Mayor Gautam Deb on Friday dismissed BJP MLA Shankar Ghosh’s allegations against the Trinamool Congress–run board at the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) as “false” and “fabricated”.
On Thursday, Ghosh had accused the SMC of stalling projects funded through his MLA development fund, including road construction and fencing.
Speaking to the media at the SMC on Friday, the mayor said that most of the projects submitted by Ghosh did not align with the funds allocated through the MLA’s development fund or with the feasibility reports.
“The MLA of Siliguri submitted 14 projects in the past five years, estimated to cost around ₹3 crore. But during the feasibility study, it was found that most of them did not match the allocated funds with the feasibility report. His allegations are false and fabricated, meant to tarnish the civic board’s reputation,” Deb said.
The mayor cited the example of a project involving renovation and ground fencing at Udayan Samiti, a community hall, in ward 15 of the city.
The mayor said the SMC had submitted a proposal to the Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority (SJDA) on March 3 for the comprehensive renovation of the premises. Subsequently, the north Bengal development department (NBDD) took up the project and invited tenders on April 25.
“The MLA submitted a feasibility report on May 14 to the CEO of SJDA. But the SMC commissioner, on September 27, wrote to the district magistrate of Darjeeling not to accept it because the project had already been taken up by the NBDD at an estimated cost of ₹31.50 lakh. The MLA, however, allocated only around ₹5lakh for the same work,” clarified Deb.
He said neither the BJP MLA of Dabgram–Fulbari (14 wards of the SMC are under the constituency), nor the BJP MP of Darjeeling, had raised similar allegations. “These allegations are being made only by the BJP MLA of Siliguri, when the Assembly elections are just a few months away,” Deb said.