NDMC budget tomorrow, many last year's promises on back-burner

New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), the richest civic body in the national capital, is set to present its annual budget tomorrow even as a slew of announcements made last year continue to be on paper.
In his maiden budget as NDMC Chairman, Naresh Kumar had projected total receipts of Rs 3,458.33 crore against a total estimated expenditure of Rs 3,450.81 crore during 2016-17.
While NDMC managed to bag the coveted "Smartcity Project" by Urban Development (UD) ministry and rolled various initiatives under it but various announcements remained on paper ending up as backlogs.
Automated parking facility, installation of LED streetlights, transformation of sub-ways into vibrant spaces with ATMs, installation of outdoor gym equipment and setting up of air quality monitoring system to share real time information on air quality through LED screens, are few of the announcements made in last year's budget that are yet to find their way.

The ambitious project for replacement of existing electricity poles with Smart Street Poles having Wi-Fi points, smart LEDs and CCTVs for city surveillance, is still on the back seat. It was announced in the budget for 2015-16 and included in last year's budget as well.
The projects that were supposed to be taken up under AMRUT scheme of the UD Ministry including redevelopment of existing tubewells, commissioning of sewage treatment plant and desilting and rehabilitation of sewage lines on Shahjahan Road and Ashoka Road are also in very nascent stages.

Another project that is yet to see the light of day is setting up of incubation centre to help entrepreneurs create start-ups.

"Some projects have been delayed due to certain issues which are being tackled project wise for few of them tenders have already been floated and work will be started as soon as we get good bids," the official said.
However, the civic body chairman did not respond to calls.
The Smart City project, for which NDMC will receive a funding of Rs 500 crore remained focus of the civic body during the year.
"Installation of rooftop solar panels, projects for increasing green cover, setting up of stainless steel bins in major markets and roads, cloud-based Hospital Management Information System (HIMS) for the civic body's health care units are among the few projects that were successfully concluded during the year," the official added.

While the NDMC area has bungalows of Union Ministers and parliamentarians, many top industrialists also stay there. Parliament House, buildings of all the ministries, Supreme Court, High Court and residences of Supreme Court judges, senior bureaucrats and senior military officers are in NDMC areas.