Navi Mumbai: The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) is set to present its budget for the financial year 2025-26 on Tuesday. Citizens, activists, and stakeholders eagerly await the budget allocations, hoping for provisions that will enhance the city’s infrastructure, healthcare, education, environmental sustainability, and animal welfare.
A major demand from residents is improving the ease of living in the city. This includes better road conditions, pedestrian-friendly footpaths, traffic management, and adequate parking facilities.
“NMMC’s budget must focus on facilitating ease of living for taxpayers. The execution of the Swachh Bharat campaign should not be restricted to main roads like Palm Beach Road but should extend to interior roads, lanes, and bylanes where taxpayers reside,” said B N Kumar, Director of NatConnect Foundation.
He also raised concerns about environmental sustainability, stressing the need for the civic body to acquire open spaces from CIDCO and develop green zones with native, fruit-bearing trees to improve biodiversity.
Kumar further warned that Navi Mumbai, known as a planned city, is rapidly heading towards congestion due to massive redevelopment projects, which are replacing three-storey buildings with 20-30-storey skyscrapers. He highlighted that the city’s infrastructure, including roads, water supply, drainage, and parking, will be unable to sustain the rapid increase in vehicles, worsening congestion.
One of the most anticipated projects in the upcoming budget is the Postgraduate Medical Education College in Navi Mumbai.
“This college must have a well-equipped building along with a super-specialty hospital that will serve citizens under NMMC’s administration. The municipal corporation must take the necessary steps to accelerate this project,” said Ravindra Sawant, spokesperson of the Congress party.
Activists are also keen to see budget allocations for cleanliness initiatives. “The civic body is winning accolades in Swachh Bharat rankings, yet garbage piles up in several parts of the city. There is an urgent need to improve waste collection efficiency and incentivize conservancy staff, whether permanent or contractual,” said Kumar.
Concerns have been raised regarding delayed animal welfare projects, including the long-pending animal hospital and clinic at Juinagar.
“For four years, neither the animal hospital nor the clinic has been operational. There was also a proposal to include an incinerator with the hospital. How much funding will be allocated for this project in the upcoming budget?” questioned Nerul-based activist Anarjit Chauhan.
Additionally, since 2021, NMMC was expected to launch an Animal Birth Control (ABC) program for cats, but no significant progress has been made. Chauhan emphasized the need for clear budgetary provisions and an implementation timeline.
A pertinent observation made is the disparity in educational infrastructure across the city. Large, well-structured schools are stated by activists to be seen in certain residential areas, while slum schools are housed in dilapidated buildings or temporary structures like community halls. Instead of maintaining such inequalities. ” In this budget NMMC must ensure that all areas, including slums, villages, and traditional settlements, receive modern schools with well-equipped buildings and playgrounds,” Sawant added.
The civic administration is also demanded for greater transparency regarding the utilization of funds from the previous budget.
“For transparency, NMMC must upload detailed reports on projects completed and fund utilization from the last budget. Only then can citizens properly analyze the budget proposals for 2025-26,” said social activist Sudhir Dani.
With numerous expectations from citizens and activists, all eyes are now on NMMC’s budget presentation to see how the civic administration allocates funds for essential projects and addresses pressing concerns of the city.
