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| Unhealthy trends in civic body | | | | The goings on in the Jammu Municipal Corporation in no way present a healthy state. The infighting between the Municipal Commissioner, Jeet Lal Gupta and some corporators is not in the interest of the smooth functioning of the civic body. On the heels of 45 elected members of the corporation censuring the commissioner and demanding his recall, alleging his rude behavior with an elected representative of the people in the corporation, the Commissioner has charged that some of the corporators are resorting to corrupt practices and are placing impediments in the way of executing the development works under the civic body. On the other hand some employees of the corporation have held demonstration against the Deputy Mayor, condemning his conduct. With the Mayor, Kavinder Gupta addressing a media conference along with the Municipal Commissioner Jeet Lal Gupta where he enlisted the achievements made by the corporation as well as the future plans in hand for the welfare of the capital city, shows that he is siding with the commissioner and there is infighting among the councilors themselves. The real bane of the civic body has been want of adequate powers with the elected representative of the body including the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor, the real powers are vested with the Commissioner, who is nominated by the government. Even when it was a Municipal Council, the civic body of Jammu had more powers and the writ of the President of the body ran over the government appointed administrator. But as per the Municipal Corporation Act, Commissioner Municipal Corporation is virtually Supreme, who can even override the majority and even unanimous decision taken by the elected representatives. The revelations by the Mayor in the media conference that Jammu Corporation has been allotted a sum of Rs 441 crores for carrying on development works in the city is a pleasant surprise. It was generally believed that the corporation is starved of funds and hence is unable to undertake the development projects as well as maintain cleanliness and sanitation of the city. But a sum of Rs 441 crore, if spent rationally and judicially, without leakages, can go a long way in face lifting the city and at least keeping its sanitation in a quite healthy state as well as maintain the lanes and drains properly. But unfortunately what we witness today is stink and foul smell everywhere particularly in the old city, where drains are overflowing with filthy water, spilling over the streets and heaps of garbage lying on the roadsides, without being removed till noon. Most of the streets and lanes in the old city are in dilapidated condition, whereas some crafty and efficient corporators have brought face lift of the streets by lying red tiles. But in the case of many other streets as well as the main roads on bazaars the pavements and footpaths are in a bad shape, in certain cases the work is left half done and after dismantling the old footpaths new one on the same have not been completed and there are breaches here and there, leading to water logging and chances of pedestrians getting slipped and breaking their bones. The politicization of the civic body and any attempt to make it an arena of political battle will be most unfortunate as it will defeat the real objective of the civic body. The disclosure by the Mayor that a scientific garbage disposal plant is being installed at Kunjwani is a quite welcome news. There was the dire need of the same, in view of several tonnes of garbage being generated daily in the city, which needs proper disposal and in no way to be flown into the Tawi river, which can cause pollution or remaining without proper dumping deep in the soil, to serve the purpose of fertilizer. |
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