Ludhiana MC orders chargesheet against four officials

The municipal corporation (MC) ordered the preparation of a chargesheet against four officials for allegedly submitting wrong building plans related to the Maharana Pratap Library, officials said. The case is already being heard by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

According to official information, the four officers prepared and submitted incorrect site plans for the library, which were different from the facts presented before the NGT. Due to these discrepancies, the NGT had appointed a court commissioner to visit the site and verify the situation.

Officials identified the accused as building and roads (B&R) branch executive engineer Rakesh Singla, B&R branch sub-divisional officer (SDO) Shashikant, and B&R branch junior engineers Pawanpreet Singh and Rashpal Singh

The case pertains to a petition being heard by NGT against encroachments in green belts in BRS Nagar near Lodhi Club and old GT Road.

In a hearing on October 4 last year, MC counsel failed to justify construction of library in the area that marked as ‘city park/major open spaces’ in the master plan.

In their defence, the officials claimed the MC’s B&R branch has been working without surveyors and draftsmen for several years. They said they were forced to handle multiple duties, including election work, streetlight issues and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) assignments. They argued that the errors were not intentional but due to staff shortage and work pressure.

However, senior officials found the explanations unsatisfactory. Despite repeated attempts, executive engineer Rakesh Singla was not available for comments.