Lucknow Municipal Corporation has proposed a major increase in funding for road repairs, pothole filling and streetlight maintenance in its revised budget for the current financial year, with the proposals scheduled to be considered by its executive committee on October 1.
The allocation for road repair and construction is proposed to rise from Rs 271 crore in the original budget to Rs 326 crore. The provision for filling potholes is set to triple from Rs 10 crore to Rs 30 crore, after heavy rainfall damaged roads across the city. Funding for streetlight repairs is also proposed to increase from Rs 6 crore to Rs 11 crore.
The executive committee meeting, chaired by Mayor Sushma Kharkwal, will be held at 11 am at the Bharwara sewage treatment plant auditorium instead of the municipal corporation headquarters in Lalbagh. The committee will deliberate on the revised budget before it is placed before the municipal house for consideration.
The revised proposals also include a rise in funding for roads damaged during road-cutting works. The allocation for restoring such roads is proposed to increase from Rs 15 crore to Rs 20 crore. Officials said spending on new streetlight projects is also planned to increase, although the report did not specify the proposed amount.
Several other civic infrastructure heads are set to receive higher allocations. Funding for the maintenance of flood pumping stations is proposed to increase from Rs 5 crore to Rs 7 crore, while the allocation for public toilet maintenance and repairs would rise from Rs 3 crore to Rs 4 crore. The building repair budget is proposed to increase threefold, from Rs 5 crore to Rs 15 crore.
The municipal corporation has also proposed raising the allocation for repairing cremation grounds and graveyards from Rs 6 crore to Rs 10 crore. Spending on urban solid waste management is set to rise from Rs 30 crore to Rs 33 crore.
A separate proposal would substantially increase funding for new community halls, or Kalyan Mandaps, to be built on municipal land. The allocation for the facilities is proposed to rise from Rs 4.40 crore in the original budget to Rs 16 crore. Officials said municipal land is being cleared and developed for public facilities.
The revised budget does not propose an increase in the funds available to the mayor, municipal commissioner or councillors under the ward development priority fund. It also does not propose a new tax or an increase in existing tax rates.
However, the house tax collection target is proposed to rise from Rs 750 crore to Rs 811 crore. Officials attributed the higher collection requirement partly to increased expenditure on salaries, pensions and contractual employees.
An LMC official said the revised allocations for public infrastructure were intended to improve civic facilities, particularly after heavy rains damaged roads. The proposals will next be considered by the executive committee before being placed before the municipal house.
