MCC presents surplus budget; projects Rs 257.66 cr revenue, Rs 257.60 cr expenditure

Mangalore, Feb 14: The Council of Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) here on Thursday approved the surplus budget of Rs 6.04 lakh for the 2013-14 fiscal year, in the budget presentation session chaired by Mayor Gulzar Banu.

The annual budget presented by President of Standing Committee on Taxation and Finance Shantha R projects a total revenue of Rs 257.66 crore, and proposes expenditure of Rs 257.60 crore.

Similar to the previous year, the revenue of the MCC for the year 2013-14 includes Rs 35 crore from water tariff, Rs 29 crore from self-assessment of property tax, Rs 1.3 crore from trade licenses, Rs 7.26 from building regulation and development fees, Rs 3.69 from markets, Rs 15 crore in the form of solid waste collection fees and funds from the government and other sources.

Water supply

A sum of Rs 34.17 crore has been earmarked in the budget for the second vented dam at Thumbe, which is expected to meet the drinking water needs of the city till 2026. As the storage capacity of the vented dam is limited to the storage of water required for 45 days, work on a new vented dam has commenced through the grant of Rs 75.50 crore by Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board. Almost 30 per cent of the works on the new vented dam have been completed and the remaining works have commenced. The corporation has spent Rs 19.75 crore on the vented dam. Once it is completed in May 2014, efforts will be made to supply water to all areas under the MCC, said Shantha R.

Development programmes

The budget has allocated a total of Rs 17.95 crore for various developmental works, including Rs 13.50 crore for development work, Rs 3.07 crore for SC/ST welfare programmes, Rs 98 lakh for social welfare and eradication of poverty, Rs 40.50 lakh for welfare of disabled persons and Rs 7 crore for payment of other bills.

Computerisation

The corporation expected a sum of Rs 3 crore from the government for the computerisation of all departments of the MCC in order to provide better services to the citizens. Efforts will be made in coming days to provide all the information related to the Corporation departments online to the public.

Kuteera Bhagya

A sum of Rs 70 lakh has been reserved in the budget for the Kuteera Bhagya scheme this year, and Rs 2 lakh for the Kuteera Jyothi scheme to provide electricity connections to BPL beneficiaries.

Awareness for students

The budget has earmarked a sum of Rs 5 lakh for the scheme to conduct awareness programmes among students studying in fifth to seventh standard in government schools, on misuse and storage of water, water purification and sewage treatment plants.

Waste collection

A sum of Rs 25 crore has been reserved for solid-waste management for the fiscal year 2013-14.

The contract of door- to-door collection of solid waste has been provided to eight contractors, who have begun collecting waste from houses. Out of 60 wards under the MCC, waste segregated dry and wet waste is being collected in two separate bins in two wards (Mannagudda and Court wards). Collection of segregated waste will begin in other wards in the coming days.

Bulk waste will be collected from hotels, canteens, juice centres, caterers, marriage halls and meat and chicken stalls and processed separately.

The construction of a market in Bejai and a fish market in Jeppu is going on. The MCC is planning to construct another fish market in Kuloor and a bus stand for commuters.

Reactions

Presenting his views, Corporator Harinath said that that the amount of Rs 10 lakh allocated to victims of natural disasters was insufficient, and so was the sum of Rs 35 crore allocated for construction of houses for the poor. The amount allocated for the construction of the fish market has not been mentioned. There is also a necessity for a market in Kavoor, he said, and added that there was no mention in the budget of allotment of rickshaw parking facilities.

Former Mayor Shankar Bhat pressed for the need to allocate funds for the construction of a railway underbridge at Jeppu-Kutpady.

Corporator James pressed for allocation of Rs 10-15 crore for the construction of a new bus stand at Pumpwell junction, while yet another objected to the non-allotment of funds for laying pavements on the sides of concretised roads in the city.