Mumbai civic budget: Big projects announced in 2018-19 yet to take off

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) 2019-20 budget, to be presented on February 4, is likely to cross ₹33,000 crore and a major chunk of it will go to infrastructure projects, again, after several projects from last budget yet to take off.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) 2019-20 budget, to be presented on February 4, is likely to cross ₹33,000 crore and a major chunk of it will go to infrastructure projects, again, after several projects from last budget yet to take off.

Considered the country’s richest civic body, the BMC had announced a budget of ₹27, 258 crore last time, of which a major chunk was allocated for infrastructure projects, including the Coastal Road, Goregaon-Mulund Link Road, Tansa cycle track, 24x7 water supply, Deonar waste-to-energy plant and Mumbai Sewage Disposal Project (MSDP). (HT)

Considered the country’s richest civic body, the BMC had announced a budget of ₹27, 258 crore last time, of which a major chunk was allocated for infrastructure projects, including the Coastal Road, Goregaon-Mulund Link Road, Tansa cycle track, 24x7 water supply, Deonar waste-to-energy plant and Mumbai Sewage Disposal Project (MSDP).

Work on the coastal road, connecting south Mumbai to the suburbs and which has been in the pipeline for over ten years now, has been very slow after the ground-breaking ceremony on December 16 last year by Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. The project got a budget provision of ₹1,500 crore in the 2018-19 budget. Till date, the mobilising of machinery and ground surveys have started, but construction is yet to begin. By December 2018, the BMC had used up only 15.27 % of the allocated amount.

The Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR) was another mega project aimed to improve connectivity between the east and the west. The project got only ₹100 crore allocated last budget. However, the BMC has not spent any of that amount owing to delayed permissions and removal of encroachments. The much touted 24x7 water-supply programme could not be kick -started in 2018-19, for which the officials blamed the less rain during monsoon. However, councillors have lashed out at the BMC, saying the lack of infrastructure caused the delay.

The Solid Waste Management (SWM) department was allocated ₹188.57 crore, but could spend only 22.81% (₹43.02 crore). Although the BMC said the Mulund dumping ground has been shut in October 2018, it was later found the civic body continued dumping waste there. Vijay Singhal, additional municipal commissioner, said, “Currently, the dumping ground is shut and we will acquire the 30-acre plot at Karwale in two weeks, to be used for SWM. ” The Deonar waste-to -energy project is expected to start next financial year. Singhal said bids for the same are expected by February-end.

The Mumbai Sewage Disposal Project (MSDP) has been implemented partially. The 2018-19 budget allocated ₹538.15 crore, of which only ₹82.38 crore was spent — 15.31% of the project. It is expected the BMC will allocate a much bigger amount this time. The Tansa cycle track, another pet project of the city, could only see a pilot project done in Mulund. A senior civic official said the track is likely to get a large allocation in the budget