Four months on, Mohali awaits MC House meeting
Gaurav Kanthwal
Mohali, July 12
Garbage disposal, choked drains, waterlogging, fogging, and mechanical sweeping of the city roads are some of the issues rankling city residents every day. However, Mayor Amarjit Singh Sidhu has not called for a house meeting for four months.
The last meeting of the Mohali MC, on March 1, concluded when the mayor and the MC Commissioner left their seats even as the councillors kept asking them to listen to their wards’ issues.
Since then, the Model Code of Conduct for Lok Sabha elections and the mayor’s foreign trip may have delayed the meeting; however, city residents’ pile of problems has just been getting bigger.
Opposition members and some of the Congress councillors disgruntled with the workings of the civic body said neither the mayor nor the MC officials listened to their complaints.
Independent councillor (Ward 2) Manjit Singh Sethi said, “The Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and MC staff are running away from their responsibilities.”
Deputy Mayor Kuljit Singh Bedi staged a protest near the Phase 23-5 light points about the stalemate over the garbage disposal issue. “What more do you expect?” Sethi asked.
On Thursday, AAP Councillors Aruna Vashisht (Ward 35), Gurmeet Kaur (Ward 50), Gurpreet Kaur (Ward 37), Ramanjeet Kaur (Ward 39), and Ramanpreet Kaur (Ward 28), Congress Councillor Pramod Mitra (Ward 36), and ex-councillor Rajni Goel staged a protest outside the mayor’s office.
A councillor said it had been three months since the ‘B’ roads of Sector 69 have not had regular cleaning. Around 300 sanitation workers from the new contractor have left work. The councillors have raised this issue multiple times, but to no avail. A day earlier, councillors protested outside the mayor’s office; however, later, he said he was not aware of it.
In ideal conditions, a house meeting is expected to take place every month; however, in the city, things are far from that.
Mayor Amarjit Singh Sidhu remained unavailable for a comment, but MC officials said, “No date has been fixed so far; however, it is likely to take place in a week or two.”
Taking digs at the AAP MLA and the state government, Councillor Sethi said, “Look at their helplessness; despite being in power, the AAP councillors have to sit on protest to get the most basic work done. Mohali Municipal Corporation is a total mess these days.”
No water supply
Many parts of the town have been facing disruptions in drinking water supply for two days. Residents of Phases 2 and 4, Sectors 123 and 125, complained of inadequate water supply. Phase 4 resident Gurmukh Singh Somal said, “Drinking water supply is being given through water tankers after residents complained of water,” he said.ficials said the water supply will remain affected from July 10–13 due to a disruption in Kajauli Water Works Scheme Phase 1 and 2.
