Kolkata, June 9 -- The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will hold a pre-monsoon preparedness meeting for the southern parts of the city on Wednesday, a day after a similar review for north Kolkata, amid indications that several Trinamool councillors may remain absent from the exercise.
According to KMC sources, the meeting will be held at Udjapan Community Hall near Vivekananda Park on Lake Terrace Road. Councillors from wards 60, 61, 64, 65, 68, 69, 75, 76, 78-81, 83-90, 93, 133-135 and 137 have been invited. MLAs of Rashbehari, Bhawanipore, Ballygunge and Kolkata Port Assembly constituencies have also been asked to attend.
The meeting has been convened in line with directions issued by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari during a review of monsoon preparedness on June 3. Officials from all KMC departments
have also been invited to discuss measures to address waterlogging, drainage bottlenecks and other monsoon-related challenges.
However, civic sources said that a large section of Trinamool Congress councillors is likely to skip the meeting. Similar indications were visible during Monday's review meeting for north Kolkata, where several councillors remained absent. Deputy Mayor Atin Ghosh also did not attend the meeting. The anticipated low turnout comes in the backdrop of the state government's decision on Monday to dissolve the Trinamool Congress-led elected board of the KMC and appoint Municipal Commissioner Smita Pandey as Administrator under Section 117 of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Act, 1980.
With the dissolution, the offices of the Mayor, Mayor-in-Council, councillors and civic committees have ceased to function, with all powers and duties of the Corporation now vested in the Administrator until a new board is elected or for a period of six months, whichever is earlier.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.