Revenue augmentation to be top agenda at Chandigarh MC House meet

Panel to recommend one-time scheme for water bill defaulters, regularisation of water connection outside lal dora, door-to-door waste collection charges, running gyms on PPP model, optimum utilisation of the Mahila Bhawan in Sector 38, ads etc

At the top of the agenda of the municipal corporation (MC) General House meet, slated for August 31, will be a slew of recommendations of the revenue generation committee for augmenting its revenue.

The city has 42 community centers, some of which have gym facilities and health centres, but don’t generate any revenue and instead end up putting additional financial burden on the MC in the form of maintenance costs. MC plans to employ public-private partnership model for running the gyms at community centres. (HT FILE)

A one-time scheme for water bill defaulters, regularisation of water connection outside lal dora, door-to-door waste collection charges, running gyms on PPP model, optimum utilisation of the Mahila Bhawan in Sector 38, advertisement at parks, on toilets, MC vehicles and at connecting passes in Sector 17, will be taken up for the House’s approval.

For recovering around Rs 40 crore in pending water bills, under the one-time scheme, water bill defaults will be regularised at 10% for one-time payment, 7% for two installments and 5% for three installments. This will be applicable for general public and government institutions.

For augmenting its revenue, the fund-starved MC is preparing to put its assets such as community centres and Mahila Bhawan in Sector 38, to better use for generating additional revenue.

The city has 42 community centers, some of which have gym facilities and health centres, but don’t generate any revenue and instead end up putting additional financial burden on the MC in the form of maintenance costs.

Mahila Bhawan in Sector 38-C, even after more than five years of its opening, is yet to be fully utilised. Only a part of the bhawan, which was built at a cost of around Rs 22 crore, is being used by the UT culture department.

Now, the MC is projecting to earn Rs 64 lakh annually from the bhawan, which is spread over 1.3 acre, by leasing out rooms and dormitories at Rs 35 lakh to Rs 40 lakh per year. The licencee will rent out the rooms on per bed basis. Similarly, other facilities at the bhawan such as exhibition halls, library, gym hall, and conference halls are being proposed to be rented out or leased out. Significantly, a similar proposal was rejected by the MC in July earlier this year.

The MC house will also take up the matter of giving in-principle approval for using MC land for providing houses under the affordable rental housing complexes (ARHC) scheme as part of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. If approved, a seven-member committee, comprising officials and councilors, will be constituted for the project.