Corporation budget projects deficit of Rs. 21. 49 crore

March 05, 2010 01:10 am | Updated 01:11 am IST - TIRUCHI

The chairman of the Corporation Standing Committee on Finance and Taxation, G.Ramesh, tabling the budget for 2010-2011 at the council meeting with Commissioner T.T.Balsamy and Mayor S.Sujatha in Tiruchi on Thursday. Photo: M. Moorthy

The chairman of the Corporation Standing Committee on Finance and Taxation, G.Ramesh, tabling the budget for 2010-2011 at the council meeting with Commissioner T.T.Balsamy and Mayor S.Sujatha in Tiruchi on Thursday. Photo: M. Moorthy

Proposals on privatising maintenance of street lights in the city, building a new flower market with modern amenities and extending the underground sewer system for the omitted areas of the city are some of the salient features of Corporation Budget for 2010-11.

The budget projects a deficit of Rs.21.49 crore, but the Corporation hopes to meet the shortfall through better tax collection, settlement of tax-related litigations and improvement in revenue flow under non-tax heads.

The budget estimates project the civic body’s revenue for the next financial year at Rs.213.61 crore and expenditure at Rs.235.10 crore. The civic body had managed to bring down the deficit to Rs.2.21 crore for the previous financial year (2009-10), against the Budgetary projection of Rs.18.91 crore, through austerity measures, said G. Ramesh, Chairman, Standing Committee on Taxation and Finance, tabling the budget at an urgent meeting of the Council chaired by Mayor S. Sujatha here on Thursday.

The corporation was expecting substantial allocations under the Tamil Nadu Urban Rural Infrastructure Project (TURIP), for improving the roads on par with international standards, and the Infrastructure Gap Filling Fund.

Prominent among the budget proposals was the move to privatise the maintenance of 31,153 street lights in the city. The identified agency was to install power savers which would result in substantial savings in power consumption and also reduce carbon emissions. The corporation expected a substantial reduction in the expenditure on power consumption for street lights through the measure.

The civic body would prepare proposals for extending the underground sewer system to the omitted areas during the current financial year and forward it to the government for approval. It would try out a new solid waste management plan to compress and compact the accumulated garbage at the Ariyamangalam dumping yard.

Retaining walls would be built along the Kollankulam, Kathan, Rettai Vaical and other channels at a cost of Rs.2.25 crore to prevent flooding of low lying areas. The storm water drains along the East Boulevard Road and Nelson Road in Srirangam would be improved at a cost of Rs.1.51 crore.

The budget earmarked Rs.1 crore for setting up a daily market and a modern flower market and Rs.25 lakh for a fish market. Preliminary works including identification of an alternative site for shifting the Gandhi Market, in view of the increasing congestion at the existing market complex, would be carried out during the current year.

About Rs.1.50 crore had been set aside for establishing new public parks and improving the existing ones.

The budget had also made a provision of Rs.4.50 crore from the Education Fund for improving amenities in the Corporation schools.

The council would take up the budget for discussion on March 9.

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