Kalyan civic body mulls ways to generate 25% cost for smart city Kalyan students help build homes for poor in Karjat

THE PLAN KDMC proposes to use funds from annual budget, lease out vacant plots to generate revenue

With a proposed plan for the smart city project worth Rs1,445 crore in place, the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) is looking for options to generate 25% of the funds for the project.

The Centre will provide 50% of the funds required for the project, while the state and the civic body will have to chip in 25% each.

To meet its target, the civic body has planned to allocate a portion of the funds for the financial year 2016-17 budget towards this project.

“Since we have to chip in 25% of the amount for the smart cities project, we need to plan well in advance on how we can we generate maximum funds to meet the requirement. One way is to take some funds from the KDMC’s annual budget,” said E Ravendiran, KDMC commissioner. The civic body is also planning to do a GPS survey of areas under the KDMC’s jurisdiction to check the properties and water supply connections.

Based on this survey, the civic body will collect the pending property tax from each defaulter.

It will also generate revenue from residents for their water usage. Those using more than 500 litres of water a day will be charged higher amount.

“Water meters have been installed in 85% of areas under the KDMC’s jurisdiction. We plan to install meters in the remaining areas soon,” said a KDMC official on condition of anonymity.

“This will help us charge all the users based on the water meter rate and generate some amount required for the project,” added the official.

The civic body is also considering leasing out its reserved plots for commercial purposes.

“The plots lying vacant can be leased out for commercial purposes. This will help the civic body generate income that can be utilised for the project,” said Ravendiran.

A group of 200 students and 30 teachers from Sacred Heart School, Kalyan, participated in Habitat for Humanity’s ‘Build’ programme in Karjat, wherein they along with the volunteers participated in building homes and a community hall for the 500 families in Dongarpada located at Karjat. The participants also painted Shasakiya Aashram Shaala, a school in Dongarpada, making it look vibrant.

Rajan Samuel, MD, Habitat for Humanity India, said, “I appreciate the passion of these children towards elevating the deprived conditions of the bottom of the pyramid of society. Their contribution will have an everlasting impact on our home partners and the school students.”

Albin Anthony, administrator, Sacred Heart School, said, “Our school has been participating in several such events, which will help students learn good values. We have already carried out many social activities to help the needy.”