‘It is illegal’: MP Manish Tewari slams Chandigarh administration’s rejection of free water plan

The Congress MP says the Union Territory administration should have served a showcause notice to the municipal corporation before rejecting an agenda passed by councillors.

Congress leader Manish Tewari. (Photo: Facebook)

On his first visit to the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation’s General House as MP, Congress leader Manish Tewari on Tuesday termed as illegal the Union Territory administration’s decision to reject a project to provide free water and parking facilities after it was passed by councillors.

“When the agenda was passed in March..I wasn’t there that time. When I read in the newspaper that the administration has rejected the decision… I would like to mention that as per law, there is section 423 in the (Municipal Corporation) Act, which says that the government may annul an illegal proceeding passed by the house… In the first place I would say that giving free water to people wasn’t illegal… and in that case too, the law says that the government shall serve a showcause notice first to the civic body. Basically, give them an opportunity first,” said Tewari, who as the MP for Chandigarh is the ex officio member of the General House.

“Why didn’t they serve a showcause notice first? The Act mentions the use of the word ‘shall’ and not ‘may’ as far as serving showcause is concerned, about hearing the corporation first. I don’t want to use hard words, but I will say that the decision taken by outrightly rejecting the agenda is illegal,” Tewari said. The newly elected MP also said that “the civic body may write back to the administration quoting section 423”.

The Chandigarh administrator last month rejected the agenda of free water passed by AAP and Congress councillors, stating that the civic body was already making losses and that providing 20,000 litres of water to every family would cause a huge revenue loss.

Congress councillor Gurpreet Singh wondered how the administrator outrightly rejected an agenda on water sent by elected representatives. “We may pass any agenda. This is such a matter of shame that we are all the ones who have been elected by the public and our agendas are rejected…and they (administration) issue public statements. Was there any showcause given either by the administrator or secretary (local government) about why the agenda doesn’t fit well?” he said.

“Are we meant just to get pavers installed or get the sewer drains cleaned? Are we here just to have lunch or tea or get an office after being elected,” he asked.

Singh lamented that “Chandigarh has set a new trend”. “What kind of trend is this? We need an explanation,” he asked.

Chandigarh Mayor Kuldeep Kumar clarified that he had “not received any show cause notice or any letter from the administration regarding the rejection of the water agenda”.

AAP councillor Yogesh Dhingra said it was surprising that no councillor had been taken into confidence when the decision was taken. “We are splurging crores on the rose festival, which is just for a day or two, but we can’t spend just a bit of money on giving free water to people,” he added.

BJP councillor Kanwarjeet Rana said his party had “never opposed the water project”.

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First uploaded on: 09-07-2024 at 13:26 IST

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