Old promises reappear in new budget document

Bengaluru: The BBMP truly has mastered the art of repeating itself. In the last budget, the civic body promised to put in place an online system for birth and death certificates. On Monday, the BBMP announced the same system again as part of its 2016-17 budget.
Similarly, last year, it announced Rs 1 crore for installation of CCTV cameras in BBMP schools.The same line appears in this year's budget. Last year, only tenders to purchase the cameras were floated.
The civic body's action taken report for 2015-16 is curiously vague about the way in which funds allotted for various activities and schemes was spent. For instance, the Kitturu Rani Chennamma Stadium in Byrasandra ward of Jayanagar was to be inaugurated in April 2015, but hasn't happened yet. The BBMP's action taken report for 2015-16 says, "The programme of cultural sports activities are being implemented." There are no details about what exactly has been done.
Lakes and pollution dominated public discourse all of 2015 and the state granted Rs 40 crore last year for rejuvenating and maintenance of lakes. In this year's budget, BBMP says 37 works have been done on the 82 lakes under its purview, but there are no details about what work was completed and at which lake. The budget adds that 16 works are in progress and tenders are being issued for 20 more. Work on five more lakes will done during the next year. Grants of Rs 35 crore from the chief minister's Nagarothana scheme were used to develop, rejuvenate and maintain 32 lakes.
Last year, BBMP had said its objective was to reclaim the tag of Garden City for Bengaluru by developing and maintaining 1,237 parks. The horticulture department set aside Rs76.5 crore for this, of which only Rs27 crore was spent on parks.
When it comes to healthcare, BBMP spent only Rs1.9 crore of the Rs 5 crore allocated for the pulse polio programme by National Urban Health Mission in the last fiscal. There is no explanation where the rest of the money went.
As usual, tax collection was lower than estimated. The corporation collected Rs 2,050 crore in property taxes against a target of Rs2,480 crore. It collected Rs28.5 crore out of a target of Rs 75 crore as rent from its markets. Fees for laying optical fibre cables also yielded less than expected: Rs247.6 crore against a target of Rs333 crore.
Where BBMP earned more than estimated
REVENUE SOURCE – ACTUAL COLLECTION -- ESTIMATE
Trade licenses -- Rs23.8 crore -- Rs8.1 crore
Fee and penalty from town planning dept -- Rs365.2 crore -- Rs237.5 crore