UT adviser Mehra transferred to Delhi

CHANDIGARH: After a three-and-a-half years of controversial tenure, UT adviser Pradip Mehra has finally been transferred to New Delhi and will be replaced by 1983-batch AGMU cadre IAS KK Sharma, who is principal secretary, Public Works Department (PWD), Delhi government.
Mehra's stint in Chandigarh began in September 2007. First, there was controversy was his tiff with the then UT administrator Gen (retd) SF Rodrigues after Mehra objected to the reserve price fixed for the prime land identified for the Medicity project.
None of the mega projects finalized by UT could take off and even after Rodrigues' exit in 2010, Mehra could not do much to give impetus to the development of the city.Officials are even wary of coming up with new proposals for the fear of sparking off new controversies. The 1975 batch (AGMU cadre) officer is due to retire next year and it was widely believed that he wanted to complete his service in Chandigarh itself.
He owns a house in Sector 11 and held his son's wedding in the city in 2010.
However, Mehra survived the crisis when his exit was being considered almost imminent after locking horns with Rodrigues in 2009 and the latter reportedly wrote to ministry of home affairs (MHA) for his transfer. The adviser also did not have the best of equations with senior officials in the administration and this too took a toll on developmental projects. Two central vigilance inquiries were ordered against him, while one was to look into the use of CITCO funds to install air conditioners and costly tiles at his personal residence in Delhi, the order probed allegations of favours by him in exercising quasi-judicial powers. He was eventually given a clean chit in both cases.
''After Shivraj Patil took over, Mehra was back in circulation and began chairing meeting of all key issues before these were put up before Patil for final approval. Even in these months, UT did not achieve much,' said an official.
Meanwhile, UT has also received a panel of three Punjab-cadre IAS officers for finding a replacement to Roshan Sunkaria, who is presently posted as commissioner, Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. His three year tenure is set to end next month.