The Hindu 12.03.2013
Civic body prepares Rs. 303 crore budget
Rs. 156 crore has been earmarked for drinking water project.
The Kakinada Municipal Corporation (KMC) on Monday
chalked out a budget for Rs. 303.71 crore for the financial year
2013-14. Of the total outlay, Rs. 156 crore has been earmarked for the
drinking water project to be sponsored by the APMDP, while the balance
amount will be spent on various development works.
Special
Officer of the KMC and District Collector Neetu Prasad has passed the
budget, which was made public by Municipal Commissioner V. Ravi Kumar
here. Addressing a press conference, the Commissioner said that the
revenue expenditure for the fiscal was estimated as Rs. 303.71 crore,
whereas the income from various sources was assessed as Rs. 309.76
crore.
Referring to the various heads, Mr. Ravi Kumar
said that the property tax collected was assessed as 28.42 crore, while
the non-taxes and fee amount was Rs. 8.77 crore.
He
said that priority was given to the drinking water project and the
widening of Main Road, which would be beneficial to the city in the long
run. He said that the proposed drinking water project at Jaganndhapuram
would be of great help in quenching the thirst of the citizens till
2026 and plans were afoot to complete the task during the fiscal.
On
the Main Road issues, he said that decks had been almost cleared the
issue of removal of the ‘Gali Gopuram’ of the old Ramalayam on the Main
Road was being discussed with the representatives of the temple. “The
Special Officer is keen on completing the widening works at the earliest
and taken the initiative to remove the blockades,” he said.
Mr.
Ravi Kumar wanted the people to pay the property taxes regularly and
help the corporation take complete the development works in time. He
said that focus would be made on connecting various parts of the city
with cement concrete roads and addressing the sanitation issue in a
phased manner.
Meanwhile, the Telugu Desam Party
found fault with the budget and felt that it was an incomplete one.
Former president of the party’s city unit Dusarlapudi Ramana Raju, in a
statement here, said that the budget was aiming at levying additional
taxes on the public in the days to come.