MC staff accused of taking bribe

Ludhiana, October 15

Congress councillor Navneet Singh Ghail has accused a few employees of the MC of taking bribe to replace sewer manhole covers outside a factory in ward No. 20.

To discuss various issues in their wards, a delegation of Congress councillors under Ludhiana Central MLA Surinder Dawar met Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu and MC Commissioner Pardeep Kumar Sabharwal here today.

Ghail raised the issue of the manhole covers at the meeting. He alleged that when he requested an official concerned to replace the broken manhole covers outside the factory, he first refused to do the needful, saying these manholes were private and then claimed that the covers were not available.

Ghail said, “The factory owner had requested me to get the sewer manhole covers replaced at the earliest. But, the MC officials had claimed that covers were not available. However, the factory owner later informed me that a few employees had visited the factory and demanded money for the replacement of the manhole covers. They took a bribe of Rs 1,000 and replaced the manhole covers. It is shocking to me that the officials had earlier claimed that they had no covers available, but the covers were replaced after taking bribe. After I raised this issue today, the MC Commissioner ordered the officials concerned to take action on my complaint.”

MLA Surinder Dawar said the issue regarding choked sewers in a few areas, non-functional street-lights and others were discussed at the meeting. The MLA asked the officials concerned to ensure timely redress of the issues.

Despite repeated attempts, Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu could not be contacted. — TNS