Municipal commissioner Gyanesh Bharti presented the Delhi MCD budget on Tuesday. This was the first fledged budget proposal moved by the municipal commissioner after the unification of the three municipal bodies on May 22. The commissioner presented the MCD budget, which included the revised budget estimate for the year 2022-23 and the budget estimate for 2023-24.
Of the total ₹16,023.55 crore, nearly 27.87% or ₹4,465.85 crore has been set aside for sanitation, 20.82% or ₹3,335.84 crore for general administration (which includes salaries and running costs), 17.77% or ₹2,847.83 on the education sector, and 10.73% or ₹1719.49 for the public health and medical sectors.
Further, a piece of land in south Delhi's Tehkhand area has been allocated to the MCD for an engineering landfill site and the project is expected to be completed by April 2023. Delhi has three sanitary landfill sites located at Ghazipur, Okhla, and Bhalswa. This proposed "engineering landfill site" will be the city's first such site.
In an engineering landfill site, the soil is first scientifically prepared so that the leachate does not percolate into the soil, which is not the case in a conventional landfill site, a former senior official of the MCD said.
A piece of land measuring 47.346 acres has been allocated by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for a landfill site in the Tehkhand area near Okhla, out of which 32.346 acres will be used for setting up an engineering landfill site, work of which is expected to be completed by April 2023, reads the budget speech.
The current three landfill sites in Delhi are spread over an area of 202 acres in total, according to the speech.
In the budget, the commissioner also said that CCTV cameras have been installed at 570 school locations, and proposals have been sent to other schools.
The budget also mentioned that from 15 July, a uniform property tax policy for areas under the jurisdiction of the MCD came into effect, after the three corporations -- NDMC, SDMC, and EDMC -- were merged into a single civic body with effect from May 2022.
The property tax collected in 2021-22 was ₹2,037.60 crore for the three corporations. In 2022-23, the collection of the unified MCD till 15 November stands at 1,387.37 crore, while the figure for the corresponding period in the previous year was 1,227.02 crore. Thus this year, for this period, the MCD has collected ₹160.35 crore compared to the figures last year, according to the speech.
Also, 1.5 lakh plants along with flower pots are planned to be bought in view of the G20 meetings, the budget added.
The AAP emerged victorious in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections early this month, winning 134 of the 250 wards. The BJP, which had ruled the civic body for three consecutive terms, bagged 104 wards to finish second.
The AAP will organise a day-long training session for its newly elected councillors on Wednesday (14 December). The party will acquaint them with the funds at their disposal and the protocols they need to follow, news agency PTI reported.
