The Times of India 14.10.2010
Civic general house meeting witnesses stormy session
LUDHIANA: Municipal corporation’s general house meeting, in which horticulture and advertisement remained two main issues, witnessed a stormy session on Thursday. Members unanimously cleared 13 resolutions out of the 14, while the remaining has been kept pending for the next house meet. The members discussed the issues hindering development and officials concerned were brought to task for delaying works.
Refuting the MC claims of conducting mass plantation drive during rainy season, the councillors of most of the wards alleged that not even a single sapling was planted in their respective wards, despite requesting the horticulture department. Councillors of ward numbers 5 to 10 and 25 to 30 raised the issue in the house members. Even mayor Hakam Singh Gyaspura said he could not get the plants for his area.
Answering this, land scaping officer Surinder Kumar said they planted 26,462 plants in different parts of the city. There is a record of all the plants with the department, he cited.
The issue of illegal advertisement unipoles also raised hue and cry in the house meeting. Members of the advertisement committee and BJP councillor Gurdeep Singh Neetu demanded action against the officers involved in the violation of rules, which resulted in huge loss for the civic body. As the members could not reach any conclusion on the issue, they decided to convene a special F&CC meeting.
Fake bill scam raised in the house was calmed down by informing the members that a letter had been forwarded to the state government. It urged that action be taken against those officers whose role would be proved in the scam.
Meanwhile, following the inquiry conducted by chief parliamentary secretary Harish Rai Dhandha about the delay in construction of indoor stadium at Pakhowal Road, commissioner AK Sinha assured the house members that they would complete it in two months. He asserted that the contractor had submitted the designs and work would be initiated soon. Dhandha, however, asked the commissioner to visit the site and demanded the record from the corporation.
