Mayor suspects fuel scam in MC

Ludhiana: Mayor Balkar Sandhu has smelt a rat in the utilization of fuel being given to various vehicles of MC daily for various tasks. On Tuesday, he randomly called drivers who had filled fuel in their vehicles for road patchwork, but when asked, they were found somewhere else. Show cause notices have been issued to 14 drivers of MC whose vehicles did not come handy during the eviction drive of Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) in Rishi Nagar on December 1, where these vehicles were stationed, but they refilled the vehicles on December 3.
The mayor claimed while on the one hand, they were not leaving any stone unturned to recover pending dues, so that development works in the city could take place, MC employees are bent on ruining on all the plans. On December 1, around 61 vehicles of MC were stationed in Rishi Nagar to help LIT officials in the eviction of encroachers from the area to Giaspura flats.
According to MC workshop in-charge Kuldeep Singh, around 14 vehicles (mostly tippers) were not used in any kind of activity, while JCB machines and trolleys were put on the job. But on December 3, the drivers of these vehicles again refilled their vehicles, saying their tanks were empty. When the mayor was apprised of this, he asked for an explanation from the drivers.
Similarly on Tuesday, when MC vehicles were given fuel from designated fuel stations, their locations and purpose was noted down by the in-charges. The mayor randomly called up the drivers. One of the drivers had filled 20 litres of diesel in his vehicle, and had written the cause as ‘patchwork’, whereas on Tuesday, the MC bitumen plant was closed. When he was called up, he replied he was not aware the plant was closed, so he went from Zone A to the plant on Hambran Road, and then again to Zone A. He also said he was asked to take bricks and manpower in ward 4 for some work.
The mayor claimed he had decided not to give fuel to employees adopting such measures. He said: “I have no issues in giving fuel for MC vehicles, but at least the employees should utilize it for some public work.” He claimed he would take action against the erring employees.
Notably, the mayor has already kept 18 vehicles of MC in a workshop, on suspicion of some embezzlement being done by employees. These vehicles were attached with MC’s health branch, and despite having a private firm to lift garbage from city points, these vehicles were also being used for a similar purpose.