PMC seeks more powers to combat flu

If the civic administration proposal is cleared,the municipal commissioner can take decisions directly,but the rider is that the state government still has to give its approval.

“The Epidemic Diseases Act was passed in 1897 when the Constitution and BPMC Act did not exist. The provisions of the Act are incorporated in Section 319 of BPMC Act that came into existence in 1949. The provisions are not contrary and there is no harm in the civic body seeking these powers from the state government,” PMC legal adviser Bhagyashree Alate said.

As per Section 319 of the BPMC Act,the municipal commissioner may undertake special measures on the outbreak of any dangerous disease in its jurisdiction. On August 10,the civic administration sought approval of the state government for implementing Section 319 of BPMC Act so that commissioner can resort to special measures to bring the situation under control.

Deputy municipal commissioner K C Karkar said if the state government approves the civic administration proposal then the municipal commissioner too can take critical decisions on his own. “There is no need for the civic administration to approach other authorities each time,seeking their approval to implement special measures,” he said.

Though,the civic administration has sought approval for implementing the provisions of BPMC Act,there is also a school that strongly believes that the district collector is already implementing the Epidemic Act and hence there will not be any need of using these powers under BPMC Act. “The idea behind the move is to empower the municipal commissioner to take measures if the steps taken earlier are insufficient,” officials said.