All Party Meeting on solid waste management held

Ludhiana: Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu today chaired an All Party Meeting on the issue of Solid Waste Management at Mayor Camp office, here. This meeting was also attended by Senior Deputy Mayor Sham Sunder Malhotra, Municipal Councillors Mamta Ashu, Harbhajan Singh Dang and Jaspal Singh Giaspura from Akali Dal, Sunita Sharma and Inder Aggarwal from Bharatiya Janata Party, Dr Jai Parkash, Swarandeep Singh Chahal, besides several others.

    During the meeting, all the councillors across party lines supported the Municipal Corporation for terminating the contract of A2Z company.

    Ludhiana Mayor Mr Balkar Singh Sandhu also assured the councillors and residents that all is well in terms of lifting of garbage and management of solid waste in all areas falling under the jurisdiction of Municipal Corporation Ludhiana. He said that ever since the contract of A2Z company, which was earlier involved in the solid waste management of Ludhiana, was terminated, all senior MC officials have been in the field and looking after the solid waste management so that people do not suffer.

    Mr Balkar Singh Sandhu said that even the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had given the instructions to make audit of the legacy waste that they had created and make the recoveries from them to remediate that legacy waste. The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) too, at various occasions, had passed strictures against A2Z for not complying with the solid waste management rules of 2016. The Municipal Corporation Ludhiana (MCL) too had been regularly issuing them notices for such non compliance.

    He said that since A2Z company, which was given a contract for solid waste management by the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janta Party combine in the year 2011, was not working as per the agreed agreement, their contract was terminated in the interest of the residents. 

    He said that fresh tenders for solid waste management of Ludhiana would also be floated shortly and assured the residents that the new company would be hired in a transparent manner. /(February 20, 2021)