KDMC official-corporator war over spending

“Considering that the annual budget itself is Rs 201.03 crore, we hardly have around Rs 50 crore to undertake development works,” explains Commissioner Madhukar Kokate, who is worried that the trend could spell trouble for the Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation.

State Urban Development Secretary Nand Lal too aired similar views today. While the mayor and deputy mayor did not contest Lal’s views in the matter, they told The Indian Express they were willing to take the matter to Urban Development MinisterRavindra Mane or Chief Minister Manohar Joshi to ensure that more works were undertaken.

Kokate is not too happy on this count. “I tried to reason with them, but they were not willing to relent,” he said, “I was left with no option but to refer the budget to the State Government for approval.”

He says he is not advocating a blanket stoppage of works, as the corporators are making it out to be.

“Since the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is funding the mega-city projects, those can go on, but the other works, we will have to prioritise,” he said.

He added, “The financial situation is not very good and one wrong step could mean a mess.” He pointed out, however, that the Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation was “not in the red.” (See box). Other officials in the administration point out that the corporators focus only on the works being undertaken in their respective wards.

Deputy Mayor Uday Samel, however, dispelled all doubts on that score in his recentaddress to the Standing Committee, “After all, we have to face the people in two years’ time. So we better have some work to show them.”

The administration and elected representatives have been at loggerheads ever since the budget was presented by the commissioner in May. It was passed by the General Body only in July.

“The administration is deliberately trying to ruin the ruling party (Shiv Sena’s) image,” charges Mayor Sharayu Pradhan, who says she “is not happy with the commissioner’s style of functioning.”