With Bengal civic polls deferred, KMC to have administrator to look after operations

With civic elections in Bengal postponed amid the COVID-19 lockdown, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation is set to get a new administrator to look after its operations from May 8, as the tenure of its present board expires in two days, Mayor Firhad Hakim said.

"The tenure of the present board will end on May 7. As it is impossible to hold elections under the present circumstances, an administrator will be appointed to look after day-to-day work at the corporation from May 8," he said.

An order in this regard will soon be issued from the state secretariat, Hakim stated.

"Other civic bodies, too, will have an administrator to look after their operations, in case the tenure of the current board governing them have expired," Hakim, who is also municipal affairs minister, said.

Civic elections were likely to be held at the end of April, but the State Election Commission decided to postpone the poll process in the wake of the pandemic.