Villages workout escape route

VADODARA, March 9: With the realisation that their protests would not cut much ice, two big villages of the 21, which are averse to being...

VADODARA, March 9: With the realisation that their protests would not cut much ice, two big villages of the 21, which are averse to being included in the city civic limits have worked out an ingenious strategy to short-circuit the Vadodara Municipal Corporation8217;s plan.

Chhani and Harni village panchayats are not only contemplating forming group municipalities but have also began the spade work. So while the VMC is still surveying the villages it intends bringing into its fold, Chhani and Harni are planning to invoke provisions of the Urban Agglomeration Scheme to form group municipalities.

It takes a population of 25,000 to form a municipality, while Chhani8217;s figure by the 1991 census would not match though it has more population. For this, Satish Patel, Chhani village panchayat member, told Express Newsline that they had already procured verbal approval from the sarpanchs of Sisva and Ajod villages with over 5,000 population, to form group municipality with Chhani. The Chhani panchayat would adopt a resolution to this effect by the month-end.

Harni plans to form a municipality by taking along with it Sama and Vemali villages. While Sama is believed to have a population of about 8,000, Vemali has 3,000. Harni sarpanch Bhavana Patel claims that sarpanchs of both the villages have agreed in principle. A resolution to this effect would be passed by the month end, she further claims.

If the group municipalities are formed, they would get staff like other municipalities and can collect octroi, explains Vadodara Urban Development Authority chairman Krishnakant Shah. Apart from giving the copy of the resolution to the VUDA, the villages are expected to send copies to the District Panchayat as well, sources say.

The recommendation would then be sent to the Urban Development Department which in turn would make necessary survey about population strength and check the authenticity of the proposals before forming group municipalities, says the VUDA chairman. Asked why did they want to form municipalities, a Chhani panchayat member Dharmesh Shah said 8220;We have no faith in the VMC. There is no guarantee that it will provide us services even after we are included in the city limit8221;.

In Harni, Bhavana Patel asks 8220;What will the VMC do when it has not even being able to lay a 200-metre long road from the Harni octroi post to the Hanuman Temple despite it being in civic limits8221;.

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But in Chhani, they have a little problem at hand. Secretary of Harikrupa Society in Chhani, Subhash Shukla, says there are some 11 societies who are not happy with the village administration. They are more inclined to be part of the VMC, which has also given them drainage facility for 10 years. However, he says if they are assured all facilities, the societies could join the group municipality. Chhani panchayat, however, is firm. Satish Patel says the municipality could be formed even without these societies.

It may be recalled that the State Government recently agreed in principle to extend the VMC limits from 108 sq km to 168 sq km including 21 villages. This was after the VMC urged the Government that its limits were not extended after the 1970s. This, however, sparked off a series of protests with no less than several ruling Bharatiya Janata Party BJP members taking up cudgels for the villagers.