Mayor names four JMC officials for illegal constructions

JAIPUR: Mayor Jyoti Khandelwal on Wednesday openly accused four JMC officials of supporting illegal constructions in the city. Khandelwal also criticised collector Naveen Mahajan for not lending administrative support during the anti-encroachment drive in the Walled City.
The mayor blasted the officials at the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the Basic Service Urban Poor (BSUP) project at Jaisingpura on the city outskirts.Urban development minister Shanti Dhariwal and MP Mahesh Joshi were present, while chief minister Ashok Gehlot gave the function a miss.
The mayor accused four JMC officials --- Pankaj Ojha, Gunjan Soni, Sanjeev Pandey and Sawar Mal Meena --- of acting as "kings" in illegal constructions taking place in the city.
"Unhe illegal construction karwane ke saare daav pech aate hain (They are well-versed in the moves of getting construction done illegally)," Khandelwal said. "Because of them there are so many illegal buildings in the city," she added.
The mayor further went ahead to state that the JMC officials who were not even perturbed by the high court directions and the chief minister's instructions would hardly pay any heed to her.
The recently successful Operation Parkota gradually lost pace and had to halt because of no cooperation from the collector, she stated. The officials who were named by the mayor, meanwhile, refused to comment saying that they will speak to the state government over the allegations before proceeding towards any action.
The tussle between mayor Khandelwal and the officials of the JMC is a long-standing one. "Seventy per cent of the elected councillors are from the BJP, still the Congress is trying its best to develop the city. Officials should not take the Congress government lightly," she had said.
Dhariwal, who was also present, when asked for his views on the allegations said, "We will discuss the matter first with both sides and then decide on a course of action."
BJP leader Suman Sharma, commenting on the situation said: "If the mayor is not able to control the officials she should resign. Among these four officials, two were selected by the mayor to be felicitated on Republic Day!"
In a previous function on affordable housing policy, the chief minister, while giving directions for a clean city, had also alleged: "The officers do go to the streets in the city but only to fill their pockets and authorise illegal construction. Nobody goes there to carry out cleaning operations."
Meanwhile, as the function proceeded, the mayor said directions from the Centre were awaited on rehabilitation of vendors who were removed during the anti-encroachment drive. She appealed to the government to allot funds so that the Jaipur could be made a clean and world class city.
"The safai karmacharis have been working for 15 years and JMC needs funds to hire more to keep the city clean," she said.