Finally,the security gates installed to check the incidence of vehicle and house thefts in Mohali,which were lying defunct for 15 months now,are all set to be replaced with new design gates and made functional with the deployment of guards at each of the total 39 gates. Even as Municipal Council (MC) has installed a new design sample gate in Sector 70,soon all the old gates will also be replaced with the new gates after making minor further amendments as suggested by the municipal councilors and local residents. The private contractor,who will be installing the new gates after removing the existing ones,has already agreed to provide guards at all these gates. The development assumes significance as it became possible only after a local municipal councillor Kuljit Singh Bedi had recently threatened to drag the civic body to court if the gates were not made functional or removed and replaced with new design gates within a month. Responding to my legal notice,the MC officials asked me to check the sample gate and give them in writing my consent before all the old gates are replicated with the new design gates, disclosed Bedi,while pointing out some more changes required to be done in the new design for making it more foolproof and look beautiful. Comparing the new design gate with the old ones,Bedi said the new gate was more secure to check any entry and exit after it closes down with better picket for the security guard. The new design also looks good and is stronger than the old gates. Still,a moving wheel beneath the gate to enable its free movement during opening and closing besides some other minor additions are required to be made in the new design, he pointed out,while adding that the civic body has asked the contractor to make the desired changes before finalizing the new design and replacing all the old gates. It was in August last that a private firm had installed 39 security gates in all 11 Phases under Mohali MC limits but so far,the gates,installed at the entry and exit points of all the Phases to keep a round-the-clock vigil and check the entry and exit of the visitors to the specific area,had remained defunct and had failed to serve the purpose as nobody was deputed to close and open the gates,which in turn remain wide open all day and night. The gates were installed on the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis by a private contractor,who would operate the gates for six years continuously before transferring them to MC for future operation. As per the scheme,the entry and exit of the houses was to specified and restricted through specific gate,on which their numbers were to be displayed and it was left as per wish of the area residents to decide the opening and closure timings of the gates and how to check the entry and exit of the outsiders to the area but no such system was put in place as yet. It was on the recommendation of former Mohali SSP Jatinder Singh Aulakh that the MC,at its meeting on February 27,2009,had unanimously resolved to install security gates. Aulakh had made the recommendation in view of the rising number of thefts even during daytime across the city,which he had attributed to the free access to the outsiders,vendors and suspected elements without any check.
