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Indian Express
5 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Amid Chandigarh MC's financial woes, development activities take a backseat
Developmental activities continue to bear the brunt of the Municipal Corporation's severe financial crunch. For the past several months, meetings of the Finance and Contract Committee (F&CC) as well as the General House have been marked by a conspicuous absence of major development-related agendas. Instead of focusing on infrastructural growth, civic improvement, or urban planning, the meetings are now largely limited to routine administrative discussions and minor proposals. According to officials, the financial strain is primarily due to limited revenue generation and mounting expenditure, compounded by a delay in receiving grants from the UT administration and the Centre. This fund shortage has brought many projects to a standstill, including essential works like road repairs, new community centres, upgrading water supply systems, and the Smart City-related initiatives. Even ward-level development requests by councillors are being deferred indefinitely, further adding to the frustration among public representatives and residents. Sources in the MC indicate that repeated attempts have been made to seek special financial assistance or relaxation in fund usage guidelines from higher authorities, but to no avail so far. The situation shows no signs of improvement in the near future, as the civic body continues to struggle with liabilities and lacks a concrete recovery plan. Councillors across party lines have raised concerns over the administrative standstill, warning that the growing developmental backlog could lead to long-term civic distress. With the city's urban infrastructure already under stress, the absence of capital investment threatens to derail Chandigarh's growth trajectory. Deputy Mayor Taruna Mehta said that apart from the House, at the F&CC meetings, no new development agendas are being discussed. 'Even the agendas for development in the previous F&CC meetings have not been executed,' she added. 'The administration and the central government, which has to release the funds is of the BJP, and the mayor is also from BJP, but the funds are yet not been released to Chandigarh, though the mayor has been asking for the funds repeatedly from the Administration and Centre. As per the 4th Delhi Finance Commission, nearly Rs 1,700 crore should have been released, but the funds released for this financial year were just Rs 625 crore, which is even less than the 3rd Delhi Finance Commission, so how can the MC work for development of the city?' Mehta highlighted. Senior Deputy Mayor Jasbir Singh Bunty said that the condition of the roads, the dumping ground and parks, shows that there is no development in the city. 'Only there is a fund available to pay salaries to the employees of MC. For the past two years there has been no recarpeting of the roads in the city. Since funds are unavailable, the development has completely stopped,' Bunty added. According to Bunty, unless a financial revival package is formulated or new revenue streams are tapped, the MC may continue to 'remain paralysed, leaving residents to bear the brunt of stagnated development'. Meanwhile, FOSWAC president Baljinder Singh Bittu said that people have been hearing about the fund crisis of the MC for a long period now. 'If they cannot run the corporation, it shall be shut. How long will the city suffer, with bad roads and ill-maintained civic issues?' Bittu added. Mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla said, 'There has been no money for the last one-and- a-half years, and no development work was done. But now things have started moving, as in village areas of city, Rs 50 lakh funds have been released, and I am hopeful that things are going to become better. There is also an additional budget grant coming which will help us for development.' Mayor Babla has also been appealing for increased financial support from the Chandigarh Administration. The Mayor has already written two letters to Union Territory Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria in May, urging allocation of funds for critical infrastructure maintenance in the city and its villages.
Time of India
04-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Free or fee? Parking lots stuck in neutral
Ludhiana: Almost two years have passed since the MC auctioned five parking lots in the city but fresh tenders are nowhere in sight. The civic body initially attributed the delay to the Ludhiana West bypoll. Now, they say that they are waiting for the finance and contracts committee meeting. Officials said that three sites were declared free for parking and it is unclear whether they will be included in the auction. The current parking contractor was hired for one year in October, 2022, but in the absence of an e-auction, he is still serving. Before his demise, former MLA of Ludhiana West, Gurpreet Gogi, made Sarabha Nagar market parking free of charge. When the bypoll was announced, AAP candidate Sanjeev Arora announced the Model Town Extension market and two parking lots as parking fee-free. This leaves the MC with the parking lot in Feroze Gandhi market, the multi-storey parking lot near Mata Rani Chowk, Bhadhaur House, and the remaining parking lots of BRS Nagar. Sources said that the MC prepared a proposal for auction and floated tenders in December last year but the tenders were withdrawn due to certain reasons. Officials said that they will flag the issue in the F&CC meeting, after which a decision will be taken. However, things may not be quite as simple. Members of Feroze Gandhi Market Association also want free parking. Their rationale — If Sarabha Nagar Market and Model Town Extension Market have been declared free for parking, why not them? They claimed to have requested civic authorities to hand over market parking lots to the association, as the lots belong to shopkeepers in the area but the civic body did not act on their requests. Demanding uniformity in parking policy, they asked the MC to make the parking free of charge. MC commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal said, "The decision is pending at the level of the mayor, and she has to take a call about the e-auction." Despite repeated attempts, mayor Inderjit Kaur could not be contacted for comments. Parking is a major issue in the city. With high vehicle density and limited parking space, it is common to see vehicles parked on roadsides. Also, there have been frequent complaints about overcharging and misbehaviour at parking lots managed by the existing contractor. Questions are being raised on the MC for not cancelling the agreement despite receiving complaints. Quotes Parking rates should be genuine so that people park in parking lots but here, people face serious issues. Authorities need to check irregularities Shifali Kapoor | Resident, Bharat Nagar Chowk Authorities hardly care about public grievances. They can check such issues only if they visit the field. Contractors do