UT Adviser’s absence raises Sector 45 residents’ hackles

Rajinder Nagarkoti

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 26

Residents of Sector 45 were expecting UT Adviser Vijay Kumar Dev to visit their sector today. However, when he did not turn up and only senior MC officials reached the sector, it did not go down well with the residents.

The UT Adviser was in Delhi today for a meeting. MC Joint Commissioner Rajiv Gupta, MC Chief Engineer Mukesh Anand and other officials visited Sector 45 today.

The Joint Commissioner and the Chief Engineer started their visit from Sector 45-C. Residents continuously kept asking them about the UT Adviser. When the officials reached near the rehri market in Sector 45-D, the residents entered into heated arguments with the officials. In the melee, some residents even pushed the MC Joint Commissioner and the Chief Enginner. Upset over the residents’ behaviour, the officials left the visit midway.

Sanjay Singh, a resident of Sector 45-D, said initially the Adviser’s visit was scheduled for March 11. It was deferred to March 20 and later fixed for today. However, the Adviser did not turn up even today and only MC officials reached Sector 45. Residents had no hope from these officials, who never turned up in Sector 45 in the past, he said.

After the MC officials left the sector, MC workers, who were busy cleaning roads and lifting garbage in Sector 45, also left the area.

Pooja Thakur, another resident of Sector 45, said their sector was the most neglected area of Chandigarh. When residents sought an assurance from these officials regarding the Adviser’s visit in the coming days, they got upset and left the visit midway, she said.

MC Joint Commissioner Rajiv Gupta, however, denied this.