The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) on Tuesday approved the transfer of all V3 roads – sector-dividing stretches spanning nearly 275 km – into the jurisdiction of the UT administration for carpeting and maintenance, amid high drama in the General House.
The controversial agenda was passed after protesting councillors of the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were suspended and forcibly removed by marshals.
This was the second time that the proposal was brought to the House. Earlier in March, councillors had rejected it on grounds that such a transfer would close doors for additional financial aid from the UT administration. The proposal, however, carried a dissent note from MC commissioner Amit Kumar, who had argued that the civic body lacked funds to undertake road carpeting this season. Mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla, too, had supported the transfer, suggesting the roads could be reclaimed once the corporation’s financial condition improved.
Following the House rejection, MC had written to the administration, but the UT had refused to take over the roads, seeking clarity on the legal basis of such a move.
According to officials, the corporation oversees around 71 V3 roads, measuring 275 km in total. By norms, these roads should be resurfaced every five years, but no work has been carried out in the past two years. At least ₹45 crore is needed to carpet just 50 km, but MC’s finances have stalled the work, leading to rapid deterioration of road quality.
Defending the move, the MC commissioner said: “Several attempts have been made to secure dedicated funds, but to no avail, leaving no other option but to transfer the roads in public interest.”
Opposition terms it BJP’s failure
Opposition councillors opposed the proposal, calling it a failure of the ruling BJP to secure funds from the UT. Congress councillor Gurpreet Singh Gabi said, “Instead of handing over MC’s roads to the UT, we should demand dedicated funds. Transfer will only mean BJP’s failure. If at all it is approved, there should be a time-bound clause-say two years-after which the roads will be reclaimed by the MC.”
Mayor Babla, however, hit back at the opposition, saying, “First they grow lotus (BJP’s symbol) in potholes to protest bad roads, and now when we are working to get the roads carpeted, they oppose it. This exposes their double standards, where politics is given priority over public welfare.”
The debate grew intense when the opposition demanded a vote on the proposal. With 14 BJP councillors present, the ruling party was one short of the opposition’s strength in the House. To quell the protests, the mayor called in the marshalls, who evicted the opposition councillors. Thereafter, the BJP councillors unanimously cleared the agenda.
The opposition councillors later wrote to the MC secretary saying that the agenda was illegally passed without having majority in the House, and is a violation of house proceedings.
AAP Chandigarh president Vijaypal Singh said, “This is a black day for democracy in Chandigarh. Elected representatives were silenced, manhandled, and removed from the House to bulldoze BJP’s agenda. Such unconstitutional actions will not be tolerated.”
Later, MP Manish Tewari also tweeted, “The manhandling of @AAPChandigarh and @INCChandigarh Councillors in the @MCChandigarh house today by deploying policemen masquerading as Marshals is truly condemnable. It was the Anil Masih moment all over again.”
Currently, the MC maintains around 2,000 km of city roads-over 60% of Chandigarh’s network-including V3 (sector dividing), V4 (shopping streets), V5 (sector circulation), V6 (residential access) and internal roads in villages and rehabilitation colonies. With even pothole repairs halted for months, residents have been flooding grievance portals and helplines, demanding urgent road maintenance.