Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 27 Aug: Amidst uproar and heated exchanges, Dehradun Municipal Corporation Board late last night approved the annual budget for the financial year 2025-26 after an extraordinary board meeting that stretched for nearly eleven and a half hours, finally concluding late last night. The budget session, marked by commotion, walkout threats and negotiations, approved estimated expenditure of Rs 329.35 crores against an income of Rs 332 crore. In all, over 40 proposals were passed after prolonged debate.
The meeting began yesterday at 11:15 a.m. with the arrival of Mayor Saurabh Thapliyal. Municipal Commissioner Namami Bansal initiated the proceedings by observing two-minutes silence in memory of victims of the Dharali-Tharali disaster. However, Corporators soon began to raise issues concerning sanitation, dairies, the rising menace of stray dogs, encroachments and street lighting. Tempers flared when certain BJP corporators commented that Congressmen are always silent everywhere, which sparked a strong protest from Congress members who sat on the floor and disrupted proceedings. It took an extended round of negotiations before order was restored and the meeting resumed.
At the end, more than 40 proposals were approved, including four from the Health Section and 11 from the Construction Department. Proposals related to “pratyasha (anticipation)” related to the anticipated works evoked strong objections from some corporators, who argued that such provisions did not exist in the governing Act of Nagar Nigam. Initially withheld, the proposals were later finally pushed through late in the night, adding further intensity to the already stretched proceedings.
This year’s budget reflects a significant rise in allocations for key civic obligations. Given the growing number of incidents of aggression by stray dogs, a budget allocation of Rs 25 lakhs has been earmarked to tackle the menace, against last year’s Rs 15 lakhs. This amount is considered to be hardly adequate by the experts, given the tasks that the Nagar Nigam has taken upon itself in this regard. The Board early in the day had resolved to set up more dog shelters for housing identified dogs but the allocation is hardly enough to establish these shelters.
Street lighting, one of the highly discussed aspects, has been allocated an amount of Rs 2,500 lakhs for maintenance, along with Rs 1,200 lakhs towards electricity bills, highlighting its importance for urban safety and efficiency. Solid waste management has received an allocation of Rs 774 lakhs, while Rs 500 lakhs have been allotted for public toilets and Rs 946 lakhs for water conservation-related works. Swachh Survekshan activities have been allocated an amount of Rs 200 lakhs, dispensaries with Rs 65 lakhs, and Kanji House with Rs 200 lakhs. Other notable allocations include Rs 6,674 lakhs under development works from the State Finance, Rs 475 lakhs from the 15th Finance Commission, Rs 1,700 lakhs for other development activities, and Rs 67 lakhs for park maintenance.
On the income side, the corporation expects Rs 20,269 lakhs of income under the State Finance Commission, Rs 7,500 lakhs as house tax revenues—up significantly from the earlier Rs 5,693 lakhs and Rs 946 lakhs from water conservation and solid waste management.
Despite frequent disruptions, the board succeeded in pushing through the sprawling agenda. The meeting, which had begun with threats of boycott and soon descended into heated verbal spats, finally stretched to a marathon of over eleven hours, winding up late in the night. In the process, the board approved a civic budget of Rs 329 crore and also set the stage for debates on stray dog control, better street lighting, and urgent sanitation issues that remain the city’s main priorities for the coming year.
