The India Meteorological Department has forecasted normal to above normal rainfall during the monsoon season across India barring parts of Bihar and the northeast. However, even pre-monsoon showers have exposed infrastructure bottlenecks of urban cities in parts of Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, and Delhi among other areas of the country.
Prime minister Narendra Modi in his recent address in Gujarat said: “Cities must function as dynamic centers for economic activity, and municipal bodies must actively plan for their transformation”.
The appalling financial conditions of municipalities come to highlight when we examine finance of these urban local bodies.
Municipalities’ capex remains