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Chandigarh: Congress, AAP to continue protest over new waste plant
The general House meeting will be the first after mayor Anup Gupta had suspended all 13 AAP councillors from the House meeting for a day on June 6 after they had a verbal spat with local MP Kirron Kher
{MC House meeting today}
The Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillors will continue protest over the municipal corporation’s plan of setting up of a new integrated waste management plant at Dadumajra during the general house meeting on Tuesday.
The general House meeting will be the first after mayor Anup Gupta had suspended all 13 AAP councillors from the House meeting for a day on June 6 after they had a verbal spat with local MP Kirron Kher.
In the absence of AAP councillors, The House had passed all three key agendas on solid waste management in the city, including setting up of the new processing plant, despite Congress councillors’ protests. It was MC’s second special House meeting on solid waste management.
After the meeting, MC had taken councillors and nine Dadumajra residents on a study tour to Goa to study the waste management plant there, which was also set up on the recommendations of National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI). While AAP councillors had boycotted the tour, Congress councillors had attended it.
AAP councillor and leader of Opposition Damanpreet Singh said, “We will continue the protest over the plant during the House meeting as we stick to our demand to shift the plant site from Dadumajra to a place far away from residential area.” He added that the party will also protest MC’s plan to hike parking costs, saying that parking should be free in the city and MC can earn revenue from parking by installing advertisement boards.
Congress councillor Gurpreet Singh Gabi, who had attended the tour to Goa, said, “The Congress will not support the installation of proposed garage processing plant at Dadumajra as it is detrimental to the interests of residents of nearby areas. The plant in Goa is far from the residential area. Also, the Goa plant is a waste to energy (electricity) plant whereas the proposed plant in Chandigarh is CNG, which is an obsolete technology and we should go for waste to energy technology.
