PUNE: Transport and traffic cornered a major share of the Rs 6,765-crore civic budget (2019-20) presented by PMC standing committee chairman Yogesh Mulik before the corporators on Friday.Besides the emphasis on the ongoing Metro project, proposed high capacity mass transit route (HCMTR) and procurement of buses for PMPML, Mulik said Rs 29 crore has been set aside for development of parking spaces in the city.“Seamless transport is our top priority and this budget aims at providing maximum assistance to execute transport-related projects. Funds worth Rs 1.2 crore have been proposed to appoint 100 traffic wardens at prominent junctions in the city,” Mulik said, while assuring funds for the long-pending Bhama Askhed water supply project — expected to be functional by October this year — and for the execution of the 24X7 water supply scheme.He said the budget was the extension of the BJP’s development agenda for the city. “The budgetary allocations will give a push to infrastructure projects to achieve “My Pune, Smart Pune” tag, Mulik said.The standing committee’s budget contained provisions worth Rs 680 crore more when compared to the civic commissioner’s draft budget of Rs 6,085 crore. Unlike civic chief Saurabh Rao’s proposal for a hike in property tax, Mulik stayed clear from proposing such hikes. “Steps are in the offing to curtail the expenses to save more money,” he said.Among major allocations, Metro project for Rs 8 crore, excluding Rs 2 crore for detailed project report of its extension up to Wagholi and Lohegaon airport. The HCMTR prject got Rs 200 crore, Katraj-Kondhwa road widening received Rs 55.50 crore and Shivne-Kharadi riveside road project got Rs 22 crore .In the budget, over Rs 580 crore was set aside for the water supply-related projects, including Rs 185 crore for completion of Bhama-Askhed project and Rs 301 crore for the execution of the 24X7 water supply scheme and Rs 1.7 crore for the augmentation and rejuvenation of the existing water sources in the 11 merged villages.Leader of the opposition at PMC Dilip Barate, however, said the standing committee’s budget was inflated and hollow.“It is impractical to generate over Rs 6,000 crore for the next financial year. Where will the money come from? The standing committee has inflated the budget by Rs 680 crore as against that presented by the civic commissioner. There is no possibility that all the projects tabled in the budget will be executed. It is nothing but a hollow promise,” he said.

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