Officials of the UT Administration and the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh have often been inspired by various development projects that they see on foreign shores.

They tried to replicate a number of such projects in the city. But, in most of the cases, by the time the projects saw the light of day the officials no longer held the same office.

Started with much fanfare, some of these projects ran into troubled waters. But with the officials concerned either being repatriated to their parent states or retired, there is no one to be held accountable for the debacles. Newsline takes a look at the status of these projects.

Solid waste management plant

The much-hyped, first-of-its-kind plant set up at a cost of Rs 30 crore in Dadumajra always remained mired in controversy.

Its inauguration on May 21 this year had been boycotted by Congress councillors due to non-inclusion of the name of Mayor Pardeep Chhabra on the invitation card.

The plant was later not found to be functioning satisfactorily and a notice was issued to JP Associates, the company that was given the contract to run it.

The residents of Dadumajra complained of foul smell emanating out of the dumping ground during the monsoon, with garbage not being lifted for processing.

The company said in the absence of a dryer, the wet garbage could not be processed.

A dryer was finally installed this month and work resumed.

The setting up of the plant had been preceded by a tour to Germany by the then Mayor, Surinder Singh, Municipal Commissioner P S Aujla, councillors Lalit Joshi and Subhash Chawla, along with Municipal Officer Health Dr G C Bansal and Joint Commissioner H S Kandhola.

While councillors and officials now get into heated debates on the functioning of the plant every time the House meets, none of the officials involved in getting the plant to the city are part of the MC any more.

Mechanical sweeping machines

A final word is still not out on whether the machines are capable of sweeping the city roads or not. Three such machines were bought at a cost of Rs 3 crore in May this year.

They were supposed to be used during night hours for cleaning the roads, but at present these are used during peak traffic hours, causing jams.

It is learnt that the machines are suitable for cleaning only smaller areas, like parking lots.

This is another project which has seen much debate in the House.

Similar machines have been in use in Delhi for quite some time. But, the then joint commissioner, H S Kandhola, medical officer of health Dr G C Bansal and an executive engineer had to travel all the way to Italy to inspect the machines before buying them.

With the team repatriated to Punjab, there is no one who is now answerable.

Underpasses

A team comprising the then finance secretary S K Sandhu, chief engineer V K Bhardwaj and chief architect Sunita Monga went to Belgium in August 2007 to study tunnel underpasses.

They came back with a recommendation for eight underpasses. The team also brought ideas for their maintenance.

Within a few months of the junket, Bhardwaj retired and Sandhu was repatriated to Punjab and the project was handed over to the Chandigarh Housing Board.

A final verdict on whether the proposal will finally see the light of the day is still awaited.

Fire-fighting equipment

MC teams have been on junkets to different places for buying fire-fighting equipment.

One such trip was to Finland in July last year to buy a hydraulic ladder at a cost of Rs 2.51 crore.

While the equipment is lying unused with the fire department, officials who brought it to the city are no longer with the corporation.

The team that went to Finland comprised former municipal commissioner P S Aujla, chief fire officer H S Kandhola, superintending engineer, Public Health, S R Aggarwal and sub-fire officer Sham Singh.