Citys laundry marts run into rough waters

The Municipal Corporations proposal to upgrade dhobi ghats in the city seems to have run into troubled waters.

The Municipal Corporations proposal to upgrade dhobi ghats in the city seems to have run into troubled waters. Though the proposal to modernise these dhobi ghats into laundry marts was approved last year and budget estimates were made for this year,none of the six projects have been taken up.

A Rs 35-lakh mart in Sector 15 has been lying closed for the past many months owing to a disagreement between washermen and the MC over the payment of power bills.

Among the proposed sites,the design for a laundry mart in Sector 7 was not approved while the site for Sector 19 has been turned into a parking lot. The fate of the other four remains undecided.

The mart in Sector 15 had received a favourable response from residents where apart from providing facilities to washermen,coin-operated machines were also installed for the convenience of residents. By paying Rs 20,around 15 clothes could be washed.

The fate of laundry mart in Sector 15 hangs fire as no compromise has been reached between the washermen and the MC. The other proposed projects have also been shelved, said an MC employee.

Former mayor Pardeep Chhabra,in whose tenure the first laundry mart was set up,said the response to the facility,especially among students,was overwhelming.

The closed laundary mart in Sector 15. Sumit Malhotra

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