The Hindu         25.03.2017 

MCC budget: Focus on roads, waste management

Money play:Mayor M.J. Ravi Kumar and office-bearers of the Mysuru
City Corporation arriving for the 2017-18 MCC budget presentation in the
city on Friday.M.A. SRIRAM
 

Civic body looks to launch works to keep Mysuru clean and green, even as
roadworks get big allocation; total expenditure pegged at Rs. 864 cr.

The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) budget for 2017-18 envisages a slew
of development works to make the city pothole free, besides creating
infrastructure for solid waste management.

Fresh efforts will be
made to secure Mysuru’s status of as the ‘heritage city’, even as urban
forestry programmes will be taken up in a big way to ensure that the
city is not only clean but also green.

The budget, presented here
on Friday, has projected revenue of Rs. 869.53 crore against expenditure
of Rs. 864.83 crore. A total of Rs. 153.2 crore has been earmarked for
road repair and other works. This divides into Rs. 126.5 crore for
laying new roads and Rs. 26.70 crore for scientific repair and
asphalting of roads and potholes.

The budget, which was presented
by K.V. Mallesh, chairman of the MCC Committee on Taxation, Finance and
Appeals, has set aside Rs. 72.11 crore for solid waste management, for
which new infrastructure will be established. A detailed project report
has been finalised and Rs. 53.7 crore has been earmarked for
establishing two new facilities.

While a new facility to handle
150 tonnes of solid waste a day will come up at Rayanakere, another with
a capacity of 200 tonnes will be established at Kesare. Besides, the
capacity of the existing solid waste treatment plant at Vidyaranyapuram
will be raised. The DPR has already been submitted to the Karnataka
Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation for approval.
At present, the city generates nearly 402 tonnes of waste a day, of
which 145 tonnes is being dumped in landfills. The new facilities are
expected to take care of this waste.

Estimate down

The
revenue by way of property tax has been pegged at Rs. 175.12 crore,
down from nearly Rs. 200 crore projected in the last year’s budget. But
by the end of December 2016, the MCC had realised only Rs. 84.67 crore.

As
part of urban greening and forestry, the civic body has held talks with
the Forest Department and will hand over 400 lawns and parks in its
jurisdiction to the latter. The allocation for urban greenery and park
development through the department is Rs. 20.87 crore.

To
restore lakes that are not fed by canals or rivers, Rs. 20 crore has
been set aside to create rainwater harvesting systems to replenish the
lakes in the low-lying areas.