LUCKNOW, Sept. 5 -- Broken roads, waterlogging, damaged sewer lines, missing streetlights and poor waste collection dominated the House proceedings at Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) headquarters on Thursday. The session, the first since Lucknow secured third rank among the cleanest cities in the country in the million-plus population category in Swachh Shahar Awards in July, saw corporators from BJP, Congress and Samajwadi Party united in exposing civic lapses, accusing officials and the private agency contracted for waste management of negligence. BJP corporator Pramod Singh Rajan alleged that the private agency, responsible for door-to-door garbage collection in five zones, was flouting contract terms. "The agency is neither removing silt from drains nor disposing of horticulture waste as required in the contract. Instead, it dumps waste on private vacant plots," he alleged. His remarks drew support from opposition corporators. The private agency's representative SK Verma defended his organisation, claiming LMC never provided space for waste disposal. Corporators countered this by accusing LMC's environmental engineer Sanjeev Pradhan of negligence, saying his inaction worsened the waste crisis. BJP corporator Nagendra Singh Chauhan highlighted that only Rs 5 lakh had been sanctioned to fill potholes created after heavy rainfall. "This amount is inadequate. It should be increased to at least Rs 40 lakh," he said. Both ruling and opposition corporators supported the demand, noting that rain-damaged roads had become a major public concern. The session turned 'political' when BJP corporator Mukesh Singh 'Monty' sat on the opposition benches. BJP leader Susheel Tiwari 'Pammi' announced that a letter would be sent to city BJP president Anand Dwivedi over the "unusual move". Adding fuel to the fire, BJP corporator Prithvi Gupta likened the state of the corporation to "andher nagri, chaupat raja" (damned city, dumb king). His remark triggered protests, with Congress corporators demanding an apology to the mayor. The heated exchange forced mayor Sushma Kharkwal to briefly leave the House before returning after a break. Gupta later clarified that his statement was not aimed at the mayor personally and acknowledged her leadership, but the episode underlined growing rifts within the ruling BJP's corporator ranks. BJP corporator Shailendra Verma accused zonal incharge Sanjay Yadav and tax superintendent Anurag Upadhyay of lowering property tax assessments in VIP areas. "A property tax to the tune of Rs 12 lakh was reduced to thousands. There are at least 12 similar cases of manipulation," Verma alleged. Congress corporator Mukesh Singh Chauhan accused LMC of repeated negligence, citing a letter written by MLA Rajeshwar Singh to the chief minister highlighting broken roads and irregular sweeping. "Even MLAs are raising these issues because residents are suffering every day," Chauhan said. SP corporator Kamran Beg criticised the "unequal allocation of funds", demanding ward-wise distribution of funds from the 15th Finance Commission and Infrastructure Fund to ensure fairness. Aliganj corporator Prithvi Gupta added that around 30,000 streetlights in his area were either missing from poles or stolen, raising safety concerns. The mayor assured corporators that the remaining Rs.1.10 crore under ward development funds would be released soon. "We had earlier released Rs.1 crore, and now additional funds will be disbursed to corporators," she said. Corporators demanded detailed records of vehicles deployed for door-to-door collection and accused LMC of failing to enforce penalties effectively. They alleged that when fines were imposed, the agency reduced the number of vehicles, further worsening services. The House will reconvene on Tuesday, when officials are expected to present responses to the 70 questions raised....