After representations from local political leaders, the state government has initiated the process to declare Morbi municipality a municipal corporation. The development comes after the state government dissolved the general board of Morbi municipality in April. The government stated the elected wing had failed to discharge its duties as it cited the Jhulto Pul suspension bridge collapse, which killed 135 people in October last year. Morbi collector GT Pandya chaired a meeting of sarpanches of villages surrounding Morbi town. BJP MLA from Tankara Durlabhji Dethariya was among the attendees. Briefing reporters in Morbi, the Collector said the meeting was convened to ascertain the views of village heads on broader contours of of Morbi municipal corporation, and if any of the villages wanted to be part of Morbi-Wankaner Urban Development Authority (MWUDA). “For long, residents of Morbi and locals in surrounding villages have been demanding that the jurisdiction of Morbi municipality should be expanded and the Morbi municipality should be notified as a municipal corporation. For doing this, a proposal needs to be forwarded to the state government. In that respect, today a meeting was called of MLAs and sarpanches of nearby villages,” the Collector said. Pandya also said the MWUDA has been in existence since 2012 and initially, 38 villages of Morbi and Wankaner talukas were included in it. But gradually, all the villages opted out of MWUDA, leaving only Morbi and Wankaner municipalities and a single village in its jurisdiction. “The meeting discussed two main issues - if Morbi municipality were to be declared a municipal corporation, how many villages should be included in its jurisdiction, and what should be its broader contours; secondly, if villages - not willing to be part of such a municipality - are willing to be part of MWUDA. Detailed discussions were held regarding benefits accruing by virtue of being part of a municipal corporation or MWUDA, various problems and disadvantages thereof,” said the collector, adding the sarpanches were requested to call meetings of their respective village panchayats and ascertain vie of people residing in these villages. The state government dissolved the general board of Morbi municipality in April. The BJP, which is ruling the state, had total control over the general board by virtue of having won all 52 seats of the general board at the election conducted in 2021. Since the dissolution of its general board, Morbi municipality's day-to-day affairs are being looked after by an additional collector who has been appointed as the administrator of that civic body. Villages had also vehemently protested their inclusion in the MWUDA and eventually, the government had backtracked in the form of restricting the jurisdiction of this body to a very small area.
