Permit scam: Colony roads land MC on sticky wicket

LUDHIANA: Another scam seems to be brewing in the municipal corporation (MC), and even this time, it concerns contractors and alleged illegal payments.
It has been alleged that the civic body illegally made huge payments to the contractors for laying brick roads in undeclared colonies without getting the mandatory consent from state government.
About a year ago, the MC had claimed that after getting grants sanctioned by chief minister Parkash Singh Badal during sangat darshan programme, it would begin work on laying brick roads in 216 undeclared colonies of the city.This, the authorities had claimed, would provide relief to the poor living there. Likewise, work on constructing about 295 km of streets at a cost of Rs 32 crore was kicked off but without any sanction of funds. At that time, allegations were levelled against MC that the move aimed at benefiting leaders of the ruling alliance who had carved out these colonies illegally.
Meanwhile, sources said that as the mater concerned development in illegal and undeclared colonies, prior consent of the local bodies department was required. However, due to the imposition of model code of conduct and later because of technical hitches, the department has not given the go-ahead till now. Despite this, overzealous MC officers made a sizable payment to the contractors ‘illegally’, ignoring reports of alleged poor construction that had begun pouring in.
In a letter written to the MC commissioner, deputy speaker Satpal Gosain had alleged that embezzlement of funds had taken place under the garb of helping the poor strata, adding a vigilance bureau inquiry would clear the mist from the matter.
However, MC doesn’t seem too bothered about the allegations. Talking to TOI, senior deputy mayor Praveen Bansal said the aim was clearly to help the poor, adding as work was to be conducted under sangat darshan, the government had automatically given its consent to the civic body.