Chandigarh MC chief asks officers to prepare list of development projects
The directions from the commissioner came on Friday after several city councillors complained that their already approved projects are not being commenced and the development in the city is being hindered
With Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) facing acute fund crunch, its commissioner, Anindita Mitra, asked officials of various departments during the General House meeting to prepare a list of pending projects that should be started on priority.
The directions from the commissioner came on Friday after several city councillors complained that their already approved projects are not being commenced and the development in the city is being hindered.
“For the past two months, June and July, MC has not floated any new tender for new development-related projects due to fund crunch. With the Union Budget being approved, we will start getting full grants from UT administration and will commence the work of pending projects. We will make a list of prioritized projects,” Mitra said during the house meeting.
All development-related projects, including those approved in finance and contract committee (F&CC) and General House of the MC, such as re-carpeting roads, laying of paver blocks, renovation or upgradation of community centres, beautification of market areas, toilets and cremation grounds, or horticulture related projects, have been stalled due to financial crisis. Not only this, the civic body is also struggling to clear pending bills of contractual works.
The MC is only able to pay monthly liability, including salaries and funds required for water supply and sewerage management, which run up to ₹60 crore per month.
The MC relies on funds from the UT administration as well as its revenue sources for its annual income. For the financial year 2024-25, the UT administration has allocated a grant-in-aid of only ₹560 crore to MC, a sharp cut from the demand of ₹1,651 crore. Given the annual committed liabilities of MC, which alone is around ₹500 crore, now, the MC is focusing on increasing its revenue to meet the shortfall of funds to maintain essential civic services, including roads, water supply, waste disposal and sewerage, but is struggling to do so at present.
