Mayor, deputy train guns at AAP govt for Mohali's garbage woes

Mayor Amarjit Singh Sidhu and Deputy Mayor Kuljit Bedi opened two separate fronts against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, blaming them for the city’s waste management woes.

Sidhu today trained his guns on Mohali MLA Kulwant Singh, speaking unfavourably about the land allotted for a dumping site in Samgoli.

“Of the 50 acres, 39 acres have already been acquired and a boundary wall has been constructed at a cost of Rs 35 lakh, while 11 acres of land is stuck with the Revenue Department in bureaucratic delays,” he said.

The Mayor said the city deals with more than 150 tonne garbage daily, whereas the contract covers management of only 100 tonne. “As a result, heaps of garbage are lying across many body’s resource management centre (RMC) locations, which are not only spreading foul smell but also posing a serious health hazard to the people,” he added.

In the absence of a dumping ground, he noted, waste was being dumped at RMC points. “People are living in hell-like conditions while the government is busy with political drama,” he said.

A biogas plant was proposed to be set up at the location and companies like HPCL and GAIL have already conducted surveys and prepared a project report costing Rs 27 crore.

“The project is to be implemented under the Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Corporation (PMIDC), but the file has been pending at the head office since March,” the Mayor said.

The eco-friendly initiative is being tipped as a fix for not only Mohali, but the entire Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) cluster — including Dera Bassi, Banur, Lalru, Nayagaon and Zirakpur.

The Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Department has issued a no-onjection certificate (NOC) for constructing a road at a cost of Rs 29 crore but no ground-level work has been initiated yet.

The Deputy Mayor, meanwhile, has written a letter to the Punjab Chief Secretary, who is also the GMADA chairperson, demanding immediate intervention. “There is no access road to reach this site, nor any basic infrastructure. There is only an 8-ft wide path, which turns into an unpaved road for the last one kilometre. Only a boundary wall has been constructed till now, there is no processing plant or machinery installed here,” the letter read.

Bedi also flagged a lack of foundational infrastructure, adding, “Merely providing land does not solves the problem; access roads, essential resources, and infrastructure are equally necessary.”