BJP councillor protests against Ludhiana MC’s failure to repair roads

BJP councillor Manju Aggarwal alleged that the MC does not have a road roller tocarry out the repair

Slamming the Ludhiana municipal corporation for its failure in carrying out patchwork on roads and adopting pick and choose policy, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillor Manju Aggarwal held a sit-in protest outside the mayor’s Zone D office on Monday.

BJP councillors protesting outside the mayor’s Zone D office in Sarabha Nagar, Ludhiana, on Monday. (Harsimar Pal Singh/HT)

Aggarwal alleged that the municipal corporation (MC) does not even have a road roller for taking up road repair work and there is no mason to take up other repair works in the ward. Leader of BJP councillors, Sunita Rani’s son Deepak Sharma and BJP councillor Surinder Atwal also participated in the protest.

Former BJP councillor Inder Aggarwal said, “The largest MC in the state with a budget of around ₹1,200 crore, does not even have ₹5 lakh to purchase new road rollers. The MC rents a road roller for ₹4,000 per day, which is also wastage of public money.”

The protest was lifted after getting assurance from the mayor.

Sandhu said, “I have directed the superintending engineer (SE) to immediately commence the road repair works and if no road roller is available then the MC should get it on rent. Also, the other material including cement and sand would be made available in a few days. No pick and choose policy is adopted by the civic body.”

Mayor Balkar Sandhu said, “Action has been taken against officials and contractors in the past. No payment has been made to contractors after road samples failed the quality test.”

Yuva, an NGO, also staged a protest on Monday against the alleged corrupt practices of the MC’s building branch.