The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) presented its budget for FY26 on 4 February. That it would come up with some new ways to raise revenues was a fair guess, especially after spending colossal amounts on the Coastal Road, Atal Setu and other such projects in the last financial year.
But few were prepared for the announcement that the BMC would tax commercial activities in slums. The budget projects a collection of Rs 350 crore from shops, hotels, warehouses and micro industries operating from an estimated 2.5 lakh slums, the most thriving being Dharavi. Its kitty is down from Rs 91,690 crore in 2022 to Rs 81,000 crore in fixed deposits. With a debt of Rs 2 lakh crore, it isn’t clear why the BMC cannot raise resources from the city’s rich and famous rather than from the slums.
For the third year running, in the absence of elections since 2022, the assistant commissioners handed over the budget proposals worth Rs 74,366 crore — a 14 per cent increase over last year — to state government-appointee BMC commissioner and administrator Bhushan Gagrani.
One of the reasons cited for the delay is a pending hearing in the Supreme Court on OBC reservation and reorganisation of wards. This suits the state government, which controls the BMC until elections are held. The undivided Shiv Sena had a stranglehold over the BMC for 25 years before the split. If they wish to renew their control over the cash cow that is India’s richest civic body, they’ll just have to come together!
Having spectacularly failed to make Mumbai pollution-free, pothole-free, and hoarding-free, the BMC now plans to construct the Mumbai Eye as a tourist attraction.
Inspired by the London Eye, the 443-foot-high Ferris wheel on the banks of the river Thames, it will have a holding capacity of 25 people in each of its air-conditioned capsules. Those who can’t afford to live in Mumbai’s high-rises may have to settle for an aerial view of their city.
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Saif attacker a Shah Rukh fanIf Mumbai Police are to be believed, the illegal Bangladeshi migrant who allegedly attacked Saif Ali Khan last month is a Shah Rukh Khan fan. He had tried to enter SRK’s bugalow Mannat to meet his hero before returning to Bangladesh. Two days later, he sneaked into Saif Ali Khan’s penthouse on the 12th floor with the intention of committing a robbery.
Taking no valuables, he slept at Bandra bus stand following the aborted robbery. On waking, he was so distraught to find his earphones broken, he immediately went to Dadar to buy new earphones so he wouldn’t miss out on his favourite Hindi film songs.
Naturally, he didn’t switch off the phone, which naturally led the police straight to him. The police have not said if Saif, his wife Kareena Kapoor, or the nanny (who was also injured) have identified the prime suspect. Neither has any identification parade been conducted. While the police remain non-committal about reports of a fingerprint mismatch — 19 of them on the crime scene! — they are positive they have the culprit. His confession proved it, as will the DNA report, when it comes in. End of story.
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The Maharashtra State Contractors’ Association has warned the state government that unless it clears bills worth Rs 89,000 crore pending from July 2024, they will stop work.
The contractors claim the PWD alone owes them Rs 46,000 crore; while Rs 18,000 crore are due under the Jal Jeevan Mission, Rs 8,600 crore from the rural development department and Rs 19,700 crore from the irrigation department.
If the reason for over 52 lakh farmers still waiting for subsidies — worth Rs 716 crore unpaid since 2023–24 — is the lack of funds, where is the next instalment for the Ladki Bahin Yojana coming from? Don’t ask the finance department, which knows defaulting on this populist scheme would lead to a loss of political capital, which the government simply cannot afford.
