New mechanical sweeping machines: Mohali mayor fumes as MLA steals his thunder
AAP MLA Kulwant Singh flags off new machines, procured by Mohali municipal corporation from Italy, without inviting the mayor
Three days after two mechanical sweeping machines arrived in Mohali from Italy, the local MLA and mayor came at loggerheads on Thursday after the former inaugurated the machines, procured by the municipal corporation, without inviting the mayor.
Miffed with senior MC officers, including commissioner Navjot Kaur, who accompanied the MLA during the inauguration ceremony, mayor Amarjit Singh Sidhu accused the officers of disrespecting his chair, the senior deputy mayor and the deputy mayor by not informing them about the ceremony.
After AAP MLA Kulwant Singh inaugurated the machines outside the Sector-78 Sports Complex around 10 am, the Congress mayor again invited the media for the inauguration at 12.30 pm, but the machines did not reach the MC Office in Sector 68.
Mayor accuses MLA of stalling machines at his house
After the mayor and councillors were left waiting at the office, the former accused the MLA of deliberately stationing the machines outside his house when he had asked the vendor to bring them to the MC Office.
“I repeatedly called senior MC officers and asked them to bring both the machines to the MC Office. The officers made numerous excuses. When I saw the videos of the inaugural ceremony, the same officers were present there. We are elected representatives of the public, but it is unfortunate that even after repeated requests, machines did not reach the MC Office and rather were stationed outside the office of the MLA,” the mayor said.
He further accused the MLA of interfering in the proceedings of MC and development works.
“If I send a team to catch cattle on the road, the MLA calls the staff to release them. If I ask the MC team to remove roadside carts and encroachments, he interferes again. When we try to start development works, he deliberately doesn’t let us work. I request him to not harass public representatives and let them work for people. If he won’t refrain from such activities, we will stage a strong protest against the state government, MLA and senior MC officers, including MC commissioner and others supporting him and disrespecting us,” said Sidhu while being accompanied by his party councillors.
MLA dismisses allegations
Meanwhile, MLA Kulwant Singh ridiculed the allegations and said the Opposition will always oppose the present government. He added that after his tenure ended as the MC mayor, the mechanical sweeping was stalled within six months and now he again got the high-quality machines with the help of the state government that will make Mohali the cleanest city in Punjab.
“It is great news for the city that mechanical sweeping will start from Thursday night on key roads (A road). After the other two machines reach Mohali, we will immediately start mechanical sweeping on B roads as well. MC did not have sufficient funds to purchase costly mechanical sweeping machines and thus, I coordinated with the urban development minister of Punjab who then asked GMADA to release ₹10 crore to MC for machines. These two machines will clean 110 km of roads by working around eight hours every night,” the MLA said.
However, a senior MC officer said being from different political parties, it was common for the MLA and the mayor to oppose each other.
MC commissioner Navjot Kaur said the civic body was thrilled that after a gap of three years, mechanical sweeping of roads had been launched in the city. “We are confident that the city roads will now be clean and tidy, giving us better ranking in Swachh Survekshan 2024,” she said.
The previous contract for mechanical sweeping had expired on June 14, 2021. Ever since, roads were being cleaned manually, amid severe shortage of staff. To resume the sweeping, the chief engineer of the department of local government, Punjab, in last December had approved the lowest bid by Global Waste Management Cell Private Limited, who quoted ₹41.54 crore against the government tender of ₹40.81 crore.
