Haridwar, Haldwani municipal councils upgraded to corporations

The municipal councils of Haridwar and Haldwani have been upgraded to municipal corporations, Uttarakhand chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank today said.

"The two cities of Haridwar and Haldwani would now have municipal corporations," Nishank told reporters here.

A notification to this effect was issued today, he said, adding that the management of civic amenities of these two cities would now be done in a better way.

After the new order, the two municipal councils were dissolved and fresh elections would be held to constitute the municipal corporations.

Haridwar city has a population of 2.5 lakh while 2 lakh people reside in Haldwani city of Nainital district. Till now, Dehra Dun was the only city in Uttarakhand to have a municipal corporation.

Nishank said the government has prepared a work plan to provide civic amenities in 31 cities of the hill state with financial assistance of Rs2,000 crore from the Asian Development Bank.

The government has planned to complete the work plan in a phased manner, he said, adding that works worth Rs344 crore are being carried out in the first phase. Rs372 crore would be spent in the second phase, Rs584 crore and Rs700 crore in the fourth and final phases respectively.

Besides, under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewable Mission (JNNURM), works worth Rs800 crore are being carried out in three big cities of Dehra Dun, Haridwar and Nainital, the Chief Minister said.

 He said the government has planned to construct 6,000 houses for the poor living in slums, making cities slum-free.