Balurghat SDM takes over as new chief of municipality board
BALURGHAT: As the tenure of the existing board of Balurghat municipality expired on October 22, the sub-divisional magistrate of Balurghat Isha Mukherjee has taken charge of it as an administrator on Tuesday evening.
The charge of the board has been handed over to her by the outgoing civic chairman Rajen Shill. According to a civic source, the notification of the date of election is yet to be announced.
Trinamool Congress captured the Balurghat civic board from Left Front in 2013. Of 25 wards, Trinamool bagged 14 seats and formed the board, while the other 11 were attained by Left Front and Congress drew a blank.
After coming to power, the newly elected chairperson Chayanika Laha had undertaken various development projects like upliftment of the poor drainage system, roads, sanitation and drinking water service.
An unfinished home service drinking water project, undertaken by the then Left Front board, has also been geared up to be completed by the end of March 2019. After the untimely death of Laha in 2015, Rajen Shill had taken charge of the present board and carried out her unfinished works.
Long standing demand for the home service drinking water project has already been fulfilled and the in-
habitants have been asked to submit the requirement from November 7 for individual domestic connection in a specified form. Several beautification drives have also been undertaken.
Unauthorised and illegal boards and hoardings have been removed. Damaged roads have also been repaired and new roads constructed.
Regular cleanliness drives and mass awareness drives to curb the menace of vector-borne diseases are also underway in full-swing.
In a significant move, the civic board had retained 650 casual workers who were mostly recruited through NGOs in different times during the Left Front regime. After coming to power in 2013, the new Trinamool board had started the process of retaining them so that they can work till the age of 60.
According to an official source, it was due to the laziness of the erstwhile Left Front board that casual workers had not been retained during the Left tenure of more than four decades.
After handing over the charge to Mukherjee, Shill said: "Overall development of all 25 wards was my target. Essential sectors that had long been ignored by the lackadaisical attitude during the Left regime have been pulled up. The long standing demand of piped water project for door-to-door home service drinking water has already been fulfilled successfully. Notification for new connections has already been announced. Many development projects have been completed already, while a few are nearly finished. I am satisfied being a chairman of the board."
Receiving the charge from Shill, Mukherjee said: "I will look into the matter so that no ongoing project stops midway. I hope for a smooth continuation in future."
