The Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) is set to begin the process of reappointing ward coordinators. It will send a proposal to the urban development and municipal affairs (UD& MA) department over reinstating the former ward councillors as coordinators, it is learnt.

The development comes two days after the department expanded the number of board of administrators (BoA) from four to 10 at the civic body. The chairperson of the board, Gautam Deb, today said that he would send such a proposal to the state government soon.

The opposition parties have been vocal about the councillors not being reinstated in Siliguri like in other civic bodies in the state. Local residents have also been facing day-to-day problems in their absence.

“We can appoint the ward coordinators, but we will first send a proposal to the state government,” Mr Deb said. The new BoA members at the SMC took charge today. According to former Siliguri mayor Asok Bhattacharya, the state government had empowered the BoA to appoint the coordinators by issuing orders.

After the completion of the tenure of the previous Left-run civic board in May last year, the then immediate past mayor, Mr Bhattacharya had been made the chairperson of the BoA with the councillors acting as coordinators to combat the Covid situation.

Siliguri’s BJP MLA Shankar Ghosh, however, raised questions on the nomination of six new members in the BoA. Mr Ghosh said it reflected the narrow politics of the ruling Trinamul Congress. On the visit of the National Green Tribunal expert member, Justice Saibal Dasgupta, yesterday, Mr Deb said the registrar of the tribunal had informed him that Justice Dasgupta expressed satisfaction over the steps taken by the civic body to control pollution.

“We will be more careful and will keep monitoring the issue,” Mr Deb said today. Mr Deb further said that he will submit a report to chief minister Mamata Banerjee on the role played by the civic body and important steps taken for development by the corporation in the last three months.

Meanwhile, UD & MA department minister Chandrima Bhattacharya is scheduled to hold a meeting at the SMC on 27 August, according to Mr Deb.