This year, roads dept may get one-third of its previous budget

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) budget for the construction, repair and improvement of roads in the city is likely to see a significant drop this financial year.

According to officials, the allocation for the scam-hit department will only be onethird its previous allocation of Rs4,554 crore.

Officials credit the significant reduction to BMC'S new method of rebuilding and repairing roads, which is costefficient and does not require the road to be dug up.

“If road repairs cost us Rs100 earlier, the new method will cost us only Rs20 to Rs30. This has brought down the overall allocation significantly,” said a senior civic official, who did not wish to be identified.

The new method, called ‘milling and carpeting’ involves scraping the top layer of roads and resurfacing them with asphalt.

The BMC has decided to allot contracts worth Rs69 crore to mill and carpet roads. Contracts worth Rs282 crore are also in the pipelines, said officials.

The civic body started searching for alternative means to repair roads after unearthing a major road works-related scam in 2015.

Two inquiry reports revealed the poor state of roads, on which Rs1,000 crore had been spent.

A senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, who did not wish to be identified, said the overall budget will see a significant drop.

“The budget amounts to Rs26,000 crore, which is Rs11,000 crore less than the pre vious budget of Rs37,052 crore,” he said.

Officials said allocations for various department will be more ‘realistic’.

“Instead of giving inflated fig ures, of which only 30% is util ised, we are allocating only the required amount,” the officia said.

The BMC has been facing flak for many years over its poor utilisation of the budget. The budget for the financial year 2017-18 will be presented to the BMC’S standing committee on March 29.

The major allocations are expected to be for the BMC'S ambitious coastal road project the Goregaon-mulund Link Road and the sewage treatment plants planned for the city.

The budget will also contain provisions for the Development Plan (DP) 2034. According to officials, municipal amenities especially solid waste manage ment facilities such as sorting centres, will be prioritised “Development amenities on reserved lands that are owned by the civic body will be taken up first,” a civic official said.