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Smart Vending Zone Project: 4 years on, Ludhiana MC yet to take a final call on terminating contract
Ludhiana MC has failed to take a final call on terminating the contract for establishing 250 shops under Smart Vending Zone Project near BRS Nagar Sidhwan Canal bridge (backside of the MC’s Zone-D office)
Even after four years, the finance and contract committee (F&CC) of municipal corporation (MC) has failed to take a final call on terminating the contract for establishing 250 shops under Smart Vending Zone Project near BRS Nagar Sidhwan Canal bridge (backside of the MC’s Zone-D office).
The vigilance department had found a number of anomalies in the contract after an RTI activist—the whistle blower in the case— accused the authorities of allegedly establishing a market in the name of vending zone.
In May 2018, the then CVO of local bodies department, Sudeep Manak, also inspected the site and found a number of anomalies in the project, including no proper planning of parking space, entry/exit etc. Also, it was found that the civic body failed to get no-objection certificate (NOC) from the irrigation department. The NOC was mandatory as the project was proposed on the land of the irrigation department, and its officials also recommended an FIR against MC officials.
The local bodies department then directed the MC to cancel the contract and also summoned the concerned officials. The project was also stopped then.
The resolution to cancel the contract was tabled in the meeting of F&CC twice— May 2018 and March 2021— but it was kept pending by the committee.
Resolution to be tabled today
The resolution will again be tabled in the meeting scheduled to be held on May 20.
Mayor Balkar Sandhu said the decision on the resolution has to be taken by the committee members and they will deliberate upon the same in the meeting.
The F&CC is led by mayor with senior deputy mayor, deputy mayor and MC commissioner as its members.
F&CC to deliberate upon proposals to construct road using plastic waste
The finance and contract committee (F&CC) of municipal corporation (MC) will deliberate upon more than 300 resolutions during a meeting at mayor Balkar Sandhu’s camp office near Rose Garden on May 20.
The resolutions include construction of a road using plastic waste in ward number 94, reconsidering reserve price of contract for converting three roadside parkings into paid parking sites, installation of tubewells, installation of interlocking tiles, renewal of the contract of employees etc.
The resolution to construct road using plastic waste has been put forward on the recommendations of councillor (ward number 94) Gurpreet Gopi, if constructed it will be first-of-its-kind in the city at the cost of around ₹49.22 lakh.
The MC officials said as per the norms, eight per cent plastic can be used in the construction of roads with 92 per cent bitumen. These kinds of roads have been constructed by the public works department (PWD) in the past in other parts of the state.
Further, the committee will also discuss the proposals to reduce the reserve price of the contracts for converting three roadside parkings in the city into paid parking sites. The sites include Jagraon Bridge to Dholewal Chowk, Dholewal Chowk to Sherpur Chowk, and the space below the bridge near Gill Chowk with reserve price of ₹23.13 lakh, ₹23.12 lakh and ₹3.25 lakh, respectively. The MC had tried to allot the contract through e-auction thrice since January, but the contractors‘ response was mild. Now, the committee will deliberate upon reducing the reserve price to attract more contractors.
The civic body will also deliberate upon floating the tenders for allotting 50 percent of the advertisement media surrendered by the current outdoor advertisement contractor in the city. The contractor had surrendered the media during the pandemic citing losses, but the MC has not been able to allot the contract for the same to other contractor till now, due to alleged low response shown by the contractors, resulting in losses to the civic body.
Citing the upcoming monsoon season, a resolution will also be tabled to purchase over 9,600 litres of chemical for fogging in city. The chemical will be purchased at a cost of around ₹1.77-crore after getting the nod of the committee.
A resolution will also be tabled to provide post-gallantry awards’ benefits to the three injured firemen and the kin of deceased firefighters, who were killed in Suffiyan Chowk factory collapse incident. If the committee approves the resolution, the firefighters will be given monetary benefits of upto ₹6,000 per month.
A proposal will also be tabled to establish a rainwater harvesting system at the parking of MC’s Zone-C office on Gill Road to deal with rainwater accumulation.
