After a decade long wait, the villagers of 18 out of 27 villages in Kalyan Taluka will now get a separate council. On the backdrop of civic polls to be held later this year, the state government has passed a notification to form a separate municipal body for the 18 villages on Wednesday, while remaining nine villages will still be under Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC).
The villagers of these nine villages have demanded to be separated from KDMC.
The 18 villages will come under a new municipal body – Kalyan Suburb Municipal Council stated the notification. The state has also given 30 days to register any objections and suggestions on this notification with the Thane collector.
Earlier in March, the Maharashtra State chief minister Uddhav Thackeray had announced that a separate municipal council for 18 villages will be formed, while the remaining nine villages will continue to be a part of KDMC
The 18 villages include Ghesar, Hedutane, Umbroli, Bhal, Dwarli, Manere, Vasar, Ashele, Nandivl Ambernath, Adivli- Dhokli, Daudi, Chinchpada, Pisavli, Golivali, Mangaon. Nilje, Sonarpada and Kole.
The nine villages that remain under KDMC includes Ajade, Sagaon, Nandivli Panchanand, Dharivali, Sandap, Usarghar, Katai, Bhopar and Deslepada.
The All Party Union (Sarvapakshiya Hakka Saurakshan Sangharsh Samiti) representing the 27 villages that have been fighting for a separate civic body for almost a decade, is, however, going to object this notification stating they want a separate municipal body for all 27 villages.
“We have been fighting almost a decade now asking for a separate municipal body for the entire 27 villages. The demand from our side is the same. We will follow the procedure and sent our reply to the state,” said Gulab Vaze, representative of the All Party Union.
The union had claimed that the state has tactfully kept the 9 villages in KDMC which is income-generating villages as there has been some development in real estate in these parts while the remaining 18 villages have completely languished.
Recently the State election commission in a letter dated on June 19, had asked the KDMC to start preliminary works for the civic polls, which was slated to happen in October – November. Now with the resolution passed for the 18 villages, the civic body will have to redesign its wards by eliminating the 18 villages.
Presently there are 122 wards in the KDMC, which includes the 27 villages.
“Whether to include the 18 villages in KDMC while doing the preliminary works will depend on the further directions from the state election commissioner. We will check with the commission,” said Vijay Suryavanshi, commissioner KDMC.