Mumbai: BMC spent one third of its expenses on BEST

BMC chief Pravin Pardeshi announced Rs 100 crore every month and a lump sum Rs 1,236 crore so that BEST could rise from its debt. File pic

It seems the civic body is going all out to save the BEST, its transport wing, at the cost of the city's welfare. It has already splurged almost one-third of its overall capital expenses, Rs 1,836 crore, only on the BEST, while it is falling short of meeting its revenue income target this year. What's
more, it will hand over another R300 crore to the BEST before March-end this year.

Property tax, development charges, compensation of octroi, water and sewerage tax are the main sources of revenue for the BMC. Due to the slowdown in real estate, the civic body is facing issues on meeting the income target through property tax and development charges. Despite this, it has spent almost one-third of its overall capital funding on the BEST.

While former Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta asked BEST to implement some reform measures before releasing funds, current commissioner Praveen Pardeshi lent a huge helping hand to the transport wing. He announced Rs 100 crore every month for regular expenses and a lump sum Rs 1,236 crore - so that BEST could rise from its debt. As per official data, BMC has given Rs 1,836 crore to the BEST until December 2019 and will give Rs 300 crore in the next three months. In response, the BEST slashed its fare and tried to adopt a technologically advanced system -apps etc.

Due to the large amount spent on the BEST, the percentage of expenses in budgetary estimation rose to 51, which is the largest ever. File pic

However, the spending on the transport wing is really high, as it means 31 per cent of the BMC's overall capital expenses. Roads ate most of the rest of the amount, R4,029 crore. At least Rs 1,455 crore was spent on roads, bridges and the coastal road. While the Storm Water Drainage department spent Rs 673 crore, the Water and Sewerage department used Rs 788 crore. The Health and Education department managed to spend only around Rs 500 crore together.

Due to the large amount spent on the BEST, the percentage of expenses in budgetary estimation rose to 51 per cent which is the largest ever.

'Priorities not clear'

The leader of the Opposition in the BMC criticised its decision. "It shows the BMC administration does not have its priorities clear. Even after giving so much funding, the revenue of the BEST has not increased. There is a loss of R0-80 lakh every day in BEST. It must be seen how the funds are being utilised," said Ravi Raja, leader of Opposition.

BMC's expenses

BMC's actual expenses till end of December 2019 (in crores of rupees)
BEST - 1,836

Roads - 773
Coastal road - 349
Bridges - 333
Storm water drainage - 673
Water and sewerage - 788
Education - 229
Health - 295
Other expenses - 589
Overall - 5,865

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