Govt to speed up development work in newly captured municipalities

The government has decided to speed up the development works in the newly acquired municipalities.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will be holding an administrative meeting in Murshidabad on September 27 and before that Hakim wanted to know the areas that needed special attention.

Of the seven municipalities in Murshidabad, four have come under Trinamool recently. They are Azimgunj-  Jiagunj, Berhampore, Beldanga and Jangipur. Dhuliyan was under Trinamool and Murshidabad and Kandi are still under Congress.

Hakim met the chairmen and vice chairmen and studied the problems and discussed what needs to be done in each of them. The projects which the people of the areas want will be given top most priority. 

For proper development in the area proper planning is required and the municipal affairs department will make comprehensive planning based on the inputs given by the Councillors. As the politicians and people of the municipalities believe that under Trinamool, total development of the area will take place it is necessary to make foolproof plans. Drinking water problem in some pockets needs to be addressed. 

There is also Arsenic contamination in some areas where supply of piped water is required. The Panchayat and Rural development department is already working in that direction. The soil erosion is a major issue in Kandi where the riverbank is badly affected and as the Centre has not taken proper steps to stop soil erosion, the responsibility now lies with the state government. 

The economic growth is another important factor and various schemes to give training to the youth will have to be implemented. Beautification work in the areas under the municipalities will have to be carried out and the Municipal Affairs department is trying to assess the financial involvement which it will have to bear to carry out development.

Another issue that was addressed in Saturday’s meeting was the coordination between the old and new Trinamool Congress members. This is posing a major threat in some areas and some ministers lost in 2016 Assembly because of this. The party’s supremo Mamata Banerjee has cautioned party workers to give up infighting and work as a unit for the area’s development.

Hakim, who is one of the members of party’s policy making body, discussed at length the issue and said that no development can take place if there is infighting. “There should be coordination between the old and new members and they should consider the party to be their families,” he told the party leaders.