Gautam Deb, the mayor of Siliguri Municipal Corporation, has instructed officials of the civic body to conduct a random survey to assess the performance of the Trinamul-run board in the past year ahead of chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s proposed visit here next month.
Deb told officers to check if the issues raised by people during “Talk to Mayor”, a weekly session where he speaks with residents over the phone every Saturday, were resolved. He added that he needed an action report on this before the chief minister’s visit.
“The mayor has told us to do a survey on civic services. We have also been told to find out if issues and problems, highlighted by residents during the weekly sessions, have been resolved. He asked for a comprehensive report which we believe he will present to the chief minister,” said an official.
Sources in the civic body said the exercise was necessary to find out if people were satisfied with the board. In February last year, Trinamul secured a majority for the first time in the SMC.
After Deb assumed office, he regularly attended the interactive sessions. Residents flagged a number of issues, ranging from scarcity of drinking water and illegal constructions to encroachment on government plots and traffic jams.
Often, the mayor visited the spot concerned to resolve the issues.
Trinamul insiders said the party was trying to revive and retain its support base in Siliguri subdivision and in Darjeeling district as a whole, especially after winning the SMC elections and the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad (SMP) polls for the first time.
Like Alipurduar, Darjeeling is yet another district where the party does not have any MP or MLA.
Deb said he would start visiting all 47 wards and meet people from March.
“We will also put complaint boxes at the SMC and in all five borough offices,” he added.