Imphal, November 30: To give more teeth to the civic bodies, especially the Municipality Councils in the valley areas, the State Cabinet has decided to introduce a Municipality Act 1994 (Second Amendment Bill) during the winter session of the Assembly scheduled to start from December 17.The Cabinet has also decided to appoint 400 teachers under the Sarva Shikshya Abhiyan and 200 Hindi teachers on contract basis and also to transfer the Engineering Wing Division I from the Loktak Lift Irrigation to the Education Department as an engineering cell.

A well placed source disclosed that the decision to introduce the Municipal Second Amendment Bill, 1994 in the forthcoming Assembly session was taken during a Cabinet meeting convened by the Chief Minister today at 10 am.

Once the Bill is passed and enacted, then extra powers will be conferred on the Municipality Councils, especially the Imphal Municipal Council under Section 129 of the Municipality Act, said the source.

The new authority conferred on the IMC will enable it to put a stop on constructing high rise buildings near the IMC office, especially at Assembly road, High Court Judge official colony near Khoyathong, Babupara where a number of VIPs live, and the areas near Governor Road etc.

A prior permission will be needed from the IMC if any private individual wants to construct any multi-storeyed building at the said places once the new Bill is passed.

The permission will also be issued only after the building designs and its blue prints are submitted to the IMC.

A provision to empower the IMC to impose a fine of Rs 10,000 will be given under the new proposal, if any building comes up in violation of the stated rules, especially in security zones.

If the fine imposed is not paid immediately, then the IMC will have the authority to impose an additional fine of Rs 2 thousand per day, until all the fines are cleared.

A number of high rise building which have come up in the commercial centres of Imphal may face some music from the IMC once the amendment is effected, said the source.

According to rules with the IMC, there is provision prohibiting anyone from constructing a building with more than three storeys on security grounds.

The present high rise buildings that dot the Imphal landscape of the commercial areas of Imphal were all built in violation of the rules laid down by the IMC.

The Cabinet also decided to appoint 4000 teachers under the SSA for a period of three months on contract basis.

The salaries of the teachers will be Rs 4000 per month.

Moreover the Cabinet has also decided to appoint 100 Hindi graduate teachers and 100 Hindi matriculate teachers on contract basis under a Central sponsored scheme.

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