The cash-strapped Democratic Front government has shown unexpected generosity by allocating Rs 106.97 crore to civic bodies across the state, of which Rs 15.13 crore has been doled out to the capital city’s civic body, the BMC. But here comes the catch: the money has been offered on the condition that it will be used before the end of the current financial year – by March 31, that is. What’s more, it has to be used exclusively for the development of the city’s roads.

This means that the BMC has little over a month to use up Rs 15.13 crore on the city’s roads. The directive mentions that the BMC is expected to submit a utilisation certificate before the current fiscal ends, to avoid incurring the wrath of the government. The state directive, a copy of which is with this newspaper, clearly says that the municipal corporation should forward the fund utilisation certificates to the accountant general (Mumbai and Nagpur) with a copy to the government by the end of the current financial year.