Free water: Guv refuses to meet Chandigarh mayor at the eleventh hour

After giving an appointment for Wednesday, Punjab governor and UT administrator Banwarilal Purohit denied meeting city mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor who planned to discuss various issues, including the annual 5% hike in water tariffs and the implementation plan for 20,000 litres of free water to each household every month.
After the mayor reached the governor office on Wednesday morning, the governor’s officer on special duty (OSD) informed him and the accompanying Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders that the governor did not wish to discuss the free water proposal and hence had refused to meet them. “We will reschedule the appointment as per his convenience,” the OSD shared.
As per officials from the governor office, Purohit is avoiding all political meetings due to enforcement of model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha elections. “These free proposals cannot be discussed while the poll conduct is in force,” they said.
However, mayor Dhalor said, “I just wanted to meet the administrator as a courtesy and wanted to discuss several development-related issues for the betterment of the city. He simply denied meeting me. I had scheduled an appointment and was also given time, but when he came to know that I wanted to talk about a public issue like 20,000 litres of free water, his OSD cancelled my appointment.”
“I am an elected representative of the people and it is my duty to continuously bring the issues related to the people before the administrator, which I will continue to do in future also. I will once again make an effort that the administrator should talk to those who are related to the public, as the councillor is the voice of the public,” he said.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Chandigarh municipal corporation House on March 11, led by the mayor who owes allegiance to AAP, had approved 20,000 litres of free water to each household every month. In the House meeting, BJP councillors had also advocated for 40,000 litres of free water, prompting a heated exchange with INDIA bloc councillors, which was followed by suspension of some BJP councillors.
However, the UT administrator was not convinced with the proposal and just a day after the House meeting, he had said he would not approve the House decision.
While the free water decision remains on hold, the annual 5% hike on water tariff has kicked in from April 1. Opposed to the move, the mayor had written a letter to the secretary of UT’s local bodies department and demanded “immediate halt on annual hike” and “free 20,000 litres of water to every household”.
Chandigarh AAP co-incharge Dr SS Ahluwalia said, “It is very unfortunate that the governor refused to meet the mayor in this manner. The mayor had not gone to meet the governor for personal work, but to provide facilities to city residents. The governor cannot keep residents devoid of facilities.”