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Time of India
3 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Property tax row: GMC officials delay meeting minutes, councillors protest
Ghaziabad: Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (GMC) officials have deferred submitting the minutes of the June 30 board meeting, drawing sharp criticism from councillors protesting the recent property tax hike. The minutes, which document the repeal of the proposed property tax hike, were to be shared publicly. Officials blamed a basement fire at the GMC office on Friday for the delay, but councillors have alleged deliberate delay and foul play. A group of councillors had earlier staged a sit-in protest at GMC's headquarters in Navyug Market, demanding the immediate release of the meeting minutes. "We called off the protest after officials, including municipal commissioner Vikramaditya Singh Malik, assured us that the minutes would be provided at 10am on July 25, after the kanwar yatra," said Himanshu Sharma, councillor of Ward 75. You Can Also Check: Noida AQI | Weather in Noida | Bank Holidays in Noida | Public Holidays in Noida "The officials missed the deadline, and mysteriously, the same afternoon, the basement of the GMC office was gutted in a fire. Now officials are saying that no work could be carried out at the office because the fire disrupted operations, preventing them from sharing the minutes on the assured date. This is a very uncanny coincidence," added Sharma. Meanwhile, Mayor Sunita Dayal said, "I was told that officials would share the minutes with my office at 10 am on Friday, but I have not received them. I ensured that the hike in property tax proposal was annulled, and it is for the officials now to answer anything related to the matter." In response, commissioner Malik has formed a committee led by additional municipal commissioner Jung Bahadur to ascertain the cause of the fire. "Minutes of the meeting could not be provided on the scheduled date because of the fire, and to rule out any foul play, the commissioner has formed a committee to probe the incident. Instructions have been issued to normalise working at GMC as soon as possible. The minutes of the meeting will be provided after that," said a GMC official. On the issue of property tax, a case was filed in the Allahabad High Court against GMC's decision to impose a hike, and the court is due to hear the matter on July 30. The hike in property taxes took effect on April 1. The property tax rates before April 1 were between Rs 0.32/sq foot on properties with less than 12m of road width, Rs 0.48 to Rs 2 for roads 12–24 metres wide, and Rs 0.65 to Rs 2.41 for wider roads. The revised rate is between Rs 0.75/sq foot to Rs 4/sq foot. In March this year, the board passed the proposal to link tax with the DM circle rate. GMC calculates tax based on the annual rental value (ARV) of a property.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Narrow escape for 150 after fire in GMC office basement
Ghaziabad: At least 150 people had a narrow escape while the basement of the GMC headquarters — board meetings are held there — was gutted after a major fire broke out at the building located in Navyug Market area on Friday. Over 150 employees — including women — were evacuated through the back door after the fire broke out at 5pm. Municipal commissioner Vikramaditya Singh Malik and mayor Sunita Dayal left the office when the fire started. Chief fire officer Rahul Pal said, "At 5.20pm, we received the information following which three fire tankers, along with the FSO, immediately departed from Kotwali fire station." The fire tenders brought the blaze under control after about 45 minutes. You Can Also Check: Noida AQI | Weather in Noida | Bank Holidays in Noida | Public Holidays in Noida Pal said, "The fire started in the control unit/electric panel located in the basement meeting hall of the civic body office and reached the first floor via the electric duct. Fire service personnel extinguished the fire completely by pumping water from a motor fire engine. The fire incident resulted in damage to 10 to 12 chairs, an air conditioner and the false ceiling in the basement meeting hall." Mohan Sharma, a GMC employee, said, "We were in the office when we noticed smoke in our cabins. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like American Investor Warren Buffett Recommends: 5 Books For Turning Your Life Around Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo We rushed out only to see plumes of smoke billowing from the basement. An alert was sounded and employees were evacuated." "Since it was not advisable to use the lift and the stairs leading to GMC's four-storey building pass through the basement, employees were asked to use stairs on the opposite side," Sharma added. Vibha, a female employee, said, "We panicked when we heard that the basement was on fire and even though we managed to escape using the stairs, we had to cover our faces as the smoke had spread all around."
Time of India
12-07-2025
- Climate
- Time of India
Cleaning slow, sludge threatens more muck streams on Ghaziabad roads if it rains
Ghaziabad: Monsoon is here, kanwar yatra has begun, and the city is bracing for a month of diversions and congestions. The corporation, however, is not making things any easier. Sludge lifted from drains continues to be a public hygiene nightmare across localities, even main roads. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Over the past few days, ith drain cleaning not keeping pace with the arrival of monsoon, silt dredged from drains but dumped along roadsides has mixed with rainwater and flowed across roads like copious slime. But with sludge still largely parked where it was, a fresh spell of rain will compound the mess manifold. While civic officials TOI spoke to on Saturday said clearing of roads is on, visits to different places by our reporters and photographers showed streets are far from free from sludge. On Kala Patthar Road, some of the sludge was cleared but much of it lay there still, right in the middle of a densely populated neighbourhood with a bevy of condominiums on one side and Makanpur village on the other. The road under Sahibabad rapid rail station was in a mess, with sludge and rainwater creating a filthy swamp under the sleek transit corridor, which is days away from a full inauguration. Pedestrian space at a number of places on Meerut Road has been converted to swamps by deposits of sludge. This is the main kanwar route that lakhs of devotees will take over the next 15 days. Municipal commissioner Vikramaditya Singh Malik said, "The sludge extracted from drains cannot be removed when it is in semi-liquid state as it carries a lot of weight and payment to contractors or agencies is made basis the weight. So it is left to dry, and removed after two-three days. Unfortunately, it rained, which led to the situation we are in. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now But we have removed it from many places." Asked about the delay in drain cleaning, Malik said, "By June 15, we had completed the first round. This is the second round. Work is ongoing and a visible improvement in the situation will be seen in a week or so." In industrial belts, whose maintenance was taken over by Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Authority (UPSIDA) on April 1, the situation is no different. In Meerut Road industrial area, sludge has narrowed the road width, while in Sahibabad, broken roads and waterlogged streets mar smooth commute. "All drains with 1 metre width have been cleaned and road repair work has been done. In Sahibabad industrial area alone, we have spent Rs 4 crore in cleaning drains and repairing roads," said Raghunandan Singh Yadav, DGM of UPSIDA.
Time of India
22-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Tertiary treatment plant ready to supply water to 500 Sahibabad factories
Ghaziabad: A tertiary water treatment plant , built with Rs 150 crore raised through a municipal bond, is now ready to supply treated water in the city. The plant is set to cater to over 500 industries in the Sahibabad industrial area. Additionally, the pipeline from the Indirapuram plant to the remaining industries in Sahibabad has also been laid. The foundation stone for the project was initially laid by chief minister Yogi Adityanath in Jan 2022. The estimated cost of the project was pegged at Rs 319 crore, of which GMC raised Rs 150 crore through municipal bonds. "We got the audit of the plant done, according to which 99% of the work is complete," said Municipal Commissioner Vikramaditya Singh Malik, adding, "Since the plant is one of a kind in the state, funded by a municipal bond, we are seeking time from the chief minister's office for its formal inauguration by CM next month." The plant will reduce dependence on ground and surface water, and will also help GMC earn revenue. GMC is expected to raise an estimated Rs 5 crore per month, through this project. The municipal body will charge roughly 1,445 Sahibabad-based industries a rate of Rs 45.9 per kilolitre, and the water will be used for non-potable purposes. A 63km pipeline has been laid from the plant, located in Indirapuram, to Sahibabad. An overhead tank with a 2,800 kilolitre (KL) storage capacity has been constructed in Indirapuram, and an underground water tank with a 40,000 KL storage capacity has been constructed in the Sahibabad area, where the treated water will be stored and supplied to industries. The 56 MLD Indirapuram STP has been upgraded, which will produce 40 MLD of treated water. Lucknow was the first district to float a municipal bond in the state, followed by Ghaziabad. Municipal bonds are debt instruments under which the investor is repaid the fixed amount of principal with interest over a period decided by the municipal body. These bonds come with a tenure of five to seven years. The money raised is then used to fund city development or maintenance projects. It has helped GMC procure large amounts of funds in one go, which was used to fund the treatment plant project.
