HYDERABAD: At a time when denizens are putting up with abysmal road conditions, contractors working for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation GHMC ) have threatened to go on strike over non-payment of dues.The contractors' association claims that the civic body has failed to pay them a whopping Rs 40 crore for road work carried out by the civic body.Speaking to TOI, Hanumanth Sagar, general secretary, GHMC contractors' association said, "We have been asked by the GHMC to take up pothole filling work and road repair work, but since October 2, the GHMC has stopped paying us our dues. Pending work will be put on hold until our dues are cleared."For their part, officials from the civic body blame the lack of funds in the GHMC's kitty for the mounting dues."We know that there is a shortfall in the GHMC's treasury, but that is the case with all the civic bodies in the city. No municipality in the country is a revenue surplus one," said Jayraj Kennedy , additional commissioner (revenue), in the civic body's defence.However, corporators of the civic body dispute this argument. They allege that the GHMC had a revenue surplus till last December, but finances started dwindling after the elections. "Till December last year, the GHMC had a Rs 371 crore surplus. But halfway through the financial year, the GHMC has fallen short by Rs 572 crore. Under these circumstances it is extremely difficult for any civic body to take up any civic work and ensure proper execution," said Majid Hussain , MIM corporator from Mehdipatnam.While it claimed it collected Rs 1,050 crore in property tax in the last fiscal, most of the money has gone towards payment of enhanced salaries and basic works, say officials.It was expected that the GHMC would get grants from the central and state governments to the tune of Rs 3,100 crore, but this has not happened. Furthermore, the GHMC has also been asked to support the TSRTC financially by providing Rs 330 crore to it and it has been asked to give 15 per cent of the property tax collected to the water board as well.