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Will make Mohali most beautiful in tricity, says new mayor
Amarjeet Singh Sidhu also plans to take the help of resident welfare associations to create awareness among citizens about waste segregation
Making Mohali the most beautiful in the tricity is among the top priorities of Amarjeet Singh Sidhu, who got elected as the new mayor on Monday.
“Besides providing better basic amenities to all residents, I will also be working towards addressing the stray cattle issue,” he said.
Last year, Mohali slipped to the 157th position in the Centre’s Swachh Survekshan rankings. It was mainly attributed to the municipal corporation’s failure to operationalise its ambitious solid waste management project at Samgoli village.
While the state government has failed to expedite the project, the new mayor plans to take the help of resident welfare associations to at least create awareness among citizens about waste segregation.
“I will soon hold a meeting with MC officers and will organise awareness camps in various sectors. We will try our level best to improve the city’s ranking,” he said.
On rampant encroachments across markets and residential areas, Amarjeet said that he will ensure regular drives for their removal, “without any bias”.
“I will constitute a committee which will supervise the anti-encroachment drive. During the previous regime, no such committee was constituted,” he said.
The mayor said he will also be holding a meeting with GMADA and police officials to constitute an expert committee, which will address black spots that are leading to accidents on the city roads.
Managing finances a challenge
Amarjeet has taken over the reins of the civic body when it is heading towards a major financial crisis.
Amid scarcity of funds, more than 200 tenders of development works worth ₹30 crore have not been allotted for the past two years. These works pertain to development of parks, laying of paver blocks, construction of footpaths, recarpeting of roads and installation of gyms in parks.
In 2020-21, the MC House had approved a budget of ₹268 crore, but the Punjab local bodies department had imposed a cut of ₹141 crore and approved only ₹127 crore.
“I will hold a meeting with the state government, requesting them for adequate funds. Development works worth ₹100 crore are already going on in the city. We will not impose any fresh tax, but will ask the residents to pay their dues of water and property tax,” said Amarjeet.
Meanwhile, with former senior deputy mayor Rishiv Jain and his councillor wife Raj Rani Jain boycotting the first meeting, it will be a challenge for Amarjeet to keep his flock together. The Congress has won 37 seats out of the total 50 in the House.
