The Opposition created a ruckus over the civic budget for the financial year 2009-10,Mayor Bikash Ranjan had presented Bhattacharya on Friday. The leader of the Opposition in KMC,Javed Ahmed Khan,said the budget did not focus on many crucial issues like water crisis the city was reeling under. Even though the civic authorities are well-aware of the water crisis,they have remained mum. The civic authorities did not even plan a new project to tackle the situation, said Khan. Khan also termed the budget a poll gimmick and anti-poor. The mayor has not mentioned what steps have been taken against the persons accused of misappropriating funds in the Gariahat treasury scam. The civic authorities have even failed to estimate the money siphoned off in the scam, he added. The Opposition also claimed that the budget does not show expenditure under various heads making it confusing for the councillors. The amount allocated to different heads is not clearly mentioned. We need to know how much funds have been allocated for which purpose in a department as there are several segments in a particular department, said Congress Councillor Mala Ray. According to Khan,the city needs around 292 million gallons of water per day while the KMC is able to supply only around 250 million gallons. He pointed out if the Palta Waterworks and Garden Reach Waterworks are made to work to their full capacities,around 380 million gallons of water can be produced daily.
