THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It is learnt that the State Disaster Management Authority is yet to release funds for many local bodies who exhausted their own funds and plan funds on Covid infrastructure. In Thiruvananthapuram, the district disaster management authority is yet to release pending dues up to Rs 75 lakh for many local bodies.
“The government owes us more than Rs 50 lakh. Currently, we have been directed to utilise our fund for patient care. We are in a deep financial crisis. We had hired large facilities for setting up CFLTCs and we had to pay huge power bills too,” said the official. The official said the flow of revenue has been stalled completely ever since the pandemic outbreak.
“We can only issue notices. We cannot forcefully collect tax or licence fee or rent as everybody is affected by the pandemic. The revenue is almost nil and now we have to utilise more funds to contain the second wave,” the official added.