No takers for expansion of MC limits

Tara Chand Gupta, a senior advocate and a former president of Kharar Municipal Committee says that the present MC limit is so vast that the MC with its present financial resources has not been able to cope with the area. Vast tracts of land are lying vacant and unattended. However, in certain portions where some constructions have come up, there are no drains, pavements, street lights, drinking water and sewerage, he added. Charanjit Singh, a local municipal councillor and a former MC chief, said that since all the constructions beyond the present MC limits are covered by Periphery Control Act, the colonizers have connived with certain bureaucrats and politicians to get the MC limits extended.

"The sanitation staff with the local MC is already very meager. Everyday there are complaints against the poor sanitation and extension of the area will make the things worse," says Kuldeep Singh, vice-president of Kharar MC.

A senior BJP leader and a local municipal councillor, Om Parkash Aggarwal said that financial resources of MC are so poor that recently its employees had gone on strike for non-payment of their salary. He added that no development works are being carried out because of paucity of funds.

"Though the population of the township has doubled in the past 10 years, the number of safai karamcharis remains the same. During this period, the budget of the MC has almost doubled and it spends 50 per cent of allocations on the establishment but for some reason the government is not sanctioning appointment of more safai karamcharis," said Dr Pawan Kumar Jain, chairman, Kharar Citizens Welfare Council. He said with their present strength, the safai karamcharis just cannot provide satisfactory sanitation to the entire township.

The president of Kharar Cloth Merchants Association, Ashok Sachdeva and the patron of Kharar Chemists’ Association K.C. Gupta lament that the local MC authorities had failed to provide basic civic amenities to the residents of present MC limits.

"Keeping in view the present circumstances, it is difficult for a reasonable mind to understand why somebody has thought about the expansion of present Kharar MC limits," says Rajesh Gupta, a young lawyer and a municipal councillor.

Representatives of several other social, political and trade organisations of the township said that before approving the proposed expansion objections raised be considered and the persons responsible for this proposal, if found irresponsible, be brought to book.