The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation has decided to hand over the maintenance of seven green belts in different sectors to private contractors.

Tenders for green belts in sectors 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 7 and 17 have already been invited.

At present, the civic body maintains 49 green belts and 16 gardens.

Owing to staff shortage, however, the upkeep of parks is proving to be a tough task. The maintenance work is being outsourced to private contractors to ensure proper upkeep of the green belts.

According to the proposal, the number of workers and the charges to be paid by MC depends upon the size of the green belt.

The maintenance of green belts in some sectors is already in private hands. This has, however, yielded a mixed response from local councillors.

Councillor Anju Beniwala says that a green belt in her ward has seen drastic improvement after it was given to a private contractor.

“It has been almost a year since the green belt in Sector 21 was given out to private hands. The difference is visible for sure. The contractor has only one green belt to take care of. Sufficient resources can be put into it. Watering of plants and trimming of grass is done on time,” she said.

Councillor Pardeep Chhabra, however, has a different opinion. He said, “The lights in the green belt in Sector 22 are not functioning. Though complaints have been put forth regularly, no action is being taken. Maintenance of lights in green belts should not be in the purview of private contractors. There are a wide range of lights and the contractors do not specialise in this.”

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