Rs38 crore civic body fund goes down the drain

While the city has been left with stretches marred with potholes, the BMC is left with just Rs2 crore in its kitty.

Having exhausted all its funds and in the middle of the pothole repairing exercise, the BMC is planning to pool in more funds for the drive. If the officials have their way, an additional Rs18 crore of the taxpayers’ money will be spent on potholes.

In a span of two months alone, the BMC has exhausted around Rs38 crore over pothole repairs. It had earmarked Rs40 crore for fixing potholes and improving roads during monsoon. BMC commissioner Subodh Kumar, in his Budget speech, had affirmed that the sum would suffice in preventing dothole turning into pothole.

“Around 3,093 dotholes were fixed as per part of our pre-monsoon pothole-filling drive. Rs26 crore was spent on this,” said Aseem Gupta, additional municipal commissioner.

However, with the material used for the repairs getting reduced to rubble due to incessant rains, the entire amount has gone down the drain.