Mohali MC to seek police support for enforcement drives

Intent on ensuring the safety of their employees, the Mohali municipal corporation will be seeking deployment of cops with its key teams, including building branch, anti-encroachment staff and property tax wing.

This is likely to be one of the proposals during the MC House meeting, expected to be scheduled next week. If approved in the House, the proposal will be sent to the Punjab local bodies department.

Taking cue from some municipal corporations in Punjab, including Abohar, Batala, Kapurthala, Ludhiana and Amritsar, that already have such an arrangement, Mohali MC also plans on to get an ASI, head constable and eight constables on deputation. Their salaries will be paid by the corporation.

The development comes in the wake of some incidents where the enforcement teams had to face the wrath of shopkeepers and street vendors encroaching upon public spaces in the city.

Many even lodged complaints against MC employees for misbehaviour or bias during anti-encroachment drives.

“Our teams that remove encroachments from markets and seize roadside carts are often manhandled or abused by shopkeepers or market unions. Moreover, many people submit complaints against us of corrupt practices or misbehaviour. Thus, it is vital to have cops with us at the time of any such action in Mohali,” an MC officer said.

Another officer said whenever sanitation teams were deployed to check dumping of garbage from outside MC limits, they landed in heated arguments or were even threatened with weapons and assaulted.

Moreover, villagers tended to attack MC staff when they asked cattle owners to clean cow manure from roads or if they challaned them, the officer added.

“We are not demanding anything new, as many MCs across the state already have dedicated cops with them to ensure safety of their employees or to avoid any untoward situation. Civic bodies that attained the status of MC in 2020, such as Abohar, Batala and Kapurthala, got these police posts sanctioned from the beginning. Mohali civic body was converted into MC in 2011 and thus, we will now seek security from the local bodies government,” another MC officer said.

Mohali MC commissioner Navjot Kaur said it was very important to have security for the enforcement wing and building branch that removed illegal structures in the city. “This will strengthen MC’s enforcement team and will enhance efficiency in work,” said Kaur.

Among other agendas expected to come up at the MC House meeting is maintenance of public toilets in the city.