BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Monday passed an all-time high budget of Rs 690.02 crore for the 2023-24 fiscal. The budget was passed in the first corporation meeting held at the new BMC-ICOMC building near Satya Nagar. Mayor Sulochana Das said the budget approved in the corporation is the highest so far for any fiscal. In the previous fiscal the civic body had passed a budget of Rs 610 crore, she said.
The focus of the civic body in the 2023-24 fiscal will be to improve the drainage network of the city, addressing issues pertaining to sanitation and taking up city beautification works in areas that remained uncovered during the hockey World Cup.
She said the BMC is also giving stress on implementing the bio-mining project at Bhuasuni dump yard to clear the legacy waste, development of panchayats that were added to the state capital during ward delimitation prior to the ULB elections as well as renovation of parks, water bodies and other public amenities across the city.
“The construction of ward offices will be expedited to facilitate hassle free delivery of civic services at the door step of residents. We will also strengthen the local CHCs and PHCs to improve health services at the local level,” Das said. On the other hand, generation of revenue will also be a major focus and challenge for BMC in the new fiscal. The mayor said in view of the high court order for collection of holding taxes at old rates, the civic body will look for alternative ways of generating revenue.
“The reassessment of residential and commercial property across the city will be expedited to ensure more such units are brought under tax bracket,” she said.
Moreover, the BMC has also planned construction of mini convention halls and Kalyan Mandaps in different wards to provide these facilities to locals at an affordable rate to generate revenue. The BJP corporators staged a walkout during the presentation of the budget alleging their questions were continuously being ignored. Later they staged a sit-in at the office.
They further alleged that ruling BJD corporators were not allowing them to raise any issue during the meeting. The agitating corporators also questioned why Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi was not invited to the inauguration of the new building. However, the mayor ruled out the allegations and said the meeting took place as per the agenda and everyone was asked to follow it for smooth deliberation on all key issues.
“Though they staged a walk out, I want to assure that we are committed to work together with all the corporators irrespective of the party they are from,” she said.