The Times of India 22.02.2013
Nashik Municipal Corporation firm on Rs 2,505 cr plan
NASHIK: The Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) has expressed its inability to scale down its initial plans and estimates worth Rs 2,505 crore for the forthcoming Kumbhmela scheduled in 2015-16. Meanwhile, of the 25 government agencies involved in making arrangements for the mela, 11are yet to submit priority-wise plans.
The corporation will play a major role in creating the infrastructure for the event and its plan of Rs 2,505 crore forms the largest chunk of the total plans worth Rs 4,105 crore drawn up by the 27 agencies. Since Rs 4,105 crore was considered to be on the higher side, the agencies were asked to curtail their plans. The expenditure on the 2003-04 Kumbh mela was less than Rs 300 crore.
The agencies which have failed to prepare revised, priority-wise plans include the NMC, the public works department (PWD), the forests department and the rural police. "We received a full plan from all the agencies, but the instructions by the government to curtail the plans were not paid heed to. The agencies maintained that the submitted plans were the best for the activities planned," district collector Vilas Patil said. So, the administration had demanded segregation of works into three categories - A, B and C - with top priority works taken in category A.
NMC commissioner Sanjay Khandare said, "Finalising the plans involved the House and it was done meticulously. Revision of the plan would again take several months, hence, we have decided against it."
When asked how the civic body would react if the district administration prioritised the works or prune the budget, Khandare said the collectorate was the best judge in the respective issues and the cuts in the plan would be welcomed, provided they were in line with the developmental issues undertaken.
On the other hand, senior officials from another department, which has presented its priority-wise plan to the collectorate, said had the collectorate sought prioritizing the works in the beginning, it would have been easier. "Appointing a person for the same job is affecting our normal work," the official added.
Various government agencies were asked in 2011 to present plans for the Kumbh mela. The Rs 4,105-crore plan was finally filed by July 2012 but the district guardian minister Chhagan Bhujbal had said that the budget was too large and needed to be curtailed.
With 11 departments failing to scale down their demand for funds, the government, with the help of the district administration, is likely to carry out the exercise itself.
The corporation will play a major role in creating the infrastructure for the event and its plan of Rs 2,505 crore forms the largest chunk of the total plans worth Rs 4,105 crore drawn up by the 27 agencies. Since Rs 4,105 crore was considered to be on the higher side, the agencies were asked to curtail their plans. The expenditure on the 2003-04 Kumbh mela was less than Rs 300 crore.
The agencies which have failed to prepare revised, priority-wise plans include the NMC, the public works department (PWD), the forests department and the rural police. "We received a full plan from all the agencies, but the instructions by the government to curtail the plans were not paid heed to. The agencies maintained that the submitted plans were the best for the activities planned," district collector Vilas Patil said. So, the administration had demanded segregation of works into three categories - A, B and C - with top priority works taken in category A.
NMC commissioner Sanjay Khandare said, "Finalising the plans involved the House and it was done meticulously. Revision of the plan would again take several months, hence, we have decided against it."
When asked how the civic body would react if the district administration prioritised the works or prune the budget, Khandare said the collectorate was the best judge in the respective issues and the cuts in the plan would be welcomed, provided they were in line with the developmental issues undertaken.
On the other hand, senior officials from another department, which has presented its priority-wise plan to the collectorate, said had the collectorate sought prioritizing the works in the beginning, it would have been easier. "Appointing a person for the same job is affecting our normal work," the official added.
Various government agencies were asked in 2011 to present plans for the Kumbh mela. The Rs 4,105-crore plan was finally filed by July 2012 but the district guardian minister Chhagan Bhujbal had said that the budget was too large and needed to be curtailed.
With 11 departments failing to scale down their demand for funds, the government, with the help of the district administration, is likely to carry out the exercise itself.
