CUTTACK: The Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) is hard-pressed for realisation of the arrears from previous defaulters even as it is on the verge of finalising the tender bids for the hoarding and advertisement spaces in the city this week. The Contract Committee of Municipal Council chaired by Mayor Soumendra Ghosh is likely to meet in the next couple of days to take a final decision on the bids submitted in the second tender process after no applications in the first in April this year. The second tender process has attracted five bidders signalling an end to the delay in fixing one of the major revenue generation avenues for the CMC. The CMC would be offering around 80,000 sq ft of advertising space to the successful bidder. On the other hand, it has still not been able to recover money from defaulters in the previous years. One company Classic Communications Pvt Ltd, owes CMC to the tune of more than ` 1 crore for hoarding and display board spaces between 2001 to 2004. Interestingly, the company has been found to be fake with no valid registration under the Office of the Registrar of Companies, Cuttack, under the Companies Act. The CMC had entered into an agreement with the company for an initial period of three years from 2001 to 2004, which was later modified and extended up to 2005. The company was given exclusive rights of displaying hoarding boards within the CMC limits over an area of 1.50 lakh sq ft. According to sources, in connivance with unscrupulous employees, the company stopped paying the fees and charges from the first year itself and on last count in 2004, there was ` 65 lakh outstanding on it. The amount has gone up to over a crore today. While the CMC for long years did not take any action to recover the huge sum, it was found that the company did not even have a Companies registration. The wrongdoings have attracted a Vigilance inquiry and the CMC has stepped up efforts to recover the dues from the company, which has since wound up. “A case has been filed under the Orissa Public Demand and Recovery Act with the Collector and District Magistrate, Cuttack. We are trying to step up efforts for speedy disposal of the case and getting our dues back,” CMC secretary Asutosh Samal said.
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