whatever they want to do Inderpreet Singh | Resident, Sarabha Nagar 2022 auction: 6 parking fetched Rs 3.57 crore The MC auctioned six parking lots for Rs 3.57 crore in 2022. Of these, Feroze Gandhi Market and multi-storey parking lots in Zone A were auctioned for Rs 1.29 crore and Rs1.11 crore respectively while Bhadhaur House and Sarabha Nagar parking lots were auctioned for Rs 4.71 lakh and Rs30.4 lakh. The BRS Nagar parking lot was auctioned for Rs 23.01 lakh and the Model Town Extension parking lot was auctioned for Rs 29 lakh. Failure to adopt a single policy for auction of parking sites may lead to major revenue loss. Unmet requirements Before handing over parking sites, the MC fixes certain conditions, including e-ticket machines, uniform with ID cards for employees, display boards showing parking fee, proper marking for parking of two-wheelers and cars and e-pos machines at the entrance of parking site. However, these conditions are rarely fulfilled. No penalties imposed Penalties ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 can be imposed for violations. If the contractor repeats the same mistake thrice, then the contract can be terminated. However, this has never happened despite several complaints of overcharging and misbehaviour by staff with people coming to the parking lots. MSID:: 122250422 413 |
Indian Express
03-07-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
F&CC issues work orders worth Rs 67 cr, approves new estimates of Rs 4 crore
The Finance and Contract Committee (F&CC) of Mohali Municipal Corporation Wednesday issued work orders worth Rs 67 crore for works previously approved and passed new estimates worth Rs 4 crore. The works approved mainly include scarifying the roads and then laying premix on them. Some of these works are already in progress in Mohali. Apart from premix work on main roads and internal streets, work relating to desilting of sewerage lines, cleaning of road drains, and other development tasks were also included. Speaking to The Indian Express after the meeting, Mayor Amarjit Singh Jeeti Sidhu said that roads in Mohali whose lifespan had ended are being overlaid with premix, and in particular, in several areas, roads are being scraped before applying premix so that their height does not increase. Special attention is being given to this on the main roads. He added that work in Mohali is being carried out according to the needs and suggestions of councillors of different wards as well as local residents. He said that officials have been instructed to monitor these works from time to time so that there is no compromise with quality. He said that if there is any deficiency in the quality of the ongoing works, then action will be taken against the contractors and the responsible officers concerned. Present in the meeting were Municipal Commissioner Parminder Pal Singh, Senior Deputy Mayor Amrik Singh Somal, Deputy Mayor Kuljit Singh Bedi, committee members councillors Jasbir Singh Manku and Anuradha Anand, along with Chief Engineer Naresh Batta and other officials.
Time of India
24-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Cash-strapped Chd MC looks for ways and means to boost revenue
Chandigarh: No other development agenda, except the laying of a pipeline to supply water to the newly built houses of judges in Sector 10, was taken up in UT MC's monthly finance and contract committee (F&CC) meeting here Friday. With MC long facing an acute shortage of funds, F&CC members deliberated upon ways and means to boost revenue. Among some of the committee's suggestions were promoting art and cultural activities at Sector 17 Plaza during the weekends. They suggested that the open space could be given on rent to event organisers for cultural programmes and exhibitions, thereby transforming the plaza into a vibrant community hub while generating additional revenue for the civic body. The officers concerned were directed to explore and present actionable plans for the same. The committee also reviewed smart solutions for managing paid parking lots across the city. Detailed discussions were held to enhance public convenience and streamline parking services. The F&CC revised the professional fee structure for advocates handling legal matters related to the integrated command and control centre . The new fee has been fixed at Rs 3,000 per case to assist the nodal officer in the district & sessions court in the tricity. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Brother's Day wishes , messages and quotes !
Time of India
22-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Chandigarh MC's accounts empty, F&CC to give development works a miss again
Chandigarh: Even as Chandigarh municipal corporation's finance and contract committee (F&CC) is going to take up three agenda items during its meeting on Friday, the city stands to gain little as far as its development works are concerned. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now F&CC's short list of agendas reflects the continuing crisis in the MC, which has been struggling to meet its financial needs amid dried up fund flow. In a very rare case, F&CC meeting, which is generally a monthly affair, was not held in April as there were no funds with the MC for development works. While the first agenda is just about confirming the minutes of the last F&CC meeting held in March, another is regarding determining the professional fee of an advocate for a legal case. The third agenda is about certain works specifically meant for judges' houses in Sector 10. The agenda list, released late in the evening, features 'Confirmation of the minutes of the 351st meeting of the Finance and Contract Committee held on March 24 2025', 'To determine the professional fee for the advocates in the matters pertaining to the Integrated Command Control Centre (ICCC) to assist the nodal officer in the District and Session Court situated in Tri-city and other courts' and 'to determine the rough cost estimate (RCE) for the work of providing and laying a 4 DI water supply pipeline for newly constructed judges' houses in Sector 10, Chandigarh'. Sources in the MC, revealed that due to a scarcity of funds, no agenda items related to developmental works are included in the main agenda book of the F&CC meeting. Except for the confirmation of the last meeting's minutes, only emergency works, needed urgently, will be discussed. Moreover, in the near future, there is not much hope for work due to the ongoing financial crunch in the civic body authority. On March 24, the finance and contract committee gave its nod to the extension of the booking of housing board ground for nine days. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Providing and planting of trees and shrubs at the dumping ground in Daddumajra at an estimated cost of Rs 32.9 lakh was also approved in the meeting. This apart, the F&CC approved the proposal for the travel and hotel expenditure of an advocate engaged for defending two high-valued arbitration cases before the arbitral tribunal. Besides, the first meeting of the MC road committee was also held on March 24.
