The ₹82-crore mechanical sweeping and deep cleaning proposal is set to come under fresh scrutiny at the municipal corporation’s General House meeting here on Saturday, where councillors will discuss 34 agenda items, including development projects.
The proposal, which also covers litter picking and road and footpath washing, has drawn objections from Congress councillors over its necessity, cost and technical specifications. After being cleared by the Finance and Contracts Committee (F&CC) by a 4-1 vote earlier this week, the proposal is now set to come before the full House, where its opponents are seeking to mobilise support against the expenditure.
The proposal was discussed at the F&CC meeting on Monday, which lasted more than five hours but ended without a decision on the project and some other pending items. The committee reconvened on Wednesday and approved the proposal by a 4-1 vote, with Congress councillor and committee member Gaurav Bhatti registering his dissent.
After the meeting, Bhatti staged a sit-in outside the mayor’s residence at Rose Garden, protesting what he described as an unnecessary financial burden on the civic body.
Having failed to block the proposal at the committee level, he wrote to councillors across party lines, urging them to oppose it in the General House.
{{/usCountry}}Having failed to block the proposal at the committee level, he wrote to councillors across party lines, urging them to oppose it in the General House.
{{/usCountry}}The House comprises 41 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillors, 29 Congress councillors, 19 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillors and two Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) councillors. With the ruling AAP short of an outright majority in the 91-member House, Bhatti is seeking to build opposition to the proposal by bringing councillors from other parties on board.
In his letter, Bhatti has called for a comprehensive technical, financial and legal examination of the project before the corporation proceeds with it. He has questioned the public utility of the proposed work and the need for such an expenditure, seeking a detailed justification for the estimated cost and clarity on how the quantities, rates and technical specifications were determined.
He has also sought details of any comparable work previously undertaken by the corporation, including the expenditure incurred and the results achieved, to establish whether the proposed project is warranted. Further, he has called for verification that all prescribed procedures relating to tendering, quotations, technical approvals and financial sanctions have been followed.
Bhatti has also flagged the overall financial implications for the corporation and urged the authorities to examine whether the work could be executed at a more reasonable cost or through a more effective arrangement. He has sought the necessary records and clarifications from the concerned authorities, arguing that these should be examined before the civic body commits to the project.