Three civic departments to get a boost; BMC proposes to spend 600 crore

Mumbai’s civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), on Monday, November 15, 2021, has planned to boost the projects related to the Roads, Bridges, and Storm Water Drain departments. Reports state that a proposal has been drafted to transfer INR 600 crore which will meet the cost incurred to complete the infrastructure work.

Officials have stated that the departments have exhausted the budgets assigned for 2021 and this amount will be used as planned for FY 2021-22. 

Data reveals that over 97 per cent of the project funds assigned to the roads and traffic department have been utilised. Similarly, more than 83 per cent and 96 per cent of funds allotted to the bridges department and the Storm Water Drains department respectively have been utilised too. 

Hence, additional funds will be needed to continue the development work. As per current plans, INR 600 crore will be given as emergency fund and will be transferred from BMC’s emergency infrastructure requirement fund, once approved. Officials from the concerned department plan to discuss the proposal at the standing committee scheduled for this week. INR 200 crore will be assigned to each department to complete the ongoing work.

Sharing more details, a report published in the Hindustan Times quoted Congress corporator, Asif Zakaria, who said that additional funds will be given if the department needs to finish the pending work. There is a lot of work that needs to be completed by the departments, however, the civic body should consider planning the funds accordingly and provide the realistic amount. 

However, slamming the civic body, BJP corporator, Prabhakar Shinde, asked for additional clarification about this proposal seeking information about the budget allocation, project update, targets, estimated cost, and the reason for the increase in budget. Answers to these questions will be expected in the scheduled meeting. 

Below mentioned are the funds assigned and utilised by the department:

Roads and traffic department

Assigned ₹1,178.14 crore and ₹1,152.76 utilised

Remaining Amount 25.38 crore 

Bridges department

Assigned 444.93 crore and ₹370.33 crore utilised 

Remaining Amount - ₹74.6 crore 

Storm Water Drains department

Assigned ₹505.14 crore and ₹487.36 utilised

Remaining Amount -  ₹17.78 crore