Chandigarh Municipal Corporation polls: Too many challenges ahead of winners

The first challenge, which the new house would face, is the garbage plant at Dadumajra that is on the verge of closure. The company, running the plant, had closed down in July and now, following the intervention of the National Green Tribunal, it resumed operations, entered into a mutual agreement where MC decided to terminate the contract after getting a new company. The new company, which is based in Lucknow, too, doesn’t seem to be much interested in taking over. A final call has to be taken on the new company because many councillors felt that what happened with the previous company may not happen again this time. Residents of Dadumajra have been at the receiving end as most of the garbage is dumped at the landfill site.

Parking problem is another area that seemed to be ‘never ending’ for the previous House. In the last five years, the House limped from one controversy to the other, failing to come up with any feasible solution.

Overcharging by contractors which led to a vigilance probe, controversy over increasing parking rates to discourage vehicular traffic are all that happened in the last five years. But the councillors could not come up with aany solution to streamline parking in the planned city.

The new house not just has the problem of paid parking lots to address but has to think over the deserted Rs 50 crore multilevel parking lot and parking chaos in the internal lanes across the city.

“I wish the new councillor of our ward comes up with a plan to systematise the parking chaos in the internal lanes. The lanes are already narrow and due to lack of space, people park haphazardly. You can’t even think of taking out your vehicle in an emergency. Innovative projects like community parking should be thought over,” said Gagandeep, a resident of Sector 20.

Due to the burgeoning population, residents have been facing water scarcity. Even as new phases were laid at Kajauli waterworks, the demand continues to exceed supply. The repeated technical snags at Kajauli waterworks due to worn-out machinery is another problem that has to be addressed urgently. There has been low water supply on the upper floors.

Moreover, the corporation has not been able to do anything to allot space to street vendors. Due to the street vendors Act under process, many vendors have encroached on even Sector 17 plaza, which shopkeepers say has been spoiling the image of city beautiful.

The results of Municipal Corporation elections will be announced at seven counting centres in the city on Tuesday. These are Government College of Education, Sector 20; Post-graduate Government College, Sector 46; Post-Graduate Government College for Girls, Sector 42; Post-Graduate Government College, Sector 11; Post-graduate Government College for Girls, Sector 11; Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 10; and Chandigarh College of Engineering and Technology ( CCET), Sector 26. There are 122 candidates who are contesting for 26 wards in the city.