Code of conduct halts projects

With the code of conduct for SGPc elections in force till September 22,and the code of conduct for the elections of the Municipal Corporation soon after,there will not be much time between the current code of conduct and the application of the next code. Even the projects that have been approved cannot be allotted till the code is in place.

Several major projects will suffer delay. An overbridge to come up in Sector 17 had received approval of the UT Administration. Tenders had been invited for the same prior to imposition of code of conduct. While only one tender was received for the project,the civic body cannot re-tender. This will delay the start of the construction by almost six months.

A similar situation exists in the case of the Food Street in Sector 48. Tenders for the project have been called a number of times with the response being less than satisfactory. The contractor who was allotted the tender refused to start work. With the code of conduct in place,re-tendering cannot be done.

Councillor Rajesh Gupta said that Chandigarh has just a handful of voters for the SGPC elections and the code of conduct is hampering development throughout the city. “No development work is being undertaken due to which the residents are suffering. Soon after this ends the code of conduct for the Municipal Corporation elections will come into force. Even basic work like carpeting of roads cannot be undertaken,” he said.

The city was to see the construction of new marriage palaces in Manimajra and Hallomajra,which has now been delayed. Apart from major tasks,work like construction of Sehaj Safai Kendras,renovation of community centres or even carpeting of roads has come to a complete halt.