India, Feb. 12 -- With the Pune Cantonment Board's (PCB's) financial crunch running into nearly Rs.800 crore ever since the imposition of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and abolition of Local Body Tax (LBT) in 2017, and the impending merger of the cantonment area with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), civic governance has all but collapsed. As such, the board administration is finding it extremely difficult to deliver civic services to the area residents.

PCB chief executive officer (CEO) Subrat Pal said, "The board is currently not able to provide optimum civic services to the area residents due to the financial crunch."

However, PCB officials told Hindustan Times that the PCB is finding it difficult even to pay monthly salaries ...