Cash-starved Panchkula MC gets richer by Rs 2.7 crore

Panchkula, December 15

The cash-starved Panchkula Municipal Corporation received a major boost after Reliance Jio handed over a draft for Rs 2.07 crore to the civic body here today.

Representatives of the company came to meet Mayor Kulbhushan Goyal to pay the dues for mobile towers here today. They presented him a draft, saying the company will deposit whatever money it owed to the civic body.

The representatives of the company also raised some issues. The Mayor asked officials to take cognisance of the issues raised by the firm.

The Mayor asked the representatives of Reliance Jio to deposit the dues of their other towers and lines as soon as possible. He also asked the firm to lay the wires underground with immediate effect.

The Mayor also made it clear to other companies that if they did not deposit the amount for their mobile towers, Wi-Fi and cable lines, their connections would be disconnected. He said there were 318 towers of AirTel, Vodafone, BSNL, ATC, Indus and Jio installed across the city, but the companies had not paid the prescribed fee since year 2016.

In the past one-and-a-half-year, a sum of around Rs 20 crore was recovered from mobile companies in the form of fee for towers and leased lines.

He said mobile companies did not fill dug-up roads completely after laying lines. As a result, people faced inconvenience. Strict action would be taken against such companies.

Councillors Jai Kaushik, Suresh Verma, Sushil Garg and MC’s XEN Pramod Kumar were among those present on the occasion.

Deposit amount or face action

Mayor Kulbhushan Goyal made it clear to other companies that if they did not deposit the amount for their mobile towers, Wi-Fi and cable lines, their connections would be disconnected. He said there were 318 towers of AirTel, Vodafone, BSNL, ATC, Indus and Jio installed across the city, but the companies had not paid the prescribed fee since year 2016.