Chichawatni to have 46 village, seven urban councils
In the first phase of preparations for holding local body elections in Punjab, new constituencies have been announced by the Election Commission in Sahiwal district.
Under the new Local Government Act, the name of union council will be changed to village council (VC) in rural and neighbourhood council (NC) in urban areas.
The number of village councils in Chichawatni tehsil has increased to 46 after the new delimitation, while the number of neighbourhood councils has increased from three UCs to seven.
As a result, there have been major changes in the rural and urban boundaries.
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After the delimitation, Chichawatni NC-1 includes the Shamspura, Darwishpura, Bilalganj, Railway Road, Ghalla Mandi and Lakkar Mandi areas. The population falling under the council is 14,111.
The NC-2 includes Mehrabad Town, Marzipura, Ahmednagar, Gulshan Rahim, Tehsil Kachehri, Municipal Office and Civil Lines with a population of 13,958. NC- 3 includes Hayatabad, Hassan Town, Ali Town, Inner Bypass and part of the 39-12L area. The population of the council is 13,730.
The NC-4 includes the areas of Islampura, Bihar Colony, Faisal Colony, Cheema Town, Ghafoor Town, W Block Housing Colony and Blocks No. 16, 15, 12, 11, 8, 7 and 4, with a population of 14,115.
The NC-5 includes Blocks 19, 18, 9, 6, 5, 2 and 1 including E Block of Housing Colony, Christian Colony and Ward 20 of Muhammadabad with a population of 15,225. The NC- 6 includes areas of Ward 21, 19, 18, 17, 16 and parts of Muhammadabad with a population of 15,656.
The Neighborhood Council-7 has a population of 14,448 in Al-Fatah Town, Shakir Colony, Wali Town, Odh Colony and Babu Town.
According to the rules, each village council should have a population of 25,000 and neighbourhood council 20,000.
The local body elections are expected to be held on a party basis in May.
However, after the announcement of the demarcations of constituencies the political activities in the the tehsil have gained momentum.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 15th, 2022.