KMC slashes funds for roads, health & parks

KOLKATA: The roads in Kolkata might get worse but you will at least have better lights to avoid the potholes. This seems to be Kolkata Municipal Corporation's way to balance out things at a time when it is severely strapped for funds.
In its first budget, the Trinamool Congress-Congress KMC board slashed its estimate by Rs 300 crore and settled for Rs 3,500 crore for this fiscal.The funds cut comes at a time when KMC has a wider jurisdiction and additional responsibilities taken over from other government agencies such as PWD, KMDA and KMWSA that will cost it Rs 200 crore at least.
Key departments that have faced a cut include road maintenance, slum development, health and parks and squares. Even the disaster management programme has taken a hit. Allocations have been increased on electricity charges, security arrangements and modernization of KMC-maintained auditoriums.
While the budget allocation for maintenance of roads has gone down from Rs 276 crore in 2010-2011 to 180 crore in 2011-12, the amount of slum development has dropped sharply from Rs 129 crore to Rs 84 crore. Funds for disaster management have gone down from Rs 12 crore to Rs 10 crore. Allocation for the health department - which has ambitious reform plans to tackle malaria, dengue and TB - has been cut down from Rs 114 crore to Rs 95 crore.
However, there is in an increase in allocation for the renovation of Sarat Sadan in Behala, the mayor's home turf and also a place from where chief minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to contest the assembly bypolls.
But there is no mention or allocation of funds for the city's infrastructure that the KMC is likely to oversee. According to an agreement between the state government and KMC, the civic body will take over maintenance of roads, flyovers, street lighting, sewerage treatment and water supply plants from government agencies. KMC estimates say that it needs at least Rs 200 crore a year for these new responsibilities.
While the allocation for parks and waterbodies has gone down from Rs 30 crore to Rs 26 crore, funds for illumination of parks and streets has been increased from Rs 150 crore to Rs 240 crore.
Questions are being asked whether KMC will be able to shoulder the responsibility of maintaining the city's infrastructure when revenue generation is shrinking steadily. Going by KMC budget estimates, it has a Rs 93 crore revenue shortfall than the projection in 2010-11.
"Given such a crisis, the KMC should not take over maintenance of infrastructure from government agencies or take newer areas like Joka panchayat under its jurisdiction," said Mala Roy, leader of the Congress municipal party in KMC. Dipankar De, the KMC accounts committee chairman, felt that civic services were bound to deteriorate due to the financial crisis.