Though several projects aimed at developing the city’s infrastructure have been announced, the share of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in the budget is meagre, noted Mayor B.S. Sathyanarayana.
He told The Hindu that the BBMP had been counting on the State government to bail out the civic body from financial crisis. “We had sought Rs. 5,000 crore from the government. Projects worth Rs. 2,160 crore have been announced for the BBMP, but the allocation is only Rs. 1,527 crore,” he said.
Mr. Sathyanarayana is of the opinion that the city does not need ‘so many road development projects’. “The need of the hour is scientific solid waste management and solving the parking problem. While solid waste management gets only Rs. 100 crore, an allocation of Rs. 10 crore has been made for implementation of the new parking policy. Allocation to these areas should be increased,” he said.
Stating that the BBMP would write to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah urging him to increase the allocation to the BBMP, he said that Rs. 100 crore has been allotted for footpath development, but work is possible only if encroachments are removed. “For this, the government must first issue a strict order on removal of encroachments and ensure that BBMP gets police protection for the same.”
Additional revenueMeanwhile, BBMP Commissioner M. Lakshminarayan said that the BBMP will have to mobilise around Rs. 633 crore to execute the projects mentioned in the budget. “This year, we are expecting additional revenue through Akrama Sakrama and betterment charges. We anticipate these two sources to generate around Rs. 700 crore,” he said.
