The Coimbatore Corporation has reportedly dried up its funds and is planning to avail a loan of Rs 100 crore.
Reporting for the Times of India, Komal Gautham stated that senior corporation officials sent a loan proposal to the state government after finding it difficult to pay salaries to its officials.
“We have faced an election this year, and are in preparation for a second one. Whenever elections are held, several projects, especially road laying work, are carried out.That takes a toll on the corporation's treasury," a senior corporation officer told TOI.
The report adds:
In 2014, the income for the Coimbatore Corporation was `474.66 crore. In 2015, it rose to `516.86 crore. But in 2016, the projected income fell to `463.80 crore. Corporation officials also said that they would collect `100 crore in another three months and would soon improve the financial situation.
In August, more than 1,500 DMK members from the Coimbatore districts staged a protest condemning poor administration of the Coimbatore Corporation.
The Hindu reported that the DMK accused the Corporation of mismanaging water supply, street light management and other aspects of civic governance and alleged that people in the city were living with the infrastructure that matched municipal, town panchayat or village panchayat status.