LMC misses Census deadline,wants three-month extension

In this connection,a review meeting of the Mapping Department was organised in Lucknow on Sunday. It was decided that the letter,which the department has received from the local body,will now be forwarded to the head office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India for further action.

The extension has,however,not gone down well with the officials of the Mapping Department,who are looking after the work in Lucknow.

“The civic body has not been able to complete even half the work in the time given whereas they have the resources to easily complete the exercise in a month. The delay in the collection of data will simply affect our schedule further,” said Pradeep Kumar,Deputy Director,Mapping Department,Directorate of Census under the Union Home Ministry.

The civic body began the work in January with around 220 officials,who were deputed in their respective area for the collection of data. “We have asked for additional time. It is turning out to be very hectic for us due to the elections and tax realisation in the financial yearend,” said AC Sinha,Additional Municipal Commissioner of LMC. 

According to senior LMC officials,what led to the waste of time was the time taken to deliberate on the finalisation of the civic body,as the nodal agency for the Census work.

“We were reluctant to take on the work as we knew that once the elections will be declared,it will not be easier to complete the work,” said a senior LMC official. “The issue was being deliberated upon since September,however,the work could begin in January,” said a senior LMC official.

Once the survey is completed,one can easily access details like the number of members residing in a house,name of the house owner,number of storeys the house has and whether the house is kutcha or pucca. Digital mapping will further help in providing an accurate picture of the city.