Crisis, apathy & need for new MC revenue sources

It is time to wind up the Chandigarh municipal corporation," a casual remark from a highly placed and well-connected friend at a recent social function, struck me hard.

- Pawan Kumar Bansal

It is time to wind up the Chandigarh municipal corporation," a casual remark from a highly placed and well-connected friend at a recent social function, struck me hard. I remonstrated explaining how the municipal corporation (MC) had helped groom local leadership, strengthen democracy and how residents' welfare associations and ward committees were effective in getting local development and upkeep works done. He insisted that his was a widely shared opinion and that the civic services in the city were in a shambles.

He lamented the "poor" condition of roads, parks and sanitation, in particular.

This opinion, coming from a well-informed citizen, who has lived here since his student days in the early 1960s, compels me to reflect on the various facets of the Chandigarh MC operations.

Structural fiscal deficit

Grappling with a severe fiscal crisis, the MC looks after roads and walkways, sanitation public health works, solid waste management, sewage disposal, water supply, street lighting, parks, community centres, cremation grounds and parking lots besides operating fire stations and issuing birth and death certificates.

In the budget estimates for the current financial year (FY), 2025-26, against an approved budget of ₹2,114 crore, the MC's own projected revenue is a mere ₹410 crore. It had sought to meet the deficit of ₹1,704 crore as grant-in-aid from the UT administration, but the latter only sanctioned ₹625 crore. A certain casualty of this will be the development works.