At least this is what was apparent from the meeting of the officials of the Urban Development Department (UDD) and the Town Planning Department (TPD) held recently in Chandigarh.

A CLU is required for converting an institutional or industrial plot for commercial use. This was a great revenue source for the MCE R. K. Khullar, MCF Commissioner, and S. C. Kush, Senior Town Planner, also attended the meeting. Sources said that a committee has been constituted on the issue on the directions of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

The committee comprises S. C.

Chaudhary, UDD Commissioner, D.

S. Desi, TPD Commissioner, R. K.

Khullar, Rajiv Sharma, Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon Commissioner, and S. S. Dhillon, Director, Town Planning.

Under the Urban Area Act and the Controlled Area Act, UDD had taken back the power for CLU and issuing licences to colonies from the MCF in July 2003.

However, some of the powers in the controlled area were restored to the MCF Commissioner. But about two months back, the CM divested the local bodies of the powers for CLU.

The recall of the power from MCF would cost the municipal agency dear as CLU charges would no more come to it. MCF, with a staff strength of 4,500, needs to be in a good financial condition.

This is more so in view of the on- going development projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), worth over Rs 2,200 crore.

The municipal agency has to bear 30 per cent of the total cost of the CDE After the abolition of octroi in 2000, MCF has been in dire financial straits.

The state government has also announced waiver of house tax, another major source of income to the municipal body MCF officials feel that if it is divested of the CLU power, it is likely to result in a loss of over Rs 66 crore in the financial year 2008-2009 alone.