Feb. 1: Dispur has decided to increase the number of municipal wards for better civic administration.

With the city bursting at the seams, the Tarun Gogoi government wants to reach out the benefits of modern urban life to nearly 15 lakh people.

“The existing 60 wards do not cover all the areas of the city. The wards were carved out on the basis of the population and the area of the city in the 70s. Since then the city has expanded beyond one’s imagination. The existing population has now touched 15 lakh and the number of wards is hardly enough to meet the demands of a swelling population,” an official said.

A study conducted by the corporation showed that about 40 per cent of the city’s population is deprived of civic amenities as the residential areas do not fall under the civic body’s jurisdiction.

Keeping in mind the futuristic growth of the city, chief minister Tarun Gogoi had taken up the matter with Guwahati development minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and reportedly sought a status report for the wards.

Initially, the government will increase number of wards in a phased manner in the next five years. In the first five years, the number will go up from 60 to 65. The official said the new masterplan, to be published soon, would include many new areas under the corporation’s jurisdiction which is also one of the reasons for ward expansion.

The new building bylaws have been designed to put a leash on the real estate boom not only in prime areas but on city outskirts as well, which aren’t till now covered under the municipal areas.

“The city administration is bound to extend its boundary in the next five years. Being the local self-government, the civic body has to cover each and every area that comes under the greater Guwahati map,” the official said. Another reason for bringing more areas under the corporation’s jurisdiction is to expand its tax net for more revenue generation. According to the MoU signed between the Assam government and the Union urban development ministry, the corporation must double its revenue collection in the next five years.

Former mayor Kushal Sarmah last year wrote to secretary of Guwahati development department A.K. Bhutani to make the corporation, a local self-government, effective and financially sound.

“In the letter Sarma said despite being elected representatives, councillors are not vested with real power. He alleged that actual power is wielded by the commissioner and other officials who are not accountable to the people. Besides an increase in the number of wards, Dispur also wants to rid the civic body of babudom and make it a representatives of the people in the truest sense,” a source said.

Many citizens are not that optimistic. There’s doubt about getting the benefits if the number of wards is increased. They complain that as the GMC has not been able to cater to the needs of the existing wards, addition of more wards will overburden it and hence compound problems. “Without improving the civic amenities in the existing wards, the GMC should not go for bringing more areas under its jurisdiction,” Sarat Baruah of Lachit Nagar said.

A corporation official, however, said things were changing fast and the delivery of service to the taxpayers would improve at a faster pace.

“Bringing more areas under the GMC’s jurisdiction will help in balanced development of the city,” he said.