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Corporators flag water, sewer snarls in ‘closed-door’ meeting with mayor
Mayor says the objective of Tuesday’s meeting, which was announced on January 27, was to discuss ward-level civic problems flagged by corporators and ensure their time-bound solutions
Mayor Sushma Kharkwal on Tuesday convened a closed-door meeting with corporators and senior officials and took stock of the civic woes flagged by corporators on the LMC House floor a week before. The meeting focused on issues concerning water supply, sewerage, encroachments, and inter-departmental coordination.
Kharkwal said the objective of Tuesday’s meeting, which was announced on January 27, was to discuss ward-level civic problems flagged by corporators and ensure their time-bound solutions. She clarified that the subjects discussed in the meeting with elected representatives and officials were confidential.
Corporators, it was learnt, highlighted decades-old sewer lines, contaminated drinking water, missing manhole covers, dysfunctional streetlights, and poor restoration of roads after pipeline work. During the detailed deliberations, several members alleged continued negligence by departments and private agencies executing water and sewer projects.
Municipal commissioner Gaurav Kumar, executive committee members, additional municipal commissioners, zonal officers, and heads of departments were in attendance.
Water corporation superintending engineer Sameen Akhtar was directed to share comprehensive details of all ongoing projects with the corporation to improve coordination. The mayor sought a report on roads dug up for sewer and pipeline laying and the number of roads reconstructed thereafter. Questioning sewer chamber construction in narrow lanes, Kharkwal noted that norms required one chamber for two to three houses, but several areas had chambers outside every house.
Kharkwal instructed the municipal commissioner, GM (Water Supply), and the water corporation to jointly review ongoing works and ensure speedy completion.
During the meeting, corporators Arun Rai, Anurag Mishra ‘Annu’, Mamta Chaudhary, Bhrigunath Shukla, Man Singh Yadav, Shivam, Rekha Singh, Ram Naresh Chaurasia, Gauri Sanwariya and others raised complaints related to choked sewers, broken manhole covers, sewer connectivity gaps, and drinking water quality. Waterworks GM Kuldeep Singh and a private agency overlooking sewer works were directed to resolve the complaints within 24 hours and deploy equipment strictly as per contract.
The mayor reviewed 36 written and 46 oral questions raised in the January 27 House meeting and directed LMC departments to submit written replies to the executive committee.
Reportedly, three Jal Nigam executive engineers were asked to leave the meeting since they said they could answer only zone-specific queries. Chief engineer Sameen Akhtar then reached the meeting venue within 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, several corporators said they were dissatisfied with the pace and quality of redressal.
BJP’s Shailendra Verma said he raised the issue with food vans on Tuesday. He said several food vans had been operating on roadsides without licence and generating large amounts of waste. “It remains to be seen how decisions taken in the meeting will actually be implemented. Several issues are often deliberated but their outcomes are limited.”
Congress’ Mukesh Singh Chauhan alleged that a BJP corporator had accused officials of the District Urban Development Agency (DUDA) of taking bribes to allot houses under a government housing scheme. Chauhan further said that the meeting held on Tuesday was merely a formality and failed to deliver any concrete results.
Meanwhile, a private agency managing sewer-related work blamed infrastructure bottlenecks, pending payments and inter-departmental delays for recurring sewer overflows in several wards. In a press note, the agency’s project director, Rajesh Mathpal, said: “A bridge constructed over the main trunk sewer has disrupted sewer operations in more than three wards, affecting nearly 50,000 residents.” He added that ₹21 crore in dues and pending technical approvals were delaying permanent solutions.
