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Municipal councilfor 18 villages: CM
After a wait of five years since the 27 villages were included in Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), chief minister Uddhav Thackeray announced a separate
After a wait of five years since the 27 villages were included in Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), chief minister Uddhav Thackeray announced a separate municipal council for 18 villages.
Nine villages will continue to be part of KDMC.
The announcement was made by the chief minister in the state assembly on Saturday.
“We have decided to form a separate nagar parishad for 18 villages and the rest of the nine villages will remain with KDMC. A lot of development work has been done for the nine villages. The issue has been going for long and we took initiative to resolve it,” chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said.
The all-party union, Sarvapakshiya Hakka Saurakshan Sangharsh Samiti, representing the 27 villages had met Thackeray and Thane guardian minister Eknath Shinde demanding a separate civic body for the villages.
The 27 villages, which were under gram panchayat since 2002, were included into the KDMC in June 2015. The villagers have been demanding a separate civic body. They have alleged that KDMC has neglected them and there has been no developmental works in the villages.
Gulab Vaze, representative of all-party union, said, “Right now, we are not commenting on the announcement by the chief minister. We will have to hold a meeting with our members and the villagers and decide on our stand.”
In the last civic elections, the 27 villages had 122 wards. The KDMC elections are slated this year.
The all-party union has been following up with the state for the past five years on a separate municipal body.
Another representative from the all-party union, on requesting anonymity of name, said, “Our demand was always to have a separate civic body for all the 27 villages. Nine villages have been generating income as there has been real estate development. The 18 villages have been neglected.”
The nine villages which will remain with KDMC are Ajade, Sagaon, Nandivli Panchanand, Dharivali, Sandap, Usarghar, Katai, Bhopar and Deslepada.
Another union, Sarvapakshiya Yuva Morcha, from 27 villages has decided to oppose the state’s move.
“We are not happy with just 18 villages getting a new civic body. We will follow this up and our fight will continue,” said Gajanan Patil, president of the union.
During the announcement, the CM said the 27 villages were added into KDMC since June, 1, 2015, as per a resolution passed by the then state government on May 5, 2015.
The all-party representatives have been constantly approaching the state government demanding a separate municipal council for the villages.
On September 7, 2015, the state revised its decision and published a resolution considering formation of a separate civic body for the villages. The Konkan division commissioner was asked to submit a report to the state after taking suggestions and objections.
The report was submitted to the state on March 13, 2020, after taking all the suggestions and objections.
“Based on the suggestions and objections received by the Konkan divisional commissioner, a hearing was conducted on March 11 and March 12, 2020, and the report was submitted to the state government on March 13. Keeping the report of the Konkan Divisional Commissioner in view, majority of the 27 villages are on the western side of the Shil-Kalyan road. Nine villages will remain with the municipal corporation as there has been urbanisation there. A separate municipal council will be formed of the remaining 18 villages,” said the chief minister.
Shashikant Kamble, Kalyan zilla president of BJP, said, “The BJP will continue to support the villagers and their representatives whether they are in KDMC or form a municipal council.”
