BMP accused of digging its own ‘debt trap’

BMP accused of digging its own ‘debt trap’
Deccan Herald

Why did the cash-strapped Bangalore Mahanagara Palike let go of a revenue of Rs 50 crore collected as cess for infrastructure and solid waste management?

Why did the cash-strapped Bangalore Mahanagara Palike let go of a revenue of Rs 50 crore collected as cess for infrastructure and solid waste management?

How does the BMP explain the 100 per cent loss of capital receipts from building deviation regularisation and MOUD grants? Is the BMP, to put it more bluntly, in a ‘debt trap’?

A barrage of such questions were posed by the citizens at a recent discussion on the annual performance of BMP. The discussion was organised by the Public Record of Operations and Finance (PROOF), a campaign to bring in transparency, accountability and participation of constituents in the functioning of the city municipal corporation.

“The BMP has fallen into a debt trap owing to delays in project implementation and wrong choice of development projects that has increased the expenditure by 200 per cent,” said PROOF Chairman Matthew Thomas.

Not collected

The scrutiny of the BMP’s finances also revealed that the total capital receipts (earning) of the BMP in 2005-06 was only 30 per cent of the budget estimate. A cess of Rs 50 crore as cess on SWM (meant for handling and safe disposal of waste) and the cess on infrastructure (for developing roads, flyovers, etc.) were not collected.

While the collection of rents from shops and leased properties was just Rs 639 lakh (much below the targeted Rs 931 lakh), the revenue from pay-and-park system dipped to a paltry Rs 4 lakh against an estimated Rs 20 crore.

While, the property tax collection showed an increase by 13.82 per cent, the BMP officials claimed that the self-assessment scheme had not been effective. BMP Special Commissioner Gaurav Gupta said the property tax collection had increased “not because the methods of collection have improved but more because of change in use of properties and increase in the number of new properties”.

“We will begin a door-to-door enumeration exercise to net an additional Rs 150 crore as property tax,” said BMP Commissioner K Jairaj. He also attributed the lapses in the BMP functioning to “lack of responsibility among the citizens”.

“Most problems arise because people evade property tax, encroach on footpaths, violate building bylaws and dump garbage and debris in public places,” according to him.

BROKE-UP!

Actuals in 2005-06 (in lakhs) % rise/fall

RECEIPTS

Advertisement taxes 136.85 -53.80

Pay and Park 4.03 -96.05

Shops, leased properties 639.16 -1.27

EXPENDITURE

Garbage disposal 4,914 13.31

Projects & Infrastructure 13,059 105.6

Stormwater drains 1,562 88.45