After nearly two decades, Ghaziabad authority ready to hand over Indirapuram to civic body

The physical handover of facilities such as sewage, solid waste, drainage, streetlights, roads, horticulture etc., will be effected in the next three to six months in a phased manner

After a nearly two-decade long wait, Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) is finally ready to hand over Indirapuram township to the Ghaziabad municipal corporation. The top officials of the two agencies signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the presence of divisional commissioner (Meerut) on Friday, and the authority has agreed to pay ₹185 crore to the corporation for upgrade of civic infrastructure, said officials in the know of the matter.

Currently, the municipal corporation charges the house tax component of the property tax from households in Indirapuram while GDA provides other services on payment of a service charge. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The officials said the physical handover of facilities such as sewage, solid waste, drainage, streetlights, roads, horticulture etc., will be effected in the next three to six months in a phased manner. After that, all civic services will be the sole responsibility of the corporation.

Currently, the municipal corporation charges the house tax component of the property tax from households in Indirapuram while GDA provides other services on payment of a service charge. With the handover imminent, the corporation will now assess the water tax and sewage/drainage tax, two other components of the property tax, to be charged from households.

Indirapuram is spread over 1,222 acres and comprises 52,572 households which pay about ₹30 crore in house tax annually. Municipal officials said they expect an increase of about ₹35 crore annually when the two remaining components of property tax also come to the civic body.

“The handover is going to be a reality after almost 22 years. The GDA will pay us ₹185 crore for infrastructure upgrade in four instalments, which will start in the next three months. We will put forward this proposal before the corporation board for approval,” said Vikramaditya Malik, municipal commissioner.

““The GDA will pay the first instalment of ₹70 crore to the corporation in next 10 days. The date of first payment will be the handover date,” said Atul Vats, vice-chairperson, GDA.

The handover was stuck as the corporation had demanded a huge amount from the GDA for carrying out the necessary infrastructure upgrade.

Several times, both agencies assessed their own requirement of funds but failed to arrive at an amicable amount.

However, after a joint survey in May/June, the two agencies finally agreed to an amount of ₹185 crore.

As per the survey report, the officials assessed the upgrade, renewal and laying of new infrastructure in Indirapuram.

It included ₹50 crore for repair and upgrade of 80km road network, ₹25 crore for upgrade of sewer infrastructure and bringing it under the ambit of one operator in the next six months, and ₹20 crore for repair and construction of tubewells and repair of overhead water tanks.

The MoU stated that in the next six months, GDA will also arrange for 4,000 square metres (sqm) of land for solid waste transfer station and another 4,500 sqm for material recovery facility.

The MoU said the GDA has agreed to pay ₹15 crore to the corporation for solid waste arrangements.

The GDA maintains about 135km of drainage network in Indirapuram. The authority has also agreed to pay ₹50.31 crore to the corporation for repairs and renewal of the existing drainage system. The authority will also pay ₹13.69 crore for replacement and repair of the streetlight system and ₹11 crore for public parks.

“Once the services are handed over, the corporation will take care of the maintenance and development of civic infrastructure. We will also assess the requirement of new staff for the township and will soon be writing to the state government with our demand. We would like to open a zonal office or a sub-office so that complaints of residents can be catered to at the local level. The Hindon elevated road has already been handed over to the corporation,” Malik said.

The residents said they will wait and watch to ascertain how the quality of civic services are under the municipal corporation.

“We have been seeking the handover since 2012. The service charges by GDA for different services were on the higher side and the tax component charged by the corporation is on the lower side. So, residents would benefit from the handover. We expect the quality of services, resolution of complaints and upgrade of civic infrastructure to be better, not worse,” said Alok Kumar, founder member, Federation of Association of Apartment Owners, Ghaziabad.

The councillors, on the other hand, were upbeat as their wards will now be able to get additional infrastructure development funds from the corporation.

“There was a need to resolve micro level needs and complaints. The corporation is a specialised agency to deal with civic infrastructure and services. Effectively, the corporation had only 94 wards under its jurisdiction, and now all six wards in Indirapuram will come under the corporation,” said Sanjay Singh, councillor from Ward 100 of Shipra Sun City, Indirapuram.