Trifurcation of the erstwhile MCD has resulted in a policy paralysis and has brought two municipal corporations on the verge of bankruptcy. Trifurcation of the erstwhile MCD has resulted in a policy paralysis and has brought two municipal corporations on the verge of bankruptcy.

While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is primarily responsible for the financial mess in civic bodies in Delhi ruled by it, the six-week rule of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi has only aggravated the crisis. Trifurcation of the erstwhile MCD and policy paralysis during BJP's nearly eight-year rule in the civic bodies have brought the East and North Delhi municipal corporations on the verge of bankruptcy.

The financial health of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation is also not very sound. With inadequate resources the civic bodies took up the ambitious 'Swachh Bharat Mission' but the drive has fallen flat owing to strike by the sanitation workers alleging non-payment of salary for the last two months. The AAP-led Delhi government has also refused to provide monetary assistance to the cashstrapped MCDs while it ordered termination of services of all contractual workers, including the sanitation workers.

The ongoing stir of the sanitation workers in East Delhi Corporation is essentially due to financial crisis which began with the trifurcation of the MCD in 2012.

Officials said the expenses on salary and other establishment costs went up by three times but inequitable distribution of municipal assets also brought down the revenue generation from internal resources. The property tax collection in EDMC came down to Rs 126 crore in 2013-14 from Rs 140 crore the previous year. On the other hand, the North and South Delhi corporations could only improve their collection by Rs 10 crore and Rs 6 crore during the same period.

Political compulsions owing to successive elections in Delhi prevented the political leadership from increasing the tax on property, advertising and parking in the Capital. For more than 10 years, the property tax, which is the prime source of revenue, has not been revised in Delhi.

The Municipal Valuation Committee Report, which proposes hike in property tax rates, is pending for the last eight years. At the same time, the corporations introduced amnesty schemes that put additional burden on their financial health. Despite fund crunch, the municipal corporations increased the old age pension amount to Rs 1,200 from Rs 1,000.

North Delhi Mayor Yogendra Chandolia alleged that the grant from the Delhi government was converted into loan with high interest rate.

This, he said, worsened the situation. Lack of coordination between the municipal bodies, the Delhi government and the Central government is another cause of worry from sanitation point of view in Delhi. The Centre can only transfer funds to the civic bodies via Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government and the ongoing verbal spat between AAP and BJP can aggravate the crisis.

About 12,000 sanitation workers of the BJP-ruled East Municipal Corporation had started to throw garbage on the roads for not receiving their salaries.

The workers not only refused to clean up the streets, but gathered at various locations and dumped rotting garbage on the streets.