The municipal corporation’s ₹1,100 crore solid waste management project and a ₹6.91 crore smart integrated vector management system were kept pending at the meeting of the Finance and Contracts Committee (F&CC) on Monday after Congress councillor Gaurav Bhatti raised objections over the proposals and sought greater scrutiny of their financial implications.
The solid waste management proposal was not among the 187 agenda items circulated to F&CC members before the meeting and was added as a supplementary table agenda at the last minute. Bhatti objected that councillors had not been given adequate time to study the proposal and opposed its passage.
“They (MC officials and other members, including the AAP mayor, senior deputy mayor, deputy mayor and another AAP councillor) said that let’s pass this here and take it up in the next General House meeting of the corporation. But I objected and said we didn’t get time to study the proposal. So how can we pass it?” Bhatti said.
Bhatti, who was recently elected to the civic body, said the livelihoods of thousands of families were linked to door-to-door garbage collection. He said the MC should first hold a meeting with the concerned unions and consider their views before taking any final decision on the project. The proposal was consequently kept pending and will be taken up at the next F&CC meeting. The meeting had 187 agenda items, mostly concerning regular development works across the city. Another 40 items were added as table agendas at the last moment, including the solid waste management proposal. Around 20 agenda items were kept pending, while the rest were passed. The MC has been trying to introduce a new system to manage the city’s solid waste for a long time. Earlier tenders failed to attract bidders and had to be cancelled. The city currently lacks adequate capacity to process the waste generated daily. According to MC officials, Ludhiana produces around 1,100 metric tonnes of waste every day, while the waste processing plant at Jamalpur can process only around 300 metric tonnes a day. Bhatti also raised questions over various development works and financial proposals, demanding that the civic body funds be protected and transparency and accountability ensured.
He flagged a suspected duplicate estimate for tiling work near Lovely Sweets in HIG Colony, Ward 26. Bhatti pointed out that the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) had already sent a proposal seeking administrative approval for tiles worth around ₹19 lakh for the same work. He questioned why the MC had subsequently prepared another estimate of around ₹21 lakh for tiles at the same location. Bhatti demanded that the MC commissioner fix responsibility on the officials concerned, including superintendent engineer Praveen Singla and take action.
{{/usCountry}}He flagged a suspected duplicate estimate for tiling work near Lovely Sweets in HIG Colony, Ward 26. Bhatti pointed out that the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) had already sent a proposal seeking administrative approval for tiles worth around ₹19 lakh for the same work. He questioned why the MC had subsequently prepared another estimate of around ₹21 lakh for tiles at the same location. Bhatti demanded that the MC commissioner fix responsibility on the officials concerned, including superintendent engineer Praveen Singla and take action.
{{/usCountry}}The other major proposal before the F&CC was for a smart integrated vector management system estimated to cost around ₹6.91 crore. The proposal was also kept pending for the next meeting. Bhatti said the proposal projected expenditure of around ₹6.91 crore as savings, while the MC would continue to bear the cost of its permanent employees and existing machinery. He said the actual financial impact of the project should therefore be reassessed.
MC commissioner Ojasvi Alankar said, “Most of the proposals were passed. A few have been put on hold after objections from a member. These projects will be discussed later.”