Chandigarh villages not to be brought within MC jurisdiction: Chaudhary Birender Singh

The UT villages are governed under the Panchayati Raj system in which elections are held for panchayat, panchayat samiti and zila parishad. The move to bring the villages within the MC jurisdiction was made with an aim to bring uniformity in the development and governance of the villages.

[related-post]

The Election Commission had recently asked the administration to take a call on inclusion of villages in the MC so that the process of delimitation of wards for MC elections scheduled to be held in December could be started.

There are a total of 22 villages in Chandigarh, of which nine are under the MC limits. All the 13 villages are located within a 8-km radius of the city having a population of over 50,000. At present there are 26 wards in the MC.

The Congress and BJP have been at loggerheads over the issue. During a House meeting held in November 2013, the Congress had supported the proposal with 10 conditions which were passed by the House while the BJP opposed the move.

Mayor Arun Sood said that they had taken up the issue with the ministry. “BJP was never in favour of the merger. We are glad that the issue has been settled,” he said.

No building bylaws

IN the absence of building bylaws for villages, there has been no check on the haphazard urbanisation and development in rural areas. There has also been a rise in unsafe and unregulated construction in these villages. The administration had framed draft bylaws in 2013 which are yet to be notified.