RAWALPINDI, April 26: Construction of illegal plazas and alleged irregularities committed by the former Tehsil municipal officer (TMO) in this regard remained the focus of discussion during the Tehsil Council session held after a two-month break on Saturday.

The members called for producing the former TMO before the House to explain his position.

“The former TMO called himself a very genius, honest and dedicated officer, but failed to notice the construction of illegal plazas. The collapse of the multi-storey plaza has removed the artificial cover the former TMO had thrown on himself. He should be produced before the House for an explanation,” Union Council-26 Naib Nazim Assad Mughal said.

The House prayed for those who died in the collapse of Bano Arcade at the Commercial Market and demanded action against the TMA officers responsible.

Some of the members claimed that the former TMO made illegal appointments and promotions, and changed the service cadre of some employees, which was beyond his authority. He also used the Tehsil staff as his private servants and deployed some at the houses of his army friends, another member alleged.

A number of members complained against, what they said, discrimination in the distribution of development funds. They said the Punjab government had been providing Rs4.5 million to the Tehsil every month for development works. They said the House should be informed as to how much amount had been accumulated so far, so that it could be distributed among all union councils on equal basis. The accounts officer was unable to give the details, resulting in uproar.

Some of the public representatives complained against their being powerless, and said none of the resolutions passed in the previous sessions had been implemented.

On this, the speaker, Sajjad Khan, said the former TMO was the main hurdle in the implementation of their resolutions, adding that now “your rights will be protected and approvals implemented”.

The long-standing issue of commercialization fee also came up for discussion. The fee had been reduced from 25 to 20 per cent by the Punjab government, but the former TMO ignored the directives and continued charging the old rate, the speaker told the House.

The speaker formed a committee to settle the issue and refund the amount to the people who were overcharged.

Some members complained against the Water and Sanitation Agency, saying their areas had been facing water shortage. Others said Wasa officials did not treat them well when they approached them for the resolution of their problems. The speaker said a special session would be convened for discussion on issues related to the water agency.

The TMA sanitation section also came under criticism. The Naib Nazims accused the sanitation officers of taking bribes. The in charge of sanitation department, Dr Mazhar, was called as the chief collecting officer of the previous TMO.

The House refused to pass a resolution relating to approval for purchase of petrol for the TMA vehicles. The members said thousands of rupees were embezzled every day in the purchase of petrol. A member estimated the embezzlement at Rs40,000 per day.

At this, the speaker constituted another committee to monitor as to how much the petrol cost the TMA in a day. It was also assigned the task of detecting embezzlement.