Sanitiser bottles overpriced: Mayor to top LMC official

LUCKNOW: Mayor Sanyukta Bhatia has written to municipal commissioner Indramani Trpathi, alleging that Lucknow Municial Corporation (LMC) has bought overpriced sanitiser bottles.

She has alleged that bottles for storing sanitisers, which are available at Rs 2 per piece, have been sold to LMC by a company at Rs 10 per piece. She also alleged sanitiser was bought by LMC at higher rates.

The municipal commissioner has rubbished the allegations and said , “All the bottles, which the mayor has referred to in her letter are donated to LMC by a company through its CSR (corporate social responsibility) fund. There has been some misunderstanding.”

“LMC has not purchased even a single bottle. Anyone can come and check the papers. The mayor has every right to ask for papers and she should have exercised her right and asked for all the documents regarding the bottles. Now, after this letter, companies would be afraid of donating things to LMC to avoid unnecessary mudslinging,” said Tripathi.

“All these bottles were given to sanitation workers and class IV workers performing their duties in hot spots where no one dares to enter. The municipal staff is in the field for 18 to 20 hours a day. Instead of appreciating this fact, such accusations will only lower their morale,” he said.

However, mayor Sanyukta Bhatia said, “I have only written for a probe into the matter. The letter was not meant to hurt anyone. The aim is to bring out the truth.”