The Hindu       31.03.2017 

Masula civic body approves budget

YSRC councillors pick holes in proposals

The Machilipatnam Municipal Council on Thursday approved the draft budget with an outlay of Rs. 168 crore for the financial year 2017-18.

The budget estimates were proposed by Chairman M. Baba Prasad, while the YSRC councillors picked holes in the preparation of the proposals, highlighting repetition of allocation for street lighting system and drinking water supply.

The council approved the budget proposals amid heated arguments between the councillors of the YSRC and the ruling party.

It was proposed in the budget to allocate Rs. 140 crore for development work including creation of additional road infrastructure and maintenance of drainage system.

An estimated Rs. 48 crore will be spent on drinking water supply and modernisation of the drainage system.

While Rs. 39 crore was allocated for the Machilipatnam municipality under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Rs. 6.28 crore will be spent on the development of parks, construction of the municipality building and interconnection of drinking water pipelines.

A total of Rs. 1.8 crore will be spent on the development of slum dwellings and Rs. 1.3 crore on education.

According to the budget estimates, the municipality will earn Rs. 4.43 crore from all kinds of taxes including the property tax.

Municipal Commissioner M. Jaswantha Rao and other officials were present.