Gurgaon zone of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) is reeling under financial crisis as it has not received funds from the Haryana government for over three months.
It was revealed at a meeting of senior HUDA officials, chaired by HUDA administrator (Gurgaon) Anita Yadav on Wednesday.
Gurgaon MLA Umesh Agarwal said that it was told at the meeting that the HUDA offices in Gurgaon zone had not received funds for the past three-four months. The HUDA had even failed to pay Rs. 117 crore bills of the contractors.
Mr. Agarwal, who was briefed about the crisis, was told that the lack of funds had made it impossible to start repair work of the roads damaged in rains.
All the details have been forwarded to the HUDA chief administrator with a request to immediately release the funds. The copy of the demand letter has also been forwarded to the additional chief secretary, HUDA.
HUDA officials requested Mr. Agarwal to take up the matter with the government .
“I am not aware of the exact reasons behind the crisis. The major source of income for HUDA is collection of external development charges, internal development charges, allotment of new sectors, and selling off commercial properties. But no new sectors have been allotted for a long time. We have received funds only for the payment of salaries and electricity bills in the past three-four months,” said Ms. Yadav.
Ms. Yadav said that the only way-out was to sell off commercial properties and create funds.
MCG councillor and AAP leader Nisha Singh said, “Gurgaon had very poor facilities during the Congress rule and we could expect the worst in the present regime. There is no logic behind saying that there are no funds for Gurgaon zone. The funds collected for external and internal development charges are put in a common kitty and then arbitrarily distributed. The present government feels that Gurgaon can fend for itself. It is like killing the golden goose.”
