Basirhat Municipality board dissolved, SDO to be in charge

KOLKATA: The Urban Development and Municipal Affairs (UD&MA) department has dissolved the board of Basirhat Municipality and removed its chairman along with all other board members, citing shortcomings in public service delivery. The Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) of Basirhat, Jaslin Kaur, will now directly oversee civic services as in charge of the municipality. The Trinamool Congress-led civic board in North 24-Parganas had faced allegations for some time over lapses in delivering basic amenities, and despite repeated instructions from the department to improve service delivery, the situation failed to change, prompting the state government to withdraw all powers from the municipal body. Basirhat Municipality has 23 wards, with 21 TMC councillors, and one councillor each from the BJP and Congress, while one TMC councillor passed away recently. Sources said differences among the councillors had also hampered the functioning of the civic body.

According to sources, local civil society groups had brought the matter to the notice of the UD&MA department in writing, following which an enquiry was conducted. On Friday evening, a letter from the department reached the SDO’s office informing that the municipal board had been dissolved and that the SDO would be responsible for service delivery to citizens until further orders. Subir Sarkar, the outgoing vice chairman, confirmed that the decision had been communicated to all councillors, including the chairman. Sources also said the chairman had earlier been showcaused over alleged irregularities in the functioning of the civic body, but the response was found to be unsatisfactory.