Major BMC depts spent less than 30% of funds allotted this year

“The delay this year was because some major tenders were pending. For instance,the eastern suburbs road work,for which we had allotted about Rs 180 crore,got cleared only last week by the Supreme Court,” said SVR Srinivas,additional municipal commissioner,in charge of the roads department.

The BMC had not been able to carry out road improvement works in the eastern suburbs for over a year owing to a legal battle between two contractors,who competed for works planned last fiscal.

Another reason for the delay,as cited by civic officials,was the revised schedule of rates in the roads department. “This is probably the first time in four-five years that we had to revise the rates. Most of the road works that were to be passed by September-October had to go for revision in those two months. If we had gone on schedule,we would have completed it by August,” Srinivas added.

The total budget spent this year stands at 17 per cent as compared to 19 per cent utilised in the previous fiscal.

The fire department spent 2 per cent of its budget this year as compared to 7 per cent last year. A crucial proposal to buy snorkel ladders to tackle blazes in highrises is still pending. The proposal for acquiring a snorkel for the Gowalia Tank fire station,with a capacity to go up to 90 ft,was floated around two years ago. The tender has been stuck due to bureaucratic delays.

In the health department,13 per cent of the allotted budget was spent as compared to a mere 4 per cent the last fiscal. “There are still four months to the financial year,all our work is running as per schedule,” said Manisha Mhaiskar,additional municipal commissioner,in charge of the public heath department.

In the primary education department,22 per cent of the allotted budget was spent,similar to the previous year,where about 23 per cent was utilised. “The budget is allocated mainly towards construction and renovation works in schools. We usually start the major works by the end of November,which goes on till March,” said Mohan Adtani,additional municipal commissioner, in charge of civic education department.

The BMC,which had claimed to shift to a paperless administration at the beginning of the financial year,has spent only 8 per cent of the estimated budget on the IT department.

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