Civic body spends a lot, but where is the infrastructure?

Chennai: The Chennai corporatio­n’s expenditure for developing city infrastructure has reached an all-time high of Rs 1,000 crore or Rs 1,200 per person.

To attain world-class ci­ty status, however, local bodies in London, Sydney and Paris have a per capita expenditure of Rs 8,000 for civic development, say Ripon Building sour­ces.

“The Mumbai and Delhi corporations’ civic infra per capita expense is above Rs 2,000. Now Ch­enn­ai joins the elite league and more money will be spent in the current ye­ar,” said corporation co­m­m­issioner Vikram Ka­pur, adding that funds were not a problem as they came from the state and central governments. Revenue through property tax and other taxes had also surged this fiscal, he added. 

With Chennai almost double in size, expenditure will grow too, but works worth Rs 1,000 crore are not visible in the city. “The flyovers and bridges proposed are still on paper and the most essential multi-storeyed parking at T. Nagar seems to be a dream,” says Mr. R. Govindaraj, joint secretary, Exnora Interna­tional.

“The civic body may see the projects through in the coming years, but for now, the city needs more improvement,” he said.

“Chennai is better than any other metropolis in India. But still a lot of improvement can be done to make our city compete with foreign cities,” says Udhay Kumar, an entrepreneur.

“Tourism will improve when roads and cleanlin­ess are upgraded. Sri Lankan and Malaysian cities have a go­od tourist inflow and Ch­e­n­nai ne­eds such de­velo­pment,” said K. Pa­r­thiban, a travel agent based in Egmore.