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PMC draft budget:Civic body forced to fund ₹2K cr plans under priority provision article 72B
PUNE With the municipal commissioner and standing committee of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) having approved various projects worth over ₹2,000 crore in the financial year 2021-22 using special article 72B of the Bombay Provincial Municipal Act (BPMC) 1949, the municipal commissioner has been forced to make budgetary provision for these projects in the next financial year
PUNE With the municipal commissioner and standing committee of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) having approved various projects worth over ₹2,000 crore in the financial year 2021-22 using special article 72B of the Bombay Provincial Municipal Act (BPMC) 1949, the municipal commissioner has been forced to make budgetary provision for these projects in the next financial year. Not only has the municipal commissioner been forced to make budgetary provision for these projects in the financial year 2022-23, the PMC will need to make budgetary provision for them for the next four to five years.
As per article 72B of the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation (BPMC) act 1949, the municipal commissioner and general body can use funds on priority for projects that are not planned or do not have budgetary provision.
According to sources, the PMC approved various projects worth over ₹2,000 crore using special article 72B of the BPMC 1949. These include the Mula-Mutha riverfront development project worth ₹4,000 crore; the cancer hospital at Baner worth ₹1,000 crore; and many road and flyover projects. Municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar said, “It is true that more projects got approved using this special article and I did not have the exact figure for the total cost of these projects. But the PMC will provide all the details. As these projects were approved and work orders got issued, the PMC will need to make budgetary provision for them. Most of these projects will take four to five years to be completed.”
While Kumar promised to provide the exact details of these projects and the budgetary provision made for them, the civic administration did not do the needful till late evening till the time of going to Press.
Meanwhile, the municipal commissioner said that land acquisition is a major challenge. The cost of land acquisition is so high that the PMC is unable to execute projects, he said. “The Katraj-Kondhwa road is a classic example of this. We were hoping that the PMC will get the land easily for the Katraj-Kondhwa road and accordingly started the work. The tenders were floated and work was started but the project is stuck due to land acquisition,” Kumar said.
