Mohali Mayor blames MLA, state govt for ‘civic mess’

A day after SAS Nagar MLA Kulwant Singh flagged off two mechanical sweeping machines of the Mohali Municipal Corporation and followed it up with a review meeting regarding the developmental projects in the city, Mayor Amarjit Singh Sidhu blamed the AAP MLA and his government for the heaps of garbage that could be spotted across the city.

Kulwant Singh riled the mayor by flagging off four mechanical sweeping machines of the Municipal Corporation in two installments, with the mayor watching it from a distance both times. The MLA was quick to take credit for buying the Rs 10 crore machines to keep the city clean, but deflected the blame of the mess caused by garbage in the city onto Sidhu by reminding him of his duties as the Municipal Corporation’s Mayor.

Sidhu, somewhat piqued by the MLA’s comments, lashed out at him today. He said, “Officers are working under political pressure and have deliberately withheld the file of the garbage management in the Local Bodies Department. The Mohali Municipal Corporation had prepared the file two weeks ago, well before Diwali, and sent it to the department. After the approval, a contract to collect up to 100 tonnes of garbage daily from Mohali was to be given. Kulwant Singh, who talks big about cleanliness and tries to gain credit by inaugurating the property of Mohali Municipal Corporation, is not taking any action or effort to clear this important file himself.”

Sidhu went on to say that if the Mohali MLA was so sincere about the cleanliness of the city, he would have gotten the file cleared from his own government immediately, and this problem would not have arisen today. But the MLA was indulging in petty politics, he said.

Meanwhile, Kulwant Singh held a coordination meeting with Deputy Commissioner Aashika Jain, SSP Deepak Pareek, and MC Commissioner T Benith at the District Administrative Complex. The officials discussed the progress of the City Surveillance Project, in addition to the issues of resolving parking problems in the city, sorting out the bus stand issue, and addressing the problem of water logging at the railway underbridge. Other key issues discussed at the meeting were accommodations for the officers of the District Administration at Purab Premium Apartment, Sector 88, for which the government had approved Rs 56 crore, and the identification of a location for the District Police Lines by the DTP GMADA. They also talked about stricter laws and the issuing of challans for haphazard parking on roads, besides arranging a towing van with the help of the MC.

The MLA also discussed the plan to build a convention centre, for which 6 acres of land have been earmarked at the IT City near the airport.