Sanjeev K Sharma
JAMMU, Aug 22: The Mayor of Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC), Presiding Officer at the General House Meeting (GHM) of the Urban Local Body, today adjourned the proceedings of the House abruptly for some time and walked out as a protest by the members including those belonging to his own party BJP over issues of water and power crisis in the city and uneven distribution of street lights irked him.
The 17th GHM of the urban local body started at 11 am wherein after National Anthem recitation ceremony the members condoled the demise of relatives of some of the members after which the Mayor, Chander Mohan Gupta addressed the House and on culmination of his address, an hour long Zero Hour started.
Speaking in the Zero Hour, Dwarka Chowdhary, chief whip of Congress in the House raised the issue of damage caused due to flooding of deep drains in the incessant rains few days back.
He then took the issue of cleanliness and maintenance of parks and then claimed that there is discrimination in works being executed under smart city project and also raised the issue of certain areas where street lights have not been installed so far.
After this, BJP Councillor, Arun Khanna raised the issue of street lights and said that even the street near his home lacks such lights.
He also said that officers at JMC are not working properly due to which the public is suffering.
Congress Councillor, Jagdish Kumar Sharma of Ward number 2 expressed resentment against the Mayor for not conducting the GHM every month.
He had put a black badge over his arm and said that performance of the Mayor is reflected from the fact that the important GHM is being conducted after three months.
Jagdish Kumar said that the Mayor should resign as the city is reeling under severe power and water crisis.
After this, Ashok Manhas, Independent Councillor of Ward 59 (Paloura), who later had joined BJP, expressed anger as he was not informed by the authorities while the street lights were installed in his Ward.
“Influence is being used in this case. An employee of Civil Secretariat in my Ward got about five street lights fixed near his house while many other more deserving areas there even don’t have a single such light,” he said adding that if anyone visited his Ward next time to install such lights without informing him, he will get bashing from him (Manhas).
BJP Councillor Sanjay Baru also expressed concern in this regard along with another BJP member Gurmeet Kour Randhawa who said that the areas which have not so far been covered with street lights should now be given priority in allotting such lights.
Soon the discussion turned heated and BJP Councillor Anil Masoom entered Well of the House and sat there in protest and he was quickly joined by Jagdish Sharma, the Congress Councillor.
Jagdish even moved towards podium and started addressing the Mayor. However, the Mayor asked him to take the seat and speak from there.
Masoom claimed that there was no water at his home and he took bath at neighbour’s house.
The behaviour of Jagdish and other protesting members irked the Mayor to such an extent that he adjourned the House at 12:13 pm in a hush-hush manner.
The leaving away of the House by the Mayor emboldened Congress members who jointly raised slogans against power and water crisis in the city amidst which Gourav Chopra was heard saying that with whom should they take up their issues as the Mayor has left the House.
It was almost a din in which to counter the slogans of opposition Congress and some Independent Councillors regarding water-power crisis, BJP members including Gurmeet Kour Randhawa, Yash Pal Sharma and others raised the slogans of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’.
After walking out of the House, the Mayor sat in his office chamber but the Councillors followed him till there also with their issues and raised the same before him even in his chamber. This further infuriated the Mayor.
As a BJP Councillor raised the issue of faulty street light in his Ward, the angry Mayor promptly retaliated saying: “Before contesting the elections of Councillor you were also an electrician so you would have climbed up the pole to correct the light yourself.”
After some time, the Mayor returned to the House and started the proceedings and urged upon the members to maintain decorum of the house.
He warned the members that if they spoke without their turn then he would suspend them from the House for a month.
After this, the House took questions in which many councillors participated.
After the lunch break, the House again assembled and passed many resolutions.
Some important resolutions passed by the House included that of Sobat Ali, Congress Councillor of Ward number 74 (Bhatindi) in which he had demanded naming the 400 metres stretch of the road in Mohalla Delni Chowadi from Sector-D of Sainik Colony to Delni Tallab in his Ward after Haji Fakar Din (Fakkan Pahalwan)-a renowned wrestler of the era from 1937-1947 who was personally awarded by Maharaja Hari Singh-the last Dogra ruler of J&K.
The resolution by former Chairman and Councillor of Ward no. 12, Jeet Angral in which he had demanded that demands of PHE daily wagers who are on strike should be accepted.
Another resolution which was passed was that of Rajinder Sharma of Ward 16 in which he had demanded that qualifications for a Councillor should be graduation.
The resolution by Jagdish Sharma of Ward number 2 demanding installation of fire fighting equipments in his Ward was also passed along with the resolution by Bhanu Mahajan demanding probe and fixing of responsibility of the money spent over Nallah in Gandhi Nagar as water from it overflew in rainy days recently and entered houses and shops causing damages.
Resolution by Dwarka Chowdhary demanding resumption of pension for old age people and physically challenged persons was passed and the Mayor instructed Chairman of Social Justice Committee, Ajay Gupta to meet Director Social Welfare Department or Commissioner Secretary in this regard
Earlier during the introductory address, the Mayor talked about the achievements of the JMC in the last about four years.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
