Tax collection low, Lucknow Municipal cuts budget for repairs

LUCKNOW: If your area has been grappling with broken patches and cratered roads, don’t hope to see any repairs soon as Lucknow Municipal Corporation does not have money this year.
LMC has failed to collect house tax from around 40% properties in FY2018, severely hitting the corporation’s budget for infrastructure development.

LMC’s assessment of the collection for the year reveals that around 3.3 lakh registered properties have not paid their dues.The reasons could vary from discrepancy in bills, lack of effort by LMC inspectors or legal disputes.
Many such issues have been pending for more than 10 years, hitting development work every year. However, LMC has not taken action in any.
Against a target of Rs 260 crore in tax collection, LMC was able to collect just Rs 160 crore for the year. This was 40% short of the yearly target. LMC did take a few measures to improve collection but those failed because of poor efforts.
As a result, LMC was quick to slash the budget of road and drain repair. In its budget proposal for FY2019, LMC has earmarked Rs 60 crore for repair works. This is Rs 30 crore less than last year’s budget.
The poor allocation has already started affecting infrastructure projects. Areas like Indiranagar sector 16, Aliganj, Khurramnagar, Janakipuram and Gomtinagar have been facing delays in sewerage and road repair work for more than a year because of lack of funds.
Sector F road in Jankipuram has been neglected for the past three years.
“LMC has left the work midway and streets remain dusty and bumpy, resulting in minor accidents of bikes very often,” complained Rishu Pandey, a resident.
Shrinagar Colony in Mahibullapur (Madiaon) daily faces problems of broken roads and drains. Shravan Singh, a shopkeeper, said locals had been complaining for a year but LMC had not taken any measures.
(With inputs from Kanishka Mishra & Shivangi Pandey)