Kolkata, 19 May (H.S.) : The West Bengal Municipal Affairs Department on Tuesday announced the dissolution of the boards of four urban civic bodies in North Bengal, which had been facing allegations of functioning for years through administrative arrangements without fresh elections.

The state government has temporarily transferred administrative control of these civic bodies to bureaucratic administrators. Under the new arrangement, the respective Sub-Divisional Officers (SDOs) will oversee the functioning of the bodies until fresh elections are conducted and new boards are constituted.

According to a notification issued by the Municipal Affairs Department, the decision was taken following advice from the office of Governor R.N. Ravi.

The four civic bodies whose boards have been dissolved include Kurseong Municipality, Mirik Notified Area Authority and Kalimpong Municipality in Darjeeling district, along with Buniadpur Municipality in South Dinajpur district.

The government has appointed the SDO of Gangarampur as the administrator of Buniadpur Municipality, while the SDOs of Kurseong, Mirik and Kalimpong have been assigned administrative charge of the respective civic bodies in their jurisdictions.

The last elections to Kurseong Municipality, Mirik Notified Area Authority and Kalimpong Municipality were held in May 2017, when the then-ruling Trinamool Congress and its local hill allies gained control of the boards.

However, after the terms of these boards expired in April 2022, the state government did not conduct fresh elections. Instead, the then chairpersons of the civic bodies were appointed as administrators. Opposition parties had alleged that the arrangement effectively allowed the ruling party to retain indirect control over the municipalities.

A similar situation prevailed in Buniadpur Municipality, where elections were held in August 2017 after the civic body was constituted. Although the board’s term ended in September 2022, fresh elections were not conducted there either, and the former chairman was appointed administrator.

Following the recent political change in West Bengal, the BJP-led state government has now decided to dissolve these boards and place the civic bodies under bureaucratic administration until elections are held.

The government said the temporary arrangement would remain in place until newly elected municipal boards are formed.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh