DIBRUGARH, Nov 26 - A vast majority of the city dwellers here have welcomed the decision of the Urban Development Department to dissolve the Dibrugarh Municipal Board constituted by the BJP Ward Commissioners following findings of financial misappropriation and other irregularities in the Board.
Hours after the dissolution of DMB was ordered yesterday, apart from the news dissemination in the traditional media, the information largely went viral in the social media. Cross-sections of people who have been suffering from various civic problems in the city due to the mismanagement, corruption, inefficiency instability of the now dissolved Municipal Board, have hailed the dissolution.
Rachana Jain, the lone BJP Ward Commissioner who played a major role in boldly bringing the large scale corruption to the notice of the district administration, Assam Municipal Administration, Chief Minister, Governor and even Prime Minister, expressed her contentment over the dissolution order. �I am extremely happy that my continuous fight against corruption in DMB has yielded the desired result. I am grateful to the government for the action against corruption. Now legal action must follow,� said Jain.
Rajiv Hazarika, convenor of Dibrugarh Sachetan Nagarik Mancha (Conscious Citizens Forum) said that the denizens ought to elect upright and efficient candidates for development and proper running of the municipality. �It is a testimony that voters cannot trust a particular party or a brand. It is shameful that voters blindly opted for the BJP-led Municipal Board. It is a lesson for all now that only the right candidates must be elected. Our MLAs too have become unreliable,� said Hazarika.
Dibrugarh Nagarik Sangha secretary Ron Duarah said it is a welcome step by the government. He said the authorities must now probe all the irregularities in the municipality here and prosecute the guilty. He said steps must also be taken against all corrupt practices like parking allotments, road repair tenders and misappropriation of tax money etc. Another corrupt practice is the collection of �municipal tax� from illegal encroachers who have set up shops along all roads here. The local NGO, PGPR, has also welcomed the dissolution of the municipal body here.
In the aftermath of dissolution order the BJP here, however is in a storm. Several ranks of the district body of the ruling party here have alleged that party leaders including MP and MLAs are responsible for the disgrace. �The MP, MLAs, district president and few others were aware about the corruption but were defending the corrupt. When some Ward Commissioners and a few others raised the corruption issues and were fighting for justice, they were removed from party posts. Instead of probing, the leaders and elected representatives tried to suppress the voice of the party workers who exposed corruption. All the findings of corruption were out in the open and still some of our leaders shamelessly tried to defend the corrupt. If everything was well, the chairperson should have proudly defended when quizzed,� one of the top office bearers of the district unit of the party told The Assam Tribune on the condition of anonymity.
This correspondent tried to reach out to ousted chairperson of Dibrugarh Municipal Board but she refused to comment on the matter over the phone, saying she is out of station.
