50 new flyovers and underpasses will be built

50 new flyovers and underpasses will be built

The total outlay of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike budget, at Rs8,488 crore, has doubled, when compared to last year. Nearly 62% of that outlay is provided for civic infrastructure development. Chairman of the Palike's standing committee on finance and taxation, PN Sadashiva, who presented the budget, spoke to Shwetha S.
Road widening has been a controversial matter in the city. Does the budget make any allocation for it?
The committee has not taken any decision on road widening. We will wait and watch, to see how matters improve with the construction of the proposed flyovers and underpasses.
What plans do you have for easing traffic flow in the city?
We plan to construct about 50 new flyovers and underpasses in different parts of the city. A few sites for such construction have already been identified, Jayanagar, for instance, and Chamarajpet South End Circle. We expect that these will ease traffic flow.
Although the budget allocation this year is double what it was last year, the BBMP still faces a cash crunch. How will you manage to tide over that?
I think we should be able to manage. We get about Rs500 crore through the State Finance Commission; once Akrama Sakrama is streamlined, we expect an amount of Rs750 crore. The state government's contribution to the BBMP budget is Rs1,500 crore.
How about revenue mobilisation through property tax, or from advertisements?
There has been gradual increase of income from property tax collection during the last five years. After adopting Unit Area Value (UAV) system as the basis for assessment of property tax, the yield has been good. Efforts are also being made to bring the missing properties into the tax net by using the GIS system. As for revenue from advertising, we have detected and removed unauthorised hoardings. We are working towards a policy of auctioning advertisement rights. We are expected to collect about Rs100 crore through advertisement tax during 2010-11.
Do you have any additional means of revenue mobilisation planned?
Special developmental charges on high-value properties will be levied. Tax on heavy commercial carriages, which use public roads for loading and unloading, will be levied. Heavy charges will be imposed on those who erect towers for commercial purposes, and install dish antennae for commercial uses. Annual fees will be levied on private electrical transformers installed on BBMP properties. These are some of the means of additional revenue mobilisation this year.