Uttarakhand HC seeks clarification on ULB expansion from AG

In the petitions filed against expansion of area under municipal corporations and municipalities, the High Court of Uttarakhand sought clarification from the Advocate General(AG) on why the people concerned were not given a chance to be heard on the issue of delimitation by the State Government. Responding to this, the State Advocate General sought one day’s time from the court to clarify the position. The hearingin the case will continue on March 9.

Acording to the case details, the petitioners have stated that the State Government had issued a notification and was bringing a number of villages under the purview of municipal corporations and municipalities. While hearing on the petitions, earlier during February, the high court had directed that state government to maintain the status quo on delimitation of urban local bodies.

It should be mentioned here that the state government notification regarding delimitation of the urban local bodies had been challenged in the high court by about a dozen parties including Bhawali Gram Pradhan, Sanjay Joshi, Sangharsh Samiti Against Notification of Nagar Nigam Kotdwar and Shaktishail Kaparwan, Haldwani block Pramukh Bhola Datt Bhatt and Rasoolpur Pradhan Dipika among others.

The petitioners have stated that the government did not give them a hearing before bringing their areas under the purview of ULBs. They further stated that without the proper procedure being followed, the villages were being brought under the purview of municipal corporations and municipalities which is not right.

After hearing the submissions made by the petitioners, the high court single bench of justie Sudhanshu Dhulia set the next date of hearing in the case on March 9.

Earlier, on February 19, the High Court had directed that the status quo be maintained on delimitation of ULBs. The petitioners have stated that the residents of the villages to be merged with ULBs are majorly dependent on agriculture and live in areas where the Gram Panchayat tenure has not yet ended.

The Panchayat representatives alleged that they were being removed from their elected positions before the end of their tenure by the state government’s decision. It is pertinent to mention here that while the State Government had been working to expand areas under ULBs, the decision elicited strong opposition from villagers in various parts of the state and the Congress party.

Those opposing this decision also state that the decision would convert the remaining agricultural lands and green areas in rural regions into concrete jungle.