Contractors’ body wages war against MCG councillors

Work on 46 projects to be affected; contractors accuse ward representatives of demanding ‘cuts’ for each tender, seek immediate intervention of MCG deputy commissioner.

Levelling serious allegations of corruption against elected representatives of 35 wards in the Millennium City, the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) Contractors’ Association has waged a war against them.

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The councillors are on the radar of contractors over the issue of demanding ‘cuts’ (bribe) for each tender awarded for development works.

In a meeting held on Tuesday, the contractors’ association decided to go on an indefinite strike demanding immediate intervention of deputy commissioner (DC) PC Meena — currently in charge as commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) in the absence of commissioner Ashok Sangwan — to solve the matter.

The association’s strike will hamper as many as 46 ongoing projects of the MCG worth R300 crore. The association is likely to submit a memorandum to Meena in this regard.

Most of these contractors are also involved in development works carried out by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda).

“We will request the DC to save us from the clutches of councillors who have been demanding lakhs of rupees for each tender. We have been financially burdened as MCG officials have already been demanding cuts,” said Prakash Dahiya, president of the association.

Earlier, the association had met Gurgaon Mayor Vimal Yadav, senior deputy mayor Yashpal Batra in this regard but the meeting failed to yield any result.

“The mayor’s team did not help us as we had named specific councillors. We fail to understand why the mayor did not intervene,” said Sohan Lal Aggarwal, a contractor.

“The practice of cuts in every tender has ruined the quality of roads, sewer, drain and other works. We are left with no choice but to please the councillors and officials,” alleged Anil Dahiya, another contractor.

Meanwhile, the mayor’s team has refuted the allegations.

“The contractors’ allegations are baseless and they want their work to continue without any interruption. We won’t allow this to happen. However, we invite them to sit across the table and solve the dispute if any,” said Yashpal Batra, senior deputy mayor.

“This has become a tactic to create pressure on officials. However, I have no information on the strike,” said BS Singroha, chief engineer, MCG.