BENGALURU: Keeping in view the Assembly elections after the city witnessed disastrous floods, slew of complaints over bad roads and civic amenities, and amid a slowly recuperating traffic ordeal, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) budget will be presented in the first week of March.
After the Union and state budgets were presented, a slew of projects are expected in the budget to woo Bengalureans. Sources indicated there is likely to be a reduction in property tax while the budget will stress on education, health and welfare measures.
Jayaram Raipur, special commissioner, BBMP’s finance department, will be presenting the budget, and corporation officials who have completed the budget calculations will be submitting the budget list to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday.
Then, a proposal will be sent to Bommai, seeking permission to present the budget and the official date will be announced soon. Public can watch the presentation of the budget as it will be streamed online. BBMP has been considering of retaining some of the last year’s projects. The grant allocated by the corporation to the associations will shrink.
Responding to this, BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath said the government has been informed. “The budget will focus on education, health and welfare measures apart from allocation for street lights, roads and other civic amenities,” said Girinath, adding that the budget size will be almost the same as was announced in the last financial year. BBMP is expected to present a budget of Rs9,000 crore this year.
As there is no grant from the state government for garbage disposal, this is set to gain importance in the current year. Thus, there is a possibility that this year might see garbage disposal getting its highest allocation in many years. However, the emphasis will be more on road development, education, and health. Upgradation of lakes, canals, and parks will also be given priority.