Dengue outbreak: Congress workers lay siege to Amritsar MC office
Accusing the municipal corporation of failing to curb the outbreak of dengue, chikungunya and other viral diseases in the city this year, the district Congress committee (urban) took out a protest march and laid siege to the civic body office at Ranjit Avenue here on Monday.
Accusing the municipal corporation of failing to curb the outbreak of dengue, chikungunya and other viral diseases in the city this year, the district Congress committee (urban) took out a protest march and laid siege to the civic body office at Ranjit Avenue here on Monday.
Led by district unit president Jugal Kishore Sharma, hundreds of party workers gathered near the shopping complex at Ranjit Avenue B-Block around 2pm, from where they started the protest march. Amid sloganeering against the Akali-BJP government and civic body, the procession was concluded at the MC office.
Outside the office, all the protesters sat on a dharna and started shouting slogans against mayor Bakshi Ram Arora
and municipal officials. Addressing the party workers, leaders slammed the MC officials for “poor sanitation conditions”.
“Residents’ health is on a high risk as dengue cases are rising in number. This is because the civic body didn’t take necessary measures to bring the situation under control. First, it delayed the purchase of chemicals required for fogging. The ongoing fogging is also not satisfactory in absence of modern equipment,” said Sharma.
He said sanitation and sewerage system are out of order in the city. “The walled city is in a pathetic condition, where heaps of garbage are a common site,” he said.
Accompanied by senior party leaders, including Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) secretary Mandeep Singh Manna, Ashwani Kumar Pappu, Vikas Soni, Upkar Singh Sandhu and Jatinder Sonia, Sharma also sought strict action against officials who are negligent in their work.
The Congress leaders also submitted a memorandum addressed to chief minister Parkash Singh Badal to municipal commissioner Sonali Giri, seeking requisite action in this regard.