Gurgaon: The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) has sent a proposal to the government that it be allowed to manage the affairs of the directorate of urban bodies at the local level. The move has sparked a row as it would mean that the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) would have to take GMDA’s permission before carrying out any work.
A senior GMDA official said the proposal was put forth in a recent meeting of the development body and the chief minister had taken cognisance of it. “According to the GMDA Act, the development of Gurgaon is its responsibility. But the MCG also has its plans for the city and has to execute projects. So, there is an inevitable clash between the two government bodies,” the official said. He added that it was better that the plans of the two government agencies be aligned for a coordinated development of the city.
One of the ways to do this, he suggested, was to make an amendment to the Municipal Act while the other alternative was to assign GMDA the powers of the directorate of the urban local bodies at the local level. The GMDA CEO already has the powers of the director of town and country planning.
The need to align the plans of the two agencies was felt as there were several instances of lack of coordination between the two and absence of clarity over jurisdiction, which made it easier for them to pass the buck onto each other. For instance, whenever there was any issue over streetlights, both MCG and the GMDA claimed the other one was responsible. In another instance, when MCG installed water ATMs across the city, GMDA removed them saying permission from the authority was not taken before executing the project.
The proposal to hand over more powers to GMDA, sources said, was likely to be opposed by the councilors as MCG is an elected body. The MCG commissioner could not be reached for a comment. Mayor Madhu Azad told TOI that the proposal had been put up in the meeting at the last moment.
“The chief minister has put it off for now. He has asked the department of urban local bodies, GMDA and other departments to review it and then table it in the next authority meeting,” said Azad. She added that unless it was officially taken up by the government, she would not prefer to comment on the consequences of the development.