8 NMMC standing committee members retire

CBD BELAPUR: Eight of the 16 members of t he s t anding committee of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation ( NMMC) retired this week according to the norms of the committee which specifies that eight members will retire every year to make way for new members.

The retirement took pace by a draw of lots as this was the first year of the present committee. From next year, members who complete a two- year tenure in the committee will retire.

Members who have retired include five from the Nationalist Congress Party, and one each from the Shiv Sena, Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress.

The present committee had eight members from Nationalist Congress Party.

The members who have retired are Shashikant Raut, Suresh Kulkarni, Shankar More, Ravindra Ithape and the present chairperson Netra Shirke from the NCP.

From the Shiv Sena, Komal Waskar retired. Lone BJP and Congress members Ramchandra Gharat and Rupali Bhagat, respectively, too retired.

Those continuing include J D Sutar, Vinod Mhatre and Aparna Gavte from the NCP. From the Shiv Sena Shivram Patil, M K Madhvi, Jagdish Gavte and Kashinath Pawar survived the draw of lots.

The term of the present committee ends on May 1 by when a new chairperson will be elected.

All eyes are now on the new members who are nominated by their respective parties.

“NCP leader Ganesh Naik is most likely to re- nominate Netra Shirke as the chairperson though she has retired,” said a political observer on condition of anonymity.

He said, “The other front runner is NMMC house leader JD Sutar who continues to be on the committee.”

THE TERM OF THE PRESENT COMMITTEE ENDS ON MAY 1 BY WHEN A NEW CHAIRPERSON WILL BE ELECTED.