The Congress and BJP corporators on Monday created a ruckus, by levelling allegations and counter allegations on each other, at a meeting called by Raipur Municipal Corporation Mayor Kiranmayi Nayak for discussion on the Kiwar company engaged in the sanitation work of the city. The meeting concluded without coming to any conclusion.
It is said that the contract for sanitation work of the city has been given to the Bangalore-based Kiwar company. The company is engaged in the cleaning work of different wards of the city since last six months.
At the beginning, the company had been given responsibility of 23 wards, which it had done well. later, when it was given the charge of all the 70 wards, the cleaning arrangement has been stalled. Sanitation workers of the company stopped working because they did not get wages for the last three months. This has caused spread of filth in most parts of the city.
Recently some of the corporators had locked the Municipal Corporation headquarters demanding immediately cleaning arrangement of the city.
At that time Deputy Commissioner of the Corporation Jl Soni had told them that notice would be issued to Kiwar company to set right the cleaning arrangement. If improvement has not been done in the arrangement, it would be fined.
However, it is said, as the cleaning arrangements have not been corrected even after the warning, Mayor Nayak had convened a meeting of corporators of all the parties.
The Congress, BJP and Independent corporators gathered at the meeting hall at about 12 noon and the meeting started with the cleaning issue. Mayor Nayak said that the company had been working as per the agreement signed by it.
The State Government has mounted pressure to pay the company as per the agreement. In such a situation, how the corporation could stop payment of the company. The company has been working out of the municipal corporation’s control. The 12 conditions put up by the Municipal Corporation at the time of agreement were not accepted at the beginning. The company is doing sanitation work on a 30-year contract, she added.
Enraged over the reply of the Mayor, BJP corporators, levelling allegations on her, said that Kiwar company has been doing the cleaning work of the city and it was the duty of the corporation to oversee it. Officers of the corporation should always have control over the company, but they were not taking interest in it and because of which the sanitation arrangement has been stumbled. The mayor is responsible for that, they alleged.
Following the allegations, the corporators of both the sides started sloganeering against each other and levelled allegations and counter allegations. However, independent corporator Anju Tiwari accused both the parties for the irrational sanitary condition of the city. Following the commission, all the corporators walked out of the meeting one by one.
leader of the Opposition Subhash Tiwari warned that if the cleaning arrangement of the city was not streamlined in a month, all his corporators would come out on the roads and take over the cleaning arrangements. He said that before signing agreement with the Kiwar Company, the municipal corporation had sent 12 conditions. At that time SUDA had discarded the agreement. However, even after that why the contract was passed in the agenda, he asked.
Slapping allegations, he said that before bringing the agenda in the general meeting, the Mayor, in a letter issued to all the corporators, had said that all the corporators have to attend the meeting. Because of that reason the proposal has been passed and Kiwar Company got the contract of cleaning of the city. What is the compulsion behind it that the Mayor had not been taking any step against the company, he questioned.
However, Mayor Dr Nayak said that the state government was not cooperating in the cleaning work of the city. The contract has been given to Kiwar company in such a way that she could not do anything in it. Besides Raipur, the state government has given the responsibility of Durg-Bhilai municipal corporation also to the company. She said, as no conclusion could be brought out from the corporators’ meeting, now, holding a meeting of the citizens, she would try to sort out the cleaning problem of the city.