MC House defers decision on 24x7 water supply project

The General House of the Municipal Corporation has deferred the decision on the 24x7 water supply project in the city amidst opposition by Congress and AAP councillors.

While many Congress and AAP councillors opposed the project, BJP councillor Anoop Gupta demanded that various options to run the project should be considered. He said the MC should try to get extra money for the project from the Centre. Gupta said scrapping the project was not the right option. He demanded that instead, a detailed agenda be brought in the next House meeting.

Congress councillor Gurpreet Singh said the project was a white elephant for the civic body. He said the cost of the project would escalate up to Rs 2,000 crore and would financially suffocate the MC. He demanded cancellation of the project.

Many opposition councillors demanded voting on the project.

Senior Deputy Mayor Jasbir Singh Bunty and Deputy Mayor Taruna Mehta also opposed the project. Mehta said the project was full of shortcomings. At this, the MC Commissioner asked the councilors to take a decision on the project. While the discussion was on, Mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla announced to defer the agenda and asked officials to bring an agenda with full details in the next House meeting.

However, the opposition councillors were adamant on voting on the issue. Their demand was rejected.

The MC had placed a status report on the project for the members to take a decision on the project. The status report highlighted the difficulties in continuing with the project as its cost was likely to treble and burden consumers.

Amidst the pandemonium, MC Commissioner Amit Kumar announced to send the status report to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development for further consideration.

Meanwhile, he told the House that financial condition of the MC had improved and councillors could present their proposals of development works. The MC Commissioner said no work would be stopped and new projects would be started.

Rs 100 crore okayed for recarpeting of roads

The MC General House has approved the agenda for recarpeting of roads at the cost of over Rs 100 crores.

Mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla said the MC would not discriminate against anyone when it came to the road repair work. The House has also approved one-time settlement scheme of property tax for charitable, religious, spiritual institutes and government and autonomous (commercial & residential) bodies. Besides, the House also approved the agenda for installation of new signages on V4 roads.

The agenda regarding the auction of land for the Manimajra housing project was deferred amidst uproar. A report of the committee formed to review the project land at Pocket No. 6 was placed before the House. AAP and Congress councillors demanded cancellation of the auction of the land and sought voting on the matter. They claimed that the land measured around 33 acres while it was shown less in the report. It was decided to defer the agenda after an uproar over the issue.

The House approved the proposal to start door-to-door garbage collection in 13 villages of the city as a pilot project. The company managing sanitation work in southern sectors has been given an extension as the tender process was not finalised yet.