Siliguri, 20th December: The Ward Master of Ward No. 18 under the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) has been accused of irregularities in the provision of housing facilities to the families affected by the massive fire. Reportedly, several affected families alleged not receiving the assured housing compensation despite their names being on the list.
It is to be noted that on November 19, last year, a massive fire caused significant damage to numerous residences situated in the Khudiram Pally area under Ward No. 18 of SMC. Reportedly, the families had lost everything and were forced to resort to shelter outside while the SMC initiated the construction of houses for the impacted families. Following the completion of the construction, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee named the locality ‘Uttaran’ during the recent event held in Siliguri’s Kanchenjunga Stadium.
On Wednesday, Mayor Goutam Deb and Deputy Mayor Ranjan Sarkar, along with other officials, ceremoniously handed over the keys to the affected families. Despite this, several families alleged of not receiving their assured houses and accused the Ward Master of anomalies in the distribution.
In response, Ward Councillor Sanjay Sharma termed the allegations ‘baseless.’ He further instigated that the SMC has provided homes to those families listed under the affected due to the fire after proper investigation leading to no irregularities.