Phagwara MC meeting ends in chaos over governance woes

The general house meeting of the Phagwara Municipal Corporation, chaired by Mayor Rampal Uppal and Commissioner Dr Akshita Gupta, was marked by heated exchanges, governance concerns and unfinished resolutions, ultimately concluding without a majority consensus.

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The session began with a tribute to the victims of the Pahalgam attack. However, tension quickly surfaced when Congress councillors Sanjeev Bugga, Taranjit Singh Walia, Jatinder Vermani and Sushil Maini questioned the delay in receiving the proceedings from the previous meeting—an inquiry that went unanswered by the Mayor.

During the meeting, 22 proposals were introduced, focusing on civic concerns such as sterilisation of street dogs, outsourcing of retired patwaris, maintenance of municipal toilets, revenue generation through advertisement spaces, employee confirmations and recruitment of safai karamcharis on contract. While some proposals were accepted, resentment grew among women councillors from the Congress Party, who voiced frustration over not being given the opportunity to express their opinions.

Political confrontation erupted between councillors from the AAP and Congress parties, leading to an adjournment. Amid the disorder, Congress councillor Bugga celebrated the approval of key proposals, including salaries for safai karamcharis at DC rates and the administration’s takeover of street light management, rather than outsourcing the service.

Concerns over choked drains, illegal encroachments and procedural mismanagement intensified as Bugga questioned how a member of the Finance and Contracts Committee (F&CC) had been replaced without house approval. He further alleged that municipal authorities were sheltering illegal encroachers while obstructing approvals for legitimate building maps. Meanwhile, Councillor Walia challenged the decision to establish a public library in a kothi allotted to the Municipal Corporation Executive Officer, arguing that such a facility should be located within municipal premises.

Despite efforts to address infrastructure and administrative shortcomings, the meeting, like several previous sessions, ended in chaos. Several councillors, including those from the ruling party, expressed frustration over defective street lights, citing instances where the lights remained on during the day but failed to operate at night, leaving residents in darkness.

As governance disputes persist, the inability to reach decisive resolutions raises concerns about the effectiveness of municipal leadership in addressing Phagwara’s pressing civic issues.