Heaps of garbage dot Kharar as MC employees strike work

Gaurav Kanthwal

Mohali, March 29

Heaps of garbage lay outside the Municipal Council office and several other places in Kharar, the hometown of Cabinet Minister Anmol Gagan Mann, today as employees struck work in support of their demand.

The Kharar MC Employees’ Union and sanitation staff are at loggerheads with the civic body president for not acceding to their demand of converting the outsourced employees as contractual staff. A Budget meeting of the Kharar MC called by its president Jaspreet Kaur Longia could not be held today as councillors chose to give it a miss.

The civic body office has become a battleground for councillors, employees’ union and MC officials. For the past more than a month, three MC meetings have been cancelled and office doors are repeatedly locked by protesting employees, causing harassment to residents.

Earthmoving machines, garbage tractors, trucks, and other vehicles were parked to block the entry to the MC office today.

Outside, residents rued that sewer lines are choked, roads are littered with plastic and cow dung and garbage is not being lifted from public areas regularly.

“There is no one to take the responsibility. Administration officials, councillors, MC officials, employees and the local minister are all indulging in petty politics,” a resident said.

The Cabinet Minister is in New Delhi to attend a ‘Chintan Shivir’ to devise strategies on promoting ‘Tourism in Mission Mode’. During the session, the Punjab Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister highlighted the tremendous opportunities available for the growth of the tourism industry in Punjab.