MBMC budget reflects bankruptcy: Oppn

Depried of any big ideas or schemes for the twin-city, the BJP-led Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) passed a Rs 1,369 crore budget tagged with a pathetically meagre surplus, on the virtue of their majority in the special general body house.

Standing committee chairman Dhruv Kishore Patil presented the budget to Mayor Dimple Mehta on Wednesday.

Even as the civic administration struggles to boost revenue, the standing committee inflated the civic chief’s draft budget by a whooping Rs 156 crore, inviting sharp criticism from the opposition. “Assessment of new properties, regularization of illegal structures by levying penalty are some of the sources through which we expect to augment existing revenue generation,” said Dhruv Kishor Patil.

The BJP rulers invited a huge outcry for their failure in accommodating important projects like Waste Management Project in Sakwar, Vasai, Inclusion of leftover areas in the underground sewage system and most importantly trimming the earmarked funds for public transport from 12 to 8 crores.

“Thanks to the politically motivated inflation by the ruling governance, the civic administration stares at a revenue shortfall of more than Rs 400 crore, this apart from huge spillovers in context to pending works. The budget reflects bankruptcy of ideas and funds, ”charged Congress corporator Anil Sawant.