Kolkata, July 8 -- The West Bengal Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Department has dissolved the board of the Asansol Municipal Corporation and appointed an administrator to run the civic body. The decision was taken under Section 60(1) of the West Bengal Municipal Corporation Act, 2006.
IAS officer Aditi Chowdhury, Chief Executive Officer of the Asansol Durgapur Development Authority and former Municipal Commissioner of Asansol, has been appointed administrator. She will exercise all administrative powers of the corporation for up to six months or until a new board is constituted.
The development comes after the Municipal Affairs Department issued a show-cause notice to the civic body over alleged irregularities, including the failure to hold board meetings and issues related to property tax waivers. The then mayor, Bidhan Upadhyay had submitted a six-page reply denying all the allegations and instead blamed the Municipal Commissioner for non-cooperation. However, the department was not satisfied with the explanation and subsequently dissolved the board.
Responding to the decision, former mayor Bidhan Upadhyay said he was unaware that the board was being dissolved and had not received any official communication. He said the move had been taken to improve civic services and assured full cooperation with the administrator. Upadhyay added that he and the councillors would extend all
possible assistance to the public if required.
Asansol North MLA Krishnendu Mukhopadhyay welcomed the decision, saying the board had become ineffective and was unable to function properly. He alleged that several councillors were no longer available in their respective areas and had lost contact with residents, adding that dissolving the board was necessary.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.