Mayor orders probe into missing revenue record of 5 villages

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 13

City Mayor Davesh Moudgil has ordered a probe into the missing revenue record of five villages — Hallo Majra, Maloya, Dadu Majra, Paslora and Kejheri — which were transferred to the Municipal Corporation in 2006.

Sources said in a letter to the MC Commissioner, the Mayor had asked for fixing responsibility of officers for their failure to maintain the record, which caused a huge loss to the civic body. The Mayor has sought a status report within 15 days from the Commissioner.

In the letter, the Mayor stated that it had come to his knowledge that the MC had not prepared or maintained any record pertaining to the revenue receipts from the five villages. The audit reports had also mentioned that the civic body had failed to collect the rent from properties in these villages. The Mayor had also sought information regarding all notifications with regard to the transfer of these villages. The sources said the inquiry was likely to expose a major scam as MC officials were not aware of the properties worth crores in these villages.

The sources said most of the vacant land in these villages had been encroached upon. In the absence of the land record, civic officials had been relying on the personal record of residents. The direction of the Mayor has come at a time when the MC is facing a financial crisis.