Gautam Deb, Mayor of Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) placed a Budget of about Rs 592 crore for the 2023-24 financial year.
Presenting the figures, Deb stated that the total receipt of the year was Rs 581 crore, 60 lakh and 38 thousand.
The deficit Budget is Rs 10 crore, 17 lakh. Along with that, he has also placed a revised Budget of Rs 234 crore, 31 lakh for the 2022-23 financial year on Wednesday from the head office of Siliguri Municipal Corporation.
“We have generated our source of earnings in the 2022-23 financial year. We have earned 23.97 per cent of the revenue. Last year, this was 9.55 per cent. With this year’s Budget we are focusing on improving the city. We have introduced many new projects in the Budget,” said the Mayor.
The SMC Board is mainly focusing on improving road and traffic infrastructure, upgrade sports infrastructure, and drinking water projects in this Budget. Construction of a new building of SMC is also on the anvil.
Several works under the Public Works Department (PWD), health, conservancy, park and gardens, slum development, education and environment also feature in this budget.
According to the Budget, the Siliguri Municipal Corporation has taken up 670 projects under the PWD from May 2022 to January 2023. The Budget for the project is to the tune of Rs 128 crore.
The SMC has set up an iron structure at the Eastern part of the Mahananda River to prevent river pollution at a cost of around Rs 21 lakh. They have repaired roads in various wards, including wards 22, 6, 39, 23, 41, 38, 39 and 42.
The SMC is also planning to construct an alternative road parallel to the Mahananda River and construct the 6th Mahananda River Bridge.
For this a Budget of Rs. 120 Crore has been placed. RITES has conducted a survey for this.
A second campus of “Matrisadan,” a women’s clinic, will be constructed in Dabgram. Already the SMC has started constructing a boundary wall for this. The project cost is Rs. 29 lakh.
“To prevent dengue and other vector-borne diseases, fever OPD will be set up at the health centres of SMC. As many as 52 Special Fever Clinics will be set up. The present condition of all the bridges will be examined, and necessary actions will be taken,” added the Mayor.