footpaths, borewell, vacant government land, conditions of drains with damaged culverts, potholed roads, cross road etc. In addition photographs of the street from different angles with buildings were recorded with a futuristic ambience of proper disaster management and with a possible scenario of terrorists strikes or dacoits getting holed up in some corners of the street.

END RESULT OF CIVIL with GIS : -

• a virtual digital tour of our street,
• data collected for purposes of updating the electoral rolls, 
• road conditions exposed,
• condition of drains
• condition of footpaths
• trees and their varieties were identified for future planning for planting saplings, 
• garbage disposal,
• sweeping of street,
• condition of street lights,
• condition of bore well,
• vacant government land and how it can be used,
• exposure of irrational numbering of houses,
• demands and grievances of the citizens and
• how the problems can be redressed etc.

CITIZENS DEMANDS WITH PROBABLE SOLUTIONS

Citizens’ demands in brief  corroborated with digital virtual tour and plausible solutions as suggested by the citizens themselves :   II Cross, Umar Khayyam Road, Tilak Nagara,
Mysooru-570021 (Ward 43)  

1.      Traffic Problems: The junction at Bamboo Bazaar area, New Sayyaji Rao Road leading to Umar Khayyam Road and our II Cross has become an accident spot and movement of traffic needs to be controlled properly –

Solution:

            (a) traffic control measures needs to be strengthened

            (b) traffic lights have to be installed;

© humps on Umar Khayyam Road between Canara Bank and Sayyaji Rao Road are unscientific and not painted; these have to be attended to.

(d) The PELICON signal system in front of Institute of Deaf and Dumb on New Sayyaji Rao Road is totally useless since it is not being used by citizens and even if they try to use, activate it and the red light shows, traffic continues to zip past ignoring the red light and endangering those who venture to use the system. After complaints, a reality check was conducted by a Traffic Cop and now it has totally been disconnected.   Such facility erected at a cost has become infructuous.

2.      Footpaths:  on either side of Umar Khayyam Road cannot be used by pedestrians because the pavements are absolutely uneven, muck removed from SWD are dumped, there is wild growth of weeds, misuse of footpaths on either side between Canara Bank and junction at Sayyaji Rao Road by some citizens to tie their cows to most of the trees –

Solution:

(a) restrain citizens from tying the cows that dirty the footpaths leading to mosquito menance and unhealthy odour that spreads around;

(b) Clear the muck, provide channel outlets to let rain water from road to the SWDs, ensure proper camber while asphalting,  if necessary, lay ducts for future use of cable facilities on footpaths; lay interlocking cement blocks to make it pedestrian friendly; 

3.   Green Issues: Many decades old trees have been destroyed in front of Farooqia Dental College for widening the double road between Canara Bank and Shalimar Circle but no saplings have been planted in the median so far and between Sayyaji Rao road and Canara Bank, there is enough vacant space on pavement –

Solution:

(a) Planting of fruit bearing saplings to share this world with the birds, bees and animals with has to be initiated;

(b) On a selective basis, herbal, medical and aromatic species have to be planted since growing only shade giving trees on such costly land will not serve the purpose in the long run

(c) the plants/trees etc., will act as carbon sinks in the present day conditions of global warming –

4. Culvert on side drains: At the entrance of II cross, there is no concrete culvert above the side drains; existing stone slab laid across the road drain and the side walls are damaged and the road has become narrow at the entrance itself.

Solution:

(a)   Slabs have to be removed, muck under the road has to be removed, drain walls to be constructed and a concrete culvert laid;

(b)   Damaged SWD has to be repaired and the silt removed;

5.  At the entrance from Umar Khayyam Road, there is a large water supply valve chamber but not well maintained; a lot of debris are inside and reptiles/rodents have been seen moving around. Some entering the rooms of the students hostel of Institute for the Deaf and Dumb on Umar Khayyam Road have created a scare among inmates.

Solution:

(a)   Chamber has to be cleaned and proper concrete cover laid;

(b)   The valve has to be examined for leakages and condition of the water supply pipe checked and action taken to set right.

CONCLUSION:

The above are only illustrative and can be improved upon depending upon the needs of each street.

CIVIL with GIS Street Committee initiative is only a beginning for improving the living conditions of citizens by identifying 4-Ws – what, why, when, who - What they need most, Why they need it, When they want it and Who will do it. This grassroots level planning will help the service providers to put their head together and plan their budget, O&M and effective implementation of the plans of the people, by the people and for the people.

CIVIL with GIS - IMPACT – Deputy Commissioner, Mysore has evinced interest and would like to discuss the Street Committee Organisation and Methodology for probable implementation through RWAs/ Concerned Citizens etc.:

The Street Committee initiative CIVIL aims at bringing together a gamut of citizens needs for providing what the citizens need and for creation of a vibrant civil society at the grassroots level. A beginning has been made at Mysore with a power point presentation of the successful creation of the Street Committee to the Deputy Commissioner, Mysore in a meeting held on 9-3-2009 and the highly proactive DC has called for a detailed discussion on how to create a macro impact of the successful Street Committee pilot project in association with RWAs/Proactive Citizens etc., by May 2009. Further developments will be posted as and when they are finalized. The DC has also expressed the desire that all those concerned with the welfare of Mysore City or grassroots level participatory democracy including various associations etc., are most welcome and interact at the scheduled meeting.   This move is expected to induce others also to create a vibrant civil proactive society for ensuring a better peaceful world and will pave the way for reducing our complaints of paying taxes without getting services.  This effort also fulfills a gap about urban citizens active participation in metropolitan areas like the Gram Sabha at village levels.

It is our society, our street, our tax money and we have a right to demand and get what we want according to our needs in our neighborhood. Create your own Street Committees.

BE THE CHANGE WE WANT TO SEE – LET US MAKE A BEGINNING

YES WE CAN – C I V I L with G I S

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