BBMP’s last Budget before K’taka polls to be presented today

The total allocation for the corporation is said to be Rs 9,000 - 10,000 crore this time round

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The city’s municipal body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will present its budget on Thursday, months ahead of the assembly elections in the state.

The total allocation for the municipality is not far off the size compared to the last year’s Budget. It is said to be around Rs 9,000 and Rs 10,000 crore this time round. BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath said that while the body will focus on street lights, road infrastructure and other civic works, this year’s budget will concentrate on education, health and welfare works.

The budget will also incorporate initiatives to provide housing for migrant women and old-age homes to retired seniors, he added. The last year’s budget was presented on March 31 and stood at a sum total of Rs 10,484.28 crore. The government has increased the size of the Budget by Rs 377.5 crore.

The BBMP does not have an elected body and has been presenting its budget without elected representatives for the past two years. The same will be the case this year as well. The BBMP polls are yet to be held. Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai has allocated a sum of Rs 99,698 crore for Bengaluru’s development while presenting the state budget only a few weeks ago. Rs 3,000 crore will be used for urban flood control, Rs 1,000 crore for suburban rail, and Rs 1,200 crore to set up waste treatment plants, he had said.

Every year, the BBMP undertakes the exercise of gathering public opinion on their expectations from the budget through a campaign called ‘My City, My Budget’. This year, the civic agency received over 16,261 suggestions from the 243 wards seeking solutions to various issues plaguing the city.

“They must use a significant amount to hiring manpower to enable them to deal with city’s 1.3 crore people and their needs. They are currently functioning at half capacity or even less. While we blame a lot of our city’s woes on the BBMP, we cannot expect it to run a city when its primary corporation is less than half staffed,” Tara Krishnaswamy, Co-founder of Citizens for Bengaluru said.

Tara further said that while the BBMP has their focus on roads, it must also mandatorily incorporate steps to support pedestrians and other non-motorised transport alternatives like cycles. She also stressed on the need to upgrade road safety measures. Tara further noted that BBMP’s sole responsibility is the city, unlike other departments, for example, the BMRCL, which is answerable to the union government.

“BBMP must take full ownership of the city and stop kowtowing to the state’s line. They need to claim the city and have a vision as well as a plan for a liveable city, which they must implement regardless of the political compulsions,” she asserted.