Municipal Corporation’s Rs 2200 crore Budget for fiscal year 2026-27 was passed on the third day of deliberations, marked by heated exchanges, sloganeering and moments of satire inside the House, on Friday. The threeday meeting saw corporators from both the ruling side and the Opposition putting forward their views before the Budget was finally approved. Mayor Jagat Bahadur Singh while addressing the House said the Budget will give fresh momentum to the city’s development. He added that useful suggestions received during the discussion would be incorporated to ensure balanced and inclusive growth in the interest of citizens. Final day of the Budget session started at 11 am on Friday at Pandit Bhawani Prasad Tiwari auditorium of the civic body. Tensions escalated when BJP corporator Jittu Katare praised Centre’s women’s reservation bill during his speech. This drew sharp remarks from the Opposition members, who asked him to stick to the Budget discussion. The exchange quickly snowballed into a confrontation, with members from both sides raising slogans. Leader of Opposition Amrish Mishra, along with other Congress corporators, countered the ruling side, leading to a noisy standoff. The Speaker repeatedly appealed for order, but disruptions continued for some time. Senior members Kamlesh Agrawal and Mahesh Rajput eventually intervened, persuading corporators to return to their seats and restoring order. During the discussion, concerns were raised over neglect of newly added wards.

 

Corporator Satendra Choubey from Parshuram Ward said development in new wards was not keeping pace with requirements. He pointed to inadequate sanitation and drainage work and warned that lack of widening of old drains could lead to waterlogging and damage to newly built roads. Issues of flooding in areas such as Shankar Nagar and Bajrang Nagar during monsoon were also highlighted, with a demand for strengthening sewer infrastructure. Responding to the concerns, Mayor Singh said satisfactory development works had been carried out in new wards, including Parshuram Ward and assured that further work would be taken up as needed. Senior ruling party members also suggested renaming wards such as Wright Town and Napier Town. They also raised concerns over declining staff strength in the Water Department and recommended increasing manpower through outsourcing at the zonal level to address pipeline leakages and related issues promptly. The members also flagged the need to tackle parking problems in the city. The issue of contaminated drinking water was again raised by several corporators, who said ageing pipelines passing through drains were leading to supply of polluted water in many areas. Corporator Aditi Bajpai and Kaleem were among those who highlighted the problem, calling for immediate replacement of old pipelines. Opposition members including Ayodhya Tiwari, Rammohan Gupta, Manish Patel and Renu Kori also shared their suggestions during the discussion. Despite repeated disruptions, the House concluded proceedings by passing the Budget, which the Mayor termed as a roadmap for the city’s comprehensive development.