Faridabad civic body depends on govt for 75% of its expenses

Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, March 3

The local municipal corporation (MC) is in dire straits. It depends on the state government for up to 75 per cent of its annual budget.

Against an expected expenditure of Rs2,394 crore in 2020-21, the MC has projected an income of Rs2,032 crore from various sources.

It has been revealed that actual collection of revenue may not cross Rs600 crore due to poor recovery. The huge gap between income and expenditure is clearly visible with pending payments and dues.

“The civic body owes about Rs 200 crore to contractors,” said Giriraj Singh, a spokesperson of the MC Contractors’ Association.

He said about Rs100 crore was pending for works done under CM’s announcements from 2014 to 2019 and Rs 60 crore had not been released for the past few years.

The MC had failed to clear Rs69.72 crore as electricity dues in view of the financial crunch. This amount had swelled to Rs97.34 crore in March last year.

The MC recovered only Rs55.53 crore as house tax from April 1 last year to February 29. The balance stood at Rs216.73 crore at present.

The MC collected only around Rs65 crore as water and sewerage charges with 45 per cent of the five lakh connections not paying regular bills.

A drive was launched in 2018 to recover pending dues like the EDC and CLU charges to the tune of Rs200 crore from commercial units. It got shelved after the transfer of then Municipal Commissioner.

Municipal corporation’s Budget 2020-21

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