Kolkata, June 23 (IANS) After the dissolution of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation’s (SMC) municipal board, IAS officer R. Vimala took charge as the new administrator of the civic body in north Bengal.

On Tuesday afternoon, she officially arrived at the municipal corporation office and started administrative work.

The West Bengal government on Monday evening deputed the IAS officer as the administrator for the Siliguri Municipal Corporation.

The move came within three days of veteran Trinamool Congress leader Gautam Deb resigning as the Siliguri Mayor.

R. Vimala, the Principal Secretary of the North Bengal Development department, is the new administrator at the SMC with immediate effect. Her appointment is for a tenure of six months.

Immediately after taking charge on Tuesday, R. Vimala made her priorities clear.

The main challenge for her now is to deal with the problem of waterlogging in various wards and neighbourhoods of Siliguri city due to continuous rains.

R. Vimala told media persons, “Our first goal will be to ensure that civic services are not disrupted in any way.”

She also said that she has already held a meeting with the officials of the concerned departments regarding the current monsoon situation.

Discussions were held on the drainage system problems in the Siliguri city.

According to R. Vimala, urgent steps will be taken to resolve the waterlogging and drainage problems quickly.

On this day, SMC Commissioner Ashwini Roy, officers of various departments and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Coordinators were present to welcome the new SMC administrator.

Upon reaching the Municipal Corporation, Roy welcomed the new SMC administrator with flowers, following which a BJP delegation led by the Leader of the Opposition in SMC, Amit Jain, paid a courtesy call on the SMC administrator.

Leader of Opposition Amit Jain said, “I went to pay a courtesy call on the administrator madam. We had a detailed discussion on the current situation of the city and talked about important issues like water storage, roads and drainage system. She is an experienced administrator. We hope that we will get her cooperation in the development of the city in the coming days.”

Sources said that the board of administrators will work in consultation with all the public representatives and councillors of the Siliguri city, including former Mayor Gautam Deb.

Their goal now is to quickly resolve several problems and accelerate development projects.

Recently, due to the resignation of Mayor Gautam Deb, the municipal board of SMC was dissolved.

Therefore, the state government decided to appoint an administrator to keep the administrative work running and ensure services to the people.

–IANS

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