Nagpur: The financial health of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) is getting precarious. In the first quarter of this fiscal, the civic body generated revenue of Rs321.45 crore while its liabilities have crossed over Rs800 crore.As a preventive measure, sources said, the civic administration has advised standing committee chairman Virendra Kukreja to prioritize projects.The cash crunch has caused unrest among contractors who stall ongoing works to get their bills settled. The NMC owes contractors Rs500 crore, while its liabilities towards employees, including provident fund and mandatory contribution towards educational cess, have touched Rs300 crore.Kukreja had projected Rs2,946 crore budget for the 2018-19 fiscal. This has also led to a delay in implementing his budget. Though Kukreja presented the budget on June 12, the NMC implemented the same only on Tuesday.It will be a Herculean task for the NMC to achieve the revenue target set by Kukreja. He had estimated an exorbitant revenue at Rs2,801.01 crore, though it was Rs1,747.55 crore in the last fiscal.With several ongoing big projects like cement road works of Phase-I, II and III, and Orange Street Project to kick off this year, liabilities of the NMC will grow further, sources said. However, no efforts were made to plug lapses in revenue collection in projects like Aapli Bus, said senior corporator Abha Pande.Citing an example, Pande said the BJP-ruled NMC was wasting taxpayers’ money while operating green buses which continues to get a very poor response from commuters. “The green bus project actually turned a white elephant for the cash-strapped NMC,” she said.Similarly, there are no efforts to improve tax collections in both water and property tax departments. No efforts have been made to reconcile bounced cheque paid against property and water tax bills, said sources.Sources said the NMC never made any efforts to increase its revenue and instead implements projects that rank low in the list of priorities. Sources also pointed out the civic body needs to focus on preparing a financial policy and there should be a cap on annual spending at every level — from zonal to deputy commissioner and beyond. Currently, there is no such policy, resulting into less money in its coffers.Kukreja said the ruling party is committed to ensure the target is achieved. To a query, he said works will be carried out only after they were prioritized.

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