In six hours, 1,158 objections filed on bifurcation of Bhopal Municipal Corporation

BHOPAL: In just six hours, as many as 1,158 objections and suggestions were received by the district administration regarding bifurcation of Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC). BJP corporators also reached the collectorate in a bus to submit their objections to the move, as Wednesday is the last day for giving suggestions or objections.

Altogether, 1,378 suggestions and objections regarding division of 85 BMC wards into two have been received so far. Narela MLA Vishwas Sarang said that the bifurcation would lead to more civic woes for the people.

The people will have to face a lot of problems as there is a distance of 25km between Karond and Kolar, where the new municipal corporation is expected to have its headquarters.

Bhopal mayor Alok Sharma said that current municipal corporation has a debt of Rs600 crore and over 11,000 employees need to be adjusted. He wondered how the new corporations would be able to sustain itself financially. Sharma said the decision by the state government regarding bifurcation of BMC is not in people’s interest.

The bifurcation of BMC has turned out to be a bone of contention between the Congress and the BJP, with the latter vehemently opposing it stating that such a move would divide the landscape of the state capital.

Meanwhile, the Congress leaders hope the decision would bring in greater efficiency and improve delivery of services. Presently, BMC has a total of 85 municipal wards under it. With the proposal for bifurcation of the civic body all wards from ward 1 to 51 and no. 69, 70 and 71 will be a part of BMC. The new residential colonies that fall under ward no. 52 to 85 are now being proposed to be part of Kolar municipal corporation. The state government has already tried by making a Kolar municipality in early 2000, but had to revoke the decision a decade later.

Mayor’s slip of tongue: In a slip of tongue, mayor Alok Sharma, who went to give a memorandum to the collector in protest against the proposal to create two municipal corporations in Bhopal, said: “We will not allow the development of Bhopal city at any cost”. Congress was quick to latch on to the fumble and its spokesperson Narendra Saluja tweeted the video and said, “Congress has brought this proposal (bifurcation of municipal corporation) for development and BJP is opposed to development? The video has gone viral on social networking sites.