Bhubaneswar, June 22: The civic body has empowered ward officers to act like municipal commissioner.
The new order, which was passed at a meeting held on Saturday, empowers ward officers to act as enforcement officials and look after issues related to sanitation, public health, street light, environmental protection and ecological promotion.
The meeting also decided that the committees that had been formed earlier would be activated and hold meetings regularly to check the progress of various projects in their wards.
Sources said the ward officers had been given power of commissioner under Section 407 of Orissa Municipal Corporation (OMC) Act, 2003 and had been declared enforcement officials for their respective jurisdiction.
"They can remove any unauthorised blockade or structures from streets, open channels, drains, wells or tanks. Besides, they can also remove illegal obstructions from public roads and places. They can also act against unauthorised hawking in public places," said an officer.
Moreover, the ward officers can issue notices under Section 664 of OMC Act, 2003 to any person within their jurisdiction for littering and dumping construction and waste material in public places and animal carcasses at places not designated for the purpose.
Srimanta Mishra, public relations officer of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), said it would also be the duty of ward officers to ensure proper maintenance of sanitation system and storm water drains.
"Besides, they have to ensure that building and construction materials or demolition debris should not be left at public places. They will have to collect user charges in their areas," said Mishra. Along with these duties, they would also be present in ward committee meetings as representatives of municipal commissioner.
Talking about the ward committee, Mishra said the local councillor would be the chairman of the committee, which would consist of one representative each of the commissioner and mayor.
The committee would deal with all the basic services related to the residents in the wards.
The ward officers would act as the representatives of the commissioner. Sources said though the committees had been formed earlier they were not functioning properly in several wards and the meetings were not held regularly. Besides, the officers were not participating in the meetings, as they did not have any power.
The corporation has also decided to form three zonal offices in Bhubaneswar and all the 67 wards of the BMC would be put under these zones. One deputy commissioner would be in charge of each of the offices.
The ward officers would report to the respective zonal chiefs. "The process of activating the committees and formation of zonal offices has already begun," said Mishra.
