A Delhi Municipal Corporation meeting was disrupted on Thursday by a dispute over annual funds for councillors, with allegations of microphone damage and tea being thrown, even as the House approved measures covering waste processing, festival sanitation and air-pollution control.
The opposition objected to a proposal to provide each councillor with an annual fund of Rs 2 crore. Mayor Pravesh Wahi adjourned proceedings for some time after the dispute escalated. Leader of the House Jai Bhagwan Yadav questioned the opposition’s position, saying that when it had controlled the corporation, councillors had also been provided funds of Rs 25 lakh.
The meeting later saw a confrontation between councillors from the Aam Aadmi Party and Congress. According to the report, AAP councillor Shagufta Chaudhary and other councillors moved towards the mayor’s chair while protesting remarks by Congress opposition leader Nazia Danish. The opposition was accused of breaking a microphone, and the meeting was disrupted before the agenda was passed.
The mayor later alleged that opposition members had damaged public property and thrown tea during the proceedings. Wahi said disciplinary action would be taken in connection with the alleged damage. The source report did not specify the nature or timeline of the proposed action.
Despite the disruption, the House approved several civic measures. These included the establishment of a waste-processing plant in Singhola with a reported capacity of 700 metric tonnes per day. Work on the plant has already begun, according to the report. The decision comes as the corporation faces the operational challenge of processing and monitoring waste across the capital’s municipal area.
The corporation also said that 2,500 additional sanitation workers would be deployed during the festival period. The mayor said the workers would be assigned responsibilities linked to maintaining cleanliness during the festivities.
The meeting also reviewed measures aimed at controlling air pollution. The corporation has directed departments to intensify dust control, deep-clean dust-prone roads and strengthen enforcement against violations contributing to pollution. Officials said identified dust-prone roads across all 12 zones were being cleaned intensively, while field-level monitoring and enforcement had been strengthened.
For construction and demolition waste, the corporation said designated disposal sites had been identified across all 250 wards to prevent illegal dumping. Standard operating procedures require dust barriers at least three metres higher than waste heaps, complete covering or regular wetting of dumped material, and the operation of water-sprinkling systems across the sites.
Vehicles transporting construction and demolition waste to these locations must also be fully covered to prevent dust from spreading during transit. The corporation further said 360-degree PTZ cameras had been installed at 125 sites, with live feeds to be made available to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee for round-the-clock monitoring.
The source report did not provide details on the total cost, tender arrangements or implementation schedule for the waste-processing plant, additional sanitation deployment or camera-based monitoring system. The next steps include the proposed disciplinary action over alleged damage to municipal property and continued enforcement of the corporation’s dust and waste-disposal measures.
