Despite the large size of BBMP budget, new Chief Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath faces unenviable balancing act as expenditure is sure to exceed allocations
BENGALURU:
Within 31 hours of IAS officer Tushar Giri Nath assuming charge as BBMP chief, the state government has given him the humongous task of managing the civic body’s finances by approving the civic budget of Rs 10,861.78 crore, of which the major share is to be provided by the government itself. Unlike his predecessor Gaurav Gupta, the new BBMP Chief Commissioner is saddled with the unenviable task of fighting the financial crunch in Karnataka’s richest municipal corporation.
Nath took charge on Friday at 12.30 pm and budget approval copies were received by several media houses on Saturday at 8 pm.
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Nearly a month after the civic budget was finalised, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who also holds the Bengaluru development portfolio, on Saturday approved the BBMP budget. The Urban Development Department had sought the CM’s approval on April 8.
Giri Nath on Saturday held a series of meetings with officials to know the financial situation of the civic body and was shocked to know that the civic agency’s coffers are empty despite the demand for funds as the expenditure is even more, said an officer who was part of the meetings.
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Funds for SWM
The approved budget, a copy of which is available with TheBengaluruLive, has an additional outlay of Rs 380 crore, of which a major chunk goes towards handling the city’s garbage.
BBMP, citing the Karnataka High Court’s observations, has succeeded in obtaining additional funds of Rs 90 crore towards Solid Waste Management. “In view of the observations of the Honorable HC in related cases, P3116, P3789 (‘Repairs & Maintenance of SWM Plant & Machinery’) needs to be increased from Rs 15 crore to Rs 90 crore,” reads the proposal sent by BBMP and approved by the Chief Minister.
As per the government order, “Water supply (annually for maintenance and repairs as demanded by citizens) to be increased from Rs 40 crore to Rs 65 crore. Said additional Rs 25 crore to be made available for borewell maintenance (to be transferred to BWSSB if said task is assigned to them).”
The GO reads: “P0968, P1715, P1789, P1860 — Maintenance of landfills, waste dumping yards, quarries to be increased from Rs 20 crote to Rs 95 crore, adding: “P3561– BBMP matching contribution to Govt of Karnataka grants for 2022-23 may be fixed at Rs 200 crore.”
Rs 1 cr for journo medicare
The Chief Minister has also approved a grant of Rs 1 crore, which can be further increased to Rs 2 crore, towards medical relief for journalists. “P3446 — Discretionary medical relief grants to press and media reporters (Mayor’s discretionary) has been increased from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore. This can be further increased to Rs 2 crore,” the government order reads.
Further, the CM has provided Rs 1 crore under welfare for programmes to be conducted in memory of the late IPD Salappa.
