Fifteen days after being elected, Mayor Sushma Sharma and Deputy Mayor Gaurav Rajput assumed charge at Solan Municipal Corporation on Friday. The state government issued the relevant notification later in the evening.
It is pertinent to mention that the notification had been pending for the last two weeks for the three municipal corporations of Mandi, Dharamsala, and Solan, all of which were won by BJP. The notification for Mandi MC was issued on July 15, after councillors moved court over the delay. Following this, the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Solan assumed charge on Friday.
Left with little option but to allow the elected representatives to begin work, Urban Development Department finally issued the requisite notification for Solan later in the evening.
In what BJP called a clear case of bias, the notification for Palampur MC, where Congress candidates had won, was issued much earlier. Councillors there had already convened their first general house meeting on July 6. Thirteen developmental agendas related to civic amenities, the constitution of various committees, and the issuance of no-objection certificates by the civic body were discussed in that meeting.
Shailendra Gupta, president of BJP’s Solan city unit, termed the delay in issuing notifications for the three civic bodies won by BJP as unconstitutional and an undue interference by the state government. On July 14, Gupta had also submitted a representation to the Governor, highlighting how administrative functioning had suffered as elected representatives were unable to discharge their duties, adversely affecting the common people.
The functioning of the Solan civic body is expected to gain momentum with this development. Various developmental works had been stalled in the absence of ward representatives after the previous house was dissolved on April 21. Elections were held on May 17, results were declared on May 31, and the Mayor and Deputy Mayor were elected on July 2. Nearly two months were lost in a process that was supposed to be completed in April itself.
Civic amenities, especially garbage collection, had suffered in the city. Heaps of waste could be seen lying around throughout the day due to delays in collection. Earlier, councillors used to ensure timely waste collection by pulling up lax staff. Water distribution also suffered in the last two months due to the lack of oversight by councillors, causing discontent among residents.
After taking charge, the Mayor and Deputy Mayor stressed the need to ensure proper upkeep of civic amenities like water supply and waste management. They assured residents that issues like parking would be addressed and that efforts would be made to bring central funds for the city’s development.