Mumbai: Roads, bridges get more BMC funds as other projects hit some roadblocks

As the civic body spent enormously on the coastal road city roads and bridges several other big ticket projects like development plan sewage treatment plants Deonar wastetoenergy plant Goregaon Mulund Link Road have hit hurdles for various permissions oppositions The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has hardly spent 2 per cent of the money allotted to these projectsThe BMC had set aside Rs 18750 crore for projects in 202122 almost double than the previous year While the coastal road city roads bridges exceeded the allotted budget and needed additional funds the civic body utilised only Rs 106 crore of the Rs 4892 crore allotted to sewage treatment plants development plan and GMLRSewage treatment plantsOf the Rs 1340 crore allotted for sewage treatment plants nothing has been used so far amid opposition Delayed for at least 15 years now the BMC had invited tenders for construction of six treatment plants at Worli Dharavi Bandra Versova Ghatkopar and Bhandup under Mumbai Sewage Disposal ProjectII and financial bids were open in May 2021 The lowest bidding cost had quoted 30 to 70 per cent over the estimated cost of Rs 16412 crore for all six plants taking the project cost up to Rs 2640189 crore The BJP opposed the move and stated that it is way higher than the treatment plants in other areas ldquoThe committee of Veermata Jijabai Technical Institute and Indian Institute of Technology had given their report regarding the costing of the project and we submitted it to higher authorities The decision is pendingrdquo said an official from the sewage disposal project deptProjects under development planThe BMC was able to use only Rs 767 crore or 3 per cent of the Rs 2251 crore set aside for development plan which majorly included developing houses for projectaffected people The proposal to provide monetary relief to PAPs instead of homes came in October as the civic body was struggling to build sufficient apartments for PAPs The BMC is in need of 36229 homes for its pending infrastructure projects which will displace people and the number will soar to over 45000 in the near future As per the latest policy BMC offered compensation of a maximum of Rs 50 lakh to shanties The BJP however alleged that the move would not be helpful for shanties in suburbs as the maximum compensation in those areas as per BMCrsquos formula to calculate compensation is Rs 30 lakhMunicipal Commissioner IS Chahal said ldquoThe budget allotment for the development plan was mainly for land acquisition for various purposes But we decided to not take any land in exchange for cash The land acquisition is now as per accommodation reservation or under TDR We will pay cash only if we need land for schools cremation grounds or hospitals It has helped us save Rs 2000 crore for the BMCrdquoGoregaon Mulund Link RoadThe work on BMCrsquos ambitious GMLR has been delayed for at least four years now and only Rs 30 crore of Rs 1300 crore was spent till Novemberend The work will now begin in phases as the environmental study for the tricky tunnels under the Sanjay Gandhi National Park is not yet completed In December the BMC allotted work to construct two 6lane flyovers and an elevated rotary junction for Rs 819 crore The GMLR project spans 122 km including 47km twin tunnels under the national park and a 16km underpass at Goregaon Film City Officials said the work of completion of the environmental study report is going on simultaneously till then the work of flyovers startsWastetoenergy plantAfter starting the tender process for at least three years ago the BMC was finally able to award the contract of Deonar wastetoenergy plant in December 2020 at the cost of Rs 504 crore but the work hit the roadblock as it needs environment clearance EC After a year the BMC received it from the Union Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change and now it has approached Maharashtra Pollution Control Board MPCB for its final consent The plant will generate 4 MW of energy per day So far around Rs 120 crore has been spent out of the R758 crore allotted ldquoProjects that generate less than 15 MW energy do not require an environmental clearance this project requires one as the ash left after generating energy will be landfilled in Deonar itselfrdquo said an officer with Solid Waste Management ProjectsCoastal roadOn the other hand as the BMC already spent all the allocated budgetary funds of Rs 2000 for the coastal road by Decemberend and got the standing committeersquos permission for additional Rs 500 crore from the development fund The work on the 1058km Coastal Road started in 2018 and the corporation claimed that 50 per cent of the work is completed While the total cost was projected to be Rs 12000 crore the BMC has spent Rs 1500 crore in 202021Similarly the road department already spent 95 per cent of the Rs 1368 crore allotted to it and the standing committee recently cleared contracts worth Rs 2200 crore for various roads across the cityRs 106crMoney spent from the R4892 crore allotted to the projects