Zero deficit budget for BMC presented

Bhopal, Mar 19: Bhopal Mayor Sunil Sood on Wednesday proposed zero-deficit budget for the first time in the history of Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC). Earlier, surplus budget was presented during the tenure of Umashankar Gupta in the past.

However, the budget was not passed. A majority of corporators demanded time to understand and discuss the budget before approving it, accepting to which the Speaker Ramdayal Prajapati fixed March 24 as the next date for the purpose. The Mayor in his 30 minutes budget speech emphasized primarily on the developmental works proposed under the pilot projects Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNRUM) and Uday. This year a no profit no loss budget is presented by the BMC.  A total income of Rs 90058.16 lakh and expenses of Rs 90057.52 lakh was estimated in the budget.

The main proposals that are expected to create chaos in the next meeting included the proposed hike in water cess from existing Rs 60 to Rs 180. The Corporation is terming the move essential for meeting the expenses of bringing water of river Narmada to the state capital. On the other hand, due to the upcoming elections the corporators of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are opposing the move. Insiders revealed that a general consensus would be made on Rs 100 per month. Similarly, a new tax- Narmada cess was proposed by the corporation, according to the, which the property owners would have to pay an additional amount of Rs 10 per square feet with the existing property tax charges (Tariff may vary according to different slabs).

A new proposal to withdraw the corporators fund was also mooted in the budget. The proposal states that if corporators want to initiate any work in their respective wards they have to make a proposal and submit it with the corporation. While according to the existing practice an amount of Rs 5 lakh is fixed annually, as the corporators fund. After understanding the proposal, corporators sensed foul play in it and stated that if such an idea comes into action than even for getting repaired small leakages and sewage lines the corporators have to make proposals and wait until it gets sanctioned by the officials concerned.