New Delhi, Aug. 7: Corporate India’s top honchos blame unplanned development of the suburbs for the Mumbai deluge and the failure of the authorities to take proper disaster management steps for the havoc it wrought.

A majority of the corporate captains, who responded to a business barometer survey conducted by Assocham, said life and property could have been saved had the city authorities responded speedily to the disaster.

Industry has also cautioned that if incidents similar to the Mumbai floods happen again, it could carve a dent on the country’s image as a foreign investment destination.

As many as 90 per cent of 150 chief executives surveyed highlighted gaps in infrastructure of mega cities.

Industry also complains that metros are taking on the load of huge migration of the unemployed from smaller cities and rural areas.

Over 81 per cent of the respondents said a negligible part of the tax paid by citizens in the metros is invested in the development of cities where slums are on the rise.

According to the data available, Mumbai accounts for 5 per cent of the gross domestic product and contributes one-third to the country’s revenue collection.

Total revenue collected by the central government last fiscal is estimated at Rs 2,50,000 crore. Of this, Maharashtra got less than Rs 5,000 crore by way of allocation of funds.

Direct tax collections last financial year stood at Rs 1,00,000 crore, with Mumbai alone contributing Rs 40,000 crore.