to local bodies on a party basis but would support any good and honest men. Mayoral Elections Elections of Mayors in the five new municipal Corporations of Uttar Pradesh were held on December 19. The Congress won in four, Corporations-Allahabad, Agra, Kanpur and Varanasi-and the Jan Sangh in one-Lucknow. In Kanpur Mr. Ram Ratan Gupta (Congress) was elected. He defeated an independent, Mr. Ratanlal Sharma by 51 votes to 21. Mr. Ram Bilas Gupta secured one vote, and two other candidates, Mrs. Pushplata Singhal and Mr. Shivakishore Misra, did not secure a single vote. In Agra Mr. Shambhunath Chaturvrdi (Congress) was elected Mayor, defeating his only rival, Mr. Khem Chand (Republican) by 44 votes to 16. In Varanasi Mr. Kunj Bhari Gupta (Congress) was elected, defeating his only Jan Sangh rival, Mr. Sarju Prasad Dubey by 33 votes to 16. In Allahabad Mr. Bishambharnath Pande was elected, defeating his only rival, Mr. C. B. Rao, ex-I.C.S., (Independent), by 29 votes to 26. In Lucknow Mr. Raj Kumar (Jan Sangh) was elected Mayor, defeating several Independent candidates. He secured 41 votes out of 64. Five votes were declared invalid. West Bengal Minister for Local Self-Government, Mr. I. D. Jalan, informed the State Assembly on December 3 that the Government may have to promulgate on Ordinance to set up a separate machinery for the preparation of electral rolls for municipal elactions. The preparation of electoral rolls had become a problem. Sometimes the man in power in a municipality, the Minister said, prepared the rolls in such a way that it could easily be challenged in the court. As a result many of the elections could not be held and the man in power continued to remain in office. Municipal Taxes In Durgapur The W. Bengal Govt. has decided to amend the Bengal Municipal Act, 1932, to provide for imposition and collection of municipal tax in areas which do not come under any municipality and at the same time, are not served by Union Boards or Anchal Panchayats. The amendment is necessary for the purpose of imposing and collecting tax in the Durgapur Industrial belt which does not come under any municipality nor is served by any Union Board. Calcutta's Gas Supply The Chief Minister, Dr. B. C. Roy, in the West Bengal Assembly on December 10 withdrew the Oriental Gas Company (Acquisition) Bill amidst applause from Opposition members. The Chief Minister informed the House that the Government proposed to take over the management of the Company under Article 31 A(1b) of the Constirution for two years. Beyond saying that in withdrawing the measure he was acting upto the wishes of his party the Chief Minister did not explain this reversal of the Government's stand. While introducing the Bill, providing for the acquisition of the undertaking of the Oriental Gas Company, which now supplies coke gas to Calcutta city both for domestic and industrial economy, the Chief Minister had told the Assembly on December 8 that two reasons had mainly weighed with the Government in deciding upon the nationalisation of the concern. First, the utilisation of the coke gas produced by the Coke Oven Plant at Durgapur as a byproduct and second, that the present gas works at Calcutta, including the distribution system, were in a very bad state of disrepair. The Chief Minister maintained that the gas to be supp. lied for domestic purposes by the Government would be less costly than coal now being used for cooking. Dr. Roy pointed out that at Durgapur the Plant now produced about 15 to 16 million cubic feet of gas. Looking to the possibility of the utilisation of gas and its demand is and outside Calcutta, the West Bengal Government proposed to enlarge the capacity of gas production to about 32 million cubic feet. a day. Portion of gas was proposed to be supplied to Calcutta too. Two German firms had told the Government that gas could be economically brought through a pipeline to Calcutta. This might cost Rs. 2.4 crores. Smoke Nuisance In City The Chief Minister said there was also a socio-economic aspect in supplying coke gas to Calcutta. It was estimated that about 70 percent of the city's smoke nuisance and what was called smog menace had been due to the use of raw fuel (coal) in Calcutta, overwhelmingly used for domestic purposes at present. The nuisance was so acute that on an average the fall-out of sticky soot in Calcutta had been about 25 tons a month per square mile. This was very harmful to health and had been causing damage to property. In Bombay, Dr. Roy said the authorities had prohibited the use of raw fuel in the city area for combating smoke nuisance. When gas and coke were made available to Calcutta, the authorities here also proposed to make certain portion of the city out of bounds for raw fuel. If gas were to be supplied to the entire 1.5 million families in Calcutta, about 160 million cft. of gas would be required. Not loss then 32 million cft would be needed for meeting the demand of only 20 percent of the people. At present