BMC incorporates citizens’ requests in budget

Mumbai: In a first for the BMC, this year’s budget actually had a participative element: feedback was invited from citizens, and, as the civic body claimed, suggestions were taken cognisance of and incorporated in the budget

Mumbai: In a first for the BMC, this year’s budget actually had a participative element: feedback was invited from citizens, and, as the civic body claimed, suggestions were taken cognisance of and incorporated in the budget.

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The feedback exercise took place last month, and citizens participated enthusiastically, some even taking to social media to highlight their requests. BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal on Saturday said that 965 suggestions were received, and the BMC had tried to implement most of them. “We have documented every suggestion and taken it very seriously. We have tried to implement citizens’ suggestions as best as we could,” he said.

Among the suggestions accepted by the corporation was one from the Chandivali Citizens Welfare Association to make existing gardens better and create more recreational spaces across Mumbai. Chahal said that ₹181 crore had been allocated by the BMC for this. Another NGO, the Mumbai Vikas Samiti, suggested an upgradation of the Mumbai fire brigade’s facilities, on the basis of which a new project called Programme for Enhancement of Emergency Response (PEER) will be launched by the BMC. “We will strengthen the fire brigade’s existing infrastructure and also purchase modern equipment,” said Chahal.

Among the suggestions from individual citizens was one by Taj Pawaskar, who stressed on the importance of footpaths and remarked that many more were needed in the city. Chahal said that the BMC had taken cognisance of this and would launch a Pedestrian First policy under which footpaths would be built on both sides of roads which measured more than nine meters. However, this received a mixed reaction from the Mumbaikars that HT spoke to: while some said the BMC was merely rebranding its 2014 Pedestrian First policy, others remarked on the fact that the civic body had not even been able to tackle the menace of encroachments on existing footpaths.

Another suggestion sent by an individual citizen, Tony M, dealt with the cleaning and rejuvenation of the Oshiwara river. Chahal said that the BMC had made a budgetary allocation of ₹582 crore for this as well as for the rejuvenation of the river bed. Another citizen, Arvind Kishan, requested a road near Ayyappa Temple in Borivali West. Chahal said the land was owned by LIC but the BMC would make a budgetary allocation to acquire the land and build a new road there as soon as the acquisition was completed.