Municipal Corporation, Panchkula has landed in a deep trouble. The Punjab and Haryana high court has directed the state government to abolish the Municipal body because they have failed to take up development activities like recarpeting of roads, sanitation and also removing encroachment despite having funds.
Tough Times For Municipal Corporation, Panchkula
The Justice has directed the Haryana Government to dissolve the Municipal Corporation and also invoke Section 400 which states that the powers and duties of a municipal body are transferred to the state government if they fail to take up the development activities. His order was uploaded on the website of the court on April 19, 2017.
A resident of Saketri filed a civil writ petition as he said that there was hardly any water flowing through his house due to the irresponsible attitude of the Municipal Corporation. The court has issued notices to the district administration, MC, HUDA, UT administration and Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. The Municipal Corporation tried to act smart by passing on the blame on the Public Health Engineering Department and HUDA. The MC said that the work of laying sewer lines was within their domain but the court did not find any letter written by the Municipal Corporation to these departments.
Municipal Corporation’s Poor Management
A senior advocate submitted a report to the court where he mentioned that the government had approved a budget of Rs 75.80 crore for the MC in 2015-16. He mentioned that out of the approved 75.80 crores only Rs 24.63 crore was utilised till 31st December 2015.
In 2016-17, Rs. 44 crore was approved and only Rs. 7.51 crore was utilised.
Apart from this, he also mentioned the problem of stray animals on the road, monkeys, non-functional street lights. The court observed that the people were littering grounds which as a result spread various diseases.
The Uglier Side Of Panchkula
The newspapers have also shown pictures where everyone can see the poor sanitation in the Tri-City. As per the facts and figures, the Municipal Corporation is not utilising the funds for the development and also for preventing diseases in the city.
After observing and examining these issues the court has directed the government to take over the powers and duties of the Municipal Corporation.
The High court also took a status report from the UT Administration which had all the steps taken to overcome issues non-functional street lights, implementing ban on the use of plastic bags in the city, cleanliness drives.
The senior advocate said that the residents of Panchkula were fed up with the poor sanitation conditions and broken roads.
Source: The Tribune, Image Source = Indian Express
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