the registered demand for gas in Calcutta was about 7.5 million cft a day. By adding industrial needs this would go up to 10 million cft. It is calculated that an average family of 5 in Calcutta consumes about 5 maunds of coal a month, the cost coming to about Rs. 12 to 15. Besides, there was the cost of cow dung and kerosene. The same need could be met with about 3,000 to 3,5000 cft of gas, and the cost, Dr. Roy said, would come to about Rs. 3 to Rs. 3.5 per thousand cft. At present it is Rs. 4 to Rs. 4.5 per thousand cft. Question of Compensation Reasons like these had led the Government to plan for taking over the Oriental Gas Company operating in Calcutta and to arrange for supply of gas from Durgapur. The Government hoped to supply about 30 million cft. gas from Durgapur to Calcutta. The Company in Calcutta started about 80 years ago, and it could now supply only about 2.5 million cft. gas. Complaints in regard to quality and quantity as also in regard to its inadequacy for smaller industrial units were frequent. The total compensation payable, Dr. Roy said, would be about Rs. 86.94 laks for lands, buildings, machinery, gasholders, meter units etc., according to the calculation made by two experts. The two Opposition members who spoke on the Bill criticised the Government for proposing to give an inflated amount in compensation. Mr. Subodh Banerjee (S. U. C.) said the Expert Committee had said that the condition of the Company's plant was precarious and that for several years there had been no replacement of machinery. He said the Company had deliberately inflated its income as it had prior knowledge that compensation would be paid on the basis of income alone. He wanted to know why the principle of paying compensation on the basis of eight times the annual income had been laid down in the Bill. On this principle the compensation would run to over Rs. 1 crore, whereas on the basis of assets and liabilities it would not exceed Rs. 40 laks. Mr. Sunil Das (P. S. P.) said there had been some shady transaction between the Company and its Managing Agents, the Calcutta Gas Company, when the former passed into Indian hands in 1947. He wanted the Government to ascertain if the Calcutta Gas Company would also have to be given some compensation. Cleaner Calcutta Mayor, Mr. B. K. Banerjee, told a special meeting of the Calcutta Corporation on December 21 that it would now be his constant endeavour to make Calcutta as much clean as possible, if not as clean as the cities in Europe, which he had visited recently. The Mayor had just returned to Calcutta after visiting England, France, Italy and West Germany. In order to thoroughly enjoy his first visit to these countries he had taken with him a small stock of betels. His pleasant regret was that he could not chew his betels there in spite of the ready stock with him. As he went round the big cities like Hamburg, Stuttagart, Munich, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf, he was unable to single out a spot where he could throw the chaff of the betel in his mouth. Everytime, he swallowed it, and, finally, he gave up taking betels while in Europe. He took to betels again when he returned to Calcutta. And, he added amidst laughter, he did not feel like a criminal when he threw the chaff on the pavement ! London Lord Mayor's Lunch The Mayor of Calcutta, who reached London on December 15 after his tour of German cities, was given a lunch by the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Edmund Stockdale. The two Mayors exchanged souvenirs to mark the occasion. Sir Edmund presented Mr. Banerjee with a book, "The Living City", dealing with the rebuilding of the blitzed city of London. Mr. Banerjee in return presented an ivory carving of a group of elephants. The two Mayors also discussed prospects and possibilities of co-operation between the two largest cities of the Commonwealth. Cologne Mayor's Visit The Mayor of Cologne, Mr. T. Burauen, paid a visit to Calcutta Corporation on November 30. In the absence of the Mayor, who was away in Europe, the Deputy Mayor, Mr. K. D. Dhandhania, received him. Civic Reception For Vice-Chancellor A civic reception was accorded on December 16 to Mr. Subhiranjan Das, Vice-Chancellor of Viswa-Bharti University, at the Bolepur Municipal Office. Mr. Ram Ranjan Mukhopadhyay, Chairman of Bolepur Municipality, requested Mr. Das to consider the scheme of joint water supply of Bolepur and Viswa-Bharti. In his reply, Mr. Das he had already discussed the matter with his predecessor, and was informed that the University Grants Commission was not agreeable to the proposal. Mr. Das, however, promised to take up the matter again. Municipal Conference The 21st session of the West Bengal Municipal Conference will be held in Howrah Municipal Town Hall on January 9 and 10. Minister for Local Self-Government, Mr. I. D. Jalan, will inaugurate the conference, and Mr. Biren Roy, President of the West Bengal Municipal Association, will preside |