The defunct PMC website

The defunct official website of Patna Municipal Corporation, which could have been an online space to register births and deaths, has turned into a site for car rentals and hotel bookings.

On visiting the website — www.patnanagarnigam.org — instead of getting links to civic services, one encounters advertisements to book hotels in New Delhi. Links of two dummy websites of the PMC — pmcbihar.hpage.co.in and www.nagarnigam.co.in — add to the confusion of the citizens.

The civic body website was launched five years ago to “revolutionise” civic governance. Its most important function was to facilitate the process of issuing birth and death certificates. It also had the contact details of corporation officials, building plans of various years, list of apartments in the city and the weather.

But in February, ITI Ltd, which designed and developed the site, stopped hosting it because of pending payment. The PMC owes Rs 40 lakh to the Union communications ministry’s firm.

Experts believe that the defunct PMC website was now hosting advertisements because the civic body had defaulted on payments. “The company that hosts the website waits for payment for a few weeks. During this time, the site shows a blank screen or an error message. Later, the firm might post advertisement links on the page, to utilise the space. The website can resume only after payment is made,” said Ravi Shankar Azad, proprietor of a Mumbai-based firm that designs websites.

According to information available on the public domain, the URL (uniform resource locator) of the PMC website is available for Rs 15,469.61. A private company based in Arizona, US, has bought it for a year on March 6.

Unaware citizens visiting the site hoping to find links to services are left disappointed.

“I had applied for a birth certificate for my son a few days ago and wanted to track the progress on the website of the civic body. But I found myself at a loss. There were links for three websites and none of them was genuine,” said Ashiana Nagar resident Amit Kumar.

Authorities, however, seem least serious about reviving the website.

S. Siddharth, secretary, urban development and housing department, claimed that a new website would take three months to become operational.

“The website of the PMC and 140 urban local bodies in the state is expected to be operational within three months. The website would have information like notices, taxation details, civic services and a grievance cell. It would also have utility bills, building plan approvals and RTI application tracking system,” he said.

The secretary abstained from commenting on the fate of the existing portal, claiming that it was the responsibility of the civic body.

Mayor Afzal Imam was clueless about the issue.

Asked about the website, Imam first said he would revive the website in three to four days. Told about the hefty dues, he said he would talk to senior officials of the civic body to ensure that payment is made at the earliest.

“It is strange that the website of the civic body is not working at a time when e-governance has become so important. I would talk to the senior officials and ensure that the pending amount is paid at the earliest,” said the mayor.