The process of handover had started in October 2018 when GDA had set up a committee.
The highly anticipated transfer of Indirapuram from Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) to Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (GMC) has hit another hurdle. Now, the GMC has demanded the takeover of community halls along with green parks and green belts which GDA has turned down.
“Community halls are property of the authority. It’s a source of revenue for us. We can’t handover it to the corporation,” said VN Singh, Chief Engineer of GDA.
Singh also said that takeover of community centre is uncalled for as it has never happened in previous handovers. We have developed and transferred areas such as Raj Nagar, Vijay Nagar, Kavi Nagar, Vaishali and Vasundhara to the corporation but community centre of all these areas are under our possession.
The process of handover has been pending for more than six years now. While the authorities are unable to work in tandem which hampers the development of the area, they charge over Rs 40 crore of tax per annum from the residents of Indirapuram. Of which, only Rs 8 crore are spent, that too by GDA only.
The process of handover had started in October 2018 when GDA had set up a committee. It was followed by a joint inspection of Indirapuram by both the departments in December 2018. Soon, the process came to a halt when GMC refused taking over the area citing the infrastructure as “not up to the mark.”
TIMELINE OF EVENTS
October 2018: A six-member committee comprising officials of GDA and GMC was set up to expedite the handover process.
December 2018: After reluctance from GMC to takeover instantly, the committee decided that the handover will happen in a phased manner.
December 2018: A joint survey was started by teams of GDA and GMC to check layout of three services for the handover - maintenance of roads and street lights, drains and collection of garbage.
March 2019: The handover was put on the back burner after the municipal councillors claimed the handover as a loss making entity for the corporation in a board meeting of GMC.
June 2019: Things revived after GDA complained to state administration about reluctance of GMC in taking over Indirapuram.
June 2019: Seven councillors of Indirapuram pushed for the handover in a budget board meeting of the corporation.
June 2019: Following the board meeting, a committee comprising councillors of the area was set up by GMC to re-initiate the process.
July 2019: The consensus was built between GMC and GDA after the committee proposed takeover of green belts and parks in addition to earlier three services. However, the matter got stuck when GMC raised new demand for takeover of the community centre.
