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Encroachments, rising crime ignite heated debate at Mohali MC meet
In a major boost to the pilot project for the state, MC house on Monday approved proposal of allotment of waste management tender to Suntan Life Agency for ₹1,107 per tonne
Convened after a gap of around three months, the Mohali municipal corporation (MC) House meeting on Monday was marked by uproar as councillors slammed MC officials for inaction against encroachment on city roads and key markets, poor sanitation, failed drainage system, and ill-maintained parks and open gyms.
Moreover, in wake of a 17-year-old boy’s murder; who was stabbed to death by six individuals, including migrants, in Mohali’s Kumbra village on Wednesday; councillors sought action against illegal paying guest (PG) accommodations in the city, seeking police verification of tenants, besides regular checking by civic and police authorities.
Mayor bats for committee to check illegal PGs
Mayor Amarjeet Singh Sidhu said a committee of MC officials and councillors would be constituted to check illegal construction of PG accommodations and appropriate action will be taken against them. He blamed the state government for allowing migrants to stay in Mohali without verification and for issuing local identity and voter cards to them. He said a few of these migrants fearlessly commit crimes in Mohali and escape to their native states.
“Only the state Government can take action against the already constructed PGs in Mohali. We can check only under construction PGs within our jurisdiction and will immediately stop the illegal constructions if any. Police have to do verification of the tenants but we will constitute a committee including councillors and MC officials who will submit their report to the concerned authorities for the appropriate action,” the mayor said.
MC House approves tender for 100 MT waste processing
In a major boost to the pilot project for the state, in which Mohali MC will enjoy 50% revenue out of total profit earned by the private firm after processing and management of integrated solid waste generated daily in the city, MC house on Monday approved proposal of allotment of waste management tender to Suntan Life Agency for ₹1,107 per tonne.
For now, the firm will only pay ₹ 95 per tonne revenue to MC for four months, which means it will charge ₹1,012 per tonne from MC for processing.
After vetting the proposal, a committee of chief engineers from local government department said, “Until the by-product generation stabilises and its output quantity gets firmed up, due deduction in rate should be made and held up in order to safeguard general interest. Due diligence must be made while fixing its output quantity and selling price. This being a new concept for the state, its feasibility and practicality needs to be assessed in starting months as probation before it being made long term.”
The civic body has formed a three-member committee to evaluate and assess the profits of the company and fix permanent revenue of 50%.
The mayor has called for a finance and contract committee meeting to allot a tender of over ₹11 crore to the said firm on Tuesday. The hired agency, according to MC officials, will install garbage processing machinery at the 14 resource management centres (RMCs) for processing the city’s daily waste of 100 metric tonnes (MT). Any unprocessed waste will be processed at the firm’s private plant, ensuring complete processing of daily waste.
Action against encroachment
Senior district Congress leader and former senior deputy mayor Rishav Jain arrived at the House meeting with banners and posters highlighting pictures of encroachment by hawkers and vendors in Phase-11. “The issue of encroachment needs to be dealt with seriously as it is posing risk to the lives of people now. It is causing accidents and commuters are left with the least space to pass through busy roads. If we confront illegal vendors, they misbehave with us. MC should take strict action against the officers who are hand in glove with these illegal vendors and against those who allow encroachment under their nose,” Jain said.
Mohali MC Commissioner T Benith assured the House of a rigorous drive against encroachment in the city.
Advertisement tender to be floated again
Meanwhile councillors also sought a vigilance probe for the corporation’s failure to allot advertisement tender five times in a row.
However, after failing to draw any bidder consecutively for the fifth time, the local government department has now allowed the MC to float separate tenders for advertising across the city. The corporation has divided advertising sites into six separate tenders. Initially, there were 339 sites, but 19 have now been removed due to ongoing road widening by Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) in Phases 8 to 11.
The tender amount has also been reduced from ₹31 crore to around ₹28.5 crore.
The 198 sites which will be available for ₹26 crore, including unipoles, gantry and billboards, will be divided into four zones. Meanwhile, another category has been created for 33 bus queue shelters and a sixth category for 89 toilet blocks across the city.
A total of eight agendas were tabled before the House, out of which seven were passed as a transfer case was kept pending. Mayor Sidhu approved the integration of AI-powered automation devices for the city’s water supply system in Sectors 76 to 78. The said initiative, costing the MC around ₹71.72 lakh, aims to modernise water supply operations to ensure uninterrupted service.
