Avoid consultants for new projects, follow austerity measures: PCMC chief to depts

Pune: Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has directed civic departments to avoid appointing consultants for new projects for the next six months and focus on energy conservation in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for austerity measures amid the West Asian crisis.Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 10 called for austerity measures to deal with the crisis in West Asia. He called for measures such as working from home, buying less gold, avoiding foreign travels, cutting fuel usages and focusing on EVs, among others.Municipal commissioner Vijay Suryavanshi on Monday evening issued an advisory, following state govt directives, on energy conservation, fuel control, expenditure reduction and changes in administrative functioning.The civic body has instructed departments to minimise vehicle usage during inspections and official tours and promote carpooling and public transport such as Metro, railways and PMPML buses. The advisory also suggested preferring electric vehicles while outsourcing transport services.As part of the measures, foreign tours of civic officials for training, study or official work have been suspended until further notice. Officials have also been directed to avoid planning new overseas visits and cut spending on advertisements, banners, flex boards and decorative lighting.Moreover, civic offices have been told to maximise the use of natural light and turn off electrical equipment diligently after office hours and maintain AC temperatures between 24 and 26°C to optimise energy use.Apart from these directions, PCMC also asked municipal canteens, hospitals, hostels, and anganwadi centres to reduce dependence on imported edible oils and to encourage the use of locally available mustard and groundnut oils instead of palm, soybean, and sunflower oils.Meanwhile, the electricity department has been asked to fast-track proposals for EV charging stations across the city. The circular stated that municipal-level meetings, training programmes, reviews and seminars of the civic body should preferably be conducted via video conferencing. Internal meeting or training sessions and coordination, on the other hand, should be held online to cut down travel and other incidental expenses, it stated.