New Delhi: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has praised the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) budget and called it a budget of "development". While talking to reporters on Saturday, Shinde said, "Mumbai's budget is a budget for the development of the city, a budget for the benefit of the people. There will be completely solid roads, and health facilities and Balasaheb Thackeray's dispensary will be built. Our aim is to develop the city," quoted ANI.
Reacting to the budget, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Aaditya Thackeray said that it seems to be a 'copy paste budget'.
The BMC presented a Rs 52,619.07 crore budget for the year 2023-24 on Saturday with a focus on pollution control measures, infrastructure and health facilities.
Reiterating the focus, the CM said that the number of hospitals would increase. "MRI, CT-SCAN, and dialysis machines will increase," he added, reported ANI.
He further said that there is a provision in the budget for setting up air purifier towers to reduce pollution in Mumbai.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) On BMC Budget
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said that this budget is for contractors adding, "Maharashtra has got nothing in the budget". He asked if BMC is not going to do any big project then why the budget is increased.
"It seems to be a copy-paste budget. When Shiv Sena came to power it saved the money of Mumbaikars and brought BMC into profit. Mumbaikars have reposed faith in us for the last 25 years," Thackeray said as quoted by ANI.
Aaditya Thackeray said, "It is the hard-earned money of Mumbaikars that's why it should be used very thoughtfully". He called to bring the white paper to BMC's FD so that it can be known how much money the BMC will use.
"I had demanded that no new project should be announced in the BMC budget even though our leader Anil Parab had taken the press conference on the same," he added.
"Does the commissioner have the right to spend Rs 1,700 crores on the beautification of Mumbai?...all this is happening to make Mumbai bow before Delhi," he further said.
The BMC budget, however, allocated an amount of Rs 3,545 crore for the ongoing Coastal Road project. It was to be completed by this year's end, but the BMC in its budget pushed the deadline to the end of the financial year 2023-24, the ANI report said.
The Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project got an allocation of Rs 1,060 crore. The BMC said that 70 percent works of the Nahur road over-bridge (which will connect to the GMLR) have been completed, it added.