Kolkata, Sept. 13 -- The Opposition has raised objections over polling booth shifts and omissions, which have figured prominently in the exercise to redraw Kolkata's municipal map, with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation forwarding 285 observations from the hearings to the state Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Department.

Trinamool Kasba MLA Javed Khan has alleged that two booths in Ward 66 had disappeared from the draft allocation for both the Kasba and neighbouring Entally Assembly constituencies. Separately, a CPI(M) functionary claimed that booths had been left out of the draft details in 23 wards.

The objections were among representations heard over four days as the state works on a proposal to increase the number of KMC wards from 144 to 209. Political parties and individuals had raised concerns not only over booth allocation but also over changes in ward boundaries.

Hearing officers, all West Bengal Civil Service (Executive) officials, recorded the submissions of those who appeared before them and prepared reports on the issues raised. The reports were sent to the UDMA department after the hearings concluded on Wednesday.

A KMC official said some discrepancies in the booth list could have crept in while the draft data was being compiled. The civic body, however, said omissions and other errors pointed out during the hearing process, or detected during its own scrutiny, were corected.

The observations submitted by the KMC now form part of the material before the UDMA department as it considers objections to the proposed ward reorganisation.

The exercise assumes significance as the proposed 209-ward structure will substantially alter the existing municipal boundaries and the distribution of polling booths.

Recently, the state government has notified the replacement of the existing ward schedule of the KMC, setting out the territorial boundaries of all 209 wards under the civic body's expanded structure. The new schedule covers wards whose boundaries extend through areas including Kalikapur, Mukundapur, Jadavpur, Tollygunge, Behala, Sarsuna, Bansdroni, Hanspukuria, Joka, Kamdhari and Brahmapur.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.