No place called home for Mohali MC commissioner

Sources in the local body department told The Indian Express that the new MC commissioner had written the department a letter to get his residence vacated so that he could shift in. But the department was yet to respond to his request.

Ideally, the commissioner should get the accommodation and the local body department had also received a communication from the Benith, but the accommodation was not vacated yet, sources added.

An officer of the rank of a chief engineer is currently staying in the official residence allotted to the commissioner in Phase 5. The Indian Express learnt that the chief engineer is posted in Chandigarh, but occupying the accommodation in Mohali.

Chief Engineer Ashwini Kumar, who is staying in the accommodation, said that for the past ten years the house was allotted to an official of his rank. He claimed that his accommodation was not allotted to the civic body’s commissioner.

“I would rather say that the accommodations of the officials of the local bodies are being occupied by the officials of the district administration,” Kumar said.

Meanwhile, MC Commissioner T Benith could not be contacted. When he was called to know about the status of his residence, he did not pick the phone call.

Mohali, which is often referred to as the virtual capital of Punjab, is struggling to provide the official accommodations for the senior officials, including the deputy commissioner (DC), senior superintendent of police (SSP) and the sub-divisional magistrates (SDM).

There are no official accommodations for Superintendent of Police (SP) or the Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSPs) too due to the absence of a police line.

The district administration had also initiated a plan to get some flats on rent in Purab Premium Apartments in Sector 88 for the officials but the plan had never seen the light of the day.