Chandigarh, August 20: In a renewed attempt to rescue the financially struggling municipal corporation (MC), the Chandigarh administration has sought an additional grant of ₹125 crore from the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA). Officials said the proposal, prepared by the UT finance department, has already been processed on the Union Budget Information System (UBIS) portal after identifying savings under the material and supplies head, which are now recommended for re-appropriation to the grant-in-aid head for release to the MC.
Development works across the city have been at a standstill since May 2024 due to the fund crunch. Mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla and municipal commissioner Amit Kumar have repeatedly appealed to UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria for intervention, urging allocation of additional money to keep the civic body functioning. “We are hopeful of additional grants from the MHA so that development work can resume as soon as the weather conditions are suitable,” Babla said.
The fresh request follows an earlier proposal in April, when the UT administration had sought ₹238 crore from recurring savings generated by the privatisation of the electricity department. That plan aimed to channel the surplus into the MC’s coffers, but the MHA rejected it earlier this month, worsening the financial crisis.
The shortfall has prevented the MC from floating new tenders for essential services such as solid waste management, segregated door-to-door waste collection, operation of garbage transfer station-cum-material recovery facilities, liquid and sludge waste management, and horticulture waste processing. Key infrastructure projects, including re-carpeting of V3, V4, V5 and V6 category roads, maintenance of green belts, firefighting services, and streetlight upkeep, also remain on hold.
Officials said nearly 250 km of city roads are in urgent need of repair. Road re-carpeting, typically carried out in March-April and October-November due to favourable weather conditions, has not been undertaken since May last year. The civic body’s strained finances have also impacted its ability to cover salaries, pensions, utility bills, fuel, and routine maintenance.
During the mayoral elections on January 30, after Babla’s win, BJP’s city unit president Jatinder Pal Malhotra had announced a special central grant of ₹92 crore for the corporation. However, those funds have yet to materialize, leaving the MC dependent on fresh assistance from the MHA.
