Summary:
For the Coimbatore Corporation this had come a big blow as the civic body was desperate for the funds to pay off contractors and meet its operation and maintenance expenses. They pointed out that the situation was so bad that street light contractors were not repairing faulty lights as the civic body had not paid them for long. Sources in the civic body said that the disbursement for two quarters was around ?30 crore and this is a big blow as the total outstanding had reportedly crossed ?250 crore. Every year, the Central Government paid the Corporation and several other urban local bodies money under the ‘central finance commission’ head. The last time the Corporation paid the contractors was sometime in January this year and that too it was a pittance - for contractors to whom it owned in crores of rupees the Corporation paid only a few lakhs, contractors said..