KANPUR: Mayor Pramila Pandey once again lost her cool on Wednesday to such an extent that she threw the file given by the engineer for review of the drain cleaning related work before the onset of monsoon season.
A video that went viral on social media shows the mayor taking the file from the engineer, then throwing it and shouting at him.
According to sources, Pramila Pandey on Wednesday caught zonal engineer of zone-3, when he tried to mislead her with regard to review of nullah cleaning in a meeting called specially to discuss and know the progress of desilting of drains.
The zonal engineer in his departmental digital diary stated that nullah cleaning had started in his zone in March but the mayor openly said, that he was misleading her, the sources further said and added, “She further rebuked him saying that when nullah cleaning started in May then how the zonal engineer was claiming that he had started the work in March”.
The angry mayor directed the chief engineer of Kanpur Municipal Corporation that from June 14, she herself would inspect nullah cleaning work in each zone during which she would be assisted by the executive engineer and others.
Earlier, the mayor had directed the chief engineer to do the spot inspection when the zonal engineer of zone-4 did not reply about the status of Muir Mill nullah and explain the damage and repair of the drain due to the Metro work being done near Lal Imli. The annoyed mayor warned the officer and said she would take appropriate action against the officials in case of water-logging taking place in the city in monsoon.
When she inquired about construction of Sanigawan nullah, the executive engineer Diwakar Bhaskar said that construction of the nullah was going on by using pipes. She also sought overall progress from chief engineer Manish Awasthi who told her that the nullah cleaning work was in full swing in all zones and more than 60 percent work had been completed.
Regarding cleaning of gully pits, the zonal engineers stated that at some places’ drains or “jalis” (nets) were broken and were being repaired. In a specific direction she asked them to ensure proper sanitation on the occasion of Eid-ul-Zuha festival.
All additional municipal commissioners, engineers of all zones and health department officials were present in the meeting. This was not the first time that the mayor got so angry, earlier too she got so angry at the Metro officials that she punished them by ordering to switch off all room fans and air conditioners of the meeting hall forcing them o sit in the hall for hours.