Times News NetworkKanpur: A fresh tussle has erupted between mayor Pramila Pandey and municipal commissioner Arpit Upadhyaya over the operation and maintenance of the Rs. 90 crore Convention Centre, with the two taking opposing stands on the tender and handover process.During the KMC working committee meeting on Oct 9, the mayor announced that the committee had decided to cancel the tender awarded for operating the Convention Centre. However, the municipal commissioner maintained that the memorandum of understanding (MoU) and agreement had already been signed and preparations were underway to hand over the facility to the selected firm.The latest dispute follows the commissioner’s decision to dissolve the committees constituted to oversee the operation and management of Mangal Bhawan, located at Brijendra Swarup Park. The mayor had objected to the dissolution, claiming that the commissioner had not obtained approval from the working committee or the KMC House before taking the decision.The disagreement intensified during the Oct 9 meeting, when Pramila Pandey questioned the procedure adopted to hand over the Convention Centre’s operation and maintenance to Balaji Infrastructure. She said that when the arrangement envisaged a 50:50 partnership between Smart City and the municipal corporation, the tender should not have been awarded to a private firm without seeking the House’s recommendation.The municipal commissioner, however, maintained that the MoU and agreement had already been signed and the handover process was underway. Balaji Infrastructure was awarded the contract after offering Rs. 4 crore in the third round of the tender process.
