Bengaluru: After
three days of an acrimonious debate over the BBMP’s budget  for 2013-14
including criticism of the Palike’s shoddy performance in garbage
management and revenue collection, the corporation council approved the
budget on Wednesday. Mayor D. Venkatesh Murthy had presented the budget a
few days ago with an outlay of Rs. 8,521.1 crore.

Following
suggestions and criticism from various quarters Murthy  made certain
changes in the grants and funds allocated for other works and increased
the size of the budget by Rs 54 lakh. The revised budget  has been sent
to the state government for approval.

It was not just the opposition which pointed out  lacunae in the Budget. Even
BJP corporator representing Chamarajpet ward, B.V. Ganesh criticized
the budget saying he was only pointing out mistakes made by the
officials.

The receipts or
revenue projections of the BBMP are lower compared ot the  previous
years. For instance, the estimated revenue from development charges or
improvement fee for the year 2011-12 was Rs 251 crore but this year, the
estimated revenue has been shown at Rs 101 crore. Ganesh wondered if
the city had faced a natural calamity to force BBMP officials to
estimate lower revenue from development charges.

“These
comments should be taken in the right spirit and not as criticism. The
budget documents expose the lack of commitment on the part of
officials,” Ganesh said forcing Venkatesh Murthy to admit anomalies in
the estimated revenue from each department.

Former
mayor S. K. Nataraj expressed his displeasure over the apathy of BBMP
officials which led to the garbage crisis across the city. The officials
have repeatedly failed to take corrective measures, he said adding that
even the Israel model for disposal of solid waste in a scientific
manner was not considered by the officials.

Yediyur
corporator N.R. Ramesh referred to the fact that in the last one decade,
BBMP has spent Rs. 17.8 crore on aspalting work. The road network in
Karnataka and Kerala both put together is about 3.7 lakh kms.

Considering
the money spent on city roads, the entire road network in Kerala and
Karnataka could have been developed, he quipped adding that the city
needs to put together its road history to avoid duplication of work.

In
reply, BBMP commissioner M. Lakshminarayan said an official committee
will be constituted to look into road asphalting and the money spent on
it.