Former Congress councillor Mamta Ashu complains to Smart Cities Director

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, February 17

After a number of chain-link fencing units along the Buddha Nullah near the Chandar Nagar bridge broke allegedly during the widening and construction of new road along the nullah, former Congress councillor Mamta Ashu has raised questions over the role of MC officials. The fencing was installed under the Smart City Mission to prevent dumping of solid waste into the nullah.

Mamta Ashu has now sent a complaint to the Director (Smart Cities) under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs of the Government of India, seeking a probe into the matter. She accused the officials of wasting Smart City Mission funds as the fencing units had been badly broken due to the road work.

In her complaint, the former councillor stated that the project for the installation of the chain-link fencing along the 14 km stretch of the Buddha Nullah in the Ludhiana MC’s jurisdiction was carried out at an estimated cost of around Rs 14 crore, using funds from the Smart City Mission. She claimed that the chain-link fencing project was carried out on the directions of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to prevent people from throwing solid waste into the nullah. Alongside the project, another project for the rejuvenation of the Buddha Nullah was also initiated.

She said in the complaint that now, the MC had started the construction work on a road along the Buddha Nullah. Instead of removing encroachments, officials got the newly installed chain-link fencing broken to facilitate the widening of the road along the nullah. She alleged that Rs 14 crore spent on the installation of the fencing from the Smart City Mission funds had gone to waste.

Mamta Ashu requested the Director (Smart Cities) to order a detailed probe into the wastage of public funds and necessary action on time so that the loss could be checked and controlled as soon as possible.

On the other hand, MC’s Executive Engineer (B&R) Sanjeev Sharma countered the allegations, stating that the fencing units were not removed by the B&R Department for any road widening or construction. He claimed that the units got accidentally broken when a machine was deployed for nullah cleaning by the O&M branch. Nonetheless, an official from the O&M branch stated that they had not undertaken any cleaning work in that area and therefore, did not break the fencing.

The chain-link fencing project was not completed in the past.

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