PIONEEREDGE NEW SERVICE | Dehradun The Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) board meeting on Tuesday witnessed chaos as councillors from the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress clashed over the meeting procedures and encroachment-related complaints. Several councillors objected at the start of the meeting, claiming that they were not informed in time and could not submit their proposals or review the agenda. Some claimed that they believed the meeting was limited to budget discussions. However, mayor Saurabh Thapliyal and municipal commissioner Namami Bansal refuted the allegations, stating that the corporation had notified all councillors 96 hours in advance, in line with protocol. Some councillors also alleged that the corporation excluded previously passed proposals from official minutes and left out new suggestions from the current agenda document. Bansal said that the corporation sends minutes to all councillors after each board meeting and urged members to raise objections at the appropriate time rather than waiting for so long. The meeting escalated when BJP councillor Vishal Kumar made a remark saying that like at Centre and State level, the Congress was also failing to raise public issues in the MCD meeting and that the BJP was effectively acting as the opposition too. Congress councillors strongly objected to the remark, leading to a heated exchange and a brief scuffle. The councillors staged a protest by sitting on the floor and refused to participate in the meeting. Following intervention by Thapliyal and Doiwala MLA Brij Bhushan Gairola, Kumar issued an apology and the meeting resumed. The councillors later raised multiple complaints regarding encroachment and criticised the land section of MCD for inaction. Some alleged that officials were helping land mafia instead of stopping illegal occupation. They also accused the land section of lacking proper records of MCD-owned lands, which they said had led to demolition of some structures under the mistaken belief that the land belonged to the corporation. The mayor instructed the land section to take prompt action on all encroachment-related complaints and warned of action against any official involved in irregularities. He also announced that the MCD will launch a city-wide campaign to remove unlicensed street vendors. In addition, the MCD is conducting a survey of all commercial establishments to improve sanitation and related services, he added.
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