E-Paper
Entry ticket to gardens: Chandigarh MC’s solution to fund crunch
Various departments give suggestions to increase revenue, including profession tax
With the Chandigarh municipal corporation struggling with severe financial crunch, residents might soon end up paying to enter gardens, profession tax and registration fee on property transactions.
This is as per an internal MC report comprising recommendations made by different departments for improving its financial position.
The MC has been struggling with its finances for several years, and the Covid-19 pandemic has worsened the situation.
For instance, while the budget receipt target for the medical officer of health (MOH)’s office for the 2020-2021 fiscal was ₹21 crore, in the wake of the pandemic, it has been revised to ₹7 crore.
Similarly, for the booking branch, earnings from booking of community centres was estimated to be ₹10 crore, which have been revised to ₹6.43 crore.
OUTSOURCING GARDEN MAINTENANCE
In its recommendation, the MC horticulture department, states: “Putting an entry ticket to garden/green belts ranging from ₹10 to ₹20 will increase the revenue. The MC can also issue paid passes to morning/evening walkers.”
It has suggested imposing user charges on Rose Garden, Sector 16; Fragrance Garden, Sector 36; Shivalik Garden, Manimajra; Japanese Garden, Sector 31; and Valley of Animals, Sector 49.
There is also a proposal for imposing a fee of ₹25 per 100 sq ft on erecting hedges on road berms adjoining residential areas.
The department has also recommended outsourcing maintenance of gardens and green belts. “In lieu, interested agencies can display their advertisement board at entry of gardens,” states its report.
Meanwhile, the MC estate department has recommended tax on professions, trades, calling and employments, fee for property registration at the UT estate office in addition to the stamp duty and hike in fees for its various services.
The booking branch has suggested increasing water tanker charges from ₹350 to ₹500. The MOH has suggested NOC fees and monthly charges from hotels, businesses and markets as per Swachh Bharat Mission.
ADVERTISEMENT ON ROTARIES
The advertisement department has recommended an increase in unipoles for outdoor advertisements.
It has suggested: “Identification of some prime locations for digital and static screens in Sector 17 and connected passages and e-auction them for display advertisements.”
Rotaries should be transferred to the advertisement department so that it can raise revenue from these through display advertisements, it has been suggested.
The transport department, which spends around ₹13 crore annually on fuel and maintenance of around 500 vehicles, has recommended maintenance of vehicles from open market rather than agencies; reducing monthly fuel quotas by 20% and withdrawing cars from certain officials. It also suggests that instead of buying new cars, vehicles should be hired as and when needed.
