Amid Chandigarh MC's financial woes, development activities take a backseat

Indian Express

15-07-2025

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.