‘Sanitation crisis ahead if AAP dues remain unpaid’: Delhi’s mayors

Delhi’s mayors, who are protesting outside the residence of Delhi chief minister, on Sunday said if the government does not pay the money it owes to the three municipal corporations, it may lead to a sanitation crisis in the Capital with their staff threatening to go on strike.

The mayors of the three civic bodies have been sitting outside the CM’s house for the past seven days, demanding funds as per the recommendations of the Delhi finance commissions. They claim the bodies do not have funds to pay their staff and it may lead to protests and strike. However, the government has maintained it does not owe any money to the civic bodies.

North Delhi Municipal Corporation Mayor Jai Prakash said, “The three corporations have 70,000 sanitation staff, and we lift close to 10,000 metric tonnes of waste and 100 metric tonnes of biomedical waste. But we have not been able to pay them on time. Does the AAP government want a sanitation crisis in the midst of a pandemic... Our sanitation and medical staff will go on strike if we don’t release their salaries.”

Sanitation crisis amid Covid? Civic body leaders seek funds from Delhi govt

The North MCD mayor also refuted allegations that ₹2,400 crore was misappropriated by the north body, an inquiry into which has been ordered by the Delhi government.

“They (Delhi government) are levelling baseless allegations. We want them to complete the inquiry in the next seven days and if any misappropriation of funds is found, I will resign. But if they will not be able to establish any misappropriation, then Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal should resign,” said Prakash.

The mayors also said that despite the fact that they were sitting outside the CM’s house in protest, the government has not initiated a dialogue. Nirmal Jain, mayor of East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), said, “We have been sitting here for the past seven days and the CM is not concerned. He has not even called us for a meeting. They are just playing politics at a time when we all need to work together.”

The AAP called the protest by the mayors an attempt by the BJP to divert the attention from the ongoing protest by the farmers on Delhi’s borders against the three farm laws that seek to open up agricultural trade.

On Friday, the AAP government had ordered an inquiry into the alleged misappropriation of over ₹2,400 crore by the North MCD. AAP leaders also demanded a CBI inquiry into it.

South corporation mayor Anamika Mithilesh Singh said they will not leave the protest site till the funds were released.

Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta said, “In a democracy, state governments have to listen to the concerns of municipal corporations despite political differences. The mayors are sitting outside the CM’s residence for the employees and not for themselves. The least Kejriwal can do is to listen to their concern.”

The AAP said the BJP-ruled corporations were interested in only harassing Arvind Kejriwal.

“Even the mayors of BJP-ruled MCDs know that their protest is only an excuse by their high-command to harass CM Arvind Kejriwal and distract from the issue of nationwide farmers protests. The mayors are well aware that Delhi government has given all the funds due and it is because of their corruption and inefficiency that the MCDs are facing financial ruin. Since they have decided to only protest rather than govern, it is best they resign and let AAP run the MCDs. We will run the MCDs efficiently and within the same budget,” the party said in a
statement.