With the fund-starved Ludhiana civic body struggling to pay for development works, the municipal corporation House on Tuesday passed the much-needed resolution of availing ₹100-crore loan during its meeting held at Guru Nanak Bhawan.
The meeting was chaired by mayor Balkar Sandhu and MC commissioner Pardeep Kumar Sabharwal.
It was likely the last meeting of the House before the code of conduct in the wake of upcoming Punjab assembly elections comes into force.
A total of 43 resolutions were presented in the House out of which, 38 were passed while three were cancelled and committees were formed for two resolutions.
While a few days are left for the litmus test for the upcoming elections in the state, the councillors promised development works to the voters which exceeded the budget of the Ludhiana MC.
Mayor Sandhu said the halted development works in the city will immediately resume after availing the ₹100-crore loan. He added that the civic body is efficient enough to pay off this loan.
Meanwhile, the resolution to revise the civic body’s annual budget by around ₹145 crore in order to facilitate development projects worth ₹261.45 crore was also passed by the House.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, the resolution to revise the civic body’s annual budget by around ₹145 crore in order to facilitate development projects worth ₹261.45 crore was also passed by the House.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier, succumbing to the pressure mounted by councillors and MLAs, who were looking to woo voters, the civic body had given its nod to the development works of around ₹261.4 crore even when the state government had approved ₹116.8 crore for projects, including roads, bridges, streets and drainage for the year 2021-22.
The House further passed resolutions for giving jobs to the kin of deceased MC employees and naming five roads of the city after the ‘Panj Pyare’.
Another resolution for regularisation of contractual employees, including 1,104 sewermen and 2,572 cleaners, was passed in the House without any objection.
The resolutions concerning waiver of pending water and sewer charges for the residential buildings with area less than 125 sq yards and fixing ₹50 per month as water tariff for residential buildings above 125 sq yards were passed by the House. This was earlier announced by state government ahead of the elections.
However, due to lack of funds for maintenance, resolution to maintain 18 colonies of GLADA was cancelled in the House.
With an aim to raise funds, the MC House also approved resolution to sell off MC properties through e-auction, including SCOs in Shaheed Bhagat Singh (SBS) Nagar, shops situated in market below Jagraon bridge, and vacant land near Master Tara Singh college among other sites. Resolution was also approved to set up a PRO branch in MC to apprise the public of the development works and activities of the civic body.
Resolution to make building plan must for power connection dropped
Due to the mounting pressure by the councillors of the ruling party, the resolution to stop the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) from issuing power connection in case the owner fails to attach an approved building plan along with the application was excluded from the agenda of the House. The said resolution aimed at curbing the illegal constructions.
Councillors tabled around 12 additional resolutions during the meeting, including increasing the salary of the councillors and ensuring electricity connections to houses of 445.68 sq ft (50 gaj).