Joshi against MC plan to lay cobblestone on Mall Road

Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, December 15

Ganesh Joshi, MLA, Mussoorie, met N. Ravishankran, Chief Secretary, here today and objected to the plans of the district administration and the Municipal Council to lay cobblestone instead of coal tar on Mall Road in the town for beautification.

Joshi said if cobblestone instead of coal tar was laid on Mall Road it would create problems for rickshaw-pullers, pedestrians and two-wheeler drivers alike. He added due to the absence of any dedicated service lane in the town, cobblestone would prove to be a hindrance for government departments, namely electricity, water and telephone departments, while they dig the road for repair work.

He demanded that the district administration should use coal tar instead of cobblestone on Mall Road. The Chief Secretary directed senior Public Works Department (PWD) officials to proceed with the work only after considering its technical aspects.

Joshi also raised the issue of non-payment of arrears to employees of the Mussoorie Municipal Council and and pension to retired employees. He said retired employees of the Municipal Council were living in misery due to the non-payment of their dues and pension. The local Municipal Council was one of the richest councils in the state and capable of paying the dues of the employees and the pensioners. However, it was not paying the arrears due to some unknown reasons.

He said out of 162 retired employees, 12 were already dead and the fate of others was uncertain. He also raised the issue of bungling in eco tax being collected by the Municipal Council in Mussoorie. He apprised the Chief Secretary of the roads in 13 villages in the Maal Devta-Sarkhet region that were damaged early this year but were yet to be repaired, thus causing problems for villagers.

The Chief Secretary directed the officials concerned to start the repair work on the roads immediately. President of the Mussoorie BJP unit Roop Singh Kathait, president of the Municipal Council Retired Employees Association Lalit Mohan Kala, Secretary, Urban Development, DS Gabrayal, and Chief Engineer, PWD, HC Upreti took part in the meeting.