The Hindu                              07.03.2013

Mayor eyeing credit for presenting two budgets

Staff Reporter 

Efforts are being made to present the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) budget by the end of this month, Mayor D. Venkatesh Murthy has said.

Speaking to mediapersons here on Wednesday, he said that the Commissioner’s budget draft had been sent to the Standing Committee for Taxation and Finance. He had directed committee chairperson K.A. Muneendra Kumar to begin the budget preparations.

“We want to present the budget before the code of conduct comes into force ahead of the Assembly polls,” he said. If there is a delay, the budget can be presented only after the Assembly elections and election of the new Mayor, Deputy Mayor and members of the 11 Standing Committees.

Mr. Murthy said he would discuss the issue with the BJP leadership. Stating that there was no rule that prevented one Mayor from presenting two budgets, he said efforts were being made to present the budget soon. “We are ready to cross the hurdles that will be put by certain persons with vested interests who think we will take the credit politically for presenting two budgets.”

However, a senior BJP leader, on condition of anonymity, told The Hindu that the ruling party (BJP) had unanimously decided to present the budget only after the Assembly polls. “But before that, efforts are on to choose the next Mayor and Deputy Mayor. Following that, all efforts will be made to win the Assembly elections.”

Opposition parties are up in arms over the delay and the violation of the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976. According to the KMC Act, the civic body is bound to complete the entire budget procedure and submit the council-approved budget to the government by the first week of March. The government is obligated to approve the budget before the beginning of the new financial year.

Realistic budget

Mr. Murthy claimed that the 2013-14 budget would be “realistic”. This could be a reality this year, since the Union Budget and State Budget for 2013-14 had been presented. “We will try to reduce the outlay. The outlay of the draft budget that has been sent to the Standing Committee is approximately Rs. 5,000 crore. We have pending works, including programme of works, worth around Rs. 2,000 crore. Efforts will be made to reduce the outlay from Rs. 10,000 crore to around Rs. 7,000 crore,” he added.

He said that the draft budget would be bare and devoid of any welfare, development programmes. “The outlay will obviously increase once the ruling party includes development programmes and welfare schemes. This will be done after consulting the party leadership. There cannot be a budget without these,” he added.

The Hindu       06.03.2013

DDA budget for 2013-14 passed; L-G for better project monitoring

With the complaint that most projects are failing to meet timelines, Lieutenant-Governor Tejendra Khanna has directed the DDA to draw up a complete monitoring chart giving targets, timelines and date of completion for all the projects before the next Authority meeting.

The DDA said the construction of 4,855 EWS and 24,660 LIG flats in Dwarka, Narela and Rohini was planned for 2012-13 and it was likely that these would be awarded during 2013-14. The housing agency said that at the beginning of the ongoing financial year, the construction of 30,813 houses was in progress and out of these 4,321 have already been put to draw for allotment by the housing wing.

As part of its in situ slum redevelopment programme, the contract for constructing 3,000 EWS flats in A-4 Kalkaji Extension has been awarded and its construction is likely to begin in the new financial year.

The DDA had initially earmarked Rs.1,277.55 crore for construction of houses in 2012-13 which has now been revised to Rs.859.41 crore in 2012-13. For 2013-14, the budget has estimated a provision of Rs.1,238.75 crore for the construction of houses and shops.

The DDA is expecting receipts of Rs.7,940.83 crore and an expenditure of Rs.5,448.47 crore in 2013-14. The estimate for receipts in 2012-13 has been revised to Rs.5,491.43 crore. The Authority expects to earn Rs.3,029.41 crore from disposal of land and Rs.2,847.44 crore from the disposal of houses and shops.

The expenditure component for 2013-14 includes a provision of Rs.400 crore for land acquisition compared to Rs.300 crore last year which has now been revised to Rs.459 crore. The DDA also expects an expenditure of Rs.2,543.05 crore in 2013-14 as land development costs to meet the demand for residential, commercial, and institutional land. These works are being taken up at Rohini, Dwarka, Narela, Jasola, Bakkarwala, Maidangarhi, Kirti Nagar, Paschim Vihar, and Alakananda.

Rs.200 crore as funds have been allocated for five new road over-bridges, two flyovers and one underpass. A provision of Rs.140.39 crore has been made for construction of 10 Master Plan Roads which include express roads and urban extension roads. The schemes for road development include a master plan road in Rohini Phase IV and V, construction of a 100-metre corridor of expressway from G.T. Road to Western Yamuna Canal in Narela and an express road connecting Narela to Dwarka through Bakkarwala.

Funds totalling Rs.17.5 crore have been allocated for building community halls in Nand Nagri, East of Loni Road, Gazipur, Kondli Gharoli, Jasola, Preet Vihar and Mandawli.

A provision of Rs.756.51 crore has been made for development and maintenance of DDA parks and other green spaces like Astha Kunj, Sat Pulla Lake Complex, and Yamuna River Front.

A provision of Rs.8.83 crore has been made for UTTIPEC which is spearheading transit-oriented development in the Capital.While Rs.300 crore has been allocated for Phase-III of Delhi Metro extension, Rs.13.5 crore has been earmarked for extending the metro from Mundka to Bahadurgarh.

A provision of Rs.1,238.75 crore made for construction of houses and shops EWS, LIG flats being constructed in Dwarka, Narela, Rohini likely to be awarded in 2013-14