Latest news with #Rs137
Express Tribune
13-05-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Less than half of city uplift work completed
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif inspected under-construction road, street and drainage projects in progress under the Lahore Development Plan during a surprise visit to several areas of the city. The chief minister directed the officials concerned to ensure the quality of the construction work at all cost and ensure timely completion of the development plan. She also visited a vegetable shop and checked the prices. She visited a market in the Chauburji area and enquired about the citizens' well-being, cleanliness arrangements and projects on the occasion. According to an official statement, citizens said their street had been built within 15 days after a wait of 40 years. However, sources in the relevant departments said the completion in time of the whole of the Lahore Development Programme launched with an estimated cost of Rs137 billion was likely to be a challenge for the departments concerned. They said the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) had so far completed 45 per cent of the development work assigned to it under the programe. The metropolitan corporation has completed 32% of the work. Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz had approved an allocation of Rs137 billion for various schemes for WASA and the Metropolitan Corporation Lahore. In the first phase of the plan, 252 WASA schemes were approved for the Gulberg, Ravi, Data Ganj Bakhsh, Samnabad, Iqbal Town and Nishtar zones with an estimated cost of Rs41.35 billion. An amount of Rs29.35 billion was initially released for the projects, of which Rs12.8 billion has been spent so far. During the past five months, 45% of the projects have been completed while the work on the rest is under way. The highest ratio of incomplete projects is in Samnabad. The work in the Ravi zone will be carried out in the second phase. WASA Managing Director Ghufran Ahmed told The Express Tribune that work on the development programme is progressing rapidly and the chief minister has released funds to solve the problems of Lahore on a permanent basis. He said WASA would complete its work in all the zones by July 30. On the other hand, the metropolitan corporation has to implement 3,820 schemes across the city at a cost of Rs19 billion, but work has been started on 2,676 of them so far. Out of the schemes, 960 have been completed, depicting a rate of 32%. The sources said Deputy Commissioner Syed Musa Raza had expressed dissatisfaction during a recent meeting over the slow pace of work in some areas after being briefed about the ongoing development schemes. The officials said that most of the schemes could only be completed after the work on sewerage and water supply lines would be completed by WASA. The DC said instructions had been issued to the Metropolitan Corporation Lahore to complete the Lahore Development Programme Phase I by June 30 so that the schemes could be concluded within the stipulated time frame. Instructions were also issued to WASA to complete the work within the time frame. Deputy Commissioner Musa Raza the second phase of the development programme would be launched as soon as possible after the completion of Phase I.
Time of India
09-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
No GST grant for 2 months, NMC faces financial crisis
Nagpur: The (NMC) is facing a severe financial crunch after failing to receive the mandatory goods and services tax (GST) compensatory grants from the state govt for two consecutive months—April and May—of the current financial 2023–24, NMC received a monthly GST grant of Rs137 crore. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now For the 2024–25 financial year, the civic body anticipated an 8% hike, expecting monthly grants to rise to Rs148 crore. However, not a single rupee was disbursed in the first two months, severely impacting the NMC's ability to meet its financial to NMC accounts and finance department officials, the civic body's average monthly expenditure is Rs148 crore. This includes salaries, pensions, electricity and water bills, and crucial payments to private agencies like AG Enviro and BVG India for door-to-door waste collection. Additionally, it covers remuneration for contract-based staff, including security guards, computer operators, and ex-servicemen deployed in the nuisance detection squad.A senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the NMC so far managed to meet its financial obligations for April and May by dipping into its reserve funds, covering an estimated Rs296 crore. However, the situation remains financial stress has already begun to show. Pension disbursement to retired employees, typically done on the first of each month, was delayed and only released on May 8. "If GST grants continue to be delayed, even employee salaries will be at risk," the official within NMC link the disruption in funds to the state govt's populist spending ahead of the upcoming assembly elections. "While the govt is announcing freebies, it is failing to release even the committed grants to urban local bodies. Rather than offering giveaways, the focus should be on long-term schemes to build employment skills for young women, farmers, and other marginalised groups," said the delay has raised serious questions about state govt's fiscal discipline and its commitment to supporting civic bodies at a time when cities are grappling with mounting service demands.
