Mumbai: The standing committee of the BJP-led Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) on Wednesday rolled out an annual budget of Rs 2,227 crore for the financial year 2022-23.
It was further escalated by Rs 25 crore to an all-time high of Rs 2,252. 65 crore. This was passed in the general body on the virtue of the majority enjoyed by the BJP, amidst sharp criticism from the opposition.
Staring at near-empty coffers due to the massive spending towards ramping up the medical infrastructure for battling the Covid-19 pandemic in the twincity, compounded by a significant dip in revenue, MBMC chief Dilip Dhole had presented a Rs 1,817. 90 crore draft budget tagged with a meager surplus of Rs 30 lakh to the standing committee chairman Rakesh Shah last month.
The standing committee escalated figures by a whopping Rs 410 crore – including a sum of Rs 5 crore earmarked for the installation of smart (digital) water meters – and presented the budget to mayor Jyotsna Hasnale.
Pointing to various flaws in the budget, Congress corporator Anil Sawant said, “It’s a highly inflated budget with unrealistic targets and unmindful calculations.”
The astronomical hike in local ward development funds for municipal corporators also came under criticism by some members.
Notably, the general body house operated offline as municipal corporators and officials physically attended the meeting after a period of 25 months.
