No rules in place, Dharamsala MC fails to revise property rents

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, November 18

In the absence of rules, the Dharamsala Municipal Corporation (MC) has failed to revise the rents of its properties leased to private persons. The MC has even failed to get these properties vacated.

Civic body can earn up to Rs 10 cr

• As many as 314 properties of the Municipal Corporation are under the possession of private people on lease
• The civic body has been getting a rent of around Rs 60 lakh per annum from these properties
• However, according to sources, as per market rates, the MC can earn up to Rs 10 crore as rent from these properties

As per information gathered by The Tribune, as many as 314 properties of the MC are under the possession of private people on lease and the civic body has been getting a rent of around Rs 60 lakh per annum for these. However, according to sources, as per the latest market rates, the MC can earn up to Rs 10 crore from these properties.

The sources said in many cases, the civic body is not getting any rent from prime properties as the lease for these have expired. The authorities have even failed to get them vacated. Besides, the people holding the lease have further subleased the properties and have been earning hefty amounts.

As per information, the Dharamsala MC does not even not have records regarding lease terms of many of the rented properties. The civic body reconstructed the records of 285 properties in 2018.

During its recent visit to Kangra district, the Assembly committee on local governments had asked the Dharamsala MC authorities to submit a proposal regarding the amendments to the Municipal Corporation Act so that the leased properties can either be vacated or their rents could be revised to boost the income of local bodies.

MC Commissioner Anurag Chander Sharma said the corporation was drafting a proposal regarding the amendment to rules to enable the civic body to get its subleased properties vacated. “We would submit the proposal to the Assembly committee very soon,” he said.

Most of these are reportedly under the possession of influential political people. These people have been paying the corporation peanuts, but have themselves been earning lakhs of rupees per month from these.