Contractors accuse Municipal Corporation of not releasing payments

Contractors engaged in construction works by the Municipal Corporation have accused the civic body of failing to clear their bills.

Addressing a press conference here today, Harishankar Mishra, president of the Contractor Union, Chandigarh, along with other contractors, stated that the payments for the contractors had been pending for the last seven months and there was an unnecessary delay in releasing the security and performance guarantee amount.

Even as the contractors have fulfilled their responsibilities with dedication, their payments are not being released, resulting in significant financial distress, he added.

Mishra warned that if the pending payments are not cleared soon, work will be stopped and a protest will be held outside the Rose Festival venue on February 21.

In event of any untoward incident, the responsibility will lie with the corporation and administration officials, he added.

Union leader Rajeev Pandey said while the other works of the corporation continued, the officials tend to cite financial difficulties when it came to paying the contractors.

He added that the corporation is always looking at the administration with an empty bowl. Therefore, it would be appropriate to dissolve the corporation and hand over its functioning to the administration, he said. He added that the contractors are no longer willing to work for the corporation.