Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government appointed administrators for 65 urban local bodies (ULBs) and one municipal corporation following the end of its tenure on Saturday.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (5) of the section 401 of the Odisha Municipal Act, 1950 (Odisha Act, 23 of 1950), the state government appointed the administrators to exercise the powers and discharge the duties of the respective municipalities/notified area councils (NACs) and its chairpersons during the interval period between expiry of the term of the office of the councillors of the civic bodies till the date of the first meeting of the newly elected councillors,” a statement issued by the state housing and urban development department said.
The collectors of Angul, Balasore and Bhadrak have been appointed as the administrators of the municipalities in their respective districts. Similarly, the collectors in Dhenkanal, Paralakhemundi, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Keonjhar, Khurda, Koraput, Puri, Rayagada, Nayagarh and Malkangiri were also appointed as administrators. In some other districts, additional district magistrates and sub-collectors have been appointed administrators.
Moreover, Ganjam collector has been appointed as the administrator of Berhampur Municipal Corporation. The appointments have been made following the order of the Governor, the statement added.
Notably, the State Election Commission earlier in the day had written to the housing and urban development department for the appointment of administrators for 65 urban local bodies (ULBs) and one municipal corporation amid uncertainty over fresh elections to the civic bodies.
Prasanta Patnaik