MC getting deeper into a financial mess

  • | Saturday | 15th September, 2018

The commissioner has, however, assured to clear their dues.Contractors had given a warning to MC officials on August 23 that they would stop maintenance work by August 25. But at that time, they were given an assurance of getting paid soon, so that they do not affect maintenance work. MC gets cleaning done every year before and during the rainy season to avoid any breaches in drains, and problems to residents. However, when they did not get their dues cleared, they have once again raised the demand with civic authorities. Secondly, they are watching the sky for the rainy season to end, before they can start road repair and construction work.

LUDHIANA: The acute financial crisis in the Municipal Corporation simply does not seem to be coming to an end, despite several attempts by civic authorities to overcome the situation through recovery drives. While the agency hired by MC — A2Z Waste Management Limited — stopped lifting garbage on Thursday due to non-payment of dues, operators maintaining tubewells in the city have also threatened to stop work by September 20, in case they do not get their pending dues cleared.Now, even the irrigation department has written a letter to MC to pay up the remaining amount for cleaning of Buddha Nullah. The funds crunch in the civic body is creating problems for city residents, as all essential services — roads, streetlights, water supply, sewerage, and even garbage lifting — is getting affected.The Ludhiana MC — which was supposed to be the richest civic body of the state about 10 to 12 years ago — has gradually sunk into a deep financial mess. MC commissioner KP Brar is trying to handle the situation, while mayor Balkar Sandhu is eyeing payment worth Rs25 crore from the state government, which was announced for MC on August 15 by chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh Garbage liftingA2Z had stopped lifting garbage from the city roads on Thursday, due to which heaps of garbage were seen everywhere. However, after getting an assurance from the civic authorities, the company agreed to start lifting garbage again, but even on Friday, it was not cleared from all secondary garbage collection points.On Thursday night, MC’s sanitation staff conducted garbage lifting at their level at many points, but since the garbage was in huge quantity, it became difficult to handle the situation. In some areas, even private garbage collectors were refusing to collect door-to-door garbage in the morning, because there was hardly any space to throw garbage at the secondary collection points. By evening, there was partial relief at some locations.Sources revealed that despite being upset with the working of the private firm, MC was unable to take any action against them, except issuing warnings, because the civic body had signed an agreement for 25 years. The company was hired in 2011, and already eight years have passed, but civic officials are avoiding termination of the private firm’s contract, because they do not want to get involved in litigation.Tubewell maintenanceContractors handling the maintenance of as many as 1,000 tubewells in the city met the MC commissioner on Friday, and demanded pending dues. They threatened to stop maintenance work in case their payments were not cleared. The commissioner has, however, assured to clear their dues.Contractors had given a warning to MC officials on August 23 that they would stop maintenance work by August 25. But at that time, they were given an assurance of getting paid soon, so that they do not affect maintenance work. However, when they did not get their dues cleared, they have once again raised the demand with civic authorities. One of the contractors said: “We did not want to disturb residents, because water supply is a very essential requirement, but now it is becoming difficult to manage things in the absence of money. We also require funds to get things done. After all, we are not doing any charity for MC.” He said for the past one-and-a-half years, they did not get payments from MC.Buddha Nullah cleaningThe irrigation department — while issuing a letter to MC — has demanded the pending amount of Rs65 lakh for completing the annual cleaning of Buddha Nullah. The irrigation department told MC they had already completed work worth Rs37 lakh of the Rs40 lakh they were paid by the civic body at the beginning of the work. They demanded the pending amount as soon as possible, so that they could complete the work without any further delay.However, the annual cleaning of Buddha Nullah began a little later than usual. MC gets cleaning done every year before and during the rainy season to avoid any breaches in drains, and problems to residents. But during the initial heavy rains, people faced problems when filthy drain water entered their houses and spoiled their household goods. Officials are now in a dilemma over payments due to paucity of funds.Road repairsThe bumpy ride on city roads will continue to the end of this month, as civic officials are convincing contractors to repair and construct roads lying in a pathetic condition by giving some amount to them. Secondly, they are watching the sky for the rainy season to end, before they can start road repair and construction work. Officials claimed it would not be possible to start road works before September 25.Meanwhile, MC commissioner KP Brar said: “I have already asked the accounts branch to clear Rs5 crore payment to various contractors, though my liabilities are much more, but something is always better than nothing.” She said they have paid Rs50 lakh to A2Z on Friday, and they will make the company work at any cost. Brar said the issue of salaries to employees have been resolved to some extent, and other issues would also be solved gradually.BOXMAYOR TO MEET CMMayor Balkar Sandhu went to Chandigarh on Friday to raise the demand for release of funds, because their financial condition was deteriorating. Sources revealed the mayor had plans to meet the chief minister to release the funds earmarked for MC as soon as possible, so that there could be some relief for residents.

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