Municipal Commissioner’s comments sought on Dadumajra plant report

The plea taken by elected representatives is that the executive should give its comments first and anomalies,if any,should be pointed out. The MC had issued a showcause notice against the plant management in April.

Hearings are still on while the MC has given a list of five experts to the company,JP Associates,who have to select any three and get the functioning of the plant certified.

The names have been suggested by the Central government. The functioning of the plant is a contentious issue between the elected representatives and officials. The councillors have time and again alleged during House Meets that officials are favouring the management as no decision is being taken.

The officials,meanwhile,claim that instead of the blame game,the councillors should focus on ensuring that the plant functions smoothly as it is important for the city.       

Sore points of MC House meets: Undecided agenda items
There are some issues that have been cropping up for discussion in the Municipal Corporation House Meet throughout the year,but with no conclusions being arrived at. With the next House Meet scheduled for Monday,these subjects would be part of discussions once again.

One of them being projects which are lying pending for the last five years. A few months ago,councillors had rued that a large number of projects in their wards had not been completed despite the estimates being passed.

A special meeting was called to discuss the issue but it was adjourned on the pretext that the agenda was incomplete.

It was then decided that the projects over the last five years would be included instead of those pending for a year.

The agenda was once again made a part of the House Meet discussion which was deferred saying a separate meeting was needed to study all the projects in detail. This meeting scheduled for November 20 was postponed for ten days.

Similar is the case with the imposition of property tax and hike in water tariff.

The agenda prepared for increasing the water charges has been lying in cold storage for the last many months.

Every time prior to a House Meet,the issue is raised but not made a part of the House Meet agenda. Informal discussions on the issue have been held,though no consensus was reached between the officials and the elected representatives. The matter has now been referred to committees for discussion. The fate of the garbage processing plant is also hanging in balance. Councillors and officials have endlessly debated over the number of agenda items that should be passed to ensure their proper execution.

While councillors have argued that work is not executed even after estimates are passed,officials are of the opinion that they have too much on their hands and excess agenda items are passed.

Tussle in Panchkula civic body stalls development projects
With the ongoing tussle between political parties in the Panchkula Municipal Council,a number of civic projects in the city has come to a standstill. While the MC vice-president B B Singhal was handed over the additional charge of president after Ravinder Rawal lost his case in the district court,the signing authority from Singhal was withdrawn and development works hit a roadblock. “There are a number of pending projects which are gathering dust due to petty politics the councillors are engaging in. From projects on road construction to maintenance of existing parks,development of new parks and other civic amenities,all have come to a standstill,” said acting president BB Singhal. The financial powers for paying off pending bills have been given to the Panchkula city magistrate.

Singhal added,”While pending bills are being cleared now after the transfer of financial powers of the council to the city magistrate,there are several new projects which are to be planned by the council for the development of the city and then passed in the House. But in the present scenario,the council will not be able to see a single good plan for the city through this time.” The case regarding the issue of council presidentship is going on in the high court and is next scheduled for hearing on December 20.

RJD seeks action against Mayor for ‘shielding’ Babla
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has appealed to the opposition and nominated councillors not to support Congress councillor Devinder Singh Babla who is seeking exemption from attending House Meetings. The party has also demanded action against the Mayor for trying to shield Babla. The councillor,who has been absconding for the last few months,had sent a letter to the Mayor for exemption. According to rules,in case a councillor does not attend House Meetings for three months,he or she ceases to be a member of the House. The issue is to come up for discussion on November 30.

Addressing a conference on Saturday, president of the RJD city unit Ravinder Krishan appealed that councillors “should oppose the malafide action of the Mayor who is trying to get exemption for Babla”. “Instead of helping the police in hauling up Babla as a proclaimed offender,the Mayor is helping the law breaker escape. This is a mockery of law. A case should be registered against the Mayor for helping a ‘wanted’ person and should be taken into custody. A secret ballot should be permitted in the House Meet and Babla would definitely not get exemption,” said Krishan. He further said Union Minister Pawan Bansal was trying to create a rift between the Mayor and the judiciary. “Bansal is trying to save Babla so that his own misdeeds are kept under wraps. It is because of him that there is no exchange of views between the mayors and the Administrator for the last two years. The Administrator has been appointed by the Congress government of which Bansal is a member. So he is also a party to the appointment,” Krishan lashed out. The RJD leader also pointed out that no new project had been started in the city in the last two years and the development process had been stalled.