Chandigarh, June 4 -- Former mayor and senior BJP leader Anup Gupta took on the MC's chief engineer, Sanjay Arora, during the House meeting held on Tuesday for allegedly bypassing the tender process and awarding the city's horticulture waste management project to M/s Hardicon Limited, a public sector undertaking. Meanwhile, MC commissioner Amit Kumar ordered an inquiry into the matter and stated that strict action will be taken against any official found responsible. "The agreement will be cancelled and a fresh tender will be floated," he assured the House. The project involves setting up a 60-tonne-per-day horticulture waste plant at an estimated cost of Rs.3 crore, which the company plans to recover within a year through the sale of processed material. The company will operate the plant for 10 years and retain all profits, while the municipal corporation is not expected to earn any revenue from the arrangement. Gupta said about a month ago, he had written to the chief engineer, seeking a detailed clarification regarding the nomination of M/s Hardicon Limited. In his letter, he had questioned whether any Expression of Interest (EOI) or Request for Proposal (RFP) was issued, and whether the provisions of the General Financial Rules (GFR) 2017, Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) guidelines and the Manual of Procurement of Works 2022 were followed. However, he has yet to receive a reply. During the House meeting, Arora appeared on the back foot. Though he stated that he was in the process of retrieving the file related to the project, he failed to provide any satisfactory explanation. Gupta termed the move financially irresponsible, particularly at a time when the municipal corporation is already facing a severe cash crunch. He also raised concerns about the firm's experience in horticulture waste management, pointing to reports which suggested that the company may outsource operations to a third party.htc...