Panchkula MC abolishes paid parking in three sectors, waives garbage tax

In a series of citizen-friendly decisions, the Municipal Corporation (MC) today waived garbage tax for the fiscal 2025–26 and abolished paid parking in three sectors.

The decisions were taken during a General House meeting chaired by Mayor Kulbhushan Goyal and attended by MLA Chander Mohan, MC Commissioner RK Singh, Joint Commissioner Gaurav Chauhan, councillors and officials of the civic body.

The House unanimously decided to end paid parking in Sectors 8, 9 and 10 as the contractor had failed to deposit dues of around Rs 1.25 crore. The Mayor issued directions for immediate recovery of the dues, while the MC Commissioner warned that an FIR would be registered if the payment was not made. Once the contract ends on November 10, all parking zones in the three sectors will be made free.

To curb illegal mining in rural areas, councillors raised concerns over environmental damage and dues of Rs 4 crore. The Mayor ordered recovery within three days or suspension of mining operations.

In another decision, the MC approved waiver of garbage tax for the financial year 2025–26, which will now be sent to the government for approval. Community centre booking rates were also reduced from Rs 21,000 to Rs 11,000 for centres over one acre and from Rs 11,000 to Rs 5,000 for smaller ones. Besides, 50% concession will be offered on religious events and 25% on funeral functions.

The House granted property tax exemption to all temples, dharamsalas and religious bodies for the year, and approved a 50% rebate on interest for “overdue” residential and commercial taxes. Land in Chandimandir, Alipur and Jallouli will be leased to religious organisations for dharamshalas, schools and hostels.

Other key decisions included the procurement of five electric AC buses for students and one for pilgrimage routes covering Mansa Devi temple, Chandi Mata temple, Kalka Mata temple and Trilokpur temple, and Nada Sahib.

The MC House also approved a Diwali bonus of 15-day salary for sanitation workers and seven-day salary for contractual staff. The meeting ended with the approval for a 100-acre lake and resort project on PPP mode in Kot, Jaswant and Billa villages, and renaming of parks and community centres in the memory of Late Rattan Lal Kataria and Padma Shri Jagdish Lal Ahuja (Langar Baba).

The MLA raised concern over illegal mining, bad condition of roads and excessive use of promotional hoardings.

As it was likely the last meeting of the current MC House before the upcoming elections, residents from across the city reflected on its five-year tenure with mixed views — praising a few developmental initiatives but largely criticising its failure to address core civic issues.

According to Mohit Gupta, founder of Solution Box, a civic issues group, the present House “had an average tenure.” He acknowledged that several projects were launched for the city’s development, but the corporation “faltered on grassroots problems”. Gupta said while garbage collection charges were waived year after year, door-to-door collection remained erratic with no fixed timings and frequent lapses. He added that waterlogging, potholes and poor green-area maintenance continued to plague daily life.

SK Mongia of Sector 9, a retired PSU senior manager, appreciated the improvement in parks due to new lighting and gym installations, but flagged “poor road maintenance, garbage accumulation and delayed fogging”. He also criticised the “negligible” dog sterilisation drives.

Subhash Chandra, president of the RWA in Sector 2, said garbage management had “deteriorated to slum-like levels”, while stray animals, illegal vendors and encroachments remained unchecked. However, he credited the MC for “digitisation of records and the installation of open-air gyms.”

Deep Krishan Chauhan of Sector 20 said Panchkula’s cleanliness ranking fell sharply and expensive machines procured for water services remained unused and were rusting.