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Work on PCB’s ₹17 cr parking facility grinds to halt due to fund shortage
PUNE: The Pune Cantonment Board’s (PCB) Rs17 crore robotic, multilevel car parking facility being set up at East street has hit a roadblock due to paucity of funds
PUNE: The Pune Cantonment Board’s (PCB) Rs17 crore robotic, multilevel car parking facility being set up at East street has hit a roadblock due to paucity of funds.
The facility – meant for the convenience of commuters – will span 38,000 square feet; accommodate nearly 200 cars; and generate revenue of ₹50 to ₹60 lakh annually for the board administration. The project comprises two automated multilevel parking facilities: with the first on Lloyd road at the junction of East street and Coyaji road for which a tender was floated and work finalised as part of the general body decision; and the second to come up at the junction of Dr Coyaji road and Stavely road which was the board administration’s original development plan.
However, the project has ground to a halt owing to non-receipt of GST funds from the state government for the past three years. While the parking facility was initially proposed in 2016, the PCB administration in 2019 had available reserve funds that could pay salaries for only three months. With neither the state nor the central government taking up the cause of the PCB GST, the financial position of the board has been dwindling every day.
Former PCB vice president Vinod Mathurawala said, “The PCB is undergoing its worst financial crisis and efforts are underway to bring funds to ensure that all development oriented projects are completed on time. At the same time, the board administration is doing its level best to ensure that development projects are not all affected by the seeking of funds from the centre and state.”
Not just the PCB parking facility but many other development projects worth an estimated Rs150 crore have been hit by non-receipt of GST funds from the state government for the past three years. For instance, the work on Chhatrapati Shivaji market and Fashion street is stuck due to a similar lack of funds. Restoration of the Chhatrapati Shivaji market following a massive fire in March is yet to begin and likely to be delayed further due to scarcity of funds. The PCB had sought funds from the district administration after which the collector’s office agreed to pay ₹1.25 crore if the board was willing to pay the remaining ₹1.25 crore as part of the ₹2.50 crore required for the restoration project. The board administration on June 30 decided to seek pending taxes from traders wherein an amount of ₹80 lakh is due in taxes from defaulters.
