Lokmat News Network
Aurangabad, Nov 27:
The Aurangabad Bench of Bombay High Court comprising Justice Ravindra V Ghuge and Justice S G Mehre has ordered the state government to take immediate decision on providing financial assistance to Aurangabad Municipal Corporation
(AMC) as its share in the construction of the underpass at Shivajinagar. Meanwhile, the High Court also suggested the AMC immediately undertake a drive to recover outstanding taxes and submit the collection recovered till December 4 (the next hearing).
The High Court gave the verdict during a hearing on public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Adv Rupesh Jaiswal, who is a party-in-person, in the litigation.
The veteran legal expert Rajendra Deshmukh, during the hearing, brought into the notice of the bench that the Public Works Department (PWD) has written a letter to the AMC stating to deposit its monetary share in the acquisition of land required for the construction of the underpass. PWD told the AMC to deposit Rs 1.81 crore as a 30 pc share (out of a total cost of Rs 6 crore). However, the AMC replied to the letter stating that its financial condition is very weak and it has to spend a big amount on undertaking works like repair and maintenance and providing basic amenities. Besides, crores of rupees are outstanding upon the taxpayers. Hence the government should provide us with financial assistance for the underpass. Hence the HC ordered the state government to take an immediate decision in this regard.
When the issue of roads came up for discussion, the assistant government pleader Adv Yavalkar, Adv Adwant and Adv Dande representing on behalf of PWD, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) and Maharashtra Industries Development Corporation (MIDC) respectively, assured the High Court of submitting the required documents relating to the inspection of the city roads in one week. The HC also hoped that the progress report about tarring of the road from Cidco Bus Stand to Jalgaon T-Point will be submitted in the next hearing.