Mumbai civic body has spent ₹95 crore in a month on Covid-19 fight

In the past one month, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has spent more than ₹95 crore for tackling the coronavirus outbreak in the city and has anticipated

In the past one month, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has spent more than ₹95 crore for tackling the coronavirus outbreak in the city and has anticipated an additional expenditure of ₹200 crore for the next two months to contain the spread of the virus.

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The BMC has been utilising money from its contingency fund for the expenditure since March 11, when the city’s first coronavirus case was reported. In the 2020-21 budget, the BMC had allocated ₹850 crore for its contingency fund – a reserve of money set aside to cover possible unforeseen future expenses.

“The expenditure of ₹95 crore that has been incurred in the fight against coronavirus is an unprecedented expense. But as of now, we are able to meet the expenses, as we have an annual allocation of around ₹850-900 crore as contingency fund. So there are no plans to raise money from the market or break BMC’s fixed deposits invested in banks,” additional municipal commissioner P Velrasu said.

In the past one month, the BMC has spent towards various initiatives, from enhancing health care to opening community kitchens for migrant labourers. According to its estimates, around ₹20 crore has been spent only on providing food. The health expenses have also increased, as the BMC, in its annual budget for 2020-21 in February, had allocated only ₹2 crore to upgrade Kasturba Hospital in the light of a possible coronavirus outbreak. Currently, the BMC spent substantial amount of money to set up institutional quarantine facilities for around 6,000 people

A majority of the BMC’s donations is in form of kind via corporate social responsibility (CSR) or organisations. Though the civic body is yet to calculate the exact quantum of donations in cash, as per its estimates, its expenditure can surge upto ₹130 crore a month in the upcoming months if the donations come down.

According to BMC officials, the major expenditure in the coming days could incur on setting up institutional quarantine facilities and dedicated hospitals for coronavirus, procuring medical equipment and PPEs, purchasing groceries, as well as recruiting manpower.

Ravi Raja, Congress corporator and leader of Opposition in the BMC, said, “One can understand that it this is an unprecedented situation, but our preparedness was very poor. Today, we are procuring equipment at much higher rate owing to the general increase in demand.”