There was an uproar in the 330th meeting of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation House on Tuesday. This marked the last meeting of the tenure of Chandigarh Mayor Anoop Gupta. Following the commotion in the meeting, all twenty agendas were approved, including funds for the city’s renowned Rose Fest. The Mayor then urged the passage of all agendas with the rendition of Jana-Gana-Mana. Councillors hurriedly approved all the agendas due to being late for lunch.
During the meeting, councilors from the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party created a ruckus, alleging that Mayor Anoop Gupta had not accomplished any work. Opposition councilors labeled Anoop Gupta as the most unsuccessful mayor to date. At the meeting’s outset, opposition councilors disrupted proceedings, accusing discrimination in work allocation within the wards. This concluded the last meeting of the current Mayor Anoop Gupta’s tenure, as the new mayor is set to be elected between January 12 and 16.
Councilors alleged that residents couldn’t even obtain water connections. A Shiromani Akali Dal councilor claimed that his ward is not in Pakistan, accusing discrimination in development in his area. The final meeting under the leadership of Anoop Gupta, the current Mayor of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, was held on Tuesday as his term comes to an end. The elections for a new mayor are scheduled between January 12 and January 16.
In the last meeting of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation under the chairmanship of the present Mayor, all the councilors approved the proposal to purchase vehicles for fire safety and organize only one show encompassing the rescue service, lighting, sound show, and musical show. Approval was also granted for the construction of a community center in Sector 63 and Sector 51, the installation of solar panels in the non-residential building (NRB), a water drainage system in Sector 28, and the repair of old toilets in the city.
In every meeting of the Municipal Corporation House, allegations are raised against the encroachment removal squad. Councilors claim that there is encroachment in every sector of the city. Councilor Sorabh Jaushi stated that fake licenses were issued to vendors during the Corona period. The worsening condition of the city is a matter of investigation. There are no street vendors in Chandigarh; they are coming from outside and occupying parking lots in the sectors. The market in Sector 15 is in bad condition, and the Municipal Corporation’s Joint
Commissioner and Encroachment Removal Squad do not pay any attention to this.
The resolution passed by the municipal councilors stated that Chandigarh will have its own Municipal Corporation Act, not an extension of the Punjab Act. Since the establishment of Chandigarh, its Acts and Bye-Laws have been an extension of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act. On Tuesday, councilors in Chandigarh passed a resolution to enact the city’s own Municipal Corporation Act, not as an extension of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act. The agenda in this regard was presented by BJP councilor Mahesh Inder Singh Sidhu.
Seeking amendments to the Municipal Corporation Act and greater powers for the Mayor, Senior Deputy Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Councilors as public representatives, the agenda highlighted that the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation Act was enacted as an extension of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act. Moreover, it was done with the dilution of many sections, powers, and functions, portraying the MC Chandigarh and the public representatives as mere figures lacking significant power or influence in the city’s functioning and policy matters. To address this, the House also passed another resolution to designate Hindi and Punjabi as the state languages of Chandigarh instead of English.
