Without corporators for 2 years, residents miss their voice
In the corridors of the civic body with its budget touching ₹11,601 crore for 2014-25, the absence of corporators may have had little impact, but for residents their only point of contact for most civic services and amenities is missing
By March 14, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will complete two years of rule of municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar as an administrator and there are no signs of civic polls in sight soon as the dispute over Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation and delimitation are still stuck in court.
In the corridors of the civic body with its budget touching ₹11,601 crore for 2014-25, the absence of corporators may have had little impact, but for residents their only point of contact for most civic services and amenities is missing.
Residents and civic activists have said that the absence of elected representatives since past two years has left no one accountable with the administration out of bounds for them on most occasions.
A corporator, elected by citizens once in every five years, plays a crucial role in local development. Based on the feedback from citizens, the elected representatives push for developmental work, sometimes being populist to garner votes during polls and get relected.
According to civic activist Vivek Velankar, the absence of corporators leaves the administration more powerful and not answerable to public at large.
“There has been no control over the administration. Irony is that even the political parties and former members have not raised voice against the administration in the last two years,” he said, adding that corporators are the medium to bring local issues to the administration’s attention for speedy redressal.
From addressing infrastructure issues to managing essential services, corporators are the frontline respondents to citizen concerns. In a city like Pune having municipal area of around 516 square kilometres post merger of nearby villages, the role of corporator is even more crucial as most fringe areas are awaiting basic development like road, water, and sewage systems.
Citizen Sarita Joshi said, “I did not get any response when I tried to contact the administration for trimming tree branches. Earlier, at least when I asked the elected member, their workers used to visit our property and help us to sort the problem.”
With over 50 lakh population, Pune till 2022 had 162 corporators.
Corporator gets local development fund ranging from ₹1 crore and above to use for minor works. While there have been allegations in the past that elected representatives have used the fund to splurge on citizens to garner votes, it can be utilised for crucial work as well. Issues such as low water supply, developing gardens in the vicinity, or encroachments are often addressed by corporators.
“If we did not have water, we used to call the elected member at any time. The public representative used to resolve the issue. Nowadays, such issues are not addressed despite filing online and physical complaints and we do not get adequate water supply. We have to pay for tanker water sometimes,” said Prakash Shah from Bibvewadi area.
Satish Bhosale from Sambhajinagar, Dhankawdi area said, “The drainage line in our area is damaged with sewage overflowing. No one has attended to the issue despite raising complaints.”
After the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) general body’s term expired in 2022, the civic administration initially took a firm stand against illegal encroachment. With no political pressure, the drive lost steam later.
Sumant Rathi from Kalyaninagar area said, “The hawker encroachment on footpath has spread across the city making a mockery of the PMC rules. And citizens who follow rules are not getting permission for legal works.”
Senior citizen Usha Vaidya said, “The traffic has increased in our area, and I find it difficult to cross the road near Nirmal Park at Chavananagar area. Our demand for a traffic signal for the elderly to safely cross the road has not been addressed yet. Pedestrians are the most neglected.”
