Ambala MC to be dissolved

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 17

The Haryana Cabinet today decided to abolish the Ambala Municipal Corporation and replace it with two Municipal Councils. The Cabinet also approved the enhancement of petty grant of the Council of Ministers from Rs6 lakh to Rs25 lakh and to convene the Budget Session of the Vidhan Sabha from March 5.

The Cabinet which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar here decided that Ambala City and Ambala Sadar will now have separate municipal councils. Local MLA and Health Minister Anil Vij was pushing for the councils in place of the existing corporation.

The separate municipal bodies for the Ambala City area and the Ambala Sadar area will prove to be more convenient for people of the Ambala Sadar area to avail various municipal services by reduction in time, distance and cost, the government reasoned.

Moreover, the military station and the cantonment areas of the Ambala Cantonment Board also breaks the geographical continuity of the Ambala City area with the Ambala Sadar area, as the cantonment area falls between these two areas. Apart from this, the two areas fall under two different Assembly constituencies.

Justifying the decision, the government claimed that the continuation of the Municipal Corporation was also not “financially viable”.

The Cabinet also approved the proposal of the Urban Local Bodies Department regarding the sale of Municipal Corporation, Faridabad, land measuring 2.5 acres to Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited for installation of 66 KV substation.

The Cabinet approved the amendment to the policy for Innovative Financing of Mass Rapid Transit System projects. As per the amendment, the ground coverage in case of commercial use cases has been increased to 60 per cent. However, other parameters regarding parking and open space would remain unaltered.

The Cabinet also approved enhancement of petty grant which is being given to the needy persons and institutions from Rs6 lakh to Rs25 lakh per annum from the current financial year.

Plot gifted to soldier’s widow 

• Gift of a residential plot to the widow of soldier Mohd Sadik who was killed in an anti-militancy operation in Jammu and Kashmir. A proposal of the gram panchayat, Bijopur in Ballabhgarh block of Faridabad district, to gift 200 square yards residential plot to Mamuna, widow of the martyr
• Change in the name of Environment Department to Environment and Climate Change Department
• Amendments to the Haryana Architecture Technical (Group C) Service Rules notified on October 26, 1990, approved