The municipal budget, tabled this morning, parks a separate corridor fund for eight wards that flooded twice during the last monsoon. Engineers say the money is for drain width and pump houses, not for road resurfacing that can wait until summer.
Ward officers must file a one-page map showing the street that held water longest. The commissioner said proposals that arrive as a general “ward improvement” note will be sent back. The fund is deliberately narrow so it cannot be spread across every councillor’s wish list.
What happens next
Residents’ groups in the two riverside wards welcomed the line item and asked for a public timetable. Last year’s desilting started after the first heavy night, which left lanes closed while tankers tried to move through the same streets.
The budget debate continues tomorrow. Councillors from higher wards have already said they will seek a smaller matching sum for storm drains that overflow into the main road, even if those streets did not meet the “twice flooded” test.
Taj Today will update this report if the official numbers or the timetable change. Related coverage stays on the Politics page.
