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�Govt inaction worsened civic woes in city�

By Staff reporter

GUWAHATI, June 12 � Former Deputy Mayor of Guwahati, Balendra Bharali has alleged that the failure of the State Government to implement the 74th amendment of the Indian Constitution on extending the scope of the municipal bodies, has aggravated the problems faced by the Guwahatians.

Talking to this newspaper, Bharali said that the process initiated by the AGP-led State Government in the late 1990s, to implement the 74th amendment, has been scuttled by the present State Government.

The said amendment of the Indian Constitution has granted the powers relating to urban planning, regulation of land use and construction of building, planning economic and social development, slum improvement and urban poverty alleviation etc to the urban local self-governing bodies (ULBs).

Following the 74th amendment of the Constitution effected in 1992, section 8 of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) Act was amended in 1994 and the above powers were vested on the GMC. But this amendment alone would not suffice, as, there exists a number of agencies which act parallel to the GMC on the above matters. These bodies are legally empowered to act in an analogous manner in the city on the above matters.

These bodies � the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), the Assam Town and Country Planning Directorate, the Assam Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Board, the Guwahati Metropolitan Drinking Water and Sewerage Board, PWD, PHE, etc. � are all statutory ones. But the pertinent statutes are inconsistent with the provisions of the 74th amendment of the Constitution in so far as their provisions on the activities inside the Guwahati municipal areas are concerned.

Therefore, Bharali argued, steps needed to be taken to repeal all such provisions of the relevant acts. The Third Assam State Finance Commission, upholding the provisions of the 74th amendment of the Constitution, also suggested that the ULBs should be allowed to act accordingly.

It is not that the present State Government is unaware of this fact. It is fully aware of it and hence the State Cabinet in its meeting on September 25, 2009 accepted the fact that the GMC is solely responsible for granting building permission.

It also approved of the �transfer of functions and functionaries� by the departments concerned to the GMC and other municipal bodies, as per the provisions of parts IX and IX-A, red with Schedule XII of the Constitution.

But nothing has been done so far to transfer the above decisions of the State Cabinet into actions, lamented Bharali.

Bharali also made a representation before the Third State Finance Commission alleging that the GMC was not allowed to utilize the entire amount of Rs 121 crore provided as seed money by the 12 th Finance Commission of the country in instalments, for construction of roadside drains and clearing storm water drains in the city. Other agencies were allowed to utilize the amount ignoring the GMC, which is illegal, Bharali alleged.

He claimed that the Gujarant High Court had in its verdict in case number SC A No- 9740 of 1994, ruled that the sections of any legislation that contradict the 74 th amendment, would automatically stand repealed after one year from the amendment.

Meanwhile, other states like Maharashtra, Kerala, Delhi, West Bengal etc have amended their relevant legislations by vesting powers and functions on the municipal bodies as per the 74 th amendment, Bharali claimed.

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