BMC likely to not declare new big projects in its budget

With more than Rs 70,000 crore reserved in fixed deposits, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is most likely not in the mood to announce any big project other than the implementation of the Development Plan (DP), as part of its 2019-20 Budget. The civic body will focus on projects like the Coastal Road, sewerage treatment plants (STP) that started in 2018, and also the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR) that will probably get a push in the coming year.
The richest civic body of India is all prepared to announce its yearly Budget on Monday. Although it is an election year, citizens will probably not face tax hikes or new taxes. They will also not have big projects to look forward to. The BMC already has quite a few assignments with regard to roads, water, solid waste management, and sewerage disposal. With limited engineers and officers, the civic body will concentrate on its ongoing projects. Work for the ambitious Coastal Road (on the 10-kilometre-stretch from Princess Street to Bandra-Worli sea link) was kickstarted in November 2018. Although the civic body has allocated Rs 1,500 crore for this project, only Rs 230 crore has been spent so far. The project has gained momentum and will probably receive more than Rs 2,000 crore in the next financial year. The total cost of the project is Rs 12,721 crore and it is expected to be completed in four years.
The next big thing is the Wastewater Treatment Facility (WwTF) project that has been delayed for 14 years. The city gets 3,800 million litre of drinking water a day (MLD). According to official records, 2,100 MLD water goes to the sea as sewerage water. The BMC will upgrade seven primary centers to secondary and tertiary treatment plants at Worli, Ghatkopar, Bhandup, Versova, Colaba, Bandra, and Malad and build a new one in Dharavi. The estimated cost of upgrading all seven centers is around Rs 14,000 crore. The BMC has appointed a project management consultant (PMC) for three plants as they are still in the planning stage. However, upgrading work at the Colaba plant is underway and the Malad WwTF is waiting for its environment clearance. The civic body may allocate more than Rs 1,000 crore for this project.
The Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR) is also under consideration. Although the project still hasn’t received Central clearance, the paperwork is underway and the civic body aims to start actual groundwork in 2019-20. The 6-kilometre-long road expects to get an allocation worth hundreds of crores. The cost of the project has been estimated at Rs 4,000 crore.