The state urban development and municipal affairs department on Tuesday issued notifications to announce two new municipalities, one each in Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts.

In Alipurduar, the new civic body in Falakata is the second municipality in the district. In neighbouring Jalpaiguri, Maynaguri is the new municipality, raising the total number of civic bodies in the district to four.

In the notifications, a joint secretary of the department stated that the civic bodies would come into effect from Tuesday and be run by administrators for next six months.

“The SDO of Alipurduar has been deputed as the administrator for Falakata municipality. For Maynaguri, the SDO of Jalpaiguri Sadar will function as the administrator,” said a government official.

The administrators will take up the task of “shaping up the municipal administration” and ensure the “running of civic services”, the notifications have stated.

In February this year, the state had marked the prospective areas to come under these new civic bodies.

The Falakata municipality covers Falakata-I & II panchayats and parts of Parengerpar and Guabarnagar panchayats of Falakata block.

The civic body in Maynaguri covers wards spread across Madhabdanga-I and Maynaguri panchayats and parts of Khagrabari-I and Domohoni-I panchayats of Maynaguri block.

The decision has been welcomed by residents of both Falakata and Maynaguri, for whom this was a longstanding demand so as to get better civic facilities.

“Municipality status will help thousands get full-fledged civic services, be it drinking water supply or conservancy services. Now that the civic bodies are formed, the panchayats under the ambit will eventually turn into municipal wards. In the coming days, panchayats in these areas will cease to exist,” an official said.