Bengaluru: BMP Taxation and Finance Standing Committee Chairman M.K. Gunashekar will present the BBMP budget for 2017-18 with an outlay of around Rs 9,500 crore on Saturday. The budget is expected to be realistic, in sync with the BBMP’s revenue and state government’s grants.
Highly-placed sources in the BBMP said that on the lines of Kempegowda awards, Lakshmidevi award (daughter-in-law of Bengaluru founder Kempegowda) will be instituted and will be presented to a reputed woman, considering her contribution to society. It will be part of the Women’s Day celebration on March 8.
Mayor G. Padmavathi and Mr Gunashekar said that the budget will be realistic with the funds available with the BBMP and the grants from the state government.
50 bicycles will be given to each ward to be distributed among vegetable vendors. A few infrastructure projects too will find place in the budget, the sources said. Upgrading graveyards, pro-women programmes and multi-level parking facility are high on agenda, they said.
The Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF) has identified some of the areas the BBMP budget should focus on. It has suggested significant overhaul of garbage management. “Currently, we see garbage and construction debris finding its way to rajakaluves and lakes. With 58 more lakes being transferred to the BBMP, at least Rs 400 crore should be earmarked for fencing and minimal lake improvement. All road contracts that are less than five years old should be put on the website, as the BBMP has failed to enforce pothole-filling and road maintenance clause of contractors. The BBMP must reintroduce paid parking and invest in building more public parking facilities. They can generate over Rs 600 crore per year from parking revenue alone,” it stated.
No draft budget copy
Though presenting a copy of the draft budget to BBMP members is mandatory as per the Karnataka Municipal Corporations (KMC) Act 1976, Taxation and Finance Committee Chairman Mr Gunashekar has ignored it.
Ironically, Mr Gunashekar was one of the first few members to point out this violation by earlier committee chairmen. However, now he feels that the budget draft would be misused if given in advance.
