The corporation officials said all services will be completely taken over by the civic body in the next six months and till that time, the authority will provide assistance to the civic body.

The Indirapuram township was formally handed over to the Ghaziabad municipal corporation on October 3, after the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) paid the first instalment of ₹70 crore to the civic agency for infra upgrade, as per the terms of the agreement signed on September 6.

The corporation officials said all services will be completely taken over by the civic body in the next six months and till that time, the authority will provide assistance to the civic body.

The MoU between the GDA and the corporation was signed on September 6 for handover of Indirapuram, on the condition that the GDA will pay the civic body ₹185 crore for upgrade of infrastructure facilities.

As per the terms, GDA agreed to pay the amount in four instalments – an initial first instalment of ₹70 crore, which was paid on October 3, a second instalment of ₹40 crore by December 31, 2024, a third instalment of ₹40 crore by March 31, 2025, and the remaining ₹35 crore by July 1, 2025.

The corporation officials said they are studying different work models for Indirapuram and are also in the process of assessing manpower requirements. The corporation officials said Indirapuram is spread over 1,222 acres and comprises 52,572 households.

“We welcome the move by the GDA and till the time we tender works and finalise plans, the authority will assist us for the next three months. The cleaning and sewer related works will be completely taken over in next six months. The GDA employed manpower on a contractual basis and we are also evaluating this model for Indirapuram as well as studying our own model,” said Vikramaditya Malik, Ghaziabad municipal commissioner.

The officials said the corporation also faces issues related to shortage of permanent staff.

“We have written to the state government seeking junior engineers (JEs), assistant engineers (AEs) and sanitary inspectors for Indirapuram,” Malik said.

Corporation officials having knowledge of the development said 25 posts of JEs and 12 posts of AEs are sanctioned for Ghaziabad.

“We expect that three JEs would be required for Indirapuram to supervise engineering works. We have a total of 25 posts sanctioned for JEs of which only six are filled at present. As for AEs, 12 posts are sanctioned and only three are filled. So, the manpower requirement needs to be sorted out to keep up pace with service demands,” said an official, who wished not to be named.

With the handover, corporation now has rights to levy property tax components such as house tax, water tax and sewage/drainage tax from residents of Indirapuram, and also the rights for awarding advertising contracts and revenue for community centres in Indirapuram.

“Now, all services will go to the civic agency within the next three months. The date of first instalment is the handover date as per the MoU, and we transferred ₹70 crore to the corporation on Thursday evening,” said Atul Vats, vice-chairperson, GDA.

Both the agencies have agreed that the ₹185 crore to be paid by the GDA will be spent only on infrastructure upgrade in the township.

Of the ₹185 crore, ₹50 crore will be spent on road upgrades, ₹25 crore on sewerage, ₹20 crore on water works, ₹15 crore on solid waste management, ₹50.31 crore on drainage system, ₹13.69 crore on streetlights, and ₹11 crore on horticulture/parks etc.

“The next three to six months is a transition period. The manpower requirement is crucial for Indirapuram and we will go to any length to secure the required staff. We will also pursue the municipal corporation to ensure that residents do not get affected during the transition period,” said Sanjay Singh, councillor of ward 100 of Shipra Sun City, Indirapuram.