SDMC cites fund denial for project delays

Leader of the House in the SDMC Kamaljeet Shehrawat said it includes over Rs 600 crore which is due from DDA.

Responding to an audit report, which highlighted “irregularities of over Rs 1,600 crore” in the South civic body, standing committee chairperson Bhupender Gupta Thursday blamed denial of funds from different agencies and increase in scope of projects for delays and cost overruns. The audit report for 2016-17, which highlighted discrepancies in construction of Purnima Sethi Hospital in Kalkaji and parking lots at Jangpura and Kalkaji, among others, was filed before the SDMC last week.

The report also pointed to non-recovery of Rs 1,177 crore in property tax. But Leader of the House in the SDMC Kamaljeet Shehrawat said it includes over Rs 600 crore which is due from DDA.

“The announcement in 2010 that no tax is payable in unauthorised colonies also became detrimental to tax collection,” she said, adding that property tax violations have come down over the years. ens