Sewer cleaning under lens in Karnal : The Tribune India

Tribune News Service

Karnal, March 16

Sewer cleaning and maintenance in Karnal has been under scrutiny following questions raised by local residents and city councils at the Municipal Corporation (MC) over allegations of irregularities in the allocation of tenders and poor execution of the work.

Renu Bala Gupta, Mayor of Karnal

Probe is running

I’ve formed a team of five councilors to look into the matter. The investigation is ongoing and we will present our report at the next house meeting.

They alleged that a company received the tender with no experience and requested an investigation into the matter.

An eight-member committee from the MC, consisting of the mayor, five council members, chief engineer and XEN, opened an investigation into the matter on Friday and found several irregularities.

According to information, the water supply, the sewer system and the employees of the health department were placed under the authority in September 2018. Karnal MC submitted tenders for cleaning and maintenance work on sewers in February 2019. The tenders were awarded on March 7, 2019 to two companies for around 2.50 rupees.

Several councilors raised concerns about the way the companies were working, claiming that the sewer system was not being properly cleaned, resulting in asphyxiation of the main lines.

Ish Gulati, City Councilor No. 13 and Yudhveer Saini, City Councilor No. 15, said the sewer system was blocked due to the poor operation of the companies, causing inconvenience to residents.

Meanwhile, Mukesh Arora, one of the committee members, stated that the company had filed two payments for cleaning the sewers for two months. The same company had provided a super suction machine to clean the Nullah for 18 rupees per month and claimed the fees for the maintenance and cleaning of the sewer system for the same period. The Karnal MC can’t pay twice for the same work done by the same company, he added.

Yudhveer Saini claimed the company received the tender with no proof of experience. A full investigation into the matter is needed, he added.

When contacted by LC Chauhan, XEN, Karnal MC, he said he assumed responsibility for the project in December 2019. When the bills for the work came in, he stopped the payment and opened an internal investigation. “I had also formed a four-person committee to review the work they were doing,” the XEN said, adding that further decision would now be made by the House-formed body.

You might also like

Comments are closed.