The Times of India 20.08.2010
Park contractors agreement cancelled
LUDHIANA: Acting tough against the lethargic attitude of contractors for not maintaining two city parks, including Leisure Valley and Rakh Bagh, the Municipal Corporation has cancelled their contract. The MC will now handle the maintenance work on its own.
Due to the apathy of contractors, both the parks were not being properly maintained. As per the pacts, the contractors had to spend a total of Rs 42 lakh on maintenance work, including Rs 5 lakh on each park annually in seven years, for maintaining greenery. But the condition of park narrates their woes as even no fountains had been left there. With overgrown grass on the concrete path and scattered garbage on the periphery, the parks further added to appalling condition. The contracts were in the name of Jyoti Mangad and Sunny Bhalla.
Sources said that it was because the contractors could not display advertisements in the outer area of the parks, they started losing interest in maintaining the parks. Also, in both the parks canteens had been opened for generating money but it was not mention in the initial contract that had been signed between the contractors and MC. The contractors had demanded from the corporation that they should be allowed to start horse-riding in the parks but the MC did not allow it because it would have created problems for the morning walkers and perhaps this was another reason that contractors left the parks in a lurch.
While giving the information senior deputy mayor Parveen Bansal said that they were not maintaining the parks properly therefore they had to cancel their contract. It was important to maintain the greenery in the city and if the parks would not be maintained they would have to take action, he added.
However, MC officials have cancelled the contract of the canteens running in the parks, which have also been closed. Along with the visitors to park, the MC employees are facing tough time as they were not getting tea or coffee and they had to send the staff members to some shop in Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar for buying them.
