2 months on, civic body poll dates yet to be out

Tribune News Service

Patiala, March 16

Nearly two months after its House dissolved on January 22, election dates for the 60-ward Municipal Corporation are yet to be announced. While the corporation carried out a survey of the city’s population and submitted the details to the state government, the state-level committee is yet to finalise the boundaries of various wards for the final election process.

Corporation Commissioner Aaditya Uppal said, “The MC had submitted the final details of the survey to the Local Government Department in January. The work on finalisation of the wards is going on at the departmental level. The Deputy Commissioner and Corporation Commissioner are the only members of the committee. The ward boundaries will be finalised soon,” he said.

Uppal said though the corporation was running without an elected House, it had started a number of works and had become stringent against illegal constructions and other violations across the city.

He said, “We have allocated the project of mechanical sweeping of city roads. The work orders will be issued soon. We are also in process to begin the work on city’s construction and demolition waste plant, set up at Focal Point. The tender for the project to help clear the city roads of demolition waste has been floated and will be allocated soon,” Uppal said.

The corporation has also decided to install high mast lighting system and cameras at various chowks in the city. The commissioner said there were already 179 cameras installed on city roads. “We will install 30 more cameras. The tender bids for the allocation will be opened this week.”

He added that the corporation had also come down heavily on illegal constructions in the city. “The work of the building branch has been streamlined. We are not allowing illegal construction of showrooms in the city and have become stringent against them,” he said.

According to MC officials, the civic body was yet to make progress with its project of rehabilitation of street vendors. “There is a lack of space in the city. As such, despite having carried out multiple surveys of the vendor population in the past, the MC is yet to rehabilitate them,” an official said.

Ward boundaries to be finalised soon

The MC had submitted the final details of the survey of city's population to the Local Government Department in January. The work on finalisation of the wards is going on at the departmental level. The ward boundaries will be finalised soon. — Aaditya Uppal, MC commissioner

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