Work to form Baddi-Barotiwala municipal corporation begins

Ambika Sharma

Solan, January 29

The work to set up a new municipal corporation by integrating the municipal council of Baddi with the industrial town of Barotiwala and nearby panchayats has begun. A preliminary proposal has been prepared in this regard.

BJP govt had put the proposal on hold

• A proposal to merge the civic bodies of Baddi and Barotiwala and 24 panchayats was chalked out by the previous BJP government too
• The move wasn’t implemented following objections by villagers; the BJP govt had reportedly put the proposal on hold fearing electoral losses

The action follows an announcement by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to constitute three new municipal corporations. The announcement was made at a review meeting of the Urban Development and Town and Country Planning Departments on December 29. The other two municipal corporations will be set up in Una and Hamirpur.

Though a proposal to convert the civic bodies of Baddi and Barotiwala and 24 panchayats into a municipal corporation was also chalked out by the previous BJP government, it could not be implemented following objections by villagers. The BJP government had put the proposal on hold fearing electoral losses.

Since the working of the two civic authorities and panchayats is, at present, looked after by multiple agencies, their integration into a corporation is expected to speed up development activities.

According to the recent announcement, the civic body of Nalagarh has been left out, while the Baddi civic body is supposed to be integrated with that of the industrial town of Barotiwala to constitute a municipal corporation.

Director, Urban Development, Manmohan Sharma says, “The earlier proposal of converting the civic bodies of Baddi and Doon, along with nearby panchayats, is not being considered now. The nitty-gritty of constituting a Baddi-Barotiwala municipal corporation will be worked out and it requires a minimum population of 40,000.”

The Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh Industries Association (BBNIA) had demanded the merger of local civic bodies while submitting suggestions for the annual budget in December 2019.

Locals, however, feel that the formation of a municipal corporation will add to their hardship as they will have to get building maps approved for every big or small construction, besides paying additional taxes. The move will only help investors, they say.

Solan Deputy Commissioner Kritika Kulhari says a brief proposal for the formation of the new municipal corporation has been sent to the state government and its nitty-gritty is being worked out.

Meanwhile, locals will have to forgo the benefits of programmes sponsored by the Central Government like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme meant for rural areas, if their villages are merged into the proposed corporation.