The Gurgaon Citizens’ Council (GCC), a citizens group, has alleged that the limits of existing municipal wards have been tampered with on a large-scale during the recent delimitation exercise and it might affect the development works and planning in the future.
The Haryana government published the proposal for the delimitation of the wards of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCF) last week and invited any objections or suggestions to it.
GCC president R.S. Rathee said that the delimitation was done keeping in view the interests of the BJP with the MCG elections just round the corner. Mr. Rathee added that while some wards had 25,000 voters, others had just 10,000. Mr. Rathee said that residents' welfare associations had already started opposing the delimitation and would also get their objections registered in writing.
Highlighting the alleged discrepancies in the delimitation process, Mr. Rathee said that the DLF Phase I-IV are developed against same licence, but DLF Phase-IV was shifted to ward 33. Similarly, the five blocks of Sushant Lok Phase-I have been divided into two wards, he said, adding that the BJP leaders planning to contest from wards surrounding ward no. 32 had shifted the unwanted areas to this sector.
Refuting allegations
Mr. Rathee said that all members of the ad-hoc committee for delimitation belonged to the BJP and there was no representation for other parties.
Refuting the allegations, an ad-hoc committee member said that the delimitation was done keeping in view the parameters such as even distribution of population, continuous habitation in the same ward and major roads and bridges serving as natural boundaries between two wards. “The wards have been redrawn in a manner that National Highway-8, Railway lines and Assembly Constituencies have acted as boundaries,” the member said.
The panel has earmarked 35 wards with clear territorial jurisdiction and these changes have eliminated the overlap of wards between the Constituencies of Gurgaon and Badshahpur.
2011 census
The directorate of urban local bodies had notified a primary delimitation order under the Haryana Municipal Corporation Delimitation of Wards rules for reorganising wards of the MCG in March last year citing the 2011 Census.
The elections to the Municipal Corporation Gurugram are likely to be held in March this year.
