Batala MC chief, SAD man spar over authority to seal list of works
Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service
Gurdaspur, December 28
Separate lists of development works to be initiated in the town have been prepared — one by the Municipal Committee (MC) president and the other by the Batala SAD halqa in charge — amounting to Rs 149.50 crore.
Petty politicking broke out as soon as the money, which has been paid by the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB), reached the coffers of the Sewerage Board. The district administration officials, notwithstanding the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s statement in Vidhan Sabha that the system of appointing halqa in charges was in no longer in vogue, “covertly” sent a message to the middle-rung MC and Sewerage Board officials asking them to ensure that the list pertaining to the developmental works should be finalised by halqa in charge LS Lodhinangal. This infuriated MC chief Naresh Mahajan, a BJP leader, who questioned Lodhinangal’s locus standi. He added that the SAD leader had lost the last assembly elections by a massive margin of 20,000 votes and hence had no right to interfere in the affairs of the MC and the Sewerage Board.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Abhinav Trikha has formed a five-member committee to oversee the developmental works, which include the construction of new roads, laying of new sewer pipes and installation of streetlights. The works are to be jointly carried out by the MC and the Sewerage Board.
A senior MC official admitted that he had received a call from the DC office asking him to submit the list to the committee only after the halqa in charge gives his approval. Sources said similar calls had also been received by Sewerage Board officials.
Mahajan reacted by saying, “Lodhinangal, who is virtually a non-entity in Batala politics, should desist from interfering in the MC affairs. On innumerable occasions, the CM has clarified that halqa in charges do not exist. Even then, officials are bending backwards to appease Lodhinangal. If he has his way, he will resort to the pick-and-choose method. He will also seek to settle political scores. It is the prerogative of the MC, which is to carry out the works, to prepare the final list. Administration officials should play a neutral role instead of siding with Lodhinangal,” he said.
The halqa in charge, meanwhile, said that he had prepared the list and he had every right to give the final seal to it.
