E-Paper
Mohali Industrial Area is now ‘a no man’s land’
A year after change of charge for upkeep of the area, neither PSIEC nor the MC are maintaining it
The maintenance of the Industrial Area Phases 8A and 8B that began a year ago has been caught up in a bureaucratic maze yet again.
The condition of the area, which has around 800 industrial units, has gone from bad to worse with damaged roads and poor upkeep. This, despite the fact that MC collects a property tax of around ₹16 crore, but has so far only released ₹1 crore for development work.
For the last two decades, the area was under Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation (PSIEC), but last year, its maintenance was handed over to the civic body. At present, however, neither PSIEC nor the MC are maintaining the area.
PSIEC chief engineer Ramtesh Singh Bains said, “We are in the final stages of transferring the maintenance work of industrial areas to the municipal corporation, as they are collecting the property tax each year. We have to pay them around ₹2 crore and hopefully, it will be done in a week’s time. The delay was due to the pandemic.”
Mohali MC commissioner Kamal Kumar said, “I fail to understand why they have not transferred the work, when we have already given them the consent.”
Though PSIEC has already undertaken patchwork of roads, laying of paver blocks and building of boundary walls at a cost of ₹1.83 crore, it will now deposit the balance of ₹2.2 crore with the MC for work on water supply, sewerage, storm, drainage and waste disposal.
Issues galore
Yogesh Sagar, president of Mohali Industries Association (MIA), said, “We have lodged several complaints regarding maintenance work, but authorities have not done anything. Streetlights are non-functional, drains are choked, and heaps of garbage dot the landscape, attracting stray dogs and cattle.”
Vivek Kapoor, vice-president of MIA, said, “The authorities are testing our patience. We don’t even feel like going to our units because of all these issues. Even the central government scheme of depositing all funds under a special purpose vehicle to be used for improving infrastructure here remains on paper. The tragic part is that it has been almost two decades now and we are still asking for basic amenities.”
Industry in Mohali began in 1978 with just 10 units, but today, it boasts 10,000 units, including the manufacturing and IT/service industries. These industrial units fall under three heads–Phases 1 to 4 are under the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA); Phases 7, 8A and 8B are under PSIEC; and Phase 9 Industrial Area falls under Punjab Infotech.