Panvel City Municipal Corporation (PCMC) commissioner Ganesh Deshmukh presented a budget of ₹906 crore for the financial year 2020-21 on Friday. This is ₹130 crore less than last year’s budget.
There is no increase in taxes and the budget mostly focuses on completing the projects which were undertaken last year and some would be initiated this year. The budget stresses on beautification of water bodies, road concretisation, laying stormwater drains, monsoon preparedness and developing garden among others.
Deshmukh said, “This is a realistic budget based on the income that we are expecting. Last year’s budget was ₹1,036 crore. It has reduced this year as we were expecting a goods and services tax (GST) grant of ₹250 crore from the government. But, we got only ₹72 crore. However, priority will be given to projects that were started last year.”
The budget, presented to the standing committee, proposes a total income of ₹906 crore, that includes an opening balance of ₹525.90 crore. It has estimated to spend ₹ 904.31 crore, leaving a balance amount of ₹2 crore.
PCMC expects to earn a revenue of ₹ 906 crore and major revenue sources including GST, Finance Commission, PMAY, Amrut and government grants.
{{/usCountry}}PCMC expects to earn a revenue of ₹ 906 crore and major revenue sources including GST, Finance Commission, PMAY, Amrut and government grants.
{{/usCountry}}He said, “We will focus on building storm water drains in areas which were badly affected during monsoon last year, such as Patel Mohalla and Cuff Nagar. An amount of ₹22 crore has been allocated for construction of stormwater drains.”
He said roads will be made pothole-free as the civic body will undertake major concretisation work. A total of ₹50 crore will be spent on road concretisation. It aims to generate ₹500 crore only through water and property taxes.
Kharghar, Panvel, Kalamboli, Kamothe, Roadpali come under PCMC, but the civic body gets property and water tax only from Panvel. The residents of other nodes give property tax to City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) which provides all the basic amenities to all nodes except Panvel.
PCMC has done a survey for the properties in its node and will collect taxes after the other nodes are handed over to it.
Three budgets have been presented since the formation of PCMC, but not much difference has been seen in civic infrastructure, said politicians. Pritam Mhatre, the opposition leader of PCMC, said, “The basic amenities have got a mention in the budget but they need to be fulfilled. The discussion on March 11 will reveal more things.”
Activist Kantilal Kadi said that basic issues have not been resolved till now. Every year, Panvel is the worst-affected during summer as residents go through water crisis.
“PCMC nodes do not get sufficient water. Transport and health care are important issues which have been ignored by civic body,” said Kadi.
Panvel, which has a population of 5lakh, is a fast expanding node. Residents blame PCMC for not developing infrastructure to cater to the increasing population. “Parking menace and narrow roads are some of the problems which have not been solved for years. With more residents coming to live here, our problems have worsened,” said Ajeet Raje, 50, a Panvel resident.