The Hindu 17.07.2013
BMC corporators demand wards’ reconstitution
Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BMC) has demanded reconstitution of its wards as per the 2011 Census.
The
corporators of the BMC have passed a resolution in support of their
demand. They have also decided to meet Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on
the issue, according to BMC Commissioner Ajit Mishra.
It
may be noted that elections for the BMC is likely to be held this year.
There are three municipal corporations in the State — Berhampur,
Bhubaneswar, and Cuttack.
Number goes up
Meanwhile,
the wards of the BMC have been reconstituted. Earlier there were 37
wards in the BMC. After the reconstitution, the number of wards has
increased to 40. But complains have poured in from all major political
parties regarding the reconstitution of wards. Even the present BMC
Mayor S.S. Dash has expressed his dissatisfaction over reconstitution of
wards. Former Union Minister Chandrasekhar Sahu, who was the
chairperson of the municipality in the past had also objected to the
reconstitution of wards.
The objections are regarding
area, population as well as reservation of wards as per the census of
2001. Some Congress corporators have also decided to approach the court
of law against the ward reconstitution and reservation.
It
is felt that the recent reconstitution of wards of the city as per the
2001 Census does not reflect the proper representation of the present
city populace. It may be noted that in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack municipal
corporations, there have been similar protests against demarcation of
wards as per the 2001 Census. Most of the corporators of the BMC were of
the opinion that 2011 census report should be teh basis for demarcation
of wards in Berhampur Municipal Corporation.
Not in uniform
As
the recent demarcation of wards is as the per 2001 census, the wards
are not uniform in nature. Some of them have around 3000 voters while in
some other wards the number is more than 7000 voters.
Apart
from it, the wards are also not in series as per their boundaries. But
some corporators like Ashok Shukla are of the opinion that the recent
resolution of the BMC is a delayed one.
“This resolution should have been passed much earlier and sent to the government for timely action,” he has said.
A resolution has been passed in support of their demand and the corporators have decided to meet the Chief Minister on the issue